Sunday letters: Convention protests; government obstructing repair projects

I agree with Mark Patinkin’s observation that, like during the Vietnam War, today’s anti-war protesters at times work against their own effectiveness by going beyond peaceful protests (“Sometimes protesters undercut own goals,” News, Aug. 21).  He was making a parallel with the current pro-Palestinian protest outside of the Democratic National Convention, and actions of anti-war protest during the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention.
Mr. Patinkin tells of heartbreak that he and many felt with the political assassinations, including one of his heroes, Sen. Robert Kennedy, who seemed a presidential winner who would try to end a most inhuman war in Southeast Asia.
I question Mr. Patinkin’s definition of the protesters as “anti-Israel.” Indeed, many protesters want the war to end and a creation of an independent Palestinian state and the ending of America’s unrestrained military support aiding in the massacre of Gaza’s residents. The photo printed with the story says as much.
Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-Jordanian immigrant, shot and killed RFK in the Ambassador Hotel, where Senator Kennedy was speaking after winning the California primary.
Sirhan admitted to the killing and told that his motivation was Kennedy’s commitment to support the Zionists and to send 50 bomber aircraft to Israel. Sirhan knew those bombers would be used against the Palestinians, thus his action.
Some scholars identify this Kennedy killing as the first major violent political action in the U.S. regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Walter Thorne, Providence
It took just two months to restore the shipping channel to Baltimore harbor after predicting it could take years in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. 
On a much smaller scale we have the erosion of the Charlestown Breachway and a serious problem on the flow of vital seawater to the health of Ninigret Pond (“Bottled up,” News, Aug. 22). The need of constant flow for the habitat of this saltwater pond is unquestioned. 
The ability of the state of Rhode Island to deal with this situation is again, as with the Washington Bridge failure in Providence, in serious doubt in any reasonable timeframe. 
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has earmarked $5 million in the next congressional budget and the breachway stays unsafe for boaters and affects shellfish farms as well. 
What did they do in the Baltimore shipping channel to accomplish the impossible in 10 weeks that we are not doing here with the bridge or breachway? 
The government got out of the way!
They did not take months to write the specifications and regulations for how to remove and dispose of the debris, weeks to receive and evaluate alternative bids, obtain approvals from Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, Coastal Management boards, appropriation of funds, etc., etc.
Turn a qualified contractor loose on fixing the breachway collapse and it will be done in weeks, not months or years. And for less than $5 million.
Bruce Losty, Charlestown
I was quoted in a Providence Journal article reporting a City Planning Commission (CPC) review of a proposed ordinance change weakening the moratorium on new self-storage buildings (“Why business owners want Providence to rethink its ban on new self-storage,” News, Aug. 22).
It seems I object because the LifeStorage building on Harris Avenue caused noise issues for our home, but that was just one example of how the CPC fails residents.
The moratorium asserts housing as better use of these properties, whereas most people see these buildings as eyesores, but it is so much worse than that.
You might see these new multi-story buildings hundreds of times while driving on Routes 95 or 10/6. They are fronted with windows with painted garage doors inside that are intensely lighted all night. But you have never seen any garage doors open or anyone in front of them. They are fake. The narrow space behind the windows is for climate control, not people. The fake doors are only for branding.
By definition, they are window signs that violate the signage limit to 25% of the glass area. They violate material restrictions enhancing light emission. They are fully lit from dusk to dawn, violating brightness regulations.
The ordinance changes are proposed by the owner of a building older than the zoning ordinances, which only apply when the building changes. Non-conformance is addressed by variance applications, so changing the ordinance is unnecessary and creates a loophole for owners of the new buildings.
I object because the CPC historically fails to foresee unintended consequences.
John Heaney, Rumford
For years, Democrats and their handmaidens in the liberal media have loudly, angrily, and repeatedly condemned so-called “election deniers,” people who publicly cast doubt on the legitimacy of our elections. We have been told over and over again by these people that election deniers are “existential threats to American democracy” who should not be allowed anywhere near elective politics.
Yet, appearing onstage as a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention was vanquished presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, herself one of the nation’s most notorious election deniers. We would do well to remember that on multiple occasions Mrs. Clinton publicly declared, without evidence, that Donald Trump was an “illegitimate” president and that the election had been stolen from her. Worse, Mrs. Clinton was one of the main bad actors responsible for the launch, promotion, and amplification of the Russian collusion hoax, one of the most insidious and anti-democratic smear campaigns ever attempted in Beltway political history. 
So just why did Democrats choose to use their party’s own convention to showcase a person who has engaged in the very behavior that they’ve repeatedly condemned? Who knows. Maybe Democrats are just plain, well, “weird.”
Michael J. DiStefano, Jamestown
In an Aug. 25 letter, “Socialism or free market economy,” Richard J. August declares that the Harris-Walz ticket is “the most radically left ticket of a major political party in the history of this republic.” 
After demeaning and misrepresenting the Harris campaign, Mr. August describes the choice to be made in November as being between continuing as a constitutional republic with a free market economy, or a socialist state featuring central planning.
However, the choice is, more accurately, between a Democrat, Kamala Harris, and a Republican, Donald Trump.
The writer has quite a few things to say about VP Harris, but the name of his preferred candidate is not even mentioned. Many voters, particularly those who revere and support our military, will find it difficult to admit preference for Trump, who calls our fallen and wounded heroes “losers”  and “suckers” and equates the Medal of Honor to awards given to political contributors.
The choice on Nov. 5 is not a clash of ideologies or about differing systems of governance. It is between an experienced prosecutor/politician, who loves her country, and the lowest ranked president in our history, a felon, whose love for himself trumps all else. A clear choice, an easy choice.
John F. Hagan, West Warwick
Jack and Bobby are rolling in their graves.
Michael J. Clarke, Tiverton