Letters and feedback: Dec. 14, 2019
Ponce de Leon and local history
County Commissioner John Tobia’s refusal to embrace Melbourne Beach as the true landing spot for Juan Ponce de Leon’s 1513 voyage leading to the discovery of Florida is an insult to our local residents who worked so hard to bring real history to light in our own backyard. The evidence justifying Juan Ponce de Leon Landing Park was convincingly laid out in the writings of Douglas T. Peck when he re-sailed Juan Ponce’s route in his own sailboat in 1990.
While too lengthy to detail here, essentially Peck discovered the “cape” referred to by Ponce in his log was not Cape Canaveral. Instead it was the false cape on the north side of Lake Worth Inlet to which Ponce was referring, where the Gulf Stream is only one to two miles offshore.
We know this because while Ponce was anchored near shore at the “cape," he made the accidental discovery of the Gulf Stream when it swept his third ship, which was only a little further from shore and still within sight, away to the north in water too deep to anchor in. They waited two days for this third boat to return.
It is only at Lake Worth Inlet where the Gulf Stream is so close to land where this could have occurred. At Cape Canaveral the Gulf Stream is over 20 miles offshore, with depths shallow enough to anchor in for miles.
As for Mr. Tobia, Einstein was often credited with saying that condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.
Bruce Morgan, Melbourne Beach
Trump's victories speak volumes
Regarding responses to our Nov. 23 letter on the impeachment inquiry: Actions speak louder than words.
Mitch McConnell is holding back bills that have passed in the House. But, there are good reasons. Among these, there is not enough support for partisan bills in the Republican Senate. However, the USMCA is in a unique category. This bill has been purposefully held without action by Nancy Pelosi for over a year despite bipartisan support and full support of the American people. This has delayed the creation of many jobs for American workers. Now Pelosi "pulls the rabbit out of the hat" while simultaneously announcing articles of impeachment against President Trump — all in an effort to show us Democrats can "walk and chew gum at the same time," another obvious lie.
As for Trump's supposed 13,000 lies, who is accusing him — the Democrats and their surrogates at MSNBC and CNN?
Why not let Trump's accomplishments speak for themselves?
No. 1, tax cuts for middle-class American workers. No. 2, reducing unnecessary regulations on small businesses. No. 3, signing the First Step Act criminal justice reform into law. And No. 4, signing the USMCA Trade Agreement, replacing NAFTA.
Surely we can all agree to throw our pride and differences aside and work together for the good of our families and our fellow Americans. Finally, we have a president who keeps his promises.
Pat Moore-Carroll, Tom Boyle, Sylvia Spar and Paula Estridge, Melbourne
Editor's note:The letter writers are members of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee.
'Midway' opens eyes to current affairs
The other day I went to see the movie "Midway." Though I know almost nothing about our naval history, I was so engrossed, I forgot to eat my candy. At the end of the movie they showed subsequent military biographies of the men who planned, fought in and survived the battle. I cried as I read those biographies and thought about the heroism of those men. And I cried because I believe our current commander in chief is a profoundly evil man. I believe it has been shown in the congressional hearings that he used the threat of withholding our tax dollars to coerce a foreign power to investigate a political rival and a private citizen. In spite of 70 requests for documents and witnesses to his behavior, the White House has produced none. I hope members of Congress think long and hard about the oath they took to defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.
In addition to actions that lead to those articles of impeachment, President Trump was fined $25 million dollars for defrauding innocent people who believed in him through his fake university. He was recently fined another $2 million dollars for misuse of funds donated to his charity.
If President Trump is not impeached, convicted and removed from office by the Senate or does not resign for the good of the country, please consider carefully your vote in November 2020. Is this the man you want to continue to represent the United States of America?
Patricia W. Snyder, Merritt Island