Mitt Romney’s healthcare dilemma; Jaycee Lee Dugard’s memoir; the role of government in Donald Trump’s business success

Romney’s dilemma

Re “Health reform double-edged for Romney,” May 12, and “Romney confronts healthcare dilemma,” May 13

The fact that Mitt Romney feels the need to disown his highly successful and vastly popular healthcare plan in Massachusetts speaks volumes about the GOP and its priorities. That such an innovative plan should require a negative spin is simply indefensible.

I had hoped that the former Massachusetts governor would be justifiably proud of his plan and take credit for inspiring President Obama’s healthcare plan instead of pandering to the dogmatism that seems to be required of Republican candidates.

Alix Fargo

La Cañada Flintridge

Dugard memoir speaks for itself

Re “The Jaycee Dugard story,” Editorial, May 11

I am really surprised at your argument that kidnapping victim Jaycee Lee Dugard may not get anything from publishing her memoir and that, because of her lack of education and social interaction, she may not be able to express her thoughts well.

She has endured a horrific experience, and one must trust the intensity and force of her recollections, which will be illuminating to readers.

The book will make her financial situation more comforting, but more important, it will give her an opportunity to tell a tale of a dark side of humanity.

Nake M. Kamrany

Pacific Palisades

Surely The Times knows the importance of giving a voice to the voiceless. But sadly, it doesn’t feel that Dugard should take advantage of the same opportunity.

It’s extraordinarily patronizing to question whether Dugard “is in a position” to tell her own story on her own terms. It’s more than presumptuous to posit that her memoir might merely be a product of an eager publishing industry instead of being a wrenching, firsthand

account of years of abuse.

And it’s beyond shallow for The Times to “hope she makes a lot of money” — after first saying “she doesn’t need the money” — with the publication of her memoir.

David Gershwin

Los Angeles

The Donald and the government

Re “Trump’s benefactor,” May 11

So Donald Trump criticizes government while benefiting from its largesse?

Much like George W. Bush building a baseball stadium with taxpayer money, former Halliburton Chief Executive Dick Cheney arguing that the government had absolutely nothing to do with his financial success at that government contractor, or a “tea partyer” cruising around a Glenn Beck rally on a Medicare-provided scooter, this hypocrisy should surely come as no surprise.

Tom Gorman

Monrovia

Although I am not a big fan of Trump, I do believe in being fair. The tone of your article suggests that he may have been cheating local government.

Trump was out to negotiate the best and most profitable deals, and the public officials agreed to them.

Any businessperson knows how difficult it is to beat a government bureaucracy. More power to him.

L.M. Freedman

Cypress

Only in America could someone who swindled taxpayers not only get away with it but “trumpet” his swindle as a virtue and brag about it while running for president.

True to form, Trump has threatened to run on a third-party ticket if the GOP does not make him its nominee, even though he’s not a proven vote-getter and has yet to run in a single primary.

What’s next for Trump, threatening anyone who doesn’t vote for him?

Only in America!

Michael Solomon

Canoga Park

Gay rights in the pews

Re “The spiritual side of gay rights,” Editorial, May 12

The theological liberalism afflicting the churches that ordain gay clergy is known as dynamic orthodoxy. In this orthodoxy, theology can change radically in an antithetical way once new discoveries are made through the

advancements of human knowledge.

The problem with this point of view is that you can never say for certain what you believe because it may change.

The Biblical understanding of sin, human sexuality and marriage is essential for orthodoxy, and these churches are pushing it to the “not important” category.

Dennis Kinney

Santa Ana

Perhaps I have been naive all these decades, but the reactions by religion to the notion of equality and marriage for homosexuals in recent years has shown me that the main sources of hostility against gay people are the various churches. After the mean-spirited Proposition 8 passed in California, I became a definite non-worshipper. I simply can no longer ignore the fact that religion fuels discrimination against gays.

Jerry Lewis

Los Angeles

I’m not taking sides here because I couldn’t care less what the venerable Presbyterians do, but you seem to be saying that eventually God will come around to see things your way. I’m not sure that’s how it works.

Geoffrey Cushing-Murray

Studio City

A sheriff fix

Re “Baca should just say no to gifts,” Editorial, May 10

Your editorial is on the mark as far as it goes. The real solution for the problem of gifts to the sheriff is to have the sheriff be appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, as are department heads.

Law enforcement is a profession. Cities don’t elect police chiefs; they select them on the basis of professional experience. As long as the office of sheriff is filled through elections, there will be individuals who think they can gain favors by gifting the incumbent.

This situation is just another example of the outdated L.A. County government. A county charter that does not provide for an elected executive officer but instead vests that function in the five-member Board of Supervisors is in need of major revision.

Robert Banning

Pasadena

Wilders’ view

Re “How to handle a hypocrite,” Opinion, May 12

There is a legend they tell in Holland of a boy who was alone when he discovered his beloved country was about to be flooded by a dam that was leaking and about to crack.

That country, and the others around it, are set to be drowned once again. Timothy Garton Ash demonizes Dutch politician Geert Wilders for his desperate attempts to save Holland from being drowned in a sea of Islamists and a culture at odds with most of civilization as we cherish it.

Hopefully, apologists for the crushing weight of out-of-control Islamism will realize they are wrong before it is too late. Wilders is in the right, and unfortunately, he is being hunted down by those who are too afraid to take the proper stand.

Steve Klein

Encino

Wife-happy

Re “Always groom for one more,” Column One, May 12

At first, I giggled at the sexual implications of a man with 107 wives. But it became sad to read about the wealth that he has accumulated from the poor nation of Nigeria.

Still more tragic is the suffering visited upon his enormous family through their obedience to his delusions. Faith-healing charlatans prey upon the most needy in poor Islamic as well as in rich Christian countries — such as the United States.

Ron Williams

San Juan Capistrano