Trump administration has been embarrassing and divisive. Our answer is: vote | Opinion

Can’t speak? Vote!

In today’s world, it is difficult to decipher truth from fabricated hearsay. Falsehoods are often supported by artificial intelligence and prompted by extremists with an agenda promoting divisiveness and hatred.

A recent White House social media post depicted the heads of a former president and first lady on the bodies of apes. I assumed it was just another AI meme created by a pathetic extremist. When the post was confirmed as having come from the White House, I was beyond shocked and disgusted!

I do not publicly comment on politics or religion. Those are personal choices and I respect a person’s right to make them as long as they are not forced upon me and are respectful of others. However, this has nothing to do with politics or religion and everything to do with human decency, civility, respect and morality, all of which have been ignored and desecrated.

There is not enough space on this platform to list everything this administration has done that is despicable and contradicts so many of the qualities that represent the hope and dreams of so many born here and those wishing to be here. As the son and grandson of immigrants, I have seen those hopes and dreams come to fruition. Yet, I am sickened about where we are today.

I try my best to not comment and further fuel the hatred, however, as famed philosopher, Plato, said, “Silence gives consent.” In the same tone, Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”

I understand people’s hesitancy to speak out due to fear of retribution. However, I hope those who are against this type of authoritarian control will voice their opposition — anonymously — by exercising their right to vote during the midterm elections.

History will look back at this administration as one of the most embarrassing and divisive. I hope history will also show that the American people and the values on which this country was built were able to overcome the divisiveness and hatred and return to the symbol of hope, pride, resiliency and compassion that defines true greatness.

Ron Magill,

West Kendall

Worst senator award

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott recently said that any American Olympic athlete who says they are not supportive of the policies of our government should be stripped of their Olympic uniform, even though those athletes are exercising their First Amendment rights.

Scott voted against certifying the free and fair 2020 election. He has no right to be critical of anyone who believes in the rule of law. Apparently, he is just another Republican who believes in the right of free hypocrisy.

Glenn Huberman,

Miami

Affordable healthcare

The Feb. 3 online article, “It’s 2026, and you’re uninsured. Now what?” shared useful information for those without health insurance. Despite the proliferation of app-based services and the unfortunate waning of telehealth post-pandemic, healthcare remains local.

Fortunately, Miami-Dade County’s uninsured and underprivileged can secure free healthcare including primary care services, chronic disease management, cancer screenings, prescription assistance, patient education and specialist referrals. For more than 30 years, the nonprofit St. John Bosco Clinic has acted as a medical home for the underserved, supported by dedicated staff and a cadre of volunteer providers. The value of free clinics benefits not only patients, their families and their employers, but also society by lowering the overall cost of care.

The clinic also participates in an ER diversion data project led by the Florida Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, to demonstrate the impact free clinics have on reducing unnecessary emergency room visits, improving patient care and lowering healthcare costs.

These clinics rely on donations and community generosity to help reduce healthcare disparities for the growing number of individuals and families affected by the increasing cost of insurance and are unable to afford out-of-pocket costs. As a society, when we help lift those who find themselves less fortunate, we all win.

Tara Auclair,

director of development,

SSJ Health Foundation,

Miami

Extra income

If you ever wonder how the rich get richer in America, you need look no further than Florida House Bill 313, which would prevent local governments from enforcing any type of restrictive zoning ordinance, thus allowing unregulated building on private property. This proposal is ostensibly geared toward allowing “granny flats,” an idea which seems rather innocuous at first glance.

In an unlikely coincidence, strikingly similar measures are being proposed nationwide by so-called “fair housing advocates.” These advocates appear regularly on NPR and in national publications extolling the virtues of stuffing dense housing into neighborhoods whose transportation and utility infrastructure is insufficient to allow any such thing.

The result of all this is a win-win situation for developers, as it allows them the unfettered ability to do what they do best — overbuild. This entire scheme appears to be a case of pro-development forces using unwitting members of a do-good movement to do their heavy lifting.

Before the rest of us do-gooders blindly support this proposal, we’d better consider the real consequences.

Francis Ucci,

Palmetto Bay

Pull the plug

President Trump said he disliked the Super Bowl Halftime show. That means he watched it.

I suggest Trump do what I do when something on TV offends me (like when he spreads his vile messages). I turn the TV off.

Miles Wooley,

Kendall

Park’s purpose

For more than 30 years, we have gathered at Miami’s Merrie Christmas Park on Super Bowl Sunday morning to honor a friend who perished in the Himalayas in 1994. The day coincides with his birthdate. It is a tradition of remembrance, friendship and enjoyment of a public park.

There was never an issue — until this year. A city of Miami police officer instructed us to leave because our cars were parked illegally.

“No Parking or Standing” signs ring the park’s perimeter. As a result, the park is inaccessible except for those residents who live within walking distance or if a visitor knows someone nearby.

When a public park has no practical way to access it, it ceases to be a true public space. Restricting all adjacent parking may lighten traffic flow on the adjacent street, but it excludes the people this park is meant to serve.

Miami is known for beautiful public spaces and careful planning. Surely, there is a more balanced solution that preserves neighborhood order while allowing public access. This restriction makes the park functionally inaccessible.

Jordan H. Kaiser,

Weston

Erasing history?

If I offered you a million dollars to name five public schools named after a person, would you walk away a millionaire?

Hopefully.

I also hope one of the schools that might come to mind is Lenora B. Smith Elementary School. Smith wasn’t just any historical figure — she was my grandmother.

She was not only the first Black Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) but also in Florida. Yet, long before those honors, her family was forced off their own land — called “Railroad Shop” — through racist application of eminent domain so that the city could build an all-white school: Allapattah Elementary. More than 70 years later, in 2003, that same school was renamed in her honor.

Today, MDCPS is considering closing Lenora B. Smith Elementary and several other schools in underprivileged minority neighborhoods, citing declining enrollment through its Attendance Boundary Committee. What was once taken from her family now faces the threat of being taken again, this time through bureaucratic erasure rather than legal force. My grandmother’s legacy and the history it represents must not be quietly erased.

Derrell Parker,

Miami