Gratitude for Police

The killing of 5 police officers and the wounding of even more in Dallas has really shaken me. I can only imagine the grief the families of those officers are feeling. As folks who risk all enforcing our laws and protecting the public, it’s hard to overstate the importance of police officers. As a resident of Bath, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the Bath Police officers, the Sagadahoc sheriff deputies, Maine state troopers and police everywhere who patrol our streets every day and night. Thank you so much for everything you do.

Ethan Jones,
Bath

What’s 2 Cents?

The Boston Globe has a conservative opinion writer, Jeff Jacoby, who still writes a weekly column for them. Years ago a reader responded to one of his articles saying that Jacoby “never met a point that he could not miss.” The Times Record has an opinion writer with similar qualities. Last week he wrote that Maine did not need background checks on gun sales because Maine has a relatively low number of gun related incidents or deaths. What he does not mention is that criminals, those mentally unstable and others from states with rigid gun laws and back ground checks, can come to gun shows held here in Maine and purchase guns of any type — including hand guns and assault rifles — without any back ground check. They then can go back to their home state, or any other, and resell them without any record.

These days, two cents is not worth very much.

Lorrel Nichols,
Brunswick

Two Sets of Rules

Does anyone still doubt that Hillary Clinton is a reckless, scheming liar who endangered the nation’s security for her personal convenience? How many more lies will Hillary tell us before gullible Americans realize that she — like her husband — is a habitual, unrepentant liar who is incapable of telling the truth?

After “systematically dismantling” (from the Washington Post) a laundry list of conflicting lies that Hillary brazenly told the American people over the past 16 months about her unauthorized use of a personal email server, the Director of the FBI puzzlingly announced that he would not recommend that criminal charges be brought against her. His decision raises more questions than it does answers.

In his 15-minute statement to the media, Director Comey demolished Hillary’s evasions and lies, leading us to conclude that she would be indicted for breaking the law — specifically, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 793 (f) of the Federal Code, for “gross negligence,” the standard for prosecution in the handling and storage of classified information. Nowhere does that statute mention intent. He conceded that Hillary and her subordinates were “extremely careless” in their handling of such classified information. What’s the difference between “extremely careless” and “gross negligence”? (If you leave your child in a car with the windows closed on a warm day, you may be charged with extreme carelessness even though you intended no harm.) Intent is irrelevant.

The Director also said that: “To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who is not engaged in this activity (careless or negligent in the handling of classified information) would have no consequences.”

That statement is troubling because it officially confirms what we already know: there are two sets of rules, one for the Clintons and another for the rest of us.

Walter Eno,
Scarborough