Please Return the Signs
East Hampton
October 4, 2020
Dear David,
What is wrong with people? An apt title for a book these days, but in a broader sense of that question, really, what the heck are people thinking?
I am referring to the stealing of two small yard signs that I passed frequently driving home, or going east, on back roads, that were no bother to any normal person. One said Black Lives Matter and the other Biden/Harris 2020. I also pass quite frequently another sign, on Springs-Fireplace Road, a huge banner draped on a property’s porch railing, with red, white, and blue bunting hanging, saying Trump 2020.
Now granted, it deeply offends my sensibilities, but I do not get out of my car and go rip it down, even if part of me would so enjoy that. That, and any Zeldin signs. Yuck. Boo. I know this stealing of signs happens in local elections, and sometimes just for displayed signs in general that people like and want. But what ever happened to “If it doesn’t belong to you, you have no business taking it?”
I guess some people weren’t taught that rule as children, or had consequences if they broke the rule, or the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” (My argument for pro-choice, by the way: Parenthood ain’t for everyone. Look around.) Enough said.
I am reminded of an incident when thefts like this happen, locally, especially at this, my favorite time of year, fall. Beautiful pumpkins and gourds abounding in fields, and the anticipation of Halloween, or Samhain, as we call it in the Celtic tradition, my very favorite holiday. One year, I was jazzed about a plastic cauldron I found in a local shop. A perfect size to display a pot of cranberry-colored mums by my gate out front, in my driveway. They were gone the next day, cauldron and all. Never to return.
Same thing happened with our house sign, a bit later on that year. “Leaping Lizards” was taken. I had it made especially at the old sign shop for my husband, a nod to his affinity for, and collection of, and husbandry of the reptile world that lived and bred in our basement. (Don’t ask.) Those days are gone. It was an interesting era, let’s leave it at that.
Anyway, when our lizard house sign was dug up and stolen, in the same spot at the bottom of our driveway, my husband put out a message on the tom-toms, to local youth in the neighborhood. “Put the lizard house sign back where it was, boys. You have two days.” It wasn’t a lethal threat by any means; he knew the kids in the neighborhood well, and our son was sure it was a prank. (Was he in on it? Could be.) The sign was promptly returned, a bit dusty but none the worse for wear. I cleaned it and put it back right where it was, a bit deeper in the ground. It was not bothered with again.
I later replaced it with a change of house name, Blue Bottle, which instead hung from our porch for years after we painted the house blue. Which I actually got flak from some people about. “Nanci, houses out here are either cedar-shake or faded silvery-gray. Maybe white.” Wow. Who knew house colors were a topic of conversation and stuck-up opinion? I would then say, “I wasn’t aware your taste had anything to do with my choice of my house color.”
Not that this even was a rule of the neighborhood or community, mind you. We live in an affordable-housing neighborhood. Diverse as you can get. Can’t my house reflect that? That was the point of its invention, this neighborhood: for all the working community. Anyway, I like blue. New Orleans “haint” blue, Caribbean blue, the periwinkle Crayola, and the tasteful blue my house is painted. Actually, it was first painted brown after it was built in the ‘80s, though it was supposed to be a faded red barn stain I chose. And believe it or not, people had opinions on that color choice, too. “Why is your house brown?” What? I was stunned. Is that a real question? People are so darn opinionated.
But back to my original point, if a sign doesn’t belong to you, or you think it’s ridiculous or unnecessary, or it offends your sensibilities, then carry on, walk on, cycle on, drive on. However, you don’t pluck it out of the dirt or grass and steal it. No. That’s stealing property. Maybe, instead of stealing someone’s signs, you have an intelligent conversation about what it says instead. Or not. But either way, the signs are not yours, so you don’t take them.
So many basic rules of humankind and civilization have gone out the window in the past few years. Sad to witness such blatant disregard for a different opinion, another point of view. My lovely, smart, kind mom would tell us, “Girls, respect other people’s right to say how they feel, but do speak up for yourselves, always. And don’t let them drag you down to their level. You be who you are.” And my mother-in-law, rest her sweet soul, another wise, kind woman, had a wooden sign hanging on the wall in her house on Napeague, that said “Just walk a mile in his moccasins/ Before you abuse, criticize, accuse/ If just for one hour, you could find a way/ To see through his eyes, instead of your own muse.”
I hope the signs return to the house in East Hampton on Town Lane where they were stolen by a woman who stopped in a black S.U.V. We’re mostly not the kind of neighborhood with house cameras, but we have big dogs! But seriously, return the signs, lady, they aren’t yours. Do the right thing. No one is telling you what to think or whom to vote for, but thoughts and prayers if you’re voting for the Lost One in the White House, Goddess save us all, cancel three times. Please return the Biden-Harris and B.L.M. signs to their rightful owner. Or you are simply no better than those you disparage for what your ilk and their mean, bullying rhetoric deem “illegal protests and out-of-control rioting from criminals running rampant in the streets of our country, ooh poor us, I’m frightened, get the militia.”
Get a freaking grip, and be what our country is supposed to be, full of compassion, liberty and freedom for all. Man and woman-up. Stop the idiotic crawl talk, it’s beneath all of us. An abyss of asinine. Stop the hating. Don’t embarrass the rest of us, who live here in harmony. Freedom of expression and speech is paramount to our country. Hands off other people’s signs. Thank you.
In fervent hope of change and unity,
NANCI LaGARENNE
Uncommon Birds
East Hampton
October 3, 2020
Dear East Hampton Star,
This is for all the birders out there. If you haven’t noticed already, migration season is in full swing. My yard has attracted a lot of fall transients, some of which I’ve never seen there before. Among the expected visitors are rufous-sided (Eastern) towhees and white-eyed and red-eyed vireos. Among the more uncommon (for my yard, not for the area) are yellow and bay-breasted warblers and especially the ruby-crowned kinglet. This last bird, I’ve heard, is in severe decline and headed for endangered status. It’s nice to see the others as well. The point is that you don’t have to go far to find uncommon birds this time of year.
One project which I have been keeping up more or less for the past 30 years is my daily bird-diary. This is simply a Moleskine notebook in which I note the birds I see on my property, especially at the feeders. I keep track of species and sex when possible, as well as the number of individuals of each species.
This is similar to the Project FeederWatch methodology used by Cornell Ornithology Lab’s Citizen Science Program. I love the idea behind the project, and it’s worth joining if you’re so inclined. I stopped only because I have internet issues, and, sadly, I got the impression that my data don’t really matter to the program. Plus, I simply don’t like doing things online (these letters to The Star and the odd purchase from Amazon are pretty much the extent of my online presence; yeah, I’m a Luddite of sorts).
Anyway, even if you just pick up any old sheet of paper, start listing the birds you see. I know it helps me to decompress in this time when we are all under immense stress.
Thanks for reading.
MATT HARNICK
Safe Bicycle Travel
Springs
October 5, 2020
Dear David,
In East Hampton, cars have injured bicyclists frequently. Cars have even killed people who were riding a bicycle. Many people have stopped riding a bicycle because of how dangerous it can be in our town. There have been many demands to improve the roads for bicycle riding. Yet the needed design and improvements have only been done by the County and State on their roads. Nothing that makes bicycling safer and more enjoyable has been done by the Town of East Hampton.
Here are the first sections of the most important prior East Hampton Town resolution on how we must build and manage roads. Resolution 2011-650 was passed on July 21, 2011, but has not been used:
“WHEREAS, the Town Board desires to establish a complete street design policy that safely and cost effectively facilitates access and improved mobility for pedestrians, cyclists, mass transportation riders and motorists of all ages and abilities (hereinafter a “Complete Streets” Program); and
“WHEREAS, the Town Board recognizes that the Federal Highway Administration has determined that streets designed with Complete Streets Program principles improve safety for all users (motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists) and that the U.S. Department of Transportation has advised states to incorporate into all transportation projects bicycle and walking facilities; and
“WHEREAS, the Town Board acknowledges that in 2005 the Town of East Hampton adopted its Comprehensive Plan which calls for the implementation of a system of bicycle lanes, paths, and routes to promote safe bicycle travel within the Town, and further recognizes that in June 2011 the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York both unanimously passed the “Complete Streets” legislation for the State of New York, which legislation is awaiting the Governor’s signature. . . .”
Governor Cuomo signed the “Complete Streets” legislation, and the state website has had practical discussions. The town could make the strongly needed improvements by creating a 10-year Complete Streets Program capital project that improves all the town roads for bicyclists and other users. The town would bond for the project.
The capital improvements of a Complete Streets Program will be endorsed by town residents. They can be told that next year the bonds do not have to increase the town residents’ tax payments. The town has a large and saved surplus which could provide money. And, as the town budget states this year, next year is the last annual payment for a bond that was needed solely to pay off large town deficits that were discovered about 10 years ago.
With the big surpluses now, and with bond money no longer needed for former deficits, a Complete Streets Program with better and safer bicycle routes can be the best new project.
ZACHARY COHEN
Above It All
In these days of pain and woe
We have lived the ebb and flow
Of languid days and sultry nights
Of peace and calm and soaring kites
Above it all.
We wonder how it came to be
That we can sit beside the sea
That we can walk upon the sand
As if it were some other land
Where seagulls soar
Above it all.
SUE NORTH
Show Up Instead
Springs
October 2, 2020
Dear David,
Until about a year or so ago, I served as a harried elections inspector (redundant) at my local precinct in Springs. An elections inspector is not a “poll watcher.” Inspectors must go for training and are certified (or not) on the basis of an exam. Inspectors must show up an hour before the polls open and stay until the table captain declares the night is over— typically a 16 or 17-hour day. Inspectors — usually four to a table — are drawn from both major political parties.
The administration of ballots can be a nightmare, especially with long lines of frustrated voters, many of them hourly workers, waiting to be checked in. The different kinds of ballots provided voters can be daunting: Ballots for those who feel more comfortable with Spanish; for those suffering from a handicap that permits assistance, and for those whose names cannot be found on the rolls but insist they are eligible to vote, typically voters whose addresses have changed before the County Election Board can catch up with them. They get absentee ballots. Absentee ballots can also be requested by mail in advance of an election, and are similar in this regard to mail ballots.
I venture to say (some of my former colleagues may disagree) that close to half of absentee ballots, which must be filed in a special pouch, may be thrown out.
In person on Election Day, absentee ballots have to be signed off on by an election inspector, after the prospective voter is given an okay by the precinct supervisor. The ballots are then inserted into a special envelope which requires fill-in information, including initialing by the inspector. The slightest omission or error can disenfranchise the ballot, so it’s important that the envelope information is accurate and complete — a maddening chore to attend to, especially as regular voting goes on.
Inspectors must record those ballots on a special page in an election booklet. If a ballot is “messed up,” another can be issued (up to three times), but each ballot, including the “voided” one(s), must be accounted for at the end of the day and numbers must tally with the machine’s initial distribution numbers. Mail-in absentee ballots are simply Out There.
Obviously, serving as an elections inspector is challenging. My experience, however, leads me to admire my former colleagues, and I deeply resent claims that the process is an invitation to, or an expression of, fraud. I have never seen any evidence of manipulation that would confirm conspiracy theories. Nonetheless, the air is so charged with anxiety, and absentee ballots (both in person and by mail) are likely to grow, that I urge fellow citizens who are planning to vote by absentee ballot (counted after the election) to show up instead.
Lines may be longer, tempers shorter, confusion more rife, but this year it is important to have votes counted immediately. Bring a chair, a book, a guitar, a friend to be held at a six-foot arm’s length, whether doing early or on-the-day voting. Show up, and be kind to those who still serve.
JOAN BAUM
Painfully Obvious
Seattle
October 2, 2020
To the Editor,
It is fascinating to me that there are still people who do not understand that fighting against Black Lives Matter with “All lives matter” is, for lack of a better and acceptable word, childish. Recently Chip Dayton wrote a letter titled “Haven’t Taken the Bait.” He said, “All of a sudden I mention the phrase ‘all lives matter’ and I’m branded a racist.” I am so happy for you, Chip, that you were able to enjoy and respect Ida, your “[Black] cleaning woman.” That’s mighty white of you.
To Chip, and everybody else who is angry to be excluded from feeling like they matter because of Black Lives Matter, let me explain. Let’s say Chip and his wife have two children, Chip Jr., whose birthday is in August, and Betty, who was born in February. You bake a cake for Betty’s birthday party, and Chip Jr. has a fit because he didn’t get a cake, and screams, “Don’t all birthdays matter?”
You have taken the bait, Mr. Dayton. You have been lured into thinking that a group of people just slightly different from you, demanding equal rights under the law, are Marxists. You have taken the bait thrown out like chum to sharks by people much more powerful than you. There you are, swimming with the Proud Boys, imagining you are not a racist because you have Black friends. Aren’t you curious what Ida would have to say about all this? Assuming she could say exactly what she feels without fear of being fired.
There is a long history of racism on Long Island. The core of the eugenics movement was in Cold Spring Harbor. The K.K.K. marched regularly on the North Fork as late as the 1980s, and in fact, the largest chapter of the K.K.K. in the country was, and may still be, located on Long Island. I had students in the public schools there in this century who used the N word without compunction. And the racism continues now, as evidenced by the letter from Mr. Dayton.
So, the next time Mr. Dayton, or anyone else, is on their boat way out in the ocean, taking on water with a blown engine, when you call in your Mayday I hope the Coast Guard doesn’t reply with “All Boats Matter.”
How much more basic could this be? There is no way you can look at any part of the history of this country and not be aware of the blatant mistreatment of all people of color, and with a particular emphasis on the repression of Black Americans and their enslaved ancestors. Black Americans have fought for America in every single war since the Revolutionary War, and in every war fought with distinction and the highest of honors. But when you measure the quality of life enjoyed by Americans, it is painfully obvious that in this American system Black lives do not matter.
I cannot understand two things. First, how is it possible that such vile judgments can be made based on skin color? Second, why so many white men are afraid of a level playing field.
JOHN BEUSCHER
Former Resident of East Hampton
No Friend of the Jews
Amagansett
October 5, 2020
Dear Editor:
One day I was having coffee in a deli that had an upstairs room for patrons. In walked a group of people flag-waving — Confederate, American, and flags with Nazi insignias — coming from a Trump rally. They were terribly scary looking, loud and raucous, aggressive, and drinking heavily. As a Jew and an Israeli sitting in their midst, I was terrified. It was clear from their words and tattoos that they were anti-Semitic and I could be in trouble. I ran out of there.
They were the Proud Boys, who Trump in the presidential debate asked to “stand back and stand by.”
In the infamous Charlottesville, N.C., event in August 2017, a white supremacist rammed his car into peaceful protesters, killed one woman, and severely injured 19 other young people. That evening there was a candlelight march to unite white nationalists across the country, many who were armed (some in Ku Klux Klan hoods) chanting anti-Semitic slogans such as “The Jews will not replace us.” Trump commented, “There were fine people on both sides.”
Nazis and neo-fascists are fine people? How did Trump explain that statement to his daughter and son-in-law?
Trump has openly supported QAnon, a white supremacist conspiracy group, supporting theories that Jews are running the world causing all the problems, and are out to get Donald Trump. It is known that Jewish reporters who have been unfavorable to Trump have received Photoshopped versions of themselves in gas chambers in concentration camps, with Trump’s hand on a lever. There has been a mass shooting at a synagogue in San Diego by a white supremacist, and a steady rise in anti-Semitic crimes since Trump is in office. Do the Jewish voters hear this?
I have wanted to scream at all my Jewish friends who are supporting Trump. They are so certain that he’s pro-Israel and ignore all his anti-Semitic acts. He could never hurt a Jew, after all, his son-in-law and daughter are Jews.
Israel and its welfare are very dear to my heart. But I want all Jews to see what he is doing. Trump is buying the Jewish vote through a scam. He is the king of phony gestures and manipulation. The Jewish population is overlooking the fact that Trump is surrounding himself with these groups who are anti-Semitic and want to kill Jews.
We need to ask ourselves, who were the people in his secret police? Isn’t anyone worried about what they could do? This is against the Constitution and reminiscent of Nazism.
Trump made a grand show of “friendship” with Israel to establish ties with the United Arab Emirates because it’s close to the election and he wants the Jewish vote. (Did it benefit him in other ways, likely.) If he’s re-elected the truth will come out. He’s no friend of the Jews.
I fear for the Jewish population. What happened in Germany is likely repeating itself in the U.S.A. Jewish Trump followers are in denial.
If Trump can put children in cages and in concentration camps, and is now encouraging white supremacists to move through this country with weapons, anyone who is conceiving of re-electing this man must realize that they’re putting their life in danger. They are not looking ahead. How deep does denial go?
“A majority of American Jews feel less safe today than they did four years ago due to the rise of white nationalism and anti-Semitism under Donald Trump,” said Halee Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, in a statement. “This, coupled with Trump’s assault on our democratic institutions, are reminiscent of the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany.”
Open your eyes.
MERI WALLACE
Lessons to Learn
Springs
October 2, 2020
To the Editor:
In America we can’t let other people tell us who we are or what we need. You have to decide that for ourselves. Running away from our problems is a race we will never win. The eyes are useless when the mind is blind. Democrats must learn if you don’t hear it with your own ears or see it with your own eyes, don’t invent it with your small mind and say it with your big mouth. To look is one thing. To see what you look at is another. To understand what you see is third, and learn from what you understand is something else. How you act on what you learn is all that truly matters. Action is character!
It’s time to take the big money out of politics and make our government work for us. The road of life can only reveal itself as it’s traveled. Man’s future is hidden. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. At times politicians should learn some problems can only be solved if you are willing to shut your mouth and open your ears. There is nothing more dangerous than a closed mind.
The rainbows of life always follow the storm. Our eyes are placed on the front of our face because it’s more important to look ahead than to look backward. All members of Congress should know there is no elevator to success! You have to take the stairs. Respect is earned, honesty is appreciated, trust is gained, loyalty is returned. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. There will always be lessons to learn. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but how we react to what happens. Not by what life brings to us but by the attitude we bring to life. The greatness of a man or woman is in their integrity and their ability to affect those around them positively. You attract people by the qualities you display. You keep them by the qualities you possess!
Democrats must remember, if an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If an egg is broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside. To know you are at times being ignorant is the beginning of wisdom. Concept is a brick, it can be used to build a house or throw it through a window. Each day we must choose the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The two things in life you must control are your attitude and your effort. The question of the day every day for you to ask is, if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. The most vital thing in a man or woman’s mind is mental attitude.
TOM BYRNE
A Strong Nation
Springs
October 1, 2020
Dear David,
The disappointing debate that offended viewers last Tuesday was followed, on Thursday, by the 96th birthday of former President Jimmy Carter, who once said, “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.”
DAVA SOBEL
Think Good Thoughts
Amagansett
October 5, 2020
Dear Mr. Rattray,
I think you think you know exactly what I’m thinking. I also think you might be thinking the same thing. The thing is, when I start thinking like this I get very upset with myself, for obsessing on the negative. Then I think, okay, I need to stop thinking these things. Then the thoughts come back and I might even say out loud, stop it! Think positive thoughts! And I’m good for a few minutes, but then I start thinking those things again and now I’m shouting, just stop, for Christ’s sake! Think good thoughts!
And then I think, why would I bring Christ into this? Why would Christ even care what I’m thinking? And then I think, randomly, God might judge me for just having these thoughts. But by the time Judgment Day comes, I will have forgotten what I was thinking back then, on Oct. 4, 2020. Yet God would remember! But why would God take just one Judgment Day to make very serious decisions about what happens next to, for example, me? Wouldn’t God want to deliberate, take all my thoughts and actions into consideration before passing judgment?
And what about everybody else? I’m thinking it would take a very long time to process all of the souls and all of their thoughts and actions. and now I’m asking myself, why was God always depicted with a beard? Why would God even have a beard? Everybody knows she would have smooth, multicolored skin!
And now I’m so lost in this thinking, Mr. Rattray, that I’m starting to hit myself in the forehead with the proximal part of my palm, really hard, while muttering ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Then I roll up my latest issue of The New Yorker and continue hitting myself in the forehead. It makes a sharp, snapping sound and a red welt forms, which actually has the positive effect of forcing me to think about something else. So, that’s good.
The thing is, Mr. Rattray, I began having these thoughts after reading of our president’s hospitalization for Covid-19, and watching his videos thanking the fantastic doctors and medical people who were caring for him, and the millions of people who were sending love and well wishes, including world leaders, and saying he was feeling much better and soon there will be medicine that will be like a miracle for this thing. And while I’m not very good at multitasking, I was simultaneously viewing, in my head, the mocking insults he was hurling at Joe Biden on the debate stage for wearing a face mask. And the audacity of his familial entourage for removing their face masks at the Cleveland Clinic auditorium, violating pre-established protocols. And the image of a reception at the White House for his Supreme Court nominee, during which no attendees wore face masks.
And now at least 12 of them, all in contact with each other in these and other gatherings, have contracted Covid-19. So that’s maybe the source of these thoughts that I’m ashamed of, Mr. Rattray. And since I’m no longer a practicing Catholic, it would seem unseemly to go to Confession and seek forgiveness for this thinking.
I have this fantasy: Joe Biden has won the election and is President of the United States. Just days ahead of his very first State of the Union Address before Congress and the American people, Biden requests that members of each party choose a colleague from the other party to sit beside, blurring the hard line between red and blue, elephants and donkeys. And the members of Congress generally agree to this symbolic action (hey, it’s my fantasy, so shut up!). And then, following the lengthy welcomes to the speakers, members, distinguished guests etc. etc., President Joe says: “First, I want to thank my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, for agreeing to sit among each rather than on opposite sides of the aisle, like opposing teams. I realize it’s only symbolic. I’ve just always hated seeing the party of the president giving standing ovations every time a line came out of his mouth, while the members of the other party sat stone-faced with their arms crossed. Embarrassing! Hey, I realize we’ll always have our differences. But our job is to work together, iron things out, reach agreements — even with compromises that we don’t want to make — to make life better for the people we serve. All the people! So thank you again, from the bottom of my heart. Now let’s move on to the State of the Union.”
Okay, I feel better now, Mr. Rattray, even though I’m still thinking that thing you thought I was thinking. But I’m sure there’ll be something else to think about by the time this goes to press. Don’t you think?
Always,
LYLE GREENFIELD
Corrosive Effects
Springs
October 4, 2020
To the Editor:
The deadliest threat facing the American public isn’t the coronavirus, it’s the toxic brew of arrogance and ignorance that Trump and his loyalists have force-fed the country: the relentless denial of the risks of Covid (it’s like the flu, it only affects the elderly, it will disappear), the mocking of wearing a mask (not a good look), the touting of quack remedies (bleach, anyone?), the lack of testing (more positive tests make us look bad), and the raucous indoor rallies.
This lethal cocktail resulted in untold suffering and tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths, and yet Trump barely seemed to notice, stating that the death toll “is what it is.”
But recent events have finally succeeded in focusing Trump’s mind. After egregiously flouting C.D.C. guidelines (as well as common sense) by introducing his Supreme Court nominee in a jam-packed Rose Garden with no social distancing and few masks, there is now a growing list of high-profile, Covid-infected attendees. And then there was the debate in Cleveland, where part of the agreed-upon rules was that all audience members wear masks. Apparently believing they are part of an elite brethren for whom rules don’t apply, Trump’s entourage shooed away those offering masks as if they were annoying gnats. But reality finally pierced the Trump bubble, and now the president and others in his inner circle are infected.
The corrosive effects of this administration will be felt long after they have gone on to their respective cell blocks (what can I say, I’m an optimist who still believes in law and order). To reclaim our collective sanity, and our democracy, we must vote this reprehensible con man and his Republican enablers out. Only then can we start rebuilding our place in the world with a president who understands the gravity of the situation, and who has sound plans for dealing with the most serious health crisis in our lifetimes.
Sincerely,
CAROL DEISTLER
It Is Enough
Springs
October 5, 2020
Dear Editor,
After 21,000-plus lies by an impeached President Trump, four years of outrageous and irresponsible behavior, policies and cabinet appointments that have corroded rather than protected our basic freedoms and values, it is enough! Separating young children from their parents, allowing Russia to interfere in our elections and foreign safety, and causing incredible harm to our populace with regard to the coronavirus by knowingly doling out misinformation, thereby causing deaths, is truly a dismal record. We have a chance to hold him accountable by voting him out.
Likewise in November, our district, C.D. 1, has a chance to vote out one of Trump’s biggest supporters, Congressman Lee Zeldin, whose record shows that he has not had his constituents’ back with regard to his votes on SALT, the environment (terrible rating from the League of Conservation Voters), and voting our interests only when it was a very safe vote for him. Nancy Goroff will vote to protect us from climate change, and use her science and professorial background to make wise decisions in Congress for our district and our nation.
This election is crucially important! I urge everyone to register by Friday (tomorrow), and vote for the Biden/Harris/Goroff ticket on Nov. 3.
NANCY S. KARLEBACH
False Narrative
East Hampton
October 5, 2020
To the Editor:
There is a false narrative that Lee Zeldin lays out that is the standard failed politician switch-and-bait. A neighbor lights your house on fire and then calls the fire department. The family is saved and he is considered a hero. What a great guy! Shame he set the house on fire.
Throughout the past three or more years, Zeldin has repeatedly schemed this false narrative. He supported Trump’s Covid 19 denial and then took credit for getting us P.P.P. materials that we would have had if they hadn’t been lying about the problem. While all the death and pain rest on his shoulders, he claims to be a hero.
Lee Zeldin didn’t support the CARES Act. He and the G.O.P. went along with Pelosi because they had no choice. When the CARES assistance ran out, they remained silent. As the economy slips and people are in severe economic pain, Zeldin remains silent, fabricating a narrative that he supported CARES and that the economy is doing great.
When Trump denigrated the military as suckers and losers, Lee Zeldin swore he didn’t say it. Being ex-military had no bearing on his decision. Trump has been saying this for years. Zeldin blocks his ears and shows us his medals.
Zeldin equates the rioting and looting with Black Lives Matter without understanding that if the government hadn’t denigrated B.L.M. and everything connected with it, the violence wouldn’t have happened. So, he participates in promoting the violence and then tells us he’s a law-and-order guy, a little late.
So, like his boss, he botches the Covid 19 response. Botches the economic consequences. Botches the disgrace of the military. Botches the B.L.M. issue. Yet he tells us that we should re-elect him? Put him back into office to continue botching up the world? Why?
Competence in the face of crisis is the most we can expect from our politicians. In general, they are more garbage, literally, than not. Competence is the litmus test for re-electing someone. Lee Zeldin gets an F in competence.
NEIL HAUSIG