Kudos to Charles Auchinleck and David Kahn of Boca Raton and to Sun Sentinel readers for looking at the $148 million diverging diamond interchange in Boca Raton and reaching the same conclusion: It was a blunder of monumental proportions. Traffic is worse than before the project began.
If you want to improve traffic flow, don’t have a long row of cars pass directly across the path of another. Duh. Why not have them go over and under each other with no traffic lights? For $148 million, surely that was within reach.
I knew there was a reason I moved to Boca Raton. It’s where the smart people live.
Martin Reichenthal, Boca Raton
On sex and gender, more harm than good
I don’t understand why Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans want to ban teaching matters related to gender and sexuality in public schools.
The way their bills are worded, the bans would affect all issues related to gender and sexuality — not just gay or transgender people. Banning education related to gender and sexuality could mean kindergarten students cannot make Mother’s Day or Father’s Day cards, middle-school kids can’t learn about the reproductive systems in science class, students cannot learn about family relationships and gender roles and teachers cannot discuss how to deal with sexual harassment, gender discrimination or sexual abuse.
Banning gender and sexuality education does more harm than good. Let teachers and school boards determine appropriate school curricula, based on sound pedagogical research, not politics or fear mongering. Let our government focus on real problems like drug abuse, poverty, pollution, and public safety.
Allan Barsky, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
‘Free’ only if you agree
I thought there could be no one worse than Donald Trump in American politics. I was wrong. It’s DeSantis.
That he’s being touted as the Republicans’ next best hope fills me with horror. Trump didn’t know anything about the inner workings of government before he became president. DeSantis does. He’s been in politics since 2013 as a congressman and now governor. In Congress, he founded the Freedom Caucus, a hardline faction of the Republican Party.
As governor, he turned Florida into his personal fiefdom where he rules, with no opposition from the lapdog super-majority Legislature. He touts freedom as a major achievement during COVID when he kept businesses and schools open and downplayed vaccinations and masks, which I’m sure resulted in many needless illnesses and deaths. His mantra is freedom, but Florida is only free to those who support his policies, not anyone who disagrees with him, whom he fires, demotes or punishes. He has imposed his will on all aspects of life to appeal to his Republican base. His authoritarianism poses a real danger. He should be stopped before he can damage the country as he has Florida.
Dianne Golder, West Palm Beach
DeSantis is a real drag
What’s next for our anti-LBGTQ governor? I’m surprised he didn’t try to ban Tootsie (about a man pretending to be a woman) at the Kravis Center.
Will he ban Milton Berle and Flip Wilson TV reruns where they dressed as women? How about Some Like it Hot, with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as cross-dressers? Let’s not forget Mrs. Doubtfire — or Yentl, with a girl pretending to be a boy.
Hilary Sinberg, Delray Beach
Not fit to govern
Bill Nelson lost his Senate seat in 2018 to a corrupt businessman, Rick Scott, and it’s been downhill since. Now another Republican has lowered the bar for leadership: Ron DeSantis.
This state can be proud of so much more than sunshine and orange juice. Enrique Tarrio and others who pleaded guilty to the Jan. 6 insurrection were from Florida. The highest per capita death rate from COVID at times was in Florida. Some of the lowest teacher salaries are in Florida.
DeSantis has not sufficiently decried the antisemitism and racism in Florida. Banning books, interfering in education and ending a woman’s right to reproductive freedom are hallmarks of his agenda. Wake up, Floridians. This man is not fit to govern our state. If the former president endangered democracy, DeSantis poses a much greater threat.
Dr. Howard Olarsch, Boynton Beach
