Huh
Dear Editor:
Huh? Did I vote for Elon Musk when no one was looking? What’s with naming his kid L’il X? He’s cute now, but when he turns into Big X, he’ll probably sue his father for slander. Also, what does a billionaire know about federal waste? I don’t think he’s worried about where the next omelet on his plate is coming from.
Someone tell me where the Q train goes to, because it’s not Queens. Also, why is it that the escalators in the Lexington and 53rd Street station don’t work, and I have to drag myself up 65 stairs and then enter a “weed” store to buy a bottle of water. (Actually, surprisingly, it only cost $1.) Yes, I know that I can drive into Manhattan, but that would cost me gas, the RFK Bridge, and $40 for parking, So, $70 as opposed to $2.90, there’s no contest. I just have to remember to keep my head down in the subway and pray that something called the M train goes to Forest Hills.
I guess I’m not the only person being told that I owe money on my E-ZPass card. I actually didn’t fall for the scam, which is surprising, since I believe about everything I get on my phone. However, my sharp mind remembered that I had just filled my card, so don’t you readers fall for that scam.
Then there’s alternate side of the street parking. I have a sheet with every holiday on it that takes up the entire front of my frig. Huh? No exception to Valentine’s Day? Doesn’t Tu BiShvat deserve parking on both sides of the street? Have they never heard of Taanis Esther or Tzom Gedalya? Oops, I have to somehow navigate my icy community drive (It sounds a lot nicer than it actually is) and move my car to the back. Then I have to test my ice-skating skills to my back door. Wish me good luck!
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
This message is in response to Jason Stark’s comment on my last letter.
Mr. Stark, it is not simply my belief that Trump attempted to steal the 2020 election. It is indeed a fact. He asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find him 11,000+ votes” (his 18th attempt to reach him on the phone); Raffensperger replied that the Georgia votes have been audited twice, to which Trump responded with a not-so-veiled threat. Trump also attempted the same with other swing-state election officials. Raffensperger was smart enough to document and record the call.
Every state in which Trump challenged the election results tossed the allegations for lack of evidence by the judges in the respective states, many of them Trump appointees.
Of course, Biden received millions more votes than Trump. There was massive turnout by Democrats, many Independents, and some Republicans to keep Trump from winning another term. Trump certainly knows how to bring Democrats to the polls!
The most laughable line of Stark’s message is that Trump “respected our democracy and peacefully left office.” There is much more that Trump attempted to do to unconstitutionally remain in office, such as trying to use the directives of the Eastman memo and appoint “alternate electors” (beyond the scope of this letter). Trump’s own Secretary of State Bill Barr said that Biden won the election. Trump even admitted to podcaster Lex Friedman in September 2024 that he “lost by a whisker.” Had Trump refused to leave, he would have been carried out of the White House by the military.
Trump shamefully did not welcome Biden into his office to facilitate the transition as every other president has done. Equally disgraceful is that bitter Trump didn’t attend Biden’s inauguration as is the custom that every other president has adhered to.
As a Republican, I am no admirer of Biden or the Democratic Party, but at least Biden had the decency to arrange a smooth transition of power when Trump succeeded him and attend his inauguration, as any decent president would do.
Sincerely,
Arlene Ross
Dear Editor:
Excuse me, Mr. Hecht, but Robert Bork wasn’t merely “rejected by the Senate.” That was an extremely flippant comment that demonstrates your utter contempt for conservatism. Mr. Bork was an outstanding jurist and fabulous legal scholar who was tarred and feathered by none other than Joe Biden during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senate was controlled by Democrats and Mr. Bork might have been confirmed had he not faced the drama. This set the precedent for Democrats for all time to publicly shame and destroy any Republican nominee: Executive or Judicial. Just ask Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh.
The prosecutors in the Southern District of New York who quit aren’t to be celebrated as martyrs, as Mr. Hecht clearly does. These weren’t “acts of courage.” They did not stand on their morals and ethics when the corrupt and politicized DOJ, led by Garland, went after a former President on the flimsiest of charges. All filed to stop him from becoming President once more.
The charges against Mayor Adams were weak and most likely also political retribution for being outspoken against the non-existent immigration policies of the Biden administration. Adams did not come close to the corruption that we saw from Senator Bob Menendez, who was convicted and sentenced to prison. The DOJ did what was prudent by dropping the charges. Mayor Adams is doing what he ran on: law and order. He happens to now have an administration that is a willing participant in his fight against crime.
Instead of the TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome, that Mr. Hecht suffers from, might I suggest a remedy. Write about the barbarism that is Hamas: what happened to the precious Bibas boys, the horrific psychological warfare Hamas played by returning a casket with a woman’s body that wasn’t Shiri Bibas. Yes, pending IDF confirmation, Hamas now returned Shiri’s body to Israel. This is something we can all rally around.
Purim is coming in a couple of weeks, then Pesach right after. We celebrate that we are still here despite all those who have tried to wipe us out. May we come together as one to pray that Hashem continues to protect am Yisrael as we continue to face these mortal enemies.
Shalom Markowitz
Dear Editor:
I would like to respond to Warren Hecht. He complained that Trump is doing a terrible thing by replacing Wray at the FBI with loyalist Cash Patel. Warren argues that Patel will be loyal to Trump and that is not good for the country. Wray was one of the most political hacks to run the FBI. Wray served the Democratic Party. He ordered a raid on Mara-a-Lago despite the serious questions as to the need for it. Trump submitted 15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation. In addition, Wray allowed the seized documents to be tampered with in a public relations effort to make Trump look bad. Wray also admitted that many undercover FBI agents, dressed up as MAGA supporters, were present on January 6. But he refused to respond to questions posed by Congress as to why the FBI agents were there and how many there were. Wray also refused to answer the question, “Did FBI agents open the doors to the Capitol to let in the protestors?” These questions are extremely important, and his refusal to respond to them is very telling. Trump has no choice but to replace Wray. He has disgraced the FBI, and he needed to go. Good riddance.
Warren also complains about Trump cuts to USAID. Here are some of the wonderful projects that USAID has funded:
$25M for Green Transportation programs in Eastern Europe, $20M for New Sesame Street Show in Iraq, $10M for Meals to Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, $6M to transform digital spaces to reflect feminist democratic principles, $7.9M for Teaching Sri Lankan Journalists to Avoid Binary-Gendered Language, $2M grant to fund gender changes in Guatemala, $1.5M to advance DEI in Serbia’s workplaces, $1M to a Hamas-linked charity, $1M to help disabled people in Tajikistan become climate leaders, $1.1M to promote gender diversity in Bangladesh.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. $2 billion was given to Stacey Abrams for some climate change program. How can Warren support this insane spending. The answer is simple: He has TDS and will attack Trump on anything he does.
Martin Berkowitz
