Cox’s ‘excellent’ letter

S.J. Cahn and Elia Powers

How often do you write letters addressed to “His Excellency” -- well,

other than when you write letters to the Daily Pilot editor?

Newport-Mesa’s Congressman, Chris Cox, got to use that highfalutin

honorific this week in a letter to the president of the Russian

Federation, Vladimir Putin. Forgive us: His Excellency Vladimir

Putin.

Cox’s letter came in response to a news report by the Associated

Press quoting Putin as saying that the demise of the Soviet Union was

“the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Au contraire, replies Cox, an expert on Russia, while expressing

his hope “that you have been misquoted.” In fact, the “greatest

catastrophe of the last century in Russia was the Soviet Union

itself.”

His reasons? No free elections. The nuclear arms race. The death

of more than 20 million people. The use of torture in concentration

camps.

In fact, the Republican wrote, the constant suffering of the

Russian people was the great catastrophe. It is “hard for me to

believe that something significant has not been lost in translation.”

FORGO THOSE

LEMONADE STANDS

In addition to extending the closure date of the Job Center for

the second time in a month, the Costa Mesa City Council voted

unanimously on Tuesday to alter a city ordinance that prohibits

commercial and work solicitation on sidewalks, streets, parkways and

medians.

City Attorney Kimberly Barlow said it seemed prudent to add

definitions and revise the original ordinance to avoid future

litigation. She said the city has received at least one lawsuit

threat.

Barlow said the ordinance does not cover solicitation in public

parks. At Tuesday’s special meeting, Councilwoman Katrina Foley said

the revised ordinance bans business employees from waiving signs on

sidewalks. It also prohibits individuals from standing near the

street and flagging down cars for businesses, such as lemonade

stands.