Letters: Democracy and fascism, border exemptions and the Cook Islands bubble

The United States of America was a flawed democracy before President Donald Trump took office. Photo / Evan Vucci, AP, File

Not all equal
Correspondent Craig Clark (NZ Herald, January 18) has commented on how even though the US is a democracy, that it almost ended up with a dictator called Donald Trump.
However, he seems to be assuming all democracies enjoy the same level of democracy. There are 75 democracies in the world, but only 22 of them are classified as full democracies and the US is not included as a full democracy.
The US has been classified as a flawed democracy for many years, long before Donald Trump was elected president, so it would be much easier for a dictatorship to arise in the US than it would be in New Zealand, which is classified as a full democracy in fourth place in the world.
David Mairs, Glendowie.

American dream
There were three pages in the Weekend Herald and countless letters from correspondents this past week fervently discussing the pros and cons of the American Constitution and our democratic system. Any governing document or political construct created by men is fallible and vulnerable to abuse and manipulation. They are imperfect and flawed governance tools and their imperfections are painfully exposed to a worldwide audience because the US was once a beacon of hope and equality for the rest of the world.
When unscrupulous power brokers and an unrestrained social media enter the fray we have, as Simon Wilson so eloquently put it, "made America ridiculous again".
But even after all this pain, I have hope that democracy has fulfilled its mandate to respect the will of the people, and on January 20 usher in a new era.
This is an opportunity for America to heal and renew itself, and the first effective step in that healing would be for the media on January 21 to relegate Donald Trump to the obscurity and irrelevance he so richly deserves.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.

Pardon me?
Of all the curious and downright awful aspects of American politics, surely Presidential pardons is the worst.
For a country that claims to uphold both democracy and the rule of law, to allow a President to issue pardons including to those caught criminally assisting him, is bewildering.
As usual, Trump has added a new dimension with the allegedly current practice of pardons for hefty payments.
This is a practice that was abandoned in England hundreds of years ago when the Crown lost its supremacy.
Come on America – this is the 21st century, not the 16th.
Tony Sullivan, St Heliers.

Declining empire
Seventy-eight million Democratic swamp dwellers have successfully buried "criminal" Donald Trump in their cesspit.
How long before 75 million Republican deplorables rise up and do the same to "sleepy" Joe Biden?
The American empire is in irreversible decline.
Garry Wycherley, Awakino.

Conservative view
Dick Brass's opinion piece (NZ Herald, January 18) attempts to give scholarly support to his claim that Trump is a "fascist".
Why do so-called "progressives", who continually congratulate themselves on their tolerance and embrace of diversity, feel the need to demonise and destroy those who hold more conservative values?
Trump, for all his faults, represents a resurgence of conservatism, and those who seek to ridicule and "cancel" the legitimacy of these values are the true disciples of fascism and dictatorship.
Mark McCluskey, Red Beach.

Border exceptions
Our politicians and medical experts are walking a tightrope in regard to our border controls as mutant strains of the Covid virus are throwing control efforts into chaos in Britain and the US, not to mention many other countries.
So far, good border and community strategies are enabling New Zealand to maintain reasonable control.
Yes, we should move heaven and earth to get returning Kiwis home and into our communities, but the safety factor must never be allowed to slip. Returning Kiwis yes, new immigrants and foreign workers, no.
If the importation of a foreign workforce, that is, fishermen, allows the new mutant strains to escape into our communities, the public will demand accountability from our officials.
Dennis Pennefather, Te Awamutu.

Cooks risk
Travellers from the Cook Islands can travel to New Zealand without entering quarantine from January 21.
They need to have a negative test for Covid-19 within 96 hours before the flight.
What happens if they come in contact with a contaminated person or surface after the test, and before or during the flight?
The Cook Islands will have a major problem and so will New Zealand.
Bob Wichman, Botany.

Sound teaching
Using phonetics to teach the sounds of consonants is fairly straightforward.
The trouble arises with pesky vowels. We have only five letters to represent 20-odd vowel sounds.
Added to that, there are at least 18 different ways of writing the sound "I".
Aye, aisle, buy, cry, die, dye, either, eye, geyser, guide, height, high, I, island, indict, kayak, rhyme, sign.
And it's the same with other vowels. We need to settle on one written symbol for each sound and use only that every time we put that sound on paper or screen.
Of course that would never happen because it would "look funny".
M. C. Ironside, Ōrewa.

Off the rails
I am one of thousands of rail commuters who seem to be the least and last consideration for KiwiRail and Auckland Transport. Since the April lockdown there has been endless disruption to the network. Closure of lines seems to be first, not a last, resort. Level 3 was not adequately used to catch up on maintenance. After months of running empty ghost trains Kiwirail suddenly "discovered" years of deferred maintenance on the Southern and Eastern lines and closed them just in time to affect recovering small businesses like ours. Those who think overcrowded, slow rail buses are an adequate substitute should try using them for a week: Start from Pukehoke or Rānui, on a hot day to experience the full nightmare.
I use the Western line. This week the AT app said trains were running but we discovered services cancelled at no notice until February. Communication has been appalling.
Why should commuters and business pay for years of poor planning and neglect? Commuters tolerate evening and weekend maintenance year-round and City Link related delays. Passengers are not an optional extra. They deserve better consideration than this.
Richard Small, Avondale.

Magic fix
Let's show American Magic what a Kiwi helping hand can look like.
Major boat suppliers should be lining up to to get this boat back on the water.
The Prada Cup really needed four or five boats to make it a real competition. We ended up with only three and that was the bare minimum. Take it back to two boats racing and we are quickly going to lose interest until the America's Cup final begins. We need American Magic as much as they need to stay in the regatta.
I feel gutted for Dean Barker, he gave so much. What would it do to him to go out in this way?
They don't need money, they just need a massive show of support through the racing supporters and the boat industry in Auckland. As someone said, "what better place for the boat to have this sort of accident?"
Let's show them we want them back on the water. If it's a question of time why don't the other two teams support a delay in restarting the Prada Cup to give Magic more time?
Geoff Minchin, Kawakawa.

Sailing return
Firstly, I should say how happy I was to see Dean Barker and his crew emerge more or less unscathed from the wreckage of their contraption.
For the first 130 years or so of its 170-year history, the custodians of the America's Cup have at least paid lip service to the idea that an eligible yacht should be able to sail to the host port by itself.
Today's craft appear highly unstable much of the time, which would be less surprising if they were often manoeuvring at high speed in close quarters, which they are not.
I would suggest that, instead of creating another generation of otherwise useless and extraordinarily expensive vessels, we take another look through the copious archives of the world's oldest regatta and find something less brittle and contemporary, more beautiful and enduring and, most of all, in keeping with the best traditions of the America's Cup. How about an even larger 'J' Class revival?
John Julian, Waiuku.

Short & sweet

On freedom
it's official, we're now ranked the number one freest country in the world. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

On returns
It is not legally possible to prevent New Zealanders returning to their homeland. The Government can impose conditions upon the manner of their return, but we cannot stop them coming — nor should we. A. J. Forster, Mt Eden.

Surely a drag Queen from Covid-ridden LA or wealthy America's Cup fans should not be viewed as candidates ahead of Kiwis wishing to return home, some of whom have been separated from spouses for lengthy periods of time? Lorraine Clark, Katikati.

On Liddell
Criticism of Chris Liddell has little to nothing to do with his completion of his duties. Current criticism is on the basis of his sudden flurry of disavowals attempting to install himself in a redemption arc. Ryan Hartigan, Dunedin.

On scanning
If every month there was a draw for a $5000 prize, with every scan putting you into the draw, only the most ardent anti-scanners would still refuse to use the Covid app. Kent Millar, Blockhouse Bay.

On aid
I wonder why New Zealand cannot help Brazil with oxygen for Covid patients, and help other countries also struggling with similar needs. They helped us, or were prepared to help us after the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes. Donald Murray, New Plymouth.

On cancelling
Rowan Atkinson describes Cancel Culture as "A medieval mob hunting for someone to burn". The assault on Republican America is now a conflagration. June Kearney, West Harbour.