So what if Donald Trump didn’t pay any taxes?

Trump paid no taxes? So what?

So, Donald Trump hasn’t paid any taxes for the past several years? Whose fault is that, really? The federal tax code contains generous provisions for losses in commercial real estate. Trump’s legions of tax attorneys found and used those provisions to Trump’s advantage. Big deal. It’s legal.

If you have a problem with that, the people you should be shouting at are members of the U.S. Congress.

We need more detail on Trump’s taxes

I spent years of my career analyzing tax returns and financial statements. Three pages of a state tax return from 1995 cannot give anyone a realistic picture of Trump’s financial situation, then or now! Get all the returns with schedules and then we will talk!

Clinton endorsement disappointed me

I read your endorsement of Crooked Hillary Clinton with sadness and disbelief. I get it that a center-left newspaper would not endorse Trump, but why not opt out of an endorsement this year?

Clinton is hiding her true motives

Your endorsement is interesting. You applaud Clinton’s “qualities” and experience yet acknowledge her secrecy and lack of transparency. These shortcomings are certainly not intended to promote the general welfare.

If elected, the dots will quickly connect to show her real motives, and they have nothing to do with the public benefit.

Some of us don’t cheat on our spouses

Rudy Giuliani, defending Trump’s questioning of Hillary Clinton’s faithfulness to her husband, said: “Why not? Everybody does” (have infidelities). Rudy, call me and talk to either my wife or me and you’ll find two people who are not a part of your “everybody.” And there are millions and millions of us all across the country.

But maybe that’s a moral concept you and Donald just don’t believe or understand.

Keith Scott shooting was unjustifiable

The police video footage of the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott is disturbing. Although you cannot tell whether Scott was holding a gun or not, it is clear that his arms are hanging by his side and he is moving slowly, calmly. He is then gunned down.

Ultimately, Scott was executed for “rolling marijuana,” something the majority of Americans admit to having done, and exercising his Second Amendment rights.

Scott’s past doesn’t vindicate officers

Keith Scott’s wife did not inform the officers that he was a felon or that she once had a protective order against him.

And their not knowing these things is exactly the point. Using such information to retrospectively justify police actions when they shoot to kill as a first response is only valid if one wants the police to assume all citizens are dangerous lawbreakers undeserving of attempts at de-escalation.

That’s a belief that will haunt us all.

Scott story wasn’t as initially advertised

First the Observer reports that relatives said Mr. Scott was a gentle teddy bear. Then we find out that he has an extensive history of convictions and time served as the result of violent criminal acts and that his own wife obtained a restraining order because he threatened to kill her with a handgun.

Now we are told that Mr. Scott was mentally impaired to the point that he could not follow instructions. Could we have an article asking why somebody so impaired was carrying a handgun?

What’s wrong with ‘All lives matter?’

If you subscribe to the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” you are an enlightened, socially aware and progressive person. If you subscribe to the phrase “All Lives Matter,” you are a close-minded bigot and possibly a racist.

What am I missing?

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "So what if Donald Trump didn’t pay any taxes?."