Community Media
Wainscott
October 10, 2024
Dear David,
Cable Access Channels, often called public, educational, and government (or PEG) access channels, are not something that many people give much thought to. Local TV, Inc. (LTV) understands that, because we are your local public access station with two public-access channels. We are realistic about who we are. Chances are, most people have come across LTV while scrolling through channels. We are on Channel 20 and 22 on the Cablevision/Altice network. As you quickly scroll by, you might see coverage of a town or village meeting or a locally produced television show.
It's the same around New York State: When most people think of their local cable-access channel, they think of government meetings, whether that be the local boards, school-board meetings, or the like. While government coverage is an important focus for LTV and other stations (including allowing residents to view previous meetings and increase government transparency), some stations -- including LTV -- do more than that.
We film, broadcast, and archive community events, and allow community members to produce their own shows. We provide event and performance space for community theater, musical events, forums, lectures, and other activities that benefit and educate the East End community. We have an archive of close to 30,000 shows and films, many dating back to the early 1980s, which we have partnered with the East Hampton Library to digitize and make available to all. We provide many different services to our community and we feel good about our progress.
However, there is a major problem facing LTV and PEG stations across the state: funding. We stations rely on franchise fees from cable companies for most, if not all, of our funding. In short, cable subscribers pay a franchise fee to the cable company as part of their cable bill. A portion of those fees then go to local municipalities to be used to pay for a PEG-access station, equipment costs, personnel, etc. In our case, a percentage of the money received by East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village is passed on to us for those reasons. LTV is not part of the local government, nor is it a burden to the community. We are not funded by taxpayer dollars. We rely on the franchise fee, grants, and the generous donations from the community.
This funding model worked well in years past. Now, though, many customers are canceling their cable subscriptions in favor of online streaming services. As the number of cable subscribers drops, so does the available funding for PEG stations. This is forcing many stations across the country to make tough decisions on what they can and cannot provide for the local community. As funding continues to decline, stations may face the choice of either cutting back on coverage or closing their doors for good.
It is a reality that the staff and board at LTV think about constantly. However, there is a possible solution being proposed. Legislation has been filed called Senate Bill S2581A. If passed, this legislation would impose a fee on streaming services for using public utilities (sidewalks, telephone poles, etc.), much the same way that cable companies have to pay the fee. The money collected would then be distributed to PEG stations and community media centers across the state based on population and would provide a new source of funding to ensure the continued operation of PEG-access stations around the country.
We believe that PEG stations provide an invaluable service for communities across the state. While often viewed as a relic of the past, the services that cable-access stations provide are more important now than they've ever been. Broadcasting government meetings, covering community events, and letting citizens produce their own shows are just a small part of what these stations do, including LTV. Without modernizing the funding structure these stations rely on, we could soon see them disappear completely. The Legislature must act quickly to pass the necessary legislation to keep cable access alive.
MICHAEL D. CLARK
Executive Director
Local TV
Owned by L.L.C.s
Amagansett
October 13, 2024
To the Editor,
Congratulations to reporters Sampson and Hartnett, and to The Star, for exemplary investigative journalism in last week's front-page piece "Who's Your Neighbor?," about the growing use of L.L.C.s locally to buy houses.
I would like to add what I regard as being a really important gloss. The article mentions the fact that an L.L.C. limits liability but does not specifically discuss how the use of an L.L.C. therefore utterly contradicts the supposed mission of our Zoning Board of Appeals, to protect our community and environment. Most houses purchased by an L.L.C. will also need variances or natural-resources special permits these days, as the new anonymous owner builds an extension or second story, or, most commonly in my neighborhood on Napeague, tears down the original structure to build a mini-mansion. The Z.B.A., which almost always grants the variance after no more than three revisions, allows these L.L.C. applicants to raze portions of a secondary dune (and sometimes the primary dune, mis-ontologized as secondary). The permit contains a condition that the dune be revegetated. This is not as easy as it sounds; replacement dune vegetation requires maintenance and attention for years. Yet the Z.B.A. accepts this commitment from a legal nonentity, a single-property L.L.C. that has no other assets than the house itself. There is no human being affirming that the effort will be made, no one to hold responsible if promises are broken.
It is not a coincidence, by the way, that the egregiously noisy summer share houses which infest my neighborhood are all owned by L.L.C.s.
Sadly, the issue of whether an applicant can be held responsible for the conditions it sets does not even seem to be on the Z.B.A.'s radar screen. There is a simple and practical solution: Just as no bank will give an L.L.C. a mortgage without the human owner signing a personal guarantee, the Z.B.A. ought not to grant a variance or permit without a guarantor. The posting of a substantial bond is another possible solution. In reading the state law that creates our Z.B.A.s, I suspect they already have the authority to require this, but for what we lawyers call "belt and suspenders" assurance, the East Hampton Town Board could consider an ordinance.
For democracy in East Hampton,
JONATHAN WALLACE
A.K.A. "Daffy Mr. Pony Tail"
A Bold Step
Wainscott
October 14, 2024
To the Editor and Readers,
Wainscott Heritage Project is overjoyed that the Town of East Hampton proposes to acquire the 30-acre parcel at 66 Wainscott Main Street using Community Preservation Funds in the amount of $56 million. Until its purchase in 2021 by Ronald Lauder for $66 million, this land had remained nearly uninterruptedly in the Osborn family since the mid-17th century.
While the original saltbox home was lost in the 1950s, there are extant buildings representative of the local vernacular dating to the beginning of the 20th century. The open setting of coastal prairie that surrounds Wainscott Pond and abuts the ocean dunes is a view that remains largely unchanged despite the erection of large estates.
This land is an essential feature of Wainscott's historically agrarian character, appreciated and enjoyed not only by generations of Wainscott residents, but by so many across East Hampton and from all parts, consistently aweing passers-by every day.
In fact, this sweeping and serene coastal landscape is included as a subunit in the "East Hampton Scenic Area of Statewide Significance" and described in the 2010 document published by the New York State Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources: "Farmland surrounding Georgica and especially Wainscott Ponds contributes to the scenic character of these areas by creating an open landscape, continuing a historic land use and by providing a constantly changing visual character."
Consistent with our organization's mission to preserve the history and cultural character of Wainscott by protecting its historic structures and significant viewsheds, Wainscott Heritage Project enthusiastically supports the acquisition of this key parcel of land and the local historic designation of the buildings upon it that must accompany this purchase according to C.P.F. law.
We are thrilled at the prospect of restoring the health of Wainscott Pond, a body of water that historically provided fish, ice, and opportunities for recreation, and today is the most compromised water body in East Hampton. We embrace the protection and restoration of the vital habitat offered by this thriving meadowland. We welcome properly planned preservation of all the existing structures and encourage their appropriate adaptive reuse to contribute to the vitality of Wainscott's historic heart. We are excited over all that these 30 acres will become public land, never to be developed, accessible to all through this C.P.F. acquisition.
Wainscott Heritage Project acknowledges the heavy lift this represents as the largest C.P.F. purchase in the town's history. While we laud the multifaceted purpose of the acquisition -– for the preservation of open space, agricultural lands, historic places and property, and the protection and improvement of water quality -- we particularly wish to emphasize the opportunity for historic preservation.
On the heels of the smaller yet no less significant purchases of the Carl Fisher House and Annex and the Julius D. Parsons Homestead, we are energized by this bold step that we anticipate will usher in a continued, effective, responsible vision of historic preservation and stewardship through the C.P.F. in the Town of East Hampton.
We urge the public to attend the public hearing noticed for today at 6 p.m., and hope a majority will share our enthusiasm in support of this significant purchase that will benefit the East Hampton community for generations to come.
With hopeful anticipation, on behalf of our board of directors,
ESPERANZA LEON
President
Wainscott Heritage Project
North Main in Trouble
East Hampton
October 14, 2024
David,
East Hampton's North Main Street is in trouble. The current traffic is unmanageable at times and the neighborhood has returned to a time 20 years ago, when it had a major neighborhood-demanded upgrade. The current town board is planning on giving the parkland to the county to create a traffic circle at the Sherrill Park intersection. Giving the land to the county to take care of is a violation of the trust given the town by the Lions Club and the Sherrill family, who trusted the town with its preservation, as is clear in the original donation agreement.
Giving the land to the county would bring more chaos and disruption to the area instead of making it calmer and safer. It is the wrong solution. Better solutions are available, less time consuming, and less expensive. We should not give the Triangle Park to the county, we should not have a traffic circle, We should take care of North Main and bring it back into the East Hampton community. We don't need to give the responsibility to the country to keep East Hampton beautiful. Look what happened when the village board gave Main Street to New York State . . . signs and chaos.
Do not vote to allow this shedding of responsibility to happen. The town board has to and can get a better solution.
JONATHAN S. FOSTER, R.A.
Some Questions
Wainscott
October 11, 2024
Dear David,
Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez claims that there is nothing to discuss re: the citizens' public proposal to lease the Wainscott land formerly leased by the Maidstone Gun Club, a private entity. She says, "We have a contract." This reminds me of Groucho Marx in "A Night at the Opera": "Oh, it's a contract, we have a contract!"
As director of the Coalition to Transform East Hampton Airport, the community group offering to lease our public land for beneficial purposes, I agree with our attorney. The supervisor's statement raises many more questions than it answers. Here are some of the questions for the board:
How can you have a "contract" when the original lease expired over a year ago, and there is no new lease? An option to renew a lease does not mean the lessor has to renew, does it?
The original lease conveyed just 1.8 acres, so why did the town for 40 years give Maidstone Gun Club use of 97 acres of public land for $100 a year in violation of New York State Constitution Article VII, Section 8, prohibiting a town from making gifts to a private corporation? Exactly how much public land are you now planning to convey?
Are you aware that in 1985 (when most of you were perhaps in elementary school), the Town's Land Use Plan recommended this tract for passive recreation to protect the watershed?
Why would you renew a lease with a lessee that has violated major tenets of that lease, including a) illegal clear-cutting of approximately 20 acres of forest; 2) bullets escaping the property and hitting residents' houses a mile away at least eight documented times (including video certified by the New York State Police) since 2004; 3) flagrant failure of oversight allowing nonmember shooters and unregistered/illegal guns (also documented on video); 4) the all-but-certain contamination of air, soil, and groundwater resulting from gun club activities that neither the club nor the town has ever investigated, and 5) continual violation of town noise ordinances?
Why would you renew a lease with a lessee that is shut down by the New York State Supreme Court due to reckless endangerment during its past lease?
Why would you renew a lease with a lessee whose tax returns show large debt, and no apparent means of paying a legitimate price for all this public land?
Why would you renew a lease with a lessee that has embroiled you/us in yet another costly lawsuit -- even as you have a pending $8 million town budget deficit?
Knowing that the prior lease contains a provision saying "an option (to renew) is subject to the town board's legal requirement that . . . premises are surplus property not required by the Town for any municipal purpose," why would you not put this land to better use?
How can you possibly justify having such an environmentally destructive activity on the public watershed?
How does a Democratic board endorse outdoor gun use and the resultant pollution in East Hampton in 2024, when the great majority of Democrats deplore this?
Who associated with the gun club, in addition to member Peter Van Scoyoc, has such power over your decisions regarding it?
What's the rush to make more missteps, when the club is closed indefinitely?
All in all, why are you engaging in, and subsidizing, a myriad of dangerous, wrongheaded, backward-looking, and patently illegal actions?
And, finally, would you agree to have an outdoor shooting range in your neighborhood?
Oh, yes, you told us the answer to all of these questions: "We have a contract."
BARRY RAEBECK
People Trump Hired
Springs
October 8, 2024
Dear Editor,
When President Trump was running for election in 2016, he said that he would hire the "best people" to fill his cabinet. Great! I was all for it. And he did appoint some respected and competent people, like James Mattis, secretary of defense, John Kelly, chief of staff, Rex Tillerson (ex-C.E.O. of Exxon Mobil) secretary of state, and others. These serious leaders worked for Donald Trump and had the front-row seats to the day-to-day duties he performed as president.
So, based on their firsthand experience (hindsight being 20/20) what are these high-power folks saying now about the 2024 election?
President Trump's Defense Secretary (and General) Mattis says Trump is a "threat to the Constitution."
President Trump's other secretary of defense, Mark Esper, interviewed by Fox News, cited the events of Jan. 6, 2021 -- recounting how Trump undermined the election results, incited people to come to D.C., stirred them up that morning, and failed to call them off. In Esper's words: "To me, that threatens our democracy . . . what else can you conclude, Bret?"
President Trump's Secretary of State Tillerson said Trump's "understanding of global events was really limited."
President Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Trump compromised our principles for personal gain.
President Trump's other National Security Adviser, Ambassador John Bolton, describes Trump as "unfit" to be president.
President Trump's Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (former South Carolina Republican Congressman) said the Jan. 6 "chaos revealed a complete breakdown in the operation of the West Wing."
President Trump's other chief of staff, John Kelly, called Trump, "the most flawed person he ever met."
President Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr said, "Someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn't be anywhere near the Oval Office."
President Trump's Vice President Mike Pence said he could not in good conscience support him.
These are the people Trump hired. They held high-level positions responsible for our national security. They represented the government of the United States from the military and law enforcement to international diplomacy. They worked closely with Trump in the role of president.
Maybe we should listen to what they are saying?
DOUG BANFIELD
Master, U.S. Merchant Marine (Ret.)
Hurricane Readiness
Amagansett
October 13, 2024
To the Editor,
It took India Nye Wenner, a 17-year-old high school senior, to finally reveal the truth about East Hampton's lack of hurricane preparedness and what we face in the coming storms. In her Sept. 26 front-page article in The East Hampton Star, she detailed the potential deaths and billions of dollars in damages that will become our reality.
Having served for seven years on East Hampton Town's Waterfront Advisory Committee, I have seen no significant improvement in our hurricane readiness, whereas the risks are increasing rapidly.
The newly formed East Hampton Town Emergency Preparedness Committee has a difficult task ahead. East Hampton needs:
A staged evaluation plan by specific area and population at risk, e.g., Gerard Drive, Louse Point, Lazy Point, and Ditch Plain.
Shelters fully equipped with Wi-Fi and bedding to accommodate the population needs (from May through November) for storm shelter and from damaged homes.
A food and water replenishment plan, especially when local resources like the Montauk I.G.A. are destroyed, with designated distribution sites in each hamlet.
Adequate emergency medical resources.
A breach-response plan for naturally occurring events, such as the Shinnecock Inlet opening during the 1938 Hurricane. The 1938 Hurricane also left Montauk isolated for six days due to flooding at Napeague. The Little Pike's Inlet breach at Westhampton in the 1991 Halloween storm took days and cost millions to repair because closing was delayed.
A proactive and storm-resistant communications system that educates our residents when and if to evacuate including the location of appropriate shelters.
Finally, coordination with the Suffolk County Office of Emergency Services, New York State, FEMA, and pre-storm planning with organizations like Americares, the Red Cross, and others is essential.
Hiring a full-time, hurricane-experienced emergency preparedness coordinator, like many other coastal towns have, would be a great step for the town board to take -- sooner rather than later.
Sincerely,
PETER STRUGATZ
Deportations
Springs
October 11, 2024
To the Editor:
I do not view comments on national politics as appropriate for a letter to The Star. But I trust a comment on the immigration-deportation issue might be germane.
"By ethnicity, 7,552 (26.92 percent of the total population) is Hispanic or Latino (of any race), and 20,501 (73.08 percent of the total population) is non-Hispanic." Source: neilsberg.com.
At this point in the presidential election campaign, the focus has turned to deportations. Jamelle Bouie, in "The Miracle Cure of Deportations" (The New York Times, Oct. 6), writes: "The former president is running on a promise to commit a moral crime of world-historical proportions" –- the deportation of undocumented or illegal immigrants. This comes to you with the powerful impression that Trump has innovated a historic proposal, new to America, to create humanitarian disaster. There is no mention by Bouie of any earlier deportations in America. Fortunately, a few facts in context can be remarkably clarifying. What follows, then, is the briefest review of the deportation slugging match's context.
There are some nine million people around the world who are waiting to enter (and work in) the United States legally after qualifying with the requisite standards for green cards. Their wait has stretched to several years.
As of 2022, there were approximately 11 million undocumented (illegal) immigrants in the United States. (Statistics come from pewresearch.com, PoliFact, and factcheck.org, among others.) At various times, Trump and senior Republicans like Senator Marco Rubio have alleged that there are 20 million to 25 million "illegals." Different immigration groups, using different methodologies, estimate that the population here illegally ranges from 10.9 million to 16.8 million.
About half of the 11 million illegal immigrants now in the United States came over the southern border, breaking the law in the process. The other half, roughly, came on temporary visas deliberately overstayed, defying apprehension.
Now for some historical context: In 2014, during the Obama administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted 315,943 removals legal under U.S. Code Title 8 1227. In all, Obama deported more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants, his focus, reportedly, on criminals. (You mean there are criminal immigrants?)
To be specific, during Obama's first three years in office, around 1.8 million people were deported, while around 800,000 deportations took place during Trump's first three years, 186,000 the last year, for a total just under one million during his first term.
So, is Obama the devil who introduced the "moral crime of world-historical proportions" into the American polity? No, there is more context. In the 105 years between 1892 and 1997, the United States deported 2.1 million people. Between 1993 and 2001, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, about 870,000 people were deported. During the presidency of George W. Bush, Jan. 2001 to Jan. 2009, about two million people were deported, while, to repeat, between 2009 and 2017, the presidency of Barack Obama, about 3.2 million people were deported.
We have a situation where it is Trump and leading Republican allies who misrepresent Obama as too weak on immigrants, too delicate on deportations.
Since Biden became president, the numbers have increased drastically. During the final two Trump years, 2019 to 2020, the Department of Homeland Security documented 1.4 million arrests. In less than their first 26 months, the Biden-Harris administration made more than five million arrests. Biden has deported the majority of the apprehended individuals; Trump deported a minority. Biden-Harris deported at 3.5 times the rate of Trump.
Who is deported? In 2018, the top countries of origin of those deported were Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador . . . all down the list of Central and South American countries to number 10, India.
I hopes this clarifies the context of this issue.
WALTER DONWAY
Caregiver Stress
Montauk
October 10, 2024
Dear David,
Some adults are taking care of other adults who may be suffering from Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, chronic illness, or cancer. The 48 hours they spend each day throughout the course of their loved one's illness makes them a caregiver.
The caregiver may be stressed by financial, social, physical, work-related, or family problems. He/she may be experiencing physical or emotional health problems that are, perhaps, related to caregiver stress. Invariably the caregiver burns out. Help is needed! If you cannot take care of "your patient," what will happen to him or her?
Our meetings provide other caregivers, who have faced and may have solved the same problems you are facing. Anger, lack of social interaction, wandering, showering, and unsafe driving are a few of the problems often faced.
Our meetings are the last Friday (Oct. 25) of the month at 1:30 in the Family Service League office at 316-51 Accabonac Road. Meetings are free. Call for directions, 631-324-3344, or for information, 631-668-2498.
Thanks,
DANIEL A. BRIGANTI
At Barefoot
East Hampton Village
October 12, 2024
To The Star,
Ina Garten was all over your letters column this past week, but nobody mentioned her action that I remember most fondly. The takeaway food at the Barefoot Contessa was always fresh and delicious and the shop was always busy, the line at the checkout counter long but dispatched quickly. But the most excellent and astonishing thing was that one day a week all the prepared foods that had not been sold during the past weekend were put on sale half-priced, but only for those over 60. It was all still fresh and delicious, and a line of the no-longer-young waited outside the door until it was opened. Driver's licenses were not checked for age but hair color went a long way to identifying that day's clientele. The shop was not just a fine source of excellent prepared foods, but a true civic asset.
Am I right that it was Mondays, or was it, perhaps more likely, later in the week to clear the shelves for the next weekend?
FRED KOLOUCH
Not One Spoke
Springs
October 14, 2024
To the Editor,
Almost every elected official in East Hampton is a Democrat. Yet, as far as I could tell, not one of them showed up at the pro-Israel event this summer at Herrick Park. Certainly, not one of them spoke at the meeting. Was the issue of Israel's survival as a nation not important enough? Or was the Democratic Party once again pandering to its jihadi wing -- Omar, Tlaib, A.O.C., and their ilk?
One elected official who did speak was our congressman, Nick LaLota. His address expressed a deeply felt, forceful commitment to unwavering support for Israel and its fight for its very existence. None of the on-again, off-again politically motivated maneuvering perpetrated by the Biden-Harris clown show. There are many reasons to support Congressman LaLota, including his stated loathing of the various Democratic proposals for a Bureau of Misinformation or some similar totalitarian stunt, all of them meant to suppress speech or facts or ideas Democrats don't like.
Speaking one's mind is our God-given right, enshrined in our Constitution. Whether you're Jewish or just someone like myself who believes that the Israelis have every right to defend themselves and to destroy the psychotic butchers who committed the atrocities of Oct. 7, the event at Herrick Park was an opportunity to stand up and be heard loud and clear. But the Democrats were M.I.A. Why?
Sincerely,
REG CORNELIA
The Money, Honey
Springs
October 9, 2024
Dear David,
One can hope that the Trump era will end with the upcoming election. But we should remember that repeating a lie over and over until many people believe it did not begin with Trump. Many have observed that Hitler was the modern master of the technique.
Rush Limbaugh was doing it long before Trump. With the aid of fake science funded by the fossil-fuel industry, Limbaugh was feeding the truck radios of Americans with assurances that climate change was nothing to worry about. Aided by the torrent of dark money unleashed by Citizens United, that lie persists to this day with Trump calling it a Chinese hoax to ruin our economy. The surviving citizens of Ashville, N.C., as they bury their dead, probably will not connect the dots to their own voting records. Hurricane Milton is approaching Florida as I write this, but two multi-billion-dollar storms in a few weeks may not matter in terms of votes. Long Island suffered Sandy, yet we continue to vote Republicans into office who never support legislation on climate change, even as we wring our hands and puzzle over the shrinkage of Montauk.
Republicans learned the lesson from the political destruction of Congressman Robert Inglis in 2010 that acknowledging the danger of climate change and advocating for action to stop it was political suicide. The monolithic power of fossil-fuel interests proved they could take you out in a heartbeat. On a more fundamental level, Republicans learned that lying was essential to political survival. So it was only a small step for them to spend the last eight years endorsing every outrageous lie that came from Trump's mouth.
We can draw hope from the dozens of members of Trump's own administration finally admitting that he is unfit for office; further hope from scores of lifelong Republicans pledging to vote for Harris. But media mind control will not be easily overcome. Too many are not paying attention.
Trump dazzled his millions of followers by telling them there was a swamp in Washington, D.C., that did not care about them. It is true there is a swamp. But it isn't in the Department of Education or the Internal Revenue Service or Health and Human Services. It's the money, honey, that flows through lobbyists to politicians, policing their votes to protect profits that have resulted in billionaires amassing a larger and larger share of the nation's wealth, as those on the lower and middle economic rungs struggle to hang on to what they have.
If Trump is defeated, the swamp will still be there, pocketing the money, voting as their paymasters demand, with Elon Musk and Peter Thiel dancing on the stage behind a new useful idiot. It's a long way to Tipperary. If Trump wins, staffing every arm of the government with boot-licking loyalists will be doom for the rule of law and the end of dissent. Trump's hero Putin has taught him, if you're challenged, murder your enemies. Russia still calls itself a democracy. Trump would not need the immunity bestowed by his Supreme Court. Nobody would dare to charge him.
DON MATHESON
To the Wolves
East Hampton
October 13, 2024
To the Editor:
To those considering voting for Donald Trump this year, I suggest that if it is because they think he represents their values and interests they should consider the question of loyalty. Mr. Trump is manifestly unable to be faithful to anyone or anything.
The evidence underscores this fact: When told that Mike Pence, his own vice president, was in danger, he said, "So what?" In fact, on Jan. 6, 2021, he incited his own supporters to seek him out, causing a riot where many were injured and some died, as did Capitol Police officers trying to maintain order. Mr. Pence and members of Congress narrowly escaped injury.
Mr. Pence had been loyal to a fault, but when he refused to help Mr. Trump overturn the election results he became anathema and was thrown to the wolves.
Do Trump supporters really think loyalty is a priority to him and that he will always protect them and their interests? His proven record predicts otherwise: They too will be betrayed on a whim.
And Mr. Trump won't be constrained this time by the need to get re-elected or fear of indictment. As a clinical psychologist I have noted that his mental health has declined sharply since the assassination attempts have deflated his delusion of invincibility. His paranoia shows signs of mushrooming: Who knows whom he soon will consider "an enemy" as he continues to decline?
Trump supporters remind me of someone who wants to marry a man who, like Mr. Trump, has cheated on all his wives. You can tell yourself this time it's different, because he really loves you.
Don't fool yourself: You will be kicked to the curb too, or maybe even be thrown to the wolves.
CECILIA M. FORD, Ph.D.
Clear Enough?
Montauk
October 14, 2024
Dear David,
I truly wish to thank Carol Dray for her letter explaining Project 2025. Donald Trump may have been mentioned over 300 times; however, Joe Biden was also mentioned over 300 times.
Donald Trump has stated many times he has nothing to do with Project 2025. Is this clear enough?
As far as $640 million dollars being FEMA money, Mayorkas claims FEMA is broke, nothing left for citizens of storm disasters. Karine Jean-Pierre argues we found $7 billion dollars. Is this not amazing? We have, no, we don't have, money. Honesty from this administration is few and far between. Lying to the public, being backed by the media, is their way of so-called "serving" Americans. The only ones suffering are the people, residents of damaged cities.
In God and country,
BEA DERRICO
Disinformation
East Hampton
October 13, 2024
Dear David,
I would like to express my deepest thanks to David Buda for his work dissecting the Springs School District budget. David does not sit on the school board; however, that doesn't stop him from working tirelessly for the taxpayers of Springs.
My second thank-you goes to the editors of The Star, for fact-checking Bea Derrico's letter from Oct. 10 regarding FEMA and Homeland Security. I only wish that you would fact-check more of the disinformation that is spewed week after week by Ms. Derrico.
The number of lies in this election is astounding. Can The Star do more to call out the idiocy and disinformation of letters they receive?
Thanks for listening,
DEBORAH GOODMAN
A Hundred Days
North Haven
October 14, 2024
Dear David:
Bullies and autocrats, despite being in the minority of any civil population, develop power from permissive encouragement. Schoolyard bullies later in life can become lawless corporate officers, bad cops, bad soldiers, even world-leader tyrants. The only thing they understand is effective discipline for their wrongdoing, including a convincing defeat if they persist.
Bad behavior allowed by parents and the community seems further stimulated by social media. It's encouraged worldwide among children, young adults, and some adults as well. This lack of accountability and responsibility seems to have spawned generations of adults with little regard for conventional, acceptable, and lawful behavior.
Social mores and actual rules and laws can and do change, according to generally agreed-upon standards. That's what democracy is all about.
A complete disregard of generally accepted standards, sometimes mislabeled as independence, or freedom, or even political Libertarianism, becomes the tool of destruction for a healthy democracy. We are witnessing this now.
Numerous real crises of war and insurrections range from here at our own Capitol in D.C. to Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Brazil, Lebanon, and so many other tin-pot dictatorships elsewhere. Authoritarianism is clearly on the rise. Many populations succumb to this passively, and often they are slathered with spiritual mysticism.
Someone has to step in to start a recovery. Joe Biden is a tired old man, but still with his full mental capacity -– despite failing physical abilities. He has an astounding record of beneficial achievements in world politics since 1972, with just a few negative glitches demonstrating his humanity. Our president's greatest advantage now is on the world stage as a so-called lame duck president with about 100 days of his term remaining.
Biden still has the real and immediate power of presidential executive orders to directly do the right thing. Congress can continue to waste time with its usual absurdities and backbiting, getting nowhere with specious arguments hoping to stall time until "their guy" again becomes their master.
Orders to allow Ukraine to use our donated weapons into their enemy's territory is essential for them to expel Putin and save their country.
Netanyahu cannot continue receiving and using our assistance for his unlawful incursions into Lebanon and his blatant and shameful defiance of our requests to protect United Nations Peacekeeping personnel.
These two bully leaders have corrupted their own countries, and put in harm's way their own citizens for their own private and misguided purposes.
We are still the most influential and healthy nation in the world, so it seems our time to intervene as leader has finally come to the present. Biden is in charge, and despite the ugly rhetorical garbage being tossed around, he clearly understands the delicacy of dealing with world leaders gone amok having nuclear capabilities.
World peace needs some real action these remaining 100 days. Our own political nonsense should not further delay appropriate measures.
ANTHONY CORON
Martyrs to a Leader
East Hampton
October 14, 2024
To the Editor,
I would have wondered –- before the way things are became clear to me –- whether the now-endless devastations from hurricanes and tornadoes have led to a rethinking about climate change.
Would the very people whose homes have been destroyed have a change of heart?
We have turned the human foible of not admitting we are wrong into a platform with the ideal candidate. And they are flocking to Florida to be martyrs to this leader.
So, no, there is no rethinking as there was no thinking to begin with.
TOM MACKEY
Murderous Agenda
Montauk
October 11, 2024
Dear David,
Mr. David Saxe and Mr. Mitchell Agoos, self-appointed leaders of East End Jews for Israel: It has become obvious in the past year that neither King David, King Solomon, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, nor Yitzhak Rabin has ever killed as many innocent women and children as has your hero, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Obviously not satisfied with murdering 42,000 civilians in Gaza, he is now murdering thousands in Lebanon. One can surmise that he does not really like Arabs while proclaiming his defense of Israel. And he also does not really care about obtaining the release of the hostages held by Hamas -- as illustrated by massive demonstrations against Netanyahu by Israelis.
It is time for the United States government and American citizens to realize that Netanyahu is an Israeli fascist who defends and cloaks his murderous agenda wrapped in an Israeli flag. The longer the war continues, the longer Netanyahu remains free from corruption charges.
Denouncing Netanyahu's war policy is not antisemitism. It is plain and simple human decency.
Sincerely,
BRIAN POPE
Who Is Lying
Wainscott
October 11, 2024
Dear David,
Your editorial in this week's edition "FEMA and the End of Truth" is missing some facts, especially on who is lying.
On Oct. 4, I watched Secretary Mayorkas state that FEMA does not have the funding for this hurricane season. No mention of what funding FEMA needs. So it is quite apparent that Mayorkas is clueless, incompetent, and a liar to our faces.
In addition, on multiple occasions, Mayorkas stated the border was secure and closed. Were the news outlets' videos and press photos a mirage or A.I.? Not one word on the $1 billion spent on non-citizen migrant resettlement programs. Will the Helene disaster ever be mentioned, as Kamala was out fund-raising and others ignored the prediction and as the death toll mounts?
The photo ops of her on a plane with a phone to her ear despite having ear buds in her ears? Her advisers are as sharp as a marble for this stunt and the press lackeys keep falling over themselves.
"My Country 'Tis of Thee" ain't what it used to be.
ARTHUR FRENCH