Needs seasoning
Regarding “Beto O’Rourke enters 2020 race attempting bipartisan appeal” (HoustonChronicle.com, Thursday):
Beto O’Rourke’s decision to run for president demonstrates he does not have a sense of political reality. Had he run for and won a seat in the U.S. Senate, he would have had at least two years to establish himself on the national stage as a credible political leader worthy of presidential consideration. For me, he is going down the same path to political oblivion as, say, Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin.
To use a World War II metaphor, he should have realized that, before crossing the Rhine to invade Germany, he needed to first cross the English Channel to invade France.
Brian L. Hope, College Station
Keeping it real
Regarding “Life stories — not sermons — guide nontraditional Gilead Church” (Belief, Sunday): I’ve been reading the Houston Chronicle for over 50 years. Unless I overlooked something, I never saw profanity in print, at least none of a scatological nature. Last Sunday, a story about a non-traditional church in the Belief section, of all places, brought me up to date on what I’ve been missing.
According to one decidedly non-traditional minister, “Every story is a God story . . .(including) the s***** stories.”
Did a copy editor overlook the word, or have standards changed overnight? If the latter, be prepared for a barrage of letters from those unable to formulate a single thought without resorting to profanity.
Patrick Hubbell, Houston
Broken trust
Regarding “Broken Trust” (Front page, Sunday): For some time, I have wondered why Gov. Greg Abbott has spent so much time and money trying to unseat Sarah Davis, a fellow Republican. Abbott even went so far as to bankroll a longtime friend to defeat her in the 2018 GOP primary.
After reading “Broken Trust,” outlining all the cronyism-filling positions, rewarding donors with sweet management deals and real estate purchases and sales to connected developers, it all makes sense. Davis, a Texas House member from Houston, committed the unpardonable sin; she tried to get ethics reform legislation passed by the House and Senate. She even went so far as to try to get it added to the special session agenda called by Abbott. Of course, he denied her request.
Thank you for connecting the dots.
John Shupe, Houston
Student loans
Regarding “Cheats and prospering: Wealthy snared in college bribery scandal ” (Front page, Thursday): According to the story, the real victims are the hardworking students who were displaced. These students are the real victims in another way, too. They come out of college with monster debt because lenders make a killing.
My college senior daughter went to a seminar on repaying her loans and realized that her loans will probably cost her and us plenty. The fact that this isn’t abnormal is the real sin in higher education.
It is beyond me that someone running for president doesn’t simply say that their platform includes 15 years of interest-free repayment of college loans. Probably every middle-class parent in the country would vote for them. And with all the absurd programs our government currently spends money on, this is possible!
M. Donnelly, Pearland