Letters: Berrios complies with court ruling

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Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

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The Dec. 7  Sun-Times editorial (“Berrios should heed court, clean up his act”) regarding Assessor Joseph Berrios and the recent ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court was missing three facts.

On Dec, 1, assessor’s office said it will comply with the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court.

On Dec. 5, we stated that such compliance had, in fact, occurred on Dec. 2 — just 24 hours after the court’s decision. That’s when all requested documents were turned over to the independent inspector general.

Both the Supreme Court and assessor’s office stated the assessor’s office offered in 2015 that documents could be provided to the inspector general through the Freedom of Information Act. The inspector general declined.

Tom Shaer, deputy assessor for communications,

Cook County assessor’s office

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The new Reagan: Trump

Lately it seems that a lot of pundits are claiming that Donald Trump is a new kind of Republican. Some are even claiming that the GOP is “no longer the party of Ronald Reagan.”

Well, like Reagan, Trump comes from the world of entertainment and is praised for his communication skills. Like Reagan, he kicked off his presidential campaign with an overt appeal to white racial resentment of minorities.

Trump has staffed his administration with bought-and-paid-for industry lackeys committed to destroying the very regulatory agencies they’ve been put in charge of.  No difference there.

Trump and his congressional colleagues are committed to budget-busting tax cuts that will overwhelmingly benefit the very wealthiest one or two percent of Americans. They will then use the resultant explosion in the deficit to justify slashing the programs that help our most vulnerable citizens: The poor, the sick, the elderly.

It seems you don’t have to look hard to see that today’s supposedly new ReTrumplican Party is really just the same old Republican party all over again.

Daniel Welch, Glen Ellyn

Stop sacrificing animals

The inhumane people who traumatize, mistreat and kill goats, cats, roosters, deer, skunks and chickens in Cook County’s forest preserves should be apprehended and prosecuted (“In forest preserves, heads of chickens, goats may be signs of Santeria ritual” — Dec. 8). Their violent, cruel and deadly irreverence for the lives of animals is uncivilized. Forest preserves are cherished as a safe refuge for wildlife and other creatures. It’s unsettling that some people exploit them as a venue to slaughter and kill defenseless animals.

Brien Comerford, Glenview

White supremacy’s ugly comeback

The term “white supremacy” has been bandied about for quite some time during the presidential campaign and post-election.

With the recent 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it should be noted that there are millions of people in this country who are painfully aware that there are “white supremacists” who, in fact, distinguish between white races.

These “white supremacists” use the same symbols and idolize those who, before and during World War II, labeled at least a couple of white races other than theirs, as subhuman.

As a member of one of those white races labeled as subhuman, I can tell you that millions of us are not fooled by the term “white supremacy.” And we will stand with everyone who strives to eliminate all hatred, bigotry and racial supremacist ideology from the face of the Earth.

Jim Tomczyk, Forest Glen

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