Letters to the Editor: Trump 10.20.16

‘He’s So Funny!’

Amagansett

October 15, 2016

Dear David, 

Four adolescents on bikes coming up behind me, whooping, hollering, and chatting as they pass Hillary and Anna signs. One says, “If kids could vote, who do you think would win the election?” Another says, “Trump.” A third asks him, “How come?” The second one says, “Because he’s so funny!”

It would be nice for the L.V.I.S. to continue to provide affordable clothes for these children, but could they also highlight the social studies section of Bargain Books?

GEROMA GURNEY

Just What Hitler Wanted

Dear Mr. Trump,

When I listen to the news

Your words remind me of Hitler

With his hatred toward the Jews

 

You want to send the Spanish back 

To where they all came from 

And you oppose all of those 

Who beat a different drum

 

But are you a Native American

Are your ancestors from here

I really don’t believe so 

Where do you come from, where

 

What if I.N.S. existed

Way back in the day

When your ancestors came to America

Would they be sent away

 

You want to bring America

Back to the way it used to be 

A strong and powerful nation

With a great economy

 

That’s just what Hitler wanted 

So he filled the people with hate 

But that wasn’t God’s way

And Hitler found out too late

 

You say you are a Christian

But I seriously have my doubt

That Jesus would go round preaching

All the crap you spew about

 

I totally agree with you 

That things really need to change

But the way you want to do things

Borders on derange

 

So to wrap up all I’m saying

To you, Mr. Trump,

I really truly do believe 

You’re a giant horse’s rump

REGINA ASTOR

The Rabbi’s Sermon

Amagansett

October 15, 2016

Dear David,

This past week, Jews participated in the most religious of holidays, Yom Kippur. A time of fasting, reflection, and remembrance of loved ones who are no longer with us. During this time of fasting and reflection, Rabbi Dan Geffen of Temple Adas Israel gave a sermon I felt was worth writing about.

The rabbi stated that religious institutions are not supposed to comment on elections because of their nonprofit status; however, because this is such a difficult time, most clergy are conflicted about speaking to their congregations about the current presidential race. The rabbi’s source for guidance was the Torah.

According to the Torah, the three qualities that reflect the basic levels of decency are humility, respect, and knowledge. Respect is the core quality of a leader. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, totally lacks this quality. Although Mr. Geffen did not mention his name, this sermon received a round of applause from the congregants. Everyone understood what is evident in the unspoken truth. Donald Trump should not be elected president of this country.

The rabbi ended his sermon with the following words, “At the end of the day, the decision of who to vote for is yours and yours alone. . . . We would do well to consider the wisdom of our tradition and our sages, and to pay heed to what they have to teach us. Politicians come and go. Political parties rise and fall and platforms shift. But the qualities of leadership are timeless!”

Please think deeply about what matters to you and what is at stake for this country when you vote on Nov. 8!

RONA KLOPMAN

Not a Game

East Hampton

October 16, 2016 

Dear David,

This Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the United States, world leaders, and partners. This man is a habitual liar. He is not what Republican and Democratic leaders represent in our society. This man is a monster and will be too close for comfort to the nuclear codes. He said too many times that he “loves war.” This comment is as frightening as it gets. How can a draft dodger know anything about war? It’s not a game. 

Since Donald needs more ammunition against Secretary Clinton, he brought back President Bill Clinton’s so-called affairs that hurt his wife. Take a good look at Donald’s scandalous affair with Marla Maples. Doesn’t Donald have any compassion for his first wife? His unscrupulous comment made headlines in The New York Post, “I Had The Best Sex Ever.” Secretary Clinton worked on her marriage with Bill, where Donald is on his third wife and probably has a very serious mental problem. 

Ever since Donald entered the primary, he has been brainwashing his deplorable constituents that the election is rigged. This is how Hitler started. Trump is definitely inciting a riot if he loses the election. 

A mother in Florida had her 10-year-old son using the B-word to call Secretary Clinton at a Trump rally. These are deplorable. 

This past Saturday, Donald and Melania paid a visit to Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick’s Church. This is the first time since the breaking video was released that he had a visit with any religious leader. I guess he doesn’t have a religious leader from his own church. Did he obtain absolution? How can we elect this scoundrel to be president of the United States of America? 

JOE LOMBARDI

Trump’s Behavior

East Hampton

October 15, 2016

Dear David, 

How many disclosures from women, of inappropriate, nonconsensual sexual advances will it take for Lee Zeldin to withdraw his support of Donald Trump? That is the question that each person who still intends to vote for Mr. Zeldin should be asking themselves.

How can anyone face their mother, wife, daughter, or granddaughter and say, “I am voting for Mr. Zeldin even though he supports Donald Trump.” If Mr. Zeldin supports Donald Trump, he is approving Mr. Trump’s behavior.

Our next representative in Congress should be a person who speaks out loud and clear against Mr. Trump’s behavior. He, Mr. Trump, can no longer hide behind his lies, and neither should Mr. Zeldin hide behind Mr. Trump’s lies.

For these reasons, voters in the First Congressional District should vote for Anna Throne-Holst.

DAVID J. WEINSTEIN

Our Next President

Hampton Bays

October 12, 2016

To the Editor, 

Well, here we are, less than one month to Election Day. I feel that with all the news I hear on news and WOR radio about Mrs. Clinton and her husband, more than ever, Mr. Trump has to be our next president. 

Even with all the bastardizing he is receiving, he is probably one of the few who is able to throw it back in their faces, and that includes “meeting mouse” Paul Ryan.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any “climate change” on eastern Long Island. I maintain a calendar diary of events during the year, and except for the calendar year, there is little change.

According to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Gore, and Barack Hussein Obama, climate change is our number-one enemy. I feel this group of ISIS animals should be considered our number-one enemy. 

Another term that seems to be overused lately is “fact checking.” What is this propaganda all about? I never watch ABC, CBS, or NBC, but I get that they use that term as much as bashing our next president, Donald Trump.

Again, I thank you for letting me vent.

Yours truly, 

JOHN PAGAC

These Historical Truths

Montauk

October 14, 2016

Dear David,

At present, it appears that the Mein Trumpf campaign of our wannabe beloved fuhrer will shortly be consigned to the dustbin of history. In many ways it is a shame. Before the ascendancy of Trump, how many Americans knew the following to be true?

Barack Obama was born in Kenya.

Mexicans are rapists and criminals.

The Mexican government is anxious to build and pay for a big wall along its northern border.

Muslims are terrorists.

Immigration by Muslims should be banned.

American prisoners of war tortured by our enemies are losers.

Federal judges of Mexican heritage are biased. 

Ted Cruz’s father was good friends with Lee Harvey Oswald.

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are weak.

Not paying federal income tax is a sign of genius.

Declaring bankruptcy multiple times is a sign of genius.

Stiffing contractors and employees is a good business practice.

Global warming is a myth propagated by the Chinese government.

It is okay to sexually objectify and sexually assault women.

A national conspiracy of bankers, media, and political elites seeks to destroy Trump and will be responsible for his defeat.

Only Trump can make America great again.

Vladimir Putin is a cool guy.

Everyone should have a gun or two.

The Earth is flat.

I am truly grateful to the Trump campaign for enlightening the American public regarding these historical truths. I would also like to thank the Republican Party, Breitbart, Roger Ailes (particularly for his great insights on sexual harassment), Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Fox “News” for spawning the political career of a real loser. For proof, please check the electoral vote the evening of Nov. 8.

BRIAN POPE

Trump’s Campaign

October 17, 2016

East Hampton

Dear David, 

Trump’s campaign is groping!

Yours,

WILLIAM J. FLEMING

Playground Bully

Springs

October 11, 2016

Dear David,

I am still somewhat struck and in shock after watching presidential debate II. A spectacular show for sure, and most disturbing after the week of debate I, The Washington Post income-tax bomb, Hurricane Matthew, the Billy Bush bus video, and Alec Baldwin, Mr. S.N.L. It is a bit overwhelming and hard to process.

The night of debate II there was the secret pre-debate Facebook fake staged press conference replete with the brown tablecloths, water bottles, American flag in background, and the four presumed “violated” ladies by Bill Clinton of 20 years ago (three of whom have filed no charges). This soap opera was brought to you by Mr. Trump’s son-in- law, Jared Kushner, who also orchestrated a nasty plan to have the said ladies sit in the Trump family V.I.P. box, entering the hall when the Clinton family entered. A move to embarrass and humiliate. Not a nice guy, he of all people who personally knows family humiliation and real jail time.

 Part two of presidential debate II was primitive Mr. Trump political theater. We had preening, the dance of dominance, scowling, sighs, threats, exaggerations, lies, and just plain playground bully behavior. Mr. Trump was like a wounded bull in the ring, staggering, stinging, snorting, scratching the earth and stumbling with bravado before spiraling. I think he thinks (but who knows) his premeditated masculine aggression in this debate made him a winner! Go figure, definitely not so. Donald Trump has no moral authority.

If you are employed by Mr. Trump, you sign the contract, drink the Kool-Aid, take the oath of fealty and silence, and collect. He has family, but all are part of the brand, enablers, and all are collecting the dividends. Mr. Trump is a man with very few friends. He has associates and employees and family, but very few friends. Much of what he touches dies, just ask Billy Bush and the 16 wannabes. Going after the wife for the sins of the husband is double jeopardy. And it is the act of a coward and loser. It’s not the way to slay the dragon.

There is intense hatred out there of Hillary, no question. She is not perfect, but who is? She is a highly educated and accomplished female, and an activist. Some find this threatening, most don’t. New Yorkers know her as a popular senator who was respected in the Senate. She was instrumental in getting federal money into Lower Manhattan after 9/11, and, most important, getting money for medical expenses for the first responders, cops, steelworkers, volunteers, and firemen. 

 The East End’s Anna Throne-Holst has responded and issued a press release condemning Donald Trump’s sexual-predator bus behavior. Where is Lee Zeldin on this subject — still supporting this loser? Still surrogating?

BETSY RUTH

Mr. Trump’s Fantasies

East Hampton

October 15, 2016

To the Editor:

Growing up in Queens, my friends and I would have used the “P” word to describe Donald Trump. A spoiled, whiney, white boy who cried for his mother whenever things got a little nasty. A bully who got his ass kicked in every fight except with the little kids. So when the whining wimp tells the world that “I’m the only one who can save the country,” and he’s getting his butt kicked in the election, he screams that it’s rigged against him. The whole political system is rigged unless, of course, he wins. 

If Hillary Clinton made the same comments about men that Trump did about women she would be branded a slut or a whore. If Clinton were a birther she’d be called a racist and kicked off the ticket. So what does Lee Zeldin do, knowing that Trump is a misogynist, a racist, and a whining, sore-losing wimp? He gets down on a knee, genuflects, and declares his unquestioned support for Trump, and wears those banners well. 

But Trump’s character flaws are the least of Zeldin’s problems. More significant are Trump’s policy pronouncements and the fact that they are almost all filled with gross exaggeration and lies. 

Trump is by any standard a village idiot in his simplistic Twitter approach to policy. For example, the U.S. pays 21 percent of NATO’s budget, not 79 percent. Violent crime in the U.S. is 50 percent lower than in the 1970s and ’80s, not 50 percent higher. ISIS was created in 2004, not because of the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2012-13. NAFTA passed under Clinton but was a Republican-generated treaty. The failure of the U.S. government to address job losses was part of the problem, but job losses and reduced wages began in the early 1980s. Furthermore, it takes at least a generation for the long-term effects (increasing the Mexican standard of living) to benefit the U.S. The Affordable Care Act was about insuring more people, not only about reducing costs. If it had not been implemented, insurance costs would have been significantly higher than they are today. Trickle-down is so outdated and pointless that it’s embarrassing when he talks about it.

I’ve never read or heard Mr. Zeldin disagree with or repudiate any of Mr. Trump’s fantasies. Can we assume that he supports them as well? The problem is that if you agree with the policies of an intellectually deficient racist pig, are you one yourself? Mr. Zeldin, as a conservative obstructionist, played a major role in the political gridlock that debilitated our government’s performance. He was a proud player in opposition to increasing the minimum wage and almost every job program to support working-class people.

Before Trump, he was simply another useless hack, marching in lockstep with his Tea Party cronies. But, as with much of the Republican Party, Mr. Trump has brought him out of the closet. And while it’s not very appealing to the eye, at least we know what we are dealing with. 

NEIL HAUSIG

Metamorphosis?

East Hampton

October 10, 2016

Dear Editor,

Mr. Mayor Giuliani, as a witness and surrogate for Donald Trump you have stated that he is no longer, or never has been, a misogynist or a misanthrope, that his conduct and remarks defaming, shaming, disparaging, and denigrating women were in the past, and his written and verbal remarks, the latest being the video where he discusses his prowess as a rich and famous sexual habituate who preys on women, is no longer part of his persona.

I would like to ask you just one question: Considering that Donald Trump is now 70 years of age, can you tell us at what age his lifelong, continuing series of proved, acknowledged, and documented hurtful and hateful statements about women particularly and others generally ceased, and this alleged metamorphosis you suddenly claim took place?

Pick any age and explain why more came after that age. Age 17, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 59, or 69? Or only in your mind?

RICHARD P. HIGER