Disturbing behavior near ZA Pizza

I witnessed an event on Wednesday, Aug. 27, that was disturbing at the time, but even more so when I later heard of the murder of children in Minneapolis.

I was a patron of a business near ZA Pizza and saw high school boys loading water pistols to go into ZA and squirt a target. The conversation and their glee after returning to the blue Subaru afterward was disturbing. I understand youthful joking and play, but not on this issue. Ever.

Karen Daul, Glenwood Springs

The real crime wave is at the White House

There’s a crime wave in Washington, D.C., but it’s not taking place in the streets. It’s centered in the White House, where laws are being shredded, sometimes quasi-legally, like a felon pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

Republicans tough on crime? What about the corporations that don’t pay their taxes, the pedophiles in the Epstein report, the blatant ICE policies that round up legal residents?

Trump wants to look tough, so he calls in the National Guard to a Democratically controlled city with violent crime at a 30-year low so that trees can be mulched and litter picked up. Let the National Guard go home to their families and rehire the federal workers who used to have these jobs.

Everything about this administration is a distraction from the disastrous job they are doing. It’s obvious, because Republicans wouldn’t be so panicked about redistricting if they thought they had the support of Americans.

Peter Westcott, Carbondale

Flags at half-staff are not enough

This last mass shooting in Minneapolis has really bothered me. As Jacob Frey, mayor of Minneapolis, said, “Thoughts and prayers are great, but they’re not enough.” I’m saying, “Flags at half-staff are great, but they’re not enough.”

A few days ago, Donald Trump said, “I can do anything I want. I’m president of the United States.”

OK, Donald. With your penchant for writing executive orders, maybe you can write one more. Sign your name to a ban on assault weapons.

Keven Goodwin, Carbondale

Praise for the Post Independent

Since I’m using Siri dictate, this will be a stream-of-consciousness letter to the editor, because I’m reading the PI while eating breakfast and felt compelled to give it kudos.

I am pleased to read the Post Independent these days. You are covering state issues with your own reporters instead of relying on wire services; your reporters are writing well-rounded stories with skill. I know that a lot of people think this newspaper is not the best, but I think that it has improved enormously over the last year.

It has to do with your reporters and their quality of writing and their passion for journalism, but it also has to do with the leadership at the PI. Having been a reporter for decades, I can appreciate this. Congrats to the PI for improving so markedly. Keep it up!

Annie Uyehara, Glenwood Springs

Trump’s hypocrisy on crime

I don’t often — if ever — agree with the current president, but he’s correct about crime in Washington, D.C. On inauguration day, he granted pardons and commutations to about 1,500 individuals convicted or charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. No sign of the National Guard to curtail that criminal activity encouraged by you know who.

There is a convicted felon, guilty of 34 felonies and two civil crimes including sexual assault and defamation, living in D.C. Not to mention the tax fraud civil case he was convicted of for lying about the values of his properties in New York City. Add to that filing six bankruptcies to avoid paying the creditors to whom he owed money. There’s also three marriages, two to immigrants, all of which he cheated on.

The irony of all this is from numerous sources, including HuffPost: New guidance from the Trump administration gives federal officers more leeway to reject citizenship applications on the basis of individuals lacking “good moral character.” That criteria, which has long been a part of citizenship evaluations, has typically been satisfied if a person doesn’t have a history of violence or unlawful conduct. So, based on that, Trump wouldn’t qualify to be a naturalized citizen if he wasn’t born here. But the GOP doesn’t understand irony or hypocrisy.

On Thursday, the draft-dodger-in-chief had the gall to “patrol” D.C. with the National Guard. He has stated that restaurant occupancy has increased since he ordered the National Guard into the city. This is an outright lie. Trump announced the authoritarian occupation on Monday, and OpenTable reservations have decreased by more than 30%, according to MSNBC.

On one other note, it is interesting that for more than 10 years he and Epstein were best friends. Now he and Putin are besties. Don’t tell me he doesn’t know their histories — especially what Jeffrey Epstein was doing.

Now he’s effectively illegally taken over D.C. and is threatening Chicago. Yes, D.C. has a crime problem. He’s living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Craig Chisesi, Rifle