Biden can subvert Trump’s revenge with pardons
Manhattan: When he nominated the bomb-throwing Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, Donald Trump revealed that as president, he will pursue his retribution above his obligation to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. Trump wants vengeance against everyone who has ever crossed or disparaged him; his “enemies list” likely runs to thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of names. And the sycophant Gaetz, who has now thankfully withdrawn, would have gladly turned the Justice Department into an institution of legal revenge for Trump. Trump will try with another nominee.
To thwart the Trump plan, before Jan. 20 President Biden must issue full pardons to these thousands of people who have committed no crime other than trying to hold Trump accountable for his actions. First should come the prosecutors who indicted Trump and the judges who heard the cases and pardons for the Republican members of Congress who defied Trump. And naturally, pardons for every single Democratic member of Congress and every Democratic candidate who ever ran against Trump or a Trump-backed Republican. Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton probably need pardons for their spouses, children and extended family members, too. A pardon for Michael Cohen, whom Trump has not forgotten; and pardons for the anonymous members of that jury, who found Trump guilty of 34 felonies.
Trump and his AG will persecute — and prosecute — every one of these persons and many others who have transgressed the president-elect. So, Biden must get busy right away signing thousands of irrevocable pardons before he leaves office. That is the only way to protect America against a brutal, all-consuming Trump campaign of retaliation. Douglas Clifford
The real enemies within
Manhattan: The American public is starting to shake its head over Trump’s picks of Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard and is beginning to wonder if it perhaps blundered by betting on Trump’s second term. Gaetz, a suspected sex trafficker, has now given up, but Gabbard, an apologist for mass-murderer Bashar Al-Assad of Syria, is pushing on. With these picks, Trump is giving the middle finger to real and perceived enemies. Aside from the childishness of these gestures, Trump puts all of us at risk as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping salivate over America’s fall from grace. Ron Spurga
Kabuki theater
Brooklyn: Trump is really giving a huge “F you” to the country with his cabinet selections. Gaetz as attorney general, Gabbard as director of national intelligence, RFK Jr. as health and human services secretary, Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense? This is like a “Saturday Night Live” skit! Harvey Kaplan
Nature takes its course
Durham, N.C.: The Earth is overpopulated. The reason is vaccinations. God’s plan was to control the population through various pandemics. Preventative vaccines defy God’s will. Thankfully, Donald Trump and RFK Jr. will now allow God’s will to supersede that of man. Andrew Toulonis
Suspended justice
Darien, Conn.: Yes, the word for today is “pause,” five letters that will be the standard operating procedure for anyone daring to bring legal charges against Trump. Pause and wait for, say, yet another four years for any kind of justice. It’s the waiting for our laws to return to us that is so painful. Dan Singer
Way off
Flushing: No one appears to have noticed that the polls in the presidential election were totally wrong and misleading. We were bombarded with claims that the race was neck-and-neck from the beginning. What value does polling have when it can be so far off? Lester Simon
Seeking sovereignty
Brooklyn: Re “Puerto Rico’s presidential vote can’t be ignored” (op-ed, Nov. 14): The idea that Puerto Ricans on the mainland voted for Trump because of statehood is absurd. Just a month ago, a poll showed that Democrats and Independents were more likely to support Puerto Rican statehood than Republicans, with 79% of Democrats and 56% of Independents in support. Democrats, including those mentioned in this piece, have been in favor of statehood and integration, not sovereignty. Puerto Ricans are not a monolithic group that can be reduced to one voter issue. To do so is to disregard the wide range of issues that drove the 73% of voters to vote for Harris. Puerto Ricans can’t be ignored. Before we begin the statehood campaign for Republicans, let us bring Puerto Ricans to the table to discuss what really matters to them. I guarantee you it will be self-determination. Camille Rivera
Family bonds
Cornwall, N.Y.: I am a registered Independent and I am really upset at what the cast of “The View” has said. How can you call white women uneducated and also tell people that if a family member voted for Trump, don’t talk to them? Holidays are right around the corner. You don’t need a war with your family over an election. Family is always there when you need them, don’t listen to a bunch of rich fakes. If a Republican said this, they would probably lose their job. I want to see Disney do something if they really believe in family values. Sunny Hostin should’ve been suspended or fired. Raymond Grosskopf
Cast aside
Manhattan: To Chris Jones (“Lightning in a trumpet,” Nov. 12): Fate Marable was never Stepin Fetchit. You should know this sort of thing if you’re writing about Louis Armstrong. Steve Alcott
Running a gauntlet
Bayside: Re “Stab spree stuns city” (Nov. 19): I don’t think there’s anyone in the city who is stunned by this news, as this has become a daily occurrence. What we’re stunned by is that nothing substantial has been done about it — ever! We are also resigned to the sad fact that this will continue to happen to innocent, law-abiding citizens trying to live their lives one day at a time in the hopes that we can make it home safely one more time. Karen Sabatini
Free to spree
Bronx: Kudos to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, disgraceful present Gov. Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the New York Civil Liberties Union for guaranteeing stabbing suspect Ramon Rivera his freedom from appropriate time in jail or a psychiatric ward. And it only cost three innocent and unsuspecting New Yorkers their lives. Now that’s progressive thinking. Job well done! Joe Schulok
Fill the gap
Manhattan: The staggering statistic that more than 146,000 NYC students experienced homelessness last year should alarm us all. Addressing the systemic issues fueling this crisis will require bold action. We can start by improving the housing voucher system to ensure families spend less time in shelters where, according to the most recent mayor’s management report, families spend an average of 437 days. Families in NYC also spend more than two years waiting for housing once they receive a voucher. We are confident that our leaders at City Hall are determined to address this challenge, and we have a solution. At the Jewish Child Care Association, we’ve partnered with Anthos|Home, a nonprofit pioneering an innovative model that dramatically reduces the time voucher holders spend unhoused. By working with landlords to find and secure apartments and deploying flexible funding to cover immediate costs like moving expenses, families are able to move from shelters into stable homes in just four months. Ronald E. Richter, CEO, JCCA
In-house savings
Massapequa, L.I.: It’s time for the MTA (Money Thrown Away) to start making pay cuts from top to bottom, like major corporations I worked for did, instead of constantly asking for handouts from people who don’t use the bridges, public transportation or anything MTA-related. Have they corrected the overtime issues, when employees weren’t at work? Have the executives cut their pay. Jean Marie Chiaramonte
Puzzle preference
Little Egg Harbor, N.J.: Please bring back the TV crossword puzzles by Jacqueline E. Mathews. The puzzles by Ricky Cruz are awful. Half of the puzzle has nothing to do with TV, and his clues are terrible and many times make no sense. Her puzzles were such fun. Jan Subelka
