Letters for August 24, 2017

Name this

There is a power in naming things. By naming something you isolate it from all other things that don’t share the same name. Isolating supremacist ideologies is the first step in disempowering them. It is when these ideologies are not named and identified that they can move from the fringes of society into the mainstream. That is what white supremacists are trying to do now with the alt-right movement, and they clearly feel emboldened and even validated by this president.

I don’t care if he eventually gets around to it, Trump should have named white supremacy as the cause of mayhem in Charlottesville on the day it happened. He didn’t. It was a calculated refusal to condemn white supremacy and neo-Nazism. The man is unfit for highest office in the land. Elected Republicans need to step up and do what’s right for the country and remove this man from office.

David Flynt

Reno

Knicker this

Re “Best of times” (editor’s note, Aug. 10):

With all of the hubbub going on with Peter Cvjetanovic (Charlottesville), people in Reno, and the University of Nevada, Reno are not looking at the bigger picture. Tesla employs hundreds of foreign employees. Before everyone’s knickers are in a knot that these should be Nevada jobs, we did not have the educated to fill these positions. This is a positive thing for us. Getting these people to stay, to raise our standards of education and quality of people is a priority. Have them come here with their families or marry a local. If UNR does not expel Mr. Cvjetanovic, the message we are sending to these foreigners is that Reno is filled with uneducated bigots. And that is not the message I want to send. I want these people to come, and stay. I want Reno to actually grow, without the choking hands of the “old boy” network. There is nothing wrong with being a rancher or farmer, but that is not what is going to make Reno a financial success or attract companies that will make us a financial success. We need to look to the future and not have the educated workers come and go, avoiding all contact with the locals. It’s very similar at Cornell University. “Don’t date a townie” are the first words you’re told by your RA in the dorms freshman year. Is that what we want said about Renoites?

Cynthia Morgan

Reno

Trump this

Republicans must not be afraid to stand up to the national leaders of the Republican Party.

Take Nevada’s Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske and the recent call from Trump to have her send the state’s voter registry to his Voter Fraud Commission. She didn’t even publicly protest when she learned of the request. Where was her outrage? What Trump is saying to Barbara Cegavske: “As it says in your title, you are just a secretary.” Turn over your information and let my vice president, Mike Pence, and his commission show you what you did wrong. Finding fraud shouldn’t be left to a mere secretary. Trump implied the people who work at the voter registry offices are incompetent because he believes millions of fraudulent votes were cast for Hillary Clinton, and Barbara Cegavske doesn’t say a word in their defense?

If Nevada Republicans are truly going to decide who they are, the party leaders must first stand up to Trump when he implies you are not doing your job by correctly maintaining voter registries. Your response, “Yes, you’re right. Here are the documents” is not a step in the right direction.

Dewey Quong

Reno

Corrections

Re “Best of Northern Nevada” (cover story, Aug. 10):

The winner of the Best 4th of July fireworks display was incorrectly labeled as John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Ascuaga no longer owns the Nugget. The actual name of that fireworks show is “Star Spangled Sparks.

In our print edition, the winner of the best milkshake category was incorrect. The winner of this category was Scooper’s Drive-in, 1356 Prater Way, Sparks.

Our apologies for the errors.