Opposing political violence — unless it’s yours
Milwaukee: Sophie Roske, a transgender woman, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for a 2022 plot to assassinate conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Prosecutors had sought a minimum sentence of 30 years. Maryland Federal Judge Deborah Boardman explained that Roske voluntarily abandoned the assassination plan, expressed remorse, had no prior criminal record and was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Boardman also questioned whether Roske would receive adequate mental health treatment in prison, citing President Trump’s executive order banning gender-affirming care for federal inmates. Attorney General Pam Bondi and conservative media outlets like the New York Post and National Review have expressed outrage over the eight-year sentence.
By their standards, the scores of Jan. 6 rioters who breached the Capitol while chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” should have been sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. After all, they were domestic terrorists who attempted to execute the vice president. Instead, they have all been pardoned by Trump. Appallingly, in an interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Trump defended the Jan. 6 rioters’ “Hang Mike Pence!” chants. Trump asserted: “Well, the people were very angry… It’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?”
How can anyone claim to oppose political violence while supporting a person who pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police officers and publicly defended their violent chants? Terry Hansen
The assault continues
Forest Hills: The country has slid further into downright fascism with the arraignment of former FBI Director James B. Comey on charges of lying to Congress (isn’t that rich considering we have a president who lies 1,000 times a day?) in a case that loudly proclaims itself as an outrageous abuse of power on behalf of the sitting president, who has publicly demanded that his lapdog of an attorney general bring charges against the former FBI director. And by golly, she sure did! Despite the evidence being insufficient to even prosecute Comey, the case appears to be going forward at taxpayers’ expense just to placate the most vengeful, vindictive president ever to sit in the White House! Every American should quake in outrage over the continuing attack on democracy being carried out by this president and his loyal minions. Ron Gersh
How long?
Staten Island: It is such a disgrace to see our military point their weapons at fellow Americans. Also, I say they are cowards to cover their faces. When it was made public about the masks, there was no retort and the masks are still on. I don’t know why this president is called an autocrat. Every day, he shows signs of a dictator. When will he be stopped? When he has his enemies put in prison? Are the American people blind and deaf to what Trump is doing? The Republicans have the power to stop or at least try to stop this madness. But when? Jeffrey Van Pelt
Brain boost
Manhattan: Just had a great marketing idea. Send Comrade Trump a six-month supply of Prevagen by expedited FedEx delivery. What a great boon to the company stock price and the nation if it would work. Michael Malewich
Not prizeworthy
Hartsdale, N.Y.: All the folks out there who are clamoring for Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize have forgotten a few things. First, as far as I recall, nobody ever got it by saying “I should get the Peace Prize.” And second, I do not believe that anyone who was found to have committed sex crimes won that award either. Just a clarification. Norman E. Gaines Jr.
Dire Disney remake
Scranton, Pa.: One of my many childhood fairytale memories is the Disney classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Now, as an aging baby boomer, I can’t go a day without hearing the U.S. president lying about personally ending seven foreign conflicts since the start of his second term in January. I’ll just call this modern-day tall tale “Bozo Not Wrapped Tight and his Seven Wars.” And in place of Happy, Doc, Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Bashful and Sneezy, he has Pammy (Bondi), Barbie (Karoline Leavitt), Stevie (Bannon), Drunky (Pete Hegseth), Kash Fool (Patel), Uber Dopey (RFK Jr.) and Creepy (Stephen Miller). Vin Morabito
Talk politics
Gaithersburg, Md.: I fear we are losing sight of how effective democratic political discourse has historically depended on applying the “Golden Rule” across party lines — treating others as you would like to be treated. In one notable example, presidential candidate John McCain publicly defended his opponent, Barack Obama, during a town hall meeting when a comment was made about the Obama’s foreign-sounding middle name. At that time, political debates emphasized policy differences rather than constant ad hominem personal attacks. Lawmaking in our democracy was understood to nearly always require compromise. However, this administration’s stated intention is to “flood the zone” with divisive and inflammatory rhetoric, purposely cutting off constructive and factual dialogue over policy differences. A return to resilient American democracy calls for increased bipartisanship, collaboration across political lines, and stopping the personal attacks on character, integrity and motives of those with differing political views. Douglas Coe
Surf deterrents
Manhattan: It is obvious that persistent persuasion and logical propaganda are unlikely to deter thrill-seeking teens from life-threatening subway surfing, and this realization should lead us to consider a mechanical deterrent. This would involve the installation of tall, heavy, thick steel pillars with sharp, skin-piercing tops in sufficient profusion to cover every roof of every subway car in the system. These pillars should be incapable of being uprooted, bent, toppled or damaged. They should be coated with DayGlo paint to make them visible in the dark tunnels and outside the trains in inclement weather. Visualizing these piercing pillars might discourage would-be surfers from trying to climb up to try to sit or lie on train roofs, and risk disabling falls or death — and the consequent causing of anguish for their parents. Aviva Cantor
Free how?
Milford, Pa.: Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani are both proposing to make buses free. Great idea, but my question is who is going to pay for this? Robert K. Greco
Stop the sludge
Glen Oaks: Ed Towns’ op-ed (“Hochul’s energy vision & environmental justice,” Oct. 7) lacks logic. Black and Latino households spend a greater proportion of their income on energy costs because their incomes are lower. Do the math. We don’t need more gas, and we don’t need the already rejected Williams pipeline, whose cost consumers would cover. We’d have to build more gas plants to use it, and it’s these gas plants that create disproportionate harm to Black and Latino communities. That’s where they get built, spiking a wide range of health problems. Gas doesn’t even save us from winter storm outages, but causes them. Since Gov. Hochul and the Public Service Commission have folded to Trump on the methane-leaking pipeline he wants, it’s up to DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton to find again, based on the same facts, that it will stir up toxic sludge and harm water quality. Kanwaldeep K. Sekhon
Righteous fight
Manhattan: Kudos to the Transport Workers Union for going after this ridiculous effort to take jobs from drivers and send horses to the slaughterhouse (“Union set to sue Adams donors, top aide over carriage ban push,” Oct. 8). Animal rights is a pretext. It is well-known that developers want the land that is currently housing the horses here. It is also known by those who bother to inform themselves that the horses today are well cared for. Check them out! Martha Hess
Missed education
Stratford, Conn.: I didn’t know that the University of Connecticut mandated an “Anti-Black Racism” course. If a college needs to require this, it shows me that the parents of a majority of these so-called students failed miserably in bringing up their kids. This should have been taught at home since day one of these students’ lives. Shame on any of these students who had to take this class to learn something that should have been taught at home, and shame on the parents for being too busy to impart this knowledge. Peter Sulzicki
