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Who is DEI hire Trump
blames for crash?

Donald Trump’s latest effort to place the blame on the Biden administration’s DEI program was again without factual background.

Following along Trump’s argument, the question remains who was the DEI hire that was responsible for the terrible air disaster in Washington D.C.? The helicopter pilot, the American Airlines pilot, the air traffic controller — who?

Harry Truman said, “The buck stops here.” Since Trump was president at the time of the crash, perhaps he should have been focusing more on the problem of the inadequate number of air traffic controllers than on renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

Robert Feigelson
Saratoga

Test score stories should
pick new benchmark

Re: “State students lag peers in U.S.” (Page A1, Jan. 30).

In the news story, the gap between Hispanic and White students’ test scores was mentioned along with the gap between Black and White students’ test scores. This leaves the impression that Whites are the race/ethnicity with the highest test scores when it’s actually Asians. For example, the 2024 average 8th-grade NAEP reading score for Asians was 282 and for Whites, it was 267. The gap between math scores was even higher.

This wouldn’t in any way diminish the story of the struggle to improve student abilities in reading and math. But making Asians the benchmark would more clearly reflect the actual gap between the highest and lowest performing students.

Also, Silicon Valley is no longer White majority or plurality. In our area, there are more Asians than Whites.

David Baldwin
Santa Clara

$25M settlement should
pay for Jan. 6 damage

Re: “Meta to pay Trump $25M to settle suit” (Page C9, Jan. 30).

This payment is an outrage. Donald Trump encouraged his followers to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and they caused millions of dollars of damage to our Capitol. His inability to accept defeat cost the taxpayers. The funds associated with suspending his Facebook and Instagram accounts should be allocated to paying for the damages he caused.

How does one justify rewarding this unconscionable behavior that resulted in death, injury and destruction to federal property? The added insult of pardoning those responsible for this insurrection should highlight the fact that this person has no regard for law or justice.

Pay the $25 million to the federal government to cover the damages.

M. Joyce
Los Altos

Biden’s calm negotiation
over Trump’s bluster

Re: “Biden’s feckless policy lengthened Gaza war” (Page A6, Jan. 28).

Has it ever occurred to the letter-writer that the hostages were kept alive because of the very intense negotiations of the Biden administration aimed entirely at their safety and release while Israel was decimating Gaza, Hamas, and the Hezbollah Hamas sympathizers in Lebanon?

Note to everyone around me: If I ever get kidnapped by a terrorist group, please be certain not to have a swashbuckler at the table negotiating for my safety and release. I will put my faith and trust for my safety and release in a “feckless” policymaker like President Biden over a one-dimensional thinker like Donald Trump.

Guy Vigier
San Jose

Democrats must
moderate views to win

Re: “Democrats are still divisive about abortion” (Page A6, Jan. 30).

Frank Barry’s opinion piece is spot on. If Democrats want to win elections they can’t afford to force extreme positions on topics where the country is clearly divided.

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• Per Bill Clinton, abortions should be safe, legal and rare.

• Clear laws on immigration and deportation for those who don’t comply with and break our laws seems consistent with jail time for those who attacked police on Jan. 6.

• Passports with just two gender designations are not the end of the world.

• The U.S. energy portfolio is an evolving mix of fossil and renewable sources. No one source is the enemy.

Forcing extreme progressive positions has resulted in Donald Trump as our 47th president and health care, the environment, truth and freedom under attack.

Tom Calderwood
Los Gatos