During the NFL preseason, the 49ers and the Raiders played their annual exhibition game. Fighting erupted in the stands. There must have been a spontaneous reaction as fights broke out in several locations.
How do we teach an out-of-control few to behave and send a message to our youth? This is where the NFL can take the lead. They should contact the law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over the stadium. They should request that the state attorneys general and local district attorneys prosecute each participant in fighting at sports stadiums to the fullest extent of the law.
This means a charge of inciting a riot should be leveled against all fighters, regardless of their status. This is one of the most grievous and potentially dangerous situations, with infirm people, women and children having the potential of being seriously hurt.
Michael Jordan
Roseville
Lee has wrong priorities
Mayor Ed Lee told a news conference that the two power outages at the Monday night 49ers game were a “national embarrassment”? The only national embarrassment is a mayor whose priorities are out of whack. Public safety concerns are more than embarrassing, and PG&E is a national embarrassment all its own.
With all the black marks against this city — from homelessness, beggars, trash everywhere, poorly maintained streets, crime and more — a couple of transformers failing is hardly a national issue.
I just hope that when I run for mayor, I don’t make any ignorant comments. And by the way, I’ll be shocked if you publish this.
Jan Naftulin
San Francisco
Bad ideas in great city
Does San Francisco need less ideology? I think we need more impartial analysis of what actually happens when some heavily ideological law is passed without adequate review by City Hall and media.
San Francisco has been a national pioneer in many ways, such as Healthy San Francisco, the health care program for low-income people. And its response to the early AIDS crisis became an international model.
Are ranked-choice voting and the San Francisco Bicycle Plan things we want to see replicated elsewhere? At a time when banks are bailed out, but people losing their homes are not, can we find a smarter way to use our resources — monetary and otherwise — for community good?
Fiona McGregor
San Francisco
Perry isn’t fit to lead
Not only is Republican (still!) presidential hopeful Rick Perry unable to remember which governmental agencies he wants to eliminate if given the chance, but he is unaware of the U.S. legal voting age and the date of the next election. He hasn’t even grasped that the Supreme Court must have an odd number of judges to avoid deadlocks.
Imagine Perry sitting down with a foreign leader and asking, “What’s your name again?” or, “Where’s your country again?” Although rapidly falling in favor, there are still a number of Republicans who appear to think he is presidential material.
Jorg Aadahl
San Mateo
Respect other nations
As Bambi’s mother chided, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” I think our government officials should not make public statements disparaging leaders — even dictators — of other sovereign nations when they die.
It would be better to put on a happy face and try for a new beginning with an opening for improved relations than we had with the dead autocrat.
William J. Coburn
San Francisco
