Of all the unhinged remarks that Donald Trump made during his debate with Kamala Harris, the one about people eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, would be laughable — if it weren’t so outrageous.
People in Trump’s adopted home of Florida have some of the worst records of mistreating dogs and other animals. There are news stories on TV almost weekly about it. It’s heartbreaking to see dogs chained up all their lives, denied food and water in 100 degree weather, and subject to filthy conditions. That’s torture.
There are countries where people eat dogs and other animals, as is their culture, but Trump has only to look to his own adopted home state of Florida to see how dogs and other animals are abused here.
Rosanne Gordon, Boca Raton
On an officer’s re-hiring
Sun Sentinel reporter Susannah Bryan did her best to present facts impartially, but I still feel the public should be outraged about the re-hiring of Alexander Paul, a Fort Lauderdale police officer who shot a fleeing suspect in 2019.
I am outraged not because a criminal who was known to carry a gun was shot, but because the officer was subsequently fired, albeit four years later, and a criminal collected settlements from the city and was back on our streets to murder a man in 2022. When an officer tells someone to lay on the floor over a dozen times and the person is an armed drug dealer, the person should obey the order, not be allowed to escape.
Alexander Paul was doing his job — a tough job. I’m glad he was reinstated but sorry he was put through so much adversity. Weak gun control laws in our country hobble the police when they try to protect us. We put their lives in danger, then question their split-second decisions. That’s outrageous.
Penny Morey, Boca Raton
His way or the highway
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Sheriff Gregory Tony without thoroughly looking into his background, only to find out he lied on police job applications. That’s fraud.
Tony just spent $73 million, including a $9.2 million funding shortfall on a new BSO training center, where his name is all over the building. That’s fraud.
Ben Sasse spent triple in his first year as UF president compared to former president Kent Fuchs. Sasse hired former Senate staff members, many of whom worked in other states, and at ridiculously bloated salaries. That’s fraud.
Investigating citizens who signed abortion amendment petitions for fraud because DeSantis doesn’t want his six-week abortion ban undone is absolutely ridiculous, but that’s what DeSantis is all about — his way or the highway. I can’t wait for his term to be up.
Gail F. Schorr, Boca Raton
Apathy in Broward
In the recent primary in Broward, old folks couldn’t get out of their rocking chairs nor younger voters off social media long enough to go vote (17.51% turnout). Of course, if they didn’t know anything about the candidates, it’s better that they didn’t vote.
Now Sheriff Tony requests a lot more money from Broward County commissioners. Will they roll over and retreat to their chambers, or overcome their timidity and offer Tony an off-ramp to a more reasonable budget? If Tony’s budget request is granted, the very same taxpayers who voted for him without thinking will also be the ones who complain the loudest when their taxes go up precipitously.
As for Broward Democratic Party officials, can there be more incompetent people who can’t send out flyers with all of the party’s candidates on them?
Our citizens’ lamentable voting record, our out-of-touch County Commission, our head-in-the-sand Democratic Party, our legislators who write laws to make it likely to force residents out of their homes due to the high costs of compliance (post-Surfside), it contributes to a tsunami of events.
Emogene Keffer, Plantation
