Greenberg may not be worth pardon

Convicted felon Joel Greenberg’s request for a pardon from President Donald Trump is likely something most of us saw coming. I myself was actually wondering: What took so long?

Since some of the other 1,700 or so previously pardoned convicts have been enjoying their presidential exonerations for a few years now, Greenberg’s request was a no brainer.

The disgraced former Seminole County Tax Collector was convicted of, among others, crimes involving government corruption and gross misuse of public office — some of those deeds seem to have a lot in common with President Trump, so much that a successful pardon request may be an assumed certainty by many.

But I predict not. The reason? In this particular case I believe the president will view Greenberg as a professional failure — a novice who got caught and held accountable for things that Trump himself has seemingly always been able to maneuver around, but on a much larger scale.

Should Greenberg’s request for a pardon be denied based on Trump’s disappointment for his failures to outmaneuver justice, he will just have to accept the fact that sometimes some things in life just aren’t fair.

— Dennis Warren, Longwood

Jolly is a respectful person

I’m feeling optimistic about Florida politics for one of the first times in almost 16 years. I think we will have a good shot at redemption if we elect David Jolly and Gwen Graham as governor and lieutenant governor. Florida voters missed a golden opportunity eight years ago when Democrats selected the wrong candidate for the gubernatorial race. We also missed the boat 16 years ago when we did not elect Alex Sink, but I digress.

I think the last decent Republican governor we had was Jeb Bush. The only good thing Rick Scott ever did for Florida was effectively manage disaster relief after hurricanes. The same could not be said for Ron DeSantis — in my view, he has been one disaster after another, with no relief. I am tired of culture wars, misdirection of FEMA funds, alleged no-bid contracts to friends and political allies (Alligator Alcatraz), appointing unqualified judges, lack of travel transparency, dark flights of immigrants from other states to other states, and list goes on and on and on.

Back to David Jolly. He was once a moderate Republican, before that species became extinct. It was disheartening when he left Congress because he was a respectable and respectful person, and those qualities are fading in Florida and national politics. I think he will represent all Floridians to make Florida a better place to live, pushing for sound economic and social policies. Let’s not forget that our Legislature could use a lot of improvement as well. August 18 is coming up fast.

— Richard Wolken, Longwood

Torn apart by Trump

The Obama-era nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or  JCPOA, was negotiated over roughly 20 months by the United States, Iran, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union.

It required Iran to accept 15 years of limits on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had continuous access to declared sites and the authority requested inspections of suspected undeclared sites within 24 days.

During this period, the JCPOA helped avoid war with Iran and U.S. military fatalities, had limited direct impact on the U.S. economy, and allowed Iran to restore oil exports close to pre-sanctions levels, adding supply and helping to lower global gas prices.

Trump withdrew from the agreement without alleging that Iran had violated it, calling it “a disaster” and imposing new sanctions. Tehran then exceeded the agreed-upon limits and sharply increased uranium enrichment.

Look at where we are today.

— Mario Signorello, Port St. Lucie

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