Letters to the Editor: 06.08.17

Gathering of Community

Springs

June 5, 2017

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank the hundreds of community members who were present at the commissioning of the Amagansett Life-Saving Station this past May 20. 

Along with Supervisor Larry Cant­well and the current town board, we would like to thank the previous town boards for their visions for the station and their support. We thank United States Coast Guard Commander Andrew Ely and Senior Chief Eric Best and his crew from Coast Guard Station Montauk for their service at our ceremony. We also thank the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard, the Long Island Coast Guard Auxiliary Band, and the Amagansett Grade School choir for their wonderful participation.  

It was this gathering of community, local officials, and government agencies that made the grand opening a rousing success. And if you missed it, LTV has filmed the complete ceremony and will be showing it soon.

Lastly, we invite everyone to visit the Life-Saving Station in the near future. It will serve as a wonderful museum to tell the stories of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and Coast Guard, which have protected East Hampton shores for more than 150 years.  

Rescued twice, it has come back.

Best wishes,

DAVID LYS 

President 

Amagansett Life-Saving and 

Coast Guard Station Society

His Last Years

Lantana, Fla.

May 8, 2017

Dear David: 

Many thanks to your staff (guided by Jane Bimson) for the picture obituary of my husband, Michael, in the April 16 issue of The Star. 

He really thought his last years would be spent somewhat like the first 35 years here of clamming, scalloping, a little work, Sammy’s Beach swimming, ocean beach picnics, walks downstreet. But age, colder weather, and the loss of same-age friends and economics sent us down to make Florida shores our base. Most of this was made possible by the sale of our little village house. 

Of course we tried to keep up with what was happening by reading The Star. (Now we can see Michael Varese’s Star obit again in Google.)

I plan to stay in Florida in our apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and look forward to seeing friends from the Hamptons, summer or winter. 

ELISABETH BASTION VARESE

Farrellization Continues

East Hampton

June 5, 2017

Dear Editor,

You’ve got to hand it to Joe Farrell for getting himself such a sympathetic interview, as presented in East’s June issue. From that rather intimidating full-size head shot to his pandering to the Giulianis, it was an exercise in self-justification and self-promotion.

That he can build and sell one of this houses in a matter of months is more a tribute to his salesmanship than his clients’ taste. Much as he claims to abhor subdivisions, one only has to take a look at his developments to realize how much he must have profited from them. Just look at Bridgehampton’s Deerfield Road or the lanes off Old Northwest Road in East Hampton. The fate of Amagansett’s lanes hangs in the balance as Farrellization continues.

It’s almost a relief to read that Mr. Farrell has turned his attention to Florida and elsewhere. We wish him luck in such places, where the zoning boards (and politicians) are more indulgent.

P. DAVID FREEDMAN

‘Summer of Sam’

Amagansett

May 29, 2017

Dear Editor,

Taylor Vecsey’s article, “Summer of Sam” in the June issue of East (beautiful magazine!), brought back memories: 

In 1977, I owned and operated a busy tree service in Queens with my brother, Steve, and my friend Dov. Our office was in the basement of my mother’s house in Whitestone, where she lived with Steve and my 25-year-old sister. I lived in Flushing with my first wife, who had long dark hair, like most of the victims of the Son of Sam killer. Everyone was on edge because of the murders. My brother, a huge guy, was particularly paranoid and would sprint from our vehicles into the office.

I got a call from a friend with an exterminating business asking if I could use any labor. He had a cousin who was burnt out working in the post office and wanted to try working outdoors. We were very busy, so I said yes.

Dave, the cousin, showed up Monday in a cream-colored Ford Galaxy that he parked across the street, and came into our office. He was pale, pudgy, and out of shape — very quiet and subdued. He worked for us as a laborer from Monday through Friday, picking up branches from the ground and feeding them into our brush chipper. He also loaded cut-up logs into a truck and cleaned up the job sites. We went from one job site to another, and Dave took turns riding along with each of us in our various trucks. And at the end of the day, we all unloaded the portable equipment (chain saws, climbing gaffs, etc.) into the basement office in my mother’s house. 

On Friday afternoon, there was a problem with the brush chipper, and Dave and I had to wait for the delivery of a part. We couldn’t leave the job site uncleaned. Quiet, sullen Dave became anxious and blurted out, “What the hell is taking so long? I’ve got things to do!” Since he was being paid for his time, I angrily reminded him that he was still on the clock and working for me, and told him that with his attitude he’d never get anywhere in life. At the end of the day, I cut him a check. I called him over the weekend and told him we didn’t need his services anymore.

A week or so later, Steve wanted to pick up a morning paper on the way to the job site. I stopped the truck at the candy store in Whitestone, and Steve came running out waving The New York Post with the “Caught!” cover, screaming, “Is this who I think it is?!” Yes, it was.

JOHN ZADARLA

Didn’t Make Deadline

East Hampton

June 5, 2017

Dear David, 

I was surprised to see my cartoon about the roadside raw bar, whose chalkboard menu said “Two Bubs Raw Bar,” run last Thursday. My intention was to call it “Up Islander Raw Bar,” as we discussed. I guess my last-minute change didn’t make the deadline. My apologies to baymen, who work hard to make a living delivering the freshest local shellfish possible, and I am sorry about any implications to the contrary! 

PETER SPACEK

The Best Crossword

East Hampton

June 3, 2017

Dear Editor:

Love your clue “half of it is causing a lot of trouble.” Took me a while but finally got it! 

The best crossword ever! Intelligent, educational, straightforward. I look forward to it every week.

PATRICIA HABR

Parity of Praise

East Hampton

June 2, 2017

Dear Editor,

A recent article, “Funky Modernism” (May 25), written by Judy D’Mello, refers to the former house owner as a “recluse,” when in fact the house was owned by David Suter, a noted Amagansett artist and illustrator. The East Hampton Star featured articles written about his work. 

The headline on a 2009 article on the National Legal and Policy Center website glowingly describes the current owner, Andrew Catapano: “N.Y.C. Contractor, Consultant Sentenced for Scams; Contractor V.P. Pleads Guilty.”

As David’s brother-in-law, I would appreciate that the former owner be given parity of praise to its current owner. 

Sincerely, 

RANDOLPH HUDSON

‘Be Nice’? I Can’t

Amagansett

May 26, 2017

Dear David, 

Your editorial “Battle Stations” asks us locals to “Be Nice” to the bratty people. 

I have given it thought, I can’t. “Tolerant” is the best I’ve got.

All good things, 

DIANA WALKER

Out of Control

Montauk

June 1, 2017

Dear Editor, 

On the weekends, I’ve decided to drive a taxi part time in Montauk. I have lived here since 1971, and in all the years that I’ve been here I’ve never seen anything like what happened this past Memorial Day weekend in Montauk — mostly on Saturday night, because many of us agree that was the worst night with the strangest of behavior. 

From about 1 a.m. till 4 a.m., the partyers were out of control. It wasn’t that they were just drunk, it was as if they were in a totally altered state of mind, behaving like zombies. They were stumbling around in the streets and on the sidewalks, and stepping out in front of automobiles as if they weren’t even conscious of any of their actions, and literally grabbing taxis physically as they were driving past. I even saw many people lying in the road or just standing in front of moving traffic, oblivious to where they were. 

Many of them were so out of control I was afraid to stop to pick them up, because I did not want them in my taxi, and others were just screaming uncontrollably. And from the taxi drivers I have spoken to, we have all have come to the same conclusion, and it is that there was some kind of drug going around, mostly on Saturday night. And from the people I’ve talked to even outside of the taxi business, everybody pretty much agrees that it was something called Bath Salts or Flakka.

My recommendation to people if they are going to be partying out here in Montauk is that they not leave their drinks or food unattended, not even for a second, because this stuff can easily be put into a drink or food totally undetected, and the results can leave the victim in what is being called a zombie and/or demonic possession type of state of mind mentally and physically, and it could last anywhere between one and four hours.

To me, this sounds like what happened to Matthew McGee before the attack took place. I don’t think his actions were intentional, and I believe that somebody slipped him this drug without his knowing.

JOE LOFFRENO

Nothing Reassuring

Noyac

June 5, 2017

Dear Editor,

Contrary to statements made by the East Hampton airport manager Jim Brundige (The Star, June 1, 2017), there was nothing “pretty normal” about the recent Memorial Day weekend for those of us subjected to the aviation barrage above our homes. Air traffic was incessant; over one 24-hour period, Friday morning, May 26, to Saturday morning, May 27, there were 1,191 noise complaints filed on one complaint site alone: AirNoiseReport.com. If weekend air traffic was considered “pretty normal” for Brundige, he should be working at La Guardia or J.F.K., because Brundige clearly has his head in a carbon cloud. There is nothing “normal” about subjecting thousands of residents from New York City to East Hampton to outrageous levels of noise and dangerous low-altitude fuel emissions caused by nonessential private aviation. 

The airport surely received complaints about exceptionally low-flying aircraft over Memorial Day weekend, as Brundige felt compelled to further state that the recommended entry and exit routes do not apply when there is rain or fog, that in low visibility conditions “all bets are off,” pilots can choose the safest route! To those on the ground, there’s nothing reassuring in Brundige’s remarks, because he speaks only of the safest route for aircraft daring to fly in bad weather conditions! If this is a betting situation, what are the odds of survival for those on the ground? Helicopters were sighted and reported by several homeowners in Sag Harbor at only a couple of hundred feet above their property — in dense fog, with little visibility. 

In May, in neighboring New Jersey, there were four small-aircraft crashes near general aviation airports. The worst occurred at Teterboro, where a Learjet crashed on approach to the airport, setting two industrial buildings and a number of cars on fire. It was an inferno; two pilots perished. Also in May, at Linden and West Creek, there were other accidents; one, a small plane, crash-landed in front of a home, thankfully without major injury or fatality. 

New York State had two crashes reported. For the month of May 2017, the National Transportation and Safety Board lists 80 general-aviation crashes in U.S. states or territories, an improvement over April, when there were 101 reported.

Increasing operations at East Hampton Airport are a danger to all. The safety of the majority must be the priority, not travel convenience for a few and padding the pocketbooks of air charter operators. 

PATRICIA CURRIE

Asking to Screen

Springs

June 5, 2017

Dear David,

Wow! Quite a feeling to read your name in someone else’s letter! Yes, I did respond to Jerry Larsen asking to screen before the Democratic screening committee by giving him my card, as a way of introducing myself. I figured if this Republican wanted to screen with the Democrats, he had his reasons. I told him to call the head of our screening committee. If he did, as lord knows so many others did that we were involved in the screening process for months, he would have been welcomed before our group. No one was ever turned down.

Draw your own conclusions.

PHYLLIS ITALIANO

Say Something

Springs

June 4, 2017

Dear David,

Public Safety, including environmental protection, is never something to be taken lightly. I have served over 33 years in law enforcement and environmental protection, the past 22 as a state police supervisor with the New York State Park Police. I also served as founding president and current vice president of New York State’s fifth biggest police union, the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, which represents the state’s university police, environmental conservation police, park police, and forest rangers. I am writing from a position of expertise, understanding the complexities of governmental operations and their impacts on society.

The threats to our society are complex. The causes and the necessary subsequent application of services provided by our elected governmental officials, public servants, and, in particular, our public safety professionals, volunteer firefighters, emergency medical responders, and ocean rescue responders, require a high level of expertise and understanding, especially as it relates to East Hampton because of our high profile, which is not only national but worldwide. East Hampton, like any other high-profile community, is a high-value soft target.

It is easy to lose sight of this in the hustle and bustle of tourist season traffic, summer recreational activities, and working long days as so many in our community do. Nonetheless, quietly in the background, our local East Hampton town and village police forces, marine patrols, fire marshals, code enforcement, and volunteer first responders, along with their partners in county, state, and federal law enforcement, are working day and night to keep us safe from those that would perpetrate terror and commit crimes against society and against our environment.

But we cannot do it alone. We need your help. We are all in this together; terrorists and criminals do not care about age, gender, sexual preferences, religion, political associations, immigration status, you, or your family. Criminals and terrorists are equal opportunity threats.

If you see something, say something.

Full disclosure: I am a candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor, and am humbled by the opportunity and privilege over the past 33 years to serve not only our community but also throughout Long Island, New York City in Harlem and the South Bronx, as well as upstate New York. I believe I have the experience, skills, and determination to provide the same level of professionalism to the people of East Hampton.

Respectfully, 

MANNY VILAR

Sanitary Systems

Springs

June 3, 2017

Dear David:

Last November, East Hampton voters overwhelmingly approved a measure that would allocate 20 percent of the community preservation fund to water quality improvement projects. One of the principal concerns regarding the water quality of our surrounding bays and estuaries is the problem of nitrogen runoff, a key contributor of which is obsolete residential sanitary systems.

Responding to the voters’ approval of the C.P.F. referendum, our town board has approved legislation that would initiate a process by which substandard sanitary systems can be identified and replaced with low-nitrogen sanitary systems. A corollary process will cover all new construction, requiring similar systems.

The town board has also implemented a program that would extend financial relief to qualifying homeowners that would enable them to effect needed upgrading. This financial assistance will be in the form of a rebate that would cover, in whole or in part, the cost of any needed upgrade. An upcoming town board meeting on June 15 is dedicated in part to determining the appropriate level of such homeowner rebates. 

   As has been the case so often over the past four years, this is yet another example of an action by the town board having a positive impact on our community while minimizing any hardship on it. 

CAROL O’ROURKE

Common Issues

East Hampton

June 5, 2017

Dear David,

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those in the community who will be voting in November. My name is Dell Cullum and I’m running for East Hampton Town Trustee. Thanks to the fine folks of the East Hampton Democratic Committee for their nomination. The only other endorsement I seek is that of the people who call this beautiful town their home, regardless of party affiliation. 

I’m not your average political candidate. My focus is on the position rather than the party. This makes it easier to work with everyone, making the issues common issues, and less of a burden toward solutions. 

I’m not much for campaigning either. My method of reaching folks is in my actions. Doing, rather than talking about doing, shows dedication, determination, and a true will to make the difference. From now until election day, you’ll see me campaigning with a trash bag — on the beaches, in the parking lots, the roadsides, and everywhere trash and litter pollute the beauty of our home. Just like I’ve been doing since I moved back home seven years ago. If you see me, introduce yourself or come say hello. Let’s share our thoughts and concerns about our beaches and our waters. 

For those of you who know me, I think my consistent anti-litter crusade, along with my annual Shoreline & Napeague Sweeps, speaks for my position about our environment, specifically right here at home. Many of you may also know I am equally passionate about the safety and well-being of our magnificent and abundant wildlife. I was born and raised on Hedges Lane in Amagansett. Indian Wells and Asparagus beaches were my second home. One of my best memories of growing up in Amagansett was watching the haulseiners work. Even back in the ’60s and ’70s, it felt like I was watching history being preserved and made at the same time. 

These days, the baymen are fighting to stay alive, due to crushing state regulations. I strongly believe the baymen and their history are part of our heritage, and it needs to be embraced, not abolished. 

For the past several years, the beaches, bays, creeks, and ponds have been both my workplace for my photography and my spiritual place. It would be an honor and privilege for me to be part of its governing body. I believe I can be an asset to the East Hampton Town Trustees, and regardless of your party affiliation, I hope you can believe that as well. Thank you.

I also want to thank The East Hampton Star and the best community ever, for all the love and support following my recent injury. An absolute testament to a powerful community spirit, driven by care and compassion for others. My gratitude goes beyond words, so when I’m better I’ll let my actions express my thanks. 

Wishing everyone a safe and fun-filled summer season. Please, folks, don’t litter, and if you see litter please pick it up and dispose of it properly. Also, drive slowly, safely, and respect our beautiful wildlife.

DELL CULLUM

Wildlife Sanctuaries

Montauk

June 4, 2017

To the Editor:

In the past three years, the town board has sharply increased the threat to the lives of deer. The board has opened hundreds of acres of land for hunting; it has added weekend hunting to the January firearms season, and it has enabled nonresidents to hunt on town land. To be a deer is fraught with danger. 

And for some deer, things may get worse. The town board’s deer management advisory committee will soon ask the board to approve a plan to kill more deer at the Grace Estate and Culloden Point. The killing will probably occur outside regular hunting seasons (and perhaps even at night). The reason for the extra hunting, the committee says, is deer damage to vegetation. But the extent of such damage is controversial, and before considering any lethal plan, the board needs an independent, impartial study of the vegetation issue.

Meanwhile, the board can take a step to relieve a bit of the stress the deer are under. It can establish wildlife sanctuaries where animals are safe from bullets and arrows. 

Our group would like to see the immediate establishment of at least two sanctuaries. One would remove hunting where it currently occurs. The other sanctuary might be land that isn’t presently open for hunting. There, hunting would be declared off limits on a permanent basis.

It is likely that sanctuaries on town lands would benefit the village. Because the village is more residential than the town, and doesn’t permit any hunting, it attracts deer seeking safety. As a result, many village residents complain about the number of deer. Town sanctuaries outside the village should reduce the deers’ need to spend time in the village. 

Two years ago the village tried to reduce its deer population through surgical sterilization, but the operations later resulted in the painful deaths of several deer. The creation of wildlife sanctuaries outside the village is a humane alternative that is worth a try.

The idea of wildlife sanctuaries isn’t new. President Theodore Roosevelt, though a hunter himself, created four national game preserves where humans cannot kill wildlife. I hope our town will take a cue from Roosevelt and alleviate a bit of the misery it is inflicting on the deer.

BILL CRAIN

President

East Hampton Group for Wildlife

Diet Is Pivotal

East Hampton

June 2, 2017

Dear Editor: 

Are you, too, fighting mad about Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord? Then let’s fight back three times a day by adopting an eco-friendly plant-based diet. Yes, our diet is pivotal. A 2010 United Nations report blames animal agriculture for 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, 38 percent of land use, and 70 percent of global freshwater consumption. 

Carbon dioxide is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by fossil fuel combustion to operate farm machinery, trucks, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. The more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are released from digestive tracts of cattle and from animal-waste cesspools, respectively. In an environmentally sustainable world, meat and dairy products in our diet must be replaced by vegetables, fruits, and grains, just as fossil fuels are replaced by wind, solar, and other pollution-free energy sources. 

Each of us has the power to protest Trump’s failure to maintain America’s leadership in moderating climate change, simply and effectively, by what we choose at the grocery store. 

EDWIN HORATH

Benefit the Students

Amagansett

June 5, 2017

Dear David,

At the March 28 Amagansett School Board meeting, Eleanor Tritt, the superintendent, stated the staffing decisions for the 2017-18 school year would be made in June.

In past school board meetings, I have expressed concerns of the importance of the teacher’s role in educating, supporting and guiding our youth, and also returning to only one administrator for our school of approximately 100 students.

It is not necessary for the taxpayers to pay almost a half a million dollars for three administrators when in the school district’s history there has only been one administrator (the superintendent).

The money that is being used to pay the other two salaries could be utilized more effectively to benefit the students with educational programs, assemblies, and staff salaries. The reason for the elementary school is to give the students in our community a strong foundation of education and every benefit for them to excel and achieve to their highest abilities. This includes keeping highly qualified teachers to give every advantage necessary to the students to learn, understand, and achieve their highest potential.

The taxpayers are more than willing to do anything for the benefit of educating the students in our community but not for paying additional administrators who are not needed.

I encourage the community to come to the next board meeting (on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. at the school) and every school board meeting possible. The meetings are posted on the website aufsd.org.  

It is important to know how your tax dollars are being spent.

Best regards,

MARY A. EAMES

Disastrous Act

East Hampton

June 5, 2017

Dear David, 

Now that the Congressional Budget Office score on the American Health Care Act II has been released and paints a far more dismal picture than the G.O.P. anticipated, the House G.O.P. is scrambling to offer the American people an explanation for the unadulterated cruelty that lies in the new bill.

Our congressman and a fervent Trumpette, Lee Zeldin, is dancing as fast as he can as he tries to do the same. In the aftermath of his support for the disastrous act, he ignores the fact that the C.B.O. estimates that some 23 million more Americans will lose health care than they would under the Affordable Care Act. Nor does he mention that by 2026, under the A.H.C.A. II, the C.B.O. estimates that 51 million Americans under 65 will lose health care, compared with 28 million under the A.C.A. 

Nor does our Trumpette mention that while a few million people will use the meager tax credits offered under the A.H.C.A. II to purchase health care policies, these policies would not cover major medical risks. Instead, all our Trumpette can muster is the claim that “the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $119 billion over the next 10 years, and lower individual insurance premiums even further than the Congressional Budget Office previously estimated.”

But is even this meager attempt true? What do you think? Under the A.H.C.A. II, states are able to eliminate types of care that insurance policies must cover, meaning that states can eliminate types of required coverage — like maternity care, for example. Another waiver available to states would allow insurers to take pre-existing conditions into account. The C.B.O.’s analysis notes that in states electing these waivers, premiums would rise over time, and, more perniciously, people who are less healthy would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive health insurance at premiums comparable to those available under the ACA. In states that did not seek these waivers, premiums under the AHCA II would fall a meager 4 percent by 2026 for younger people. However, insurers would be able to charge the elderly considerably more than under the A.C.A.

The worst lie in Mr. Zeldin’s claim that premiums will be lower is what he omits. Premiums will be lower only because the purchased coverage will cover a smaller portion of an insured’s expected health care costs than would be available under the A.C.A. It is inexcusable for a representative to so brazenly misstate the predicament that insureds will be in because of a health care bill he supported, the only purpose of which is to grant a trillion-dollar tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.

Voters should remember Mr. Zeldin’s neglect of their needs next November. This November, also remember that the G.O.P. candidates for the town board embraced the Rose Garden Bud Light celebration after the House passed this travesty, and promised the same “progress” for East Hampton. Like Zeldin, they do not deserve your vote. 

ROBERT BRODY

Safety-Net Cuts

Springs

June 1, 2017

Dear David:

Remember Mr. Trump’s promises to the “forgotten,” the working class he accuses the Democratic Party of abandoning? I think his voters expected something different than cruel punishment in return for their vote.

The budget proposed by Mr. Trump is horrifying, driven by wildly unrealistic economic assumptions and deeply cynical ones about the millions of struggling Americans. The budget disavows the promises on which Mr. Trump campaigned, and represents a reversion to self-serving conservative ideas about “makers and takers,” offering windfalls to the wealthy, while punishing the working poor.

Let’s start with Medicaid. Trump’s budget cuts $800 billion (above the A.H.C.A. cuts) over the next 10 years, which will deprive millions of people of health insurance and result in fewer benefits, more uninsured, and worse health.

Now let’s look at Social Security. Mr. Trump is proposing to cut some $700 million from the Social Security disability program, which provides financial support to those who are unable to work.

Can’t afford food? Mr. Trump says tough luck, all but eliminating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps.

Including Medicaid, the total level of safety-net cuts proposed in the Trump budget could be as high as $1.7 trillion over a decade.

Not only do these proposals break Trump’s campaign promises to the “forgotten,” they reflect his cynical view that many people would rather collect welfare than work. Of course, Mr. Trump misunderstands the reality of being poor in America today. Not only do most safety net programs — including food stamps — already have work requirements, but their benefits are too modest to be an appealing alternative to work. SNAP benefits average about $31 per week per person, and Social Security disability payments average less than $1,200 per month. And participation in both programs has been on the decline in recent years.

Dressed up as an engine of growth, Mr. Trump’s budget offers a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. His mouthpiece, the budget director, claimed that the budget would jolt the economy to 3 percent annual growth, far more than most economic experts think is realistic in a mature economy. Instead, what it will actually accomplish is a massive increase in the deficit that even the proposed draconian cuts will fail to offset. Kansas has already tried this experiment, with tragic results.

Trump’s budget should be seen as a cruel political statement, bereft of even a pretense of governance for the nation as a whole. Oddly enough, Trump’s proposals are directly counter to the interests of the working-class Americans Mr. Trump courted during the campaign. Trump voters, and G.O.P. voters as a whole, need to ask themselves, is this the work of a leader, or just another politician saying one thing during the campaign and doing something else — here an act of unmitigated cruelty — once he’s elected?

BRUCE COLBATH

A Deal With the Saudis

East Hampton

May 29, 2017

To the Editor:

In retrospect George Bush was right about the Middle East. With 80 percent of the people living in substandard conditions, the road to a real peace and prosperity was nation building. His vision of what to do was unclouded. We — or he — simply didn’t know how to do it.

Implicit in Bush’s understanding was that the region was a classic tinder keg. Monarchs and dictators controlled all the wealth, and the masses of the population would eventually rise and throw them out. (See Iran.) Our dependence on oil from the region at that time (no longer the case) made us a critical player in the outcomes. We could always trust the leaders we supported, but democracies were far riskier.

The complication was that we were supposed to be the beacon of democracy in the world and millions of young Arab people had grown up with that belief. The struggle for America was between our identity as a democratic nation and our dependence on the region for oil. Further complications arose from the slow, laborious transition to democratic institutions and values. If it took 10 or 20 or 50 years to accomplish this transition, what were the risks to our economy?

Obama struggled with the Arab Spring and the ensuing chaos. We had no plan to deal with the changes, and a government obsessed with Benghazi while the entire region was going batshit. The transition to democracy began with fits and starts and complicated relationships, and we felt compelled to sit back after the debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Until Bobo landed in the Saudi Paradiso last week. Greeted by royalty as royalty. Brass bands, dancing girls, hookahs and hookers. He arrived as a preening peacock, not understanding that he was viewed as the dinner’s main course. Suckling pig was inappropriate, so Peasant under glass it was. They wined him and dined him. Pretended to listen to his claptrap speeches and picked his pockets. Not a piece of meat left on the bones. He gave them arms. Gave them legitimacy. Gave them ISIS and Al Qaeda. Blamed everything on Iran. And told the 90 percent of the Arab world who are screwed by their governments to breathe deeply.

He never got that the Saudis are the primary financiers of radical Islam for the past 30 years, and that everything radical Sunni (ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram) are Saudi-generated. He didn’t seem to grasp that Iran is our ally in Iraq and is fighting ISIS in Syria and used to be in Afghanistan. He seemed not to understand the Sunni/Shia relationship and that every foreign terrorist was of Sunni origin.

He thought he made a deal with the Saudis by giving them everything they wanted in exchange for. . . ? His static deal-maker brain never considered that the billions of dollars in arms that we sell to the Saudis may someday be used against us and will never be used to fight terrorism. How could they? Why would they?

While Obama was accused of overthinking, Trump simplified everything. His own simplistic vision of the world barely skirted the edges of reality. The Saudis, one of the most oppressive and pro-terrorist governments in the world, were put on a pedestal, while our NATO allies were castigated for a dues issue that had been resolved three years ago.

We gave Bobo the codes to the kingdom and he thinks it all belongs to him. If anyone doubted that he was a village idiot, all those doubts should be allayed. The real question is how quickly we can find some criminal behavior that will put him on the sidelines.

NEIL HAUSIG