Florida becomes unbalanced, it’s time to go
I’ve been a resident of Florida for nearly 11 years.
This week I will close on the sale of my home and leave Florida in search of a new place to live − somewhere that feels more aligned with my values and more welcoming overall.
When I moved here, Florida was a purple state.
There was balance. There was dialogue and space for nuance.
Then-Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez poses with one of the state’s “Welcome to the Free State of Florida” highway signs, which were installed in 2024. A Herald-Tribune letter writer is planning to go in the opposite direction and leave Florida because it has become too extreme and restrictive.
Over the last decade, that balance has vanished, replaced by an aggressive political shift that prioritizes extremism over inclusion, party over people and personal gain over public good.
I can no longer live in a state whose leaders seem focused on imposing religion, accumulating wealth, protecting guns at all costs and stripping away the rights of anyone who doesn’t fit a narrow mold.
Interestingly, a recent poll from GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan’s own newsletter showed the top three priorities among respondents were:
Holding Trump accountable.
Addressing climate change.
Not guns. Not culture wars. Not the border. Not loyalty to a president or a party leader.
Floridians are paying attention. The question is, are our representatives?
It’s too late for me. I’m moving on. But I’ll be watching to see whether Florida finds its balance again.
Ami DeWille, Palmetto
Police and California National Guard officers sent by the president confront protesters June 9 outside a federal building in Los Angeles.
Democrats blame Trump for everything
California Gov. Gavin Newsom blaming President Donald Trump for the current Los Angeles rioting is typical Trump derangement syndrome thinking.
The pitiful Democratic Party constantly blames and attacks Trump on every issue.
Every day it’s “Trump, Trump, Trump.”
Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks next to President Donald Trump upon Trump’s arrival to tour areas impacted or destroyed by the southern California wildfires, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 24, 2025.
America is tired of hearing it!
That’s why the Democratic Party is so low in popularity.
It has lost America’s trust after gaslighting us about former President Joe Biden.
People realize the Dems are wrong on immigration, wrong on crime, wrong on supporting woke ideology and wrong on transgender people in women’s sports – thus losing support from African Americans, Hispanics, young people and senior citizens.
They offer nothing constructive for America: no new ideas, no nonpartisan across-the-aisle support of programs the American people elected Trump to put in place!
Just “Trump, Trump, Trump” 24/7!
When will they realize how wrong they are?
Bob Bolier, Sarasota
The National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution has attracted 3.5 million visitors since opening in 2016. As part of restoring “sanity” to U.S. history, President Donald Trump has ordered the removal of ideas based on race.
President trying to rewrite U.S. history
Our country has always supported arts and culture programs.
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower authorized funds to finance these activities as beneficial to all Americans.
President Donald Trump has significantly cut federal funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, PBS and NPR.
He has now created an executive order titled, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” casting the Smithsonian in a negative light and portraying many American values as harmful and oppressive.
Trump has put Vice President JD Vance in charge of removing ideas based on race, which Trump sees as inconsistent with federal laws and policy.
The Smithsonian is a global icon with 21 museums and libraries, 14 educational and research centers, the National Zoo and locations in several other states. It encompasses the full scope of American history and is a remarkable place for learning.
The American Historical Association, the largest group of professional historians in the world, has said that Trump’s order not only egregiously misrepresents the work of the Smithsonian but also misconstrues the nature of historical research.
Freedom of thought and learning is an integral part of our nation’s history and must be preserved and not politicized.
Sally Coler, Sarasota
U.S. under attack but we remain complacent
As a 100-year-old I remember being an active listener with my parents to CBS radio team member William L. Shirer reporting from Germany during the rise of Adolf Hitler from 1933 on.
The German people were complacent. Americans today are complacent. A new administration is wreaking havoc with the U.S. Constitution and the laws.
The preamble to the United States Constitution, at the top of an original signed official ratification copy of the Constitution, photographed Sept. 16, 2024. The document, which was discovered in a North Carolina filing cabinet in 2022, will be auctioned Sept. 28th.
The Pledge of Allegiance states that we are “… one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” How often is this said complacently without meaning?
A relationship to God, what does it mean?
People of faith might look to the Bible to ask what God requires of us.
The Prophet Micah says God makes it plain how to live, do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.
In Matthew 25:36 we are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, provide a home for the homeless, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and prisoners.
Where is the love, justice, compassion and mercy evidenced by the present administration.
President Donald Trump shows no patience or kindness toward anyone with whom he disagrees.
There is no freedom.
Wake up, America!
We are heading in the same direction as Germany under Hitler. Our democracy is under attack.
Rev. Dr. Marg E. Towner, retired Presbyterian pastor, Sarasota
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida is too red, too extreme for me | Letters