Mailbag: All’s fair in ‘conservative hypocrisy’

The sale of OC Fairgrounds is a clear example of supply-side conservative hypocrisy. Where are the conservatives who say that virtually all government spending and government regulation should be eliminated? Where are the “Tea Party” protesters who say government can do nothing right?

Conservatives proselytize against government interference in the free market. They claim to oppose government spending on anything but the bare necessities, and also claim to oppose any government regulation that they feel stifles business.

However, these same conservatives favor using taxpayer dollars to buy the fairgrounds. They also favor the use of zoning regulations as a backdoor method to impede free-market development of the fairgrounds. Their pro-business, anti-regulatory commandments just don’t apply to the things they happen to enjoy (such as the fair).

According to OC conservative values, environmental regulations and taxpayer-funded medical care are socialism. Deep-fried Twinkies and elephant rides are things that require taxpayer bailouts and the protection of government regulation.

I happen to like the fair, and I hope it is a tradition that lasts forever. However, the fight over the sale of the fairgrounds has clearly exposed OC conservatives as ideological hypocrites. What they claim are their moral principles are really just a smoke screen for old fashioned greed and selfishness. They’ve once again shown that when asked to sacrifice, they’ll toss aside their core ideology like a half-eaten turkey leg.

Jim Erwin

Costa Mesa

Newport complainers have glare – even without the panels

The outrage of Dolores Virtue, Bob Olson and other neighbors at the environmentally responsible statement by Mr. Rizzone’s solar panels seems rather hypercritical as they complain about the awful industrial view and intense glare they are subjected to.

Anyone walking or driving along Bayside Drive knows that people living in these homes have the majority of their rooms facing the bay for the beauty of its view and must have either a film on their windows or a window treatment worthy of deflecting the glare and sun, which can be unbearable for hours during the day.

The garage, a bathroom window and a kitchen window, where one spends the shortest amount of time in a day, face Bayside Drive and the panels.

They doth protest too much.

Roseanne Eichenbaum

Costa Mesa

Join the green team to avoid seeing red

I applaud Mashid & Stephen Rizzone for installing solar panels on the slope below their home. Their panels alongside Bayside Drive do not make noise, block views of the ocean, increase traffic or affect parking, the problems that account for most complaints in Newport Beach. Attractive landscaping will soften the appearance of the tempered glass panels. Perhaps the neighbors who are seeing red will install their own solar panels and be part of the green energy solution.

Diane Baker

Corona del Mar