Letters: Questions for judge candidate; Americans deserve whole story
Questions for judge candidate
In an Oct. 27, 2009 endorsement that appeared in the CDT, Julia Rater described former District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller as someone with “high values and morals.” Rater also said that “Our faith in the local criminal justice system will be restored with Parks Miller as district attorney.” Before she earns my vote for Centre County Judge, I would like to know if she still stands by that assessment of the former DA? I would also like to know if she still stands by her support of the invasion of Iraq? Rater is running for an office of high trust. Voters deserve answers. Candidates should welcome questions. Just look to New York and the recent revelations with Congressman Santos as an example of what happens when candidates are not vetted and scrutinized. If Rater continues to remain silent, I believe Democrats deserve a better choice.
Americans deserve whole story
Elon Musk deserves praise for releasing internal Twitter communications showing the attempt by the FBI and other organizations to censor the release of information on the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian disinformation in October 2020. This was done even though the FBI had the laptop in its possession for a year before the 2020 election and knew the information on the laptop was authentic and not disinformation. The FBI was also joined by 51 former intelligence officials who claimed the laptop contained Russian disinformation. These claims have been proven false.
Other social media and mainstream companies blocked the Hunter Biden laptop story prior to the 2020 election. These same media companies have failed to report fully on the recent Twitter internal communications released by Elon Musk. These communications show the extent of the attempted cover-up.
The latest Twitter communications dump shows the FBI involvement with censorship continued right up to the recent midterm election on other topics as well.
Our constitutional republic cannot function with government censorship and a mainstream media that doesn’t report the good and bad from both sides of the political spectrum. Continued blocking of the Hunter Biden laptop story and everything involved in the cover-up is a clear case of attack on our freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. The American people deserve to know the whole story.
Disastrous year for women’s rights
Year 2022 was a disaster for individual privacy rights because the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Today’s American women have no right to regulate their own bodies because politicians and the government now do so. The hypocritical political party that has advocated against abortion rights has now achieved its goal to allow government to police the American bedroom. (Recall that, during a pandemic, the Republican party battled vehemently against mandated government masks and vaccinations, arguing that violated individual rights!) Now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed, we may thank the Supreme Court for killing women who need dead fetuses surgically removed but are unable to receive that treatment due to the court ruling. Justice Samuel Alito’s decision, which was prepared for the majority of extreme far-right Republican Supreme Court justices, was soundly and universally condemned by the worldwide medical community. The overall number of maternal deaths will increase by 24% now that women in the United States no longer have a Constitutional right to abortion. For Black women this number is significantly worse as their mortality rate is expected to increase by 39%. Maternal fatalities are expected to rise in Florida (29%), Georgia (29%) and Michigan (25%). Maternal mortality is now anticipated to rise by 25% in areas like New Mexico, which borders states opposed to abortion and now acts as a haven for care. Let’s all thank Republicans for this despicable achievement. Be sure to remember it at the next election.