Investigations as smoke, and them in the mirror
Edgewater, N.J.: The president came into office promising to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse of “hard-earned taxpayer resources,” but because he was bought with a recent non-campaign contribution, he offered Paul Walczak a full pardon, exonerating Walczak from repaying the $4.4 million he stole from all of us (after ripping off his hard-working staff of the $10 million he withheld from their pay for taxes and FICA, which he spent lavishly on himself). Just like the Founding Fathers envisioned, right? This isn’t draining the swamp, it’s refreshing it.
For the last four years, Rep. James Comer and his House Oversight Committee abdicated any opportunity to solve problems for us so they could engage instead in nonstop revenge-and-retribution investigations of our last president. Almost nightly, he appeared on news programs leering with insinuation about all the dirty deeds of the “Biden crime family” they were examining, yet in the end, they found nothing.
Now that the crimes and self-enrichment are right in front of them, Comer and his oversight-and-accountability clowns can’t believe their eyes? Nope, they’re still investigating former President Joe Biden, which I guess is what all those working-class voters they claim to have brought into their tent really wanted.
Most disturbing is that the whole world can see that half of America is OK with these shenanigans. It’s enough to warm the cockles of any U.S.A.-hating dictator’s heart. Jay K. Egelberg
Don’t waste our time
Kew Gardens: I could do without a Biden health cover-up probe. It will be another lengthy and costly endeavor that would be redundant. Most Americans saw the decline of Biden with their own eyes. Moreover, nothing came out of the investigation into the Biden family’s monetary enrichment that spanned a decade. They all walked off into the sunset, pardons in hand, with the money and gifts as well. There is, however, one value of the previous probes into the Biden presidency. They will aid history in recording him as a corrupt and ineffectual president. And finally, I hope nobody is considering building him a library. Phil Serpico
Threats abound
New Rochelle, N.Y.: Something to think about: Did you ever wonder what it would be like with Kamala Harris as our president? Or even Biden! Do you ever wonder what Russia and China are planning in the next few years? China has more ships than us. Between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, they outnumber our military. Did you ever figure that all those countries were ripping us off with tariffs and we did squat? Thank God I can go to sleep knowing that Trump is watching over my wife and family as well as the rest of America. There has never been a better president. I can hardly wait. Go MAGA. Dom Mastropolo
Swiped solar
Brooklyn: Yes, Puerto Rico’s power grid is a mess, but the money to repair it has already been allocated (“U.S. shifting $365M for Puerto Rico solar to fixing power grid,” May 27). Investment in solar power and battery storage is a much quicker way to safeguard vulnerable hospitals, health clinics and public housing than throwing another modest amount toward fixing the grid. I think Trump swiped the funding for renewable power for strictly political reasons the same way he tried to halt the fully approved and 30% complete Empire Wind project. May Puerto Rico have an advocate as successful as Gov. Hochul to save its solar power the way she saved our wind project. Samantha Gore
Pro-Jewish
Brooklyn: The Democrats love to call Trump Hitler. He has a daughter who converted to Judaism. He has Jewish grandchildren. He is an unabashed supporter of Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem despite the howls from the left. He brokered the Abraham Accords, a feat for which any politician not named Trump would have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. Frank Congiusta
Choice words
Manhattan: As I watch Scott Stringer on TV calling Trump a “schmuck” — he also says a few other words — I am not a fan of Trump and what he is doing, but the only schmuck I see is Stringer. I would not let him walk my dog, never mind run for mayor. There is a bar I used to drink at many years ago on Delancey St., and some of the people I knew, Benny and Myer, would call Stringer a “putz.” Dennis Dunleavy
Bygone benevolence
Manhattan: Yes, there was a liberation! A real one, 80 years ago: the liberation of Paris, where everyone sang the praises of America. Then this country deservedly won the plaudits of the new free world. Remember, my compatriots, when it was indeed a glorious thing to be an American — when the U.S.A. saved instead of wrecked. R. B. Brandel
A cop’s cop
Astoria: Re “Kerik dead at 69” (May 30): Working under Bernard Kerik when he was the NYC Department of Correction commissioner, he always had the officers’ backs. He was as real as they come. When hard times fell upon him and those close to him remained silent, Kerik handled it like the trooper that he was. May he RIP. Aris Sakellaridis
Beat cancer
Plainview, L.I.: To Voicer Lesley Lewis Paulos: I do not take cancer lightly. My family has gone through lung and gallbladder cancer, and even my 6-year-old chihuahua died of stomach cancer. We are not finished when we are defeated, we are defeated when we quit. Never quit, stay strong. I’m a survivor, as I went through encephalitis when I was 8, with a paralyzed left arm and both legs, and went through a brain operation. I also survived a heart attack when I was 49 and a stroke recently. I’m like the Energizer Bunny — I take a licking and keep on ticking. I’ve overcome every obstacle in front of me. Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Frank Mauceri
On his watch
White Plains, N.Y.: In my opinion, when we think about voting for the next mayor of New York City, we should remember what Andrew Cuomo did when he was governor of New York. He permitted seniors who had COVID to go back into nursing homes with healthy patients, and because of this, many seniors lost their lives even though there were other options for where they could go. In my opinion, for this reason Cuomo should not be elected the next mayor. We must remember all who died because of his actions and how their family and friends must feel about the loss of their loved ones. Joan Cocurullo
Persevering kids
Brooklyn: I’m the parent of a young athlete in Team Crate, a rising youth basketball program based in Far Rockaway, Queens. I’m reaching out with the support of the program’s leadership to share a recent story of resilience, community and triumph. Over Memorial Day weekend, the Team Crate middle school girls team went undefeated in the Perimeter Sports Memorial Classic, winning all four games and bringing the championship title back to Far Rockaway. Their journey included overcoming unsportsmanlike crowd behavior and tough competition, yet they stayed composed, united and focused. What makes this story special isn’t just the wins, it’s what Team Crate represents: a community-powered Amateur Athletic Union program that has built a movement out of mentorship, hard work and exposure for underserved youth. Karen Valenti
Technological conclusion
Swarthmore, Pa.: The coming artificial intelligence revolution is starting to unfold in real time, although experts metaphorically say it is in the first inning of a nine-inning ballgame. There’s no question that its effects will be highly consequential, but does it ultimately move mankind forward, boost our wellbeing and free us to reach the peaks of self-actualization or in the end, control us and dominate us. There’s no shortage of prognosticators spewing horrible, apocalyptic scenarios, as there is also no shortage of soothsayers who say AI will usher in a new golden age of untold wealth and prosperity for all. Change is constant and inexorable. It can be slowed down but not stopped. Best to prepare for it to be a highly consequential force in our economy, society and our individual lives. Ken Derow
