Tuesday’s debate displayed the choice before us
San Francisco: At a rally in Michigan in August, Donald Trump belittled the laughter, smile and temperament of his rival, Kamala Harris. He asked the crowd if they had ever watched Harris laugh. “You can tell a lot by a laugh. She’s crazy. She’s nuts,” he said. After the debate, perhaps the former president appreciates that beneath her joyful laugh, there is profound intelligence and gravitas.
The contrast in views about America could not be more clear than the dystopian vision portrayed by Trump when he stated that “America is a dying nation.” The vice president offered: “What I intend to do is build on the aspirations and the hopes of the American people.” She criticized the former president for not having the respect of world leaders. Trump countered that he has the admiration of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán. The autocratic Orbán is an admirer of Vladimir Putin. He has cracked down on LGBTQ rights and imposed severe restrictions on freedom of the press. Orbán is quite a character witness!
The former president appeared to become unhinged when the vice president criticized his crowds as being small and bored, with people leaving early when he talks about windmills that cause cancer and makes vague references to Hannibal Lecter. Later in the debate, Trump went on an anti-immigration rant with racist overtones when he made the baseless claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating the dogs and cats of residents.
Trump has unleashed malevolence and lies upon the American public for nine years. The debate reveals the starkness of our November decision. Bruce Farrell Rosen
More ranting
Malverne, L.I.: The Trump-Harris debate is over. She walked across the stage and shook his hand, and once she overcame her jitters, she was in the zone. I heard Donald say migrants are killing cats and dogs to eat — bizarre. Once I saw this was going to be just like their campaigns, using their respective talking points, I stopped watching and just listened from another room. I was convinced that Kamala could beat Donald. The Republicans have to find a candidate who’s sane, middle-of-the-road and doesn’t need to be in the tanning salon. Those white eyes say it all. Kosmas Patikoglou
Let women lead
Astoria: A number of years ago at a conference, the Dalai Lama said he felt that the fate of civilization rests with Western women. To that end, I hope we mobilize and do not normalize children shooting and killing other children. I hope we say to legislators that it is unacceptable that there are more regulations on our bodies than on guns! And I hope we will help put Kamala Harris in the White House to turn the page and forge a new path for us all! Karen N. Pearlman
Not so tough
Lansdowne, Pa.: The world knows that the Harris-Walz ticket is a “two-Marxist ticket,” quoting Dr. Ben Carson. Her TV ads are cons and comedy: “She backed the toughest border security bill” — where, when? She worked at a McDonald’s! That’s heavy. She has been vice president for almost four years now, but her commercials are promises for the future. She will hire thousands — no less — of new border guards and create thousands of new housing units. For who, her illegal border trespassers or homeless Americans? Oh, and she’s “tough.” Central America didn’t think so when she said, “Don’t come.” They ignored her as Putin has and others will. She is East Indian, Black Jamaican and Irish Jamaican. Barack Obama is half Irish. This is making history? Few care today. G. Makiver
Photographic evidence
Brooklyn: Why don’t E. Jean Carroll and Jessica Leeds show photos of themselves depicting what they looked like back then? Maybe the pictures will jog Trump’s memory! Barbara Giuliano
Manufactured issue
Slidell, La.: It’s Voicer Angelo Vetrano who should get his facts straight regarding the border. Here are a few he failed to mention: Border crossings increased under Trump after he took office from Obama in 2017; illegal crossings were at their lowest number in decades under Obama; Trump built only 15 miles of a new border wall, and Mexico paid for none of it; the border security agreement initially agreed to by the GOP earlier this year died in Congress; the agreement, which gave Republicans almost everything they wanted, was killed by Trump because he wanted the border to be an issue in the upcoming presidential election. Spare me the righteous indignation regarding the border. Gerard Kay
Forever remembered
Stamford, Conn.: Every year on Sept. 11, it breaks my heart to remember the friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances we lost. I am forever grateful for the bravery and selfless sacrifices of the first responders — the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD, EMTs and all the doctors, nurses and hospital staff. They rushed toward danger as we ran from it. I would also like to acknowledge the unsung heroes: the MTA, LIRR and Metro-North workers who stood by their posts to ensure that we all got out of the city safely. Thank you and God bless you all. This was America at its finest. I witnessed the very best of New Yorkers and America. We seem to have lost that spirit somewhere. God bless all we lost then and since that event. Michael P. O’Mahoney
Gone private
Staten Island: Was anyone else aware that the 9/11 medical treatment program is now charging responders’ and volunteers’ private insurance for what should be 100% covered medical issues? It seems as if they’re treating themselves as an HMO of some sort and are laying some costs off on the responders. My skin cancer doctor charged my insurance, and now my pulmonologist is doing the same. I wonder if my member of Congress, Nicole “Malfeasance” Malliotakis, can answer why. We signed away our rights beyond being able to sue the Saudis, to the point where if one of the doctors commits medical malpractice, we aren’t allowed to sue and have no recourse. So, please explain to me why the program is now charging us for covered certified illnesses. Tom McGuire
He deserved more
Bayside: On the back page of the Sept. 10 Daily News, you have either a picture of an empty MetLife Stadium or a Jets loss to the 49ers. The picture should have been of Ed Kranepool, the beloved Met who passed away. The Daily News should get its priorities straight, like Newsday. Michael Sternbach
Contradictory comments
Toronto: Re “The High Line, under threat again” (op-ed, Sept. 4): We in Toronto find it a bit rich to see Robert Hammond writing in opposition to a casino, with his arguments fitting the description of the exact project he is a proponent of with his work with Therme. The Therme MegaSpa project in Toronto will obliterate a beloved green space, lead to the destruction of more than 850 trees and displace more than 100 species of birds and animals, with any environmental oversight waived by the government. Why is Hammond imposing in Toronto the exact thing he’s opposing in New York? I guess money talks. Norm Di Pasquale
Play defense
Bronx: Why doesn’t Israel withdraw all its troops from the occupied territory, get all the hostages returned and then, as soon as Hamas sends rockets into Israel or kills one of its civilians or soldiers, go back in and finish defeating Hamas? What am I missing? John Cirolia
Baseless arguments
Tarrytown, N.Y.: To Voicer T.S. Fallani: If you only knew how off-base and ignorant you are about me, my genealogy and my politics. We’ve never spoken, yet you can look up my online homepage, Google my accomplishments, even email me for my origins, but why bother when you can make up any satisfying stupidity that lulls you into smug superiority? As for the editor of these pages, you can find his name on this paper’s masthead. Duh! Incidentally, controversy, not coherence, is what gets your words printed here. Like I implied in my last comment, we could hope for no more falsehoods or derisions, as in the Age of Aquarius, “until the next letter.” Thanks for proving once again how prescient I’ve been throughout my life and in the decades when I wrote for the Daily News. As we say in old-fashioned, true journalism: “30,” i.e. game over! Steve Ditlea