To the Editor:
Second Opinion: Hypocrisy.
I concede that the Democratic Party has its own knuckleheads, certainly in Manchin and Sinema. That said, I came upon a saved video of a Trump rally in August 2021 where he was savaging President Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal. Trump was self-congratulating on being the architect of the end of the war, because “they [Biden] couldn’t stop the process.” Biden couldn’t extricate the US from the Taliban Agreement and couldn’t alter it either, and Trump was wicked proud of that. It was necessary, he argued, because the Afghanis, “could only last if we were there.” But he’s shocked that Biden didn’t DO "something."
Then there was Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) railing against the Biden administration for poor planning of civilian ally evacuations in Afghanistan. “Shame on Biden…every effort should have been made!” But two months before his theatrical outrage, Posey and many Repos had voted “No” on a Demo bill to expedite Afghani immigration visas to evacuate our allies (after it was discovered that Stephen Miller of the Trump administration had slow-walked the emergency visa process to avoid immigration of Afghanis and other non-white people). Counterfeit principle, outrage, and righteousness as a way of political life.
The former VP, Mike Pence, whose life was explicitly threatened on January 6, escaped down the back stairs with the nuclear “football.” Now, to salvage his last hope of being president someday, he genuflects and says, "I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January.” 9/11 was also just "one day" in September. It was so harmless that he fled that day in fear of “patriots,” now newly-refashioned from disciples of ludicrous conspiracy theories, fascist dogmas, and hatreds that may yet injure the country beyond repair. Apparently, no lie, no hypocrisy, no revision of history is too preposterous for the Trumpian political mind.
Likewise, the election audits in AZ, TX, etc. State elections officials have certified the 2020 results for Biden, and the auditors have concurred. But, because the AZ audit result went against Trump, that just had to be fraudulent, too. Trump Republicans will only accept results in their favor; all others are fraudulent. This is Trump’s obsession and he's tickled orange that a lot of Repos swallow it.
The Repos insist that President Biden's Administration has "failed" after 10 months. His program to kickstart the economy and make improvements in opportunities for Americans has already been declared DOA by Mitch McConnell. He wants to continue on in the same old way. The wealthy are doing fine and the biggest foes of government are on his side, anyway. The Repo way or no way. And yet, they have no plan to improve the lot of Americans.
Mitch McConnell vows he will not vote again to extend payment of federal debts (money already authorized for expenditure) or raise the debt ceiling in December. After McConnell sniffed over the lack of civility in the Senate (this is the same guy who obstructed two SCOTUS seats, not for any democratic purpose, but because he could), he was angered when Chuck Schumer called him out on his hypocrisy. Such is the statesmanship of the GOP. Personal squabbles are more important than the economy of the country. The Republicans propose nothing and they won't let anyone else try. And, unfortunately, a large portion of the electorate is fine with that and chooses it time and again.
The Constitution, 14th Amendment, Clause 4: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law...shall not be questioned." McConnell and cohorts intend to violate the Constitution, and place our economy in peril with regard to the debt ceiling. And blame someone else. Because of his bruised ego.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore

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To the Editor:
It’s finally on it’s way! The Fillmore Library Expansion Project was approved by the Supervisors on October 5, 2021 and will break ground in November. With donations from the County of Ventura, Friends of the Fillmore Library, the City of Fillmore’s Development Impact Fees, as well as the wonderful $1.5 California State Grant, the dream is now becoming a reality.
When completed Fillmore will have a modern public library. It will include a classroom, study rooms, Innovation/STEAM lab/meeting room, designated computer area, access to public laptops, a usable outdoor area, and so much more.
Construction will likely take eight months and due to the design the Library will be closed. But don’t fret. The County will see that the Mobile Library will make stops at City Hall Tuesday of each week. While inconvenient, the reward will bring a positive impact to Fillmore.
As the President of the Friends, we thank all who remained faithful to the mission and are proud to be a part of the new addition to the community.
Patti Walker
President, Fillmore Friends of the Library

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To the Editor:
How to fill the vacant council seat was discussed at last night’s council meeting. The first choice to be made was, do they want to appoint someone to fill the seat until the next regular election next year (basically, a 1-year term) or go to a special election in April (which would fill the seat for the remainder of Ari’s term).
The special election would cost the city just shy of $90,000 so all four council member expressed an appointment as the preferred action. They have until November 16th to fill the vacancy. If they are unable to come to an agreement by then, it goes to the special election by default.
The first suggestion made regarding an appointment was to select Carrie Broggie that night. If they had done that, it would have been over. Carrie would have been a good choice;
• She’s had experience as a council member and as Mayor.
• She’s currently serving as the Chair of the Planning Commission.
• She has a calm personality and is very balanced.
• She doesn’t make the position political.
Carrie would have been a good choice. Both the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tem agreed. But the two Marxists on the dais wouldn’t even consider it. They were both set on going through with a full appointment process, even though their “reasoning” was very weak. It was obvious from their reasons and from their dogged refusal to consider putting this behind the council last night that they have plans and will be putting up applicants themselves.
Since neither Lynn nor Christina would budge, Diane decided that this was not “a hill to die on.” Diane conceded to the full appointment process, so that’s what happens now.
The city will post the open seat today (10/13) and accept applications up until Oct. 21st. Whomever applies will go through the interview process;
• Each of the council members will provide two interview questions to the city attorney.
• She will compile them into a list of questions.
• The interviews will take place at a special council meeting on Tuesday, October 26th.
• Each applicant will be asked the same series of questions with a time limit set on responses.
• After all of the applicants have been interviewed, the council will open it up to a discussion amongst themselves.
• They will then nominate and vote on which applicant to select to fill the seat until November, 2022.
This will be a contentious process. Just deciding whether they should choose someone last night or go to a full interview process was causing a stalemate. Finding a candidate they can all (or, at least 3 of them) agree on will be very difficult. When this happens, I hope that Diane will feel that this is a hill to die on.
If they can’t come to agreement on the 26th, they’ve left it open to hold a few more special meetings prior to the deadline. No one wants to spend $90,000 to hold a special election, but we can’t let control of the council be taken by a Marxist majority with an extreme agenda or we will be headed down the same road we see the rest of the country on.
Tim Holmgren,
Fillmore