Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less. Include your name and city or community of residence. Guest opinions should be 600 words or less and include a brief summary of the author’s credentials relevant to the topic. Guest opinions may include a head shot of the author. For the Fort Myers News-Press, email submissions to [email protected] and for the Naples Daily News to [email protected]
Unique, valueless human
I have observed Donald J. Trump for the past decade. Over that time span, this individual has been remarkably consistent. Given every benefit of the doubt, he never disappoints. Trump is a unique but valueless human being. He lacks empathy, knowledge, courage, and integrity. He is devoid of decency and abounds in arrogance. What he possesses is limitless narcissism. If lying were a virtue, the man would reside on elevated moral ground that would rival the holiness of Mother Teresa. It is incredible that his followers are oblivious to his derangement. The fact that he has escaped being prosecuted and convicted of an attempted coup to invalidate the election of a legitimately elected president, is a stain on the lawful democratic institutions of the United States.
But now that Donald Trump is president again and with the unconstrained illegalities enabled by his Supreme Court, there will be no limit to the damage he can inflict on the country and the planet. If there ever were such a reality as American exceptionalism, it is certainly now a fiction that prohibits lecturing the rest of the world on the U.S. model of governance. The next four years will stress the founding instruments of the republic to levels not seen since the Civil War. Maybe we will receive thoughts and prayers from Panama and Greenland.
Manny Cacciola, Fort Myers
Trump in 2028!
In my lifetime I have never witnessed the exuberance with which we as a nation have welcomed the election of Donald Trump. And obviously, he has hit the ground running (immigration/deportation, the ONE BIG BILL, the economy, Hamas hostages threat, potential talk with Putin, the Panama Canal, Greenland, and more). As many are aware, the 22nd Amendment of our Constitution will prevent Donald Trump from seeking a third term, in 2028 at age 82. An amendment to that amendment (perhaps simply adding the word “consecutive”), or eliminating that amendment, would be a herculean task, once proposed (a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress) involving the approval of 75% of each state’s convention called for that purpose. If we want Trump to continue, we won’t seek that path. Rather, the clever minds surrounding Donald Trump will, pursuant to the Presidential Succession details, come up with a plan for President Trump to continue for a third term. One plan – in 2028 Vance runs and President Trump runs for V.P. After some period of time, Vance resigns and Trump becomes president. Note: He is not “elected” president and therefore no violation of the 22nd. Amendment. That said, awakening from the Biden/Harris nightmare, I am elated at the prospect for the future of America.
Read McCaffrey, Naples
Biden’s gift to Trump
The Truth be told: “After inheriting an economy in free fall and skyrocketing violent crime, President Biden is proud to leave his successor the best-performing economy on earth, the lowest violent crime rates in over 50 years, and the lowest border crossings in over four years,” says White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
Sally Lam, Naples
Register with the police?
A new resident will be moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the near future. Seeing as how Donald is now a convicted felon and a sex offender, will he have to register with the local police as such?
Jim Carpenter, Naples
Think of Amendment 25
After listening to president elect Trump blustering and meandering at a January 7 press conference any congressmen with a modicum of sense remaining and who are not wimping under his shadow should be already thinking ahead of Amendment 25, which is a remedy for dealing with a defective leader.His obsession with judges and others he thinks have been plotting against him is clouding his mind and he can’t seem to stay on message without incessantly reverting back to them whether connected to the subject at hand or not.It’s almost an admission of guilt driving him to defend his egregious actions and stirring up anger he seems unable to suppress.This is not a good formula for competent leadership.America deserves better.
Fred Jodice, North Fort Myers
The limits of aging
The airline industry has studied human performance and sets policies that are evidence-based regarding age and rest in the interest of safety. A high school classmate of mine was a commercial airline pilot. When my friend aged out, his career as a pilot was over.According to a study by Johns Hopkins, the health care industry loses over 250,000 people a year to medical mistakes. That equates to more than a jumbo jet full of people crashing daily. The healthcare industry now does not have policies that set parameters for age or rest. It’s hard to imagine that the mortality of medical mistakes is not related to the health care industry’s disregard for the limits of human performance. Politics used to be a public service, unfortunately it has become a career of self-service. Strom Thurman represented South Carolina as a senator for over 47 years…way too long. Diane Feinstein also served too long. This is a problem on both sides of the aisle. The average age in the Senate is over 64 years old. The problem has never been better illustrated than in this most recent presidential election. Biden and Trump would both have aged out of the airline industry over 10 years ago in the interest of safety, yet we as a nation let these old men carry the nuclear football. No one can cheat death or aging. We need to abide by our limits and compel our public servants to subordinate their self-service to public service. When I retired, I was happy to pass the baton to the next generation I helped mentor. Beyond 65 it’s not ageism, it’s the reality of degeneration. We don’t want fossils flying our planes, doing our surgery, or representing us in politics.Patrick Frawley, Naples
Deport insurrectionists
Trump states he is going to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. We know what he did on immigration his first term, he separated families from their children. Sadly, there are still families never united. Trump keeps calling them criminals, killers and drug dealers, just the opposite is the truth. Most are the best people from their countries looking for a better future in America. The Pew Research Center said there were 11 million undocumented immigrants in America by 2022, most immigrants — 77 percent — were in our country legally, 49 percent were naturalized U.S. citizens, 24 percent were lawfully permanent residents.
We do need a reasonable immigration policy. We had a good bipartisan immigration bill, but Trump stopped Congress from passing it, not wanting President Biden getting any credit for the bill.
I recommend that Trump deport the traitors that committed crimes at the insurrection, and he should go with them, as he committed treason on the very dark day in American history.
E.L. “Bud” Ruff, Naples
Elected, not exonerated
Several writers to the opinion page have complained that other writers continue to criticize Mr. Trump even after his election to the presidency. It is obvious those writers, probably intentionally, look to convince themselves and others that Mr. Trump’s election equates to him somehow being exonerated from the mountain of past and present legal filings against him. The election did not turn the frog into a prince. Quite the contrary, Mr. Trump has not been exonerated in any of the cases against him that have made their way to a jury of his peers or to a judge, with one judge telling Mr. Trump to his face that his testimony was not credible. To paraphrase the actor Jack Webb on the old TV series “Dragnet,” here are just the facts, ma’am or sir. It is a fact that Mr. Trump has been elected president of the United States. It is also a fact that Mr. Trump remains a convicted felon for falsifying business records, a person found liable for sexual abuse, a person found liable for defamation, person who has a civil conviction on the record for fraud, pending state charges against him for election interference, eight pending civil suits by injured law enforcement officers for his role in instigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, a civil lawsuit for defamation of the Central Park Five and is a person who has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in one state’s false elector’s indictments. Mr. Trump purchased the best justice money could buy to combat the federal charges relating to his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election and in the possession and mishandling of classified documents, with those charges never getting adjudicated due to Mr. Trump’s successful efforts at delaying the trials. Not many doubt that Mr. Trump would have been found guilty had those charges gone to trial. Even for a former or sitting U.S. president, one would really have to go out of their way to rack up this impressive record. Past is indeed prologue so as the Marines would say, president or not, Mr. Trump and his henchmen bear watching very closely these next four years. My advice, keep watching and keep putting forward the facts, folks, as we have seen even here in the State of Florida, MAGA world, with their frequent malignant intent, does not do well under close scrutiny.
Thomas Minor, Bonita Springs
Elon Musk’s hypocrisy
The January 8 edition of the Naples Daily News reported on America’s future DOGE, Elon Musk’s attempt to undermine the government of the United Kingdom by demanding that Prime Minister Kier Starmer “…quit over what he said was Starmer’s failure to tackle [a sexual abuse] scandal when he was the country’s leading prosecutor, accusing him of being ‘complicit in the rape of Britain.'” There were, in fact, numerous arrests and convictions in this scandal that was complicated by UK government’s sensitivity to any appearance of targeting a particular ethnic minority. If the South African born, briefly Canadian, and now on his third citizenship in the USA, Mr. Musk were to apply an equal standard to the American president-elect, shouldn’t he be calling for Mr. Trump to step away from the presidency since Mr. Trump has been found liable for sexual assault and has failed, as of this date, to pay the adjudicated fine assessed for the assault.
Perhaps Mr. Musk is considering taking up a fourth citizenship, by becoming a subject of King Charles III. If so, then he can leave behind his meddling in U.S. governmental affairs and have a valid interest in reopening a closed chapter in UK judicial and political history.
Mark Delligatti, Naples
Deportation cost vs savings
Mass deportation: They say this effort might cost close to $88 billion! They should have calculated the savings we gain by not paying for free health care, education and a myriad of other freebies and social benefits that might make this a worthwhile option.It is surely worth the effort.
Dick Jones, Naples and Ocean City, NJ
Biden’s exit interview
Your front page lede in quotes lets you get away with having us think that it is your assessment of President Biden’s career when in fact it is a quote from him evaluating his own career! No person besides him could think that. The mess he made of things was soundly rejected on election day, and January 20th cannot come too soon. In his defense, I think his advancing loss of cognition allowed others in his orbit to try to steer the country markedly to the left during his tenure. The feigned surprise the Democrats expressed after his disastrous debate with Trump was totally disingenuous. They knew what his situation was and tried to cover it up until that was no longer possible.
John Galotto, MD, Naples
Biden’s failures
The Biden interview written about by Susan Page reflected more about why he could not possibly have won the 2024 election, primarily involving his own misguided and incorrect views about things he views as his “accomplishments.” The inflation resulting from his trillions of extreme and unchecked spending, the botched pullout from Afghanistan, the pardoning of his son even after repeatedly promising America he would not do so, ignoring the obvious disaster from his open-border policy — all are failures of the highest degree. Yet, he thinks he will be most remembered for “honesty and integrity.” Not a chance, Joe. Winning re-election against Trump, Joe? An even more delusional view.
Harold Straka, Bonita Springs
Newspaper’s integrity
If ever any doubt existed about the integrity of this newspaper, and the entire USA Today organization, it was vaporized when they actually printed the following headline in “2nd Coming” font above a staged and self-serving photo of the verifiably (Been Done!) dishonest Joe Biden:
A CAREER OF ‘HONESTY AND INTEGRITY’!
It’s unserious and cheeky enough to make an admitted Democrat blush!!!
Tom Perkins, Fort Myers
Among worst U.S. presidents
I was appalled to read the headline that Joe Biden is honest and a man of integrity. What a farce! He has to be the biggest liar ever since he got on the DC payroll decades ago. Then he pardons his son after saying he would never. Please wake up! I know your paper is very liberal but please be smart and objective. You love to hate Trump but please don’t brag about Biden. He will be renowned as one of the worst U.S. presidents in history.
Stephen Maroon, Fort Myers
Expansionist Trump
The expansionist Trump will not rule out the use of military force to seize Greenland, a NATO ally, and the Panama Canal. I can see it now — Generalissimo Trump standing atop a U.S. warship, adorned in some clownish military outfit, replete with unearned medals and ribbons, with throngs of cheering subjects on both banks of the Panama Canal hailing the conquering hero.His ambition is to rename the Gulf of Mexico. His first choice was the Gulf of Trump, but he’ll settle for the Gulf of America. He’ll subjugate Canada and Mexico by imposing oppressive tariffs. The titles of Fuhrer and Il Duce have already been taken so maybe we can call the bullying blowhard Herr Dummkoph.On another front, it’s now acceptable to lie and spread conspiracy theories on Facebook with no fact-checking. Hate speech is free speech. Trump got Mark Zuckerberg to capitulate by threatening to throw him in prison. Trump thrives in a world with no fact-checking. When you lie as much as he does, you don’t want anyone questioning your veracity. Zuckerberg caved. Trump’s ability to transform seemingly intelligent and reasonable men into subservient toadies is remarkable.We can only hope that some of his bombastic, bullying rhetoric turns out to be nothing more than Trump being Trump, the ramblings of a dangerous old narcissist who sadly will be our president for the next four years.
Kevin McNally, Bonita Springs
We are all immigrants
America’s strength is in its amazing diversity. Every one of us is a descendant of an immigrant, and that is what makes America so unique and so successful. The input of ideas from people of various backgrounds allows us to find the most creative and innovative solutions to the many issues we all face. The variety of skills that immigrate to our shores has been the engine of our economic, cultural, and scientific success. From the CEOs of our largest corporations and tech companies, to the plumber who solves the confounding problems in our home, people bring talent and expertise that comes from all over the world. There is no other nation in the world that has such an incredible and diverse asset in its people. We have people, willing and able to do all kinds of work and contribute to our great country, and that makes our economy hum.
The new administration must heed the lessons from the Japanese Internment of the 1940s. Dividing us racially is un-American. A mass eviction of immigrants who are already here would destroy the American dream, where people believe that anyone can make it and that all people have equal rights. Granted, illegal immigration must be controlled at our borders, but a forced eviction of those already living in the United States would destroy the very fabric that has made us great. It will cause chaos and shame. It should not happen.
Joanne Huskey, Naples
Trump’s distractions
The only reason Donald Distraction keeps talking about Panama, Canada and Greenland and renaming the Gulf of Mexico is because the president-elect has no idea on how he will lower grocery and gas prices after Inauguration Day.
For a guy who campaigned on ending global conflicts, it’s odd that he’s now talking about creating wars in North America.
Jim McEwen, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Recognize the true innocents
A recent letter writer lamented the innocent lives lost in Lebanon and Gaza because Israel needed to get to “a handful of bad guys.”
Many of those “innocent people“ voted for Hamas and liked what they did on October 7. They lined up along the road when the hostages were brought into Gaza. They laughed, cheered and spit at the dead bodies dragged along the dirt roads. The scene was pure evil.
In case Israel still didn’t get the message Hamas told the world it wanted to repeat the atrocities of October 7. The hostages, the true innocents, are still in Gaza, being raped, tortured and starved.
No country, including Israel, should apologize for defending its citizens against a genocidal ideology. If the letter writer is concerned about innocent lives lost he should turn his focus to Africa, where Nigerians, Sudanese, Darfusis and Igbos are routinely massacred and kidnapped and enslaved by Africa’s version of Hamas.
In the United States thousands of protestors have taken to the streets to support Hamas. Their message is Hamas is in America. Indeed it is. The New Orleans massacre, where the perpetrator’s allegiance was to ISIS, shows that the spinoff of the Hamas ideology hates the West and its values. That’s the meaning of “Globalize the intifada.”
Those American lives senselessly taken that tragic day will not be in vain if we recognize the true innocents and the threat to our way of life.
Elinor Weiss, Naples
Israel is doing its best
The letter to the editor entitled “Innocent Lives Lost” is beyond the pale. At first I thought it was satire.
The writer states that “the terrorists …killed some Israeli citizens.” I guess killing 1,200 innocents, equivalent to fifteen 9/11’s, is just an inconvenience. Stating that Netanyahu “launched his own war in Lebanon” when Lebanon/Hezbollah launched over 10,000 rockets and artillery at Israel starting on October 8th 2023, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis and killing seven innocent people is irrelevant. In addition, Hezbollah was amassing large caches of weapons in tunnels at the Israeli border to launch a preemptive strike that fortunately Israel negated.
Suggesting there are a “handful of bad guys” is ludicrous. There are tens of thousands of terrorists with one objective, to wipe Israel off the map. Israel is concentrating their efforts on the locations of the enemy’s hierarchy and the terrorists, unfortunately, the enemy has built tunnels under what seems like every hospital, school, and home. Military experts have stated unequivocally that Israel is doing the best job in history to avoid civilian casualties in an urban warfare setting per John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point.
Lastly, the writer concludes “I’m very worried that the Mideast will be a tinderbox soon.” Where have you been? The Mideast has been a tinderbox forever, and Israel is doing its best to putting an end to it by destroying all of Iran’s proxies and then hopefully Iran.
Jerry Solomon, Naples
Bogus body counts
Gaza Medical Services lists every dead Hamas combatant as a civilian, more accurately, as children and journalists. This ruse has been exposed, but many journalists continue to use its bogus body counts. Here is a typical headline distorting the truth, 20 killed in Gaza Hospital. The public assumes that these are civilians killed by the Israeli army. If the public understood that all 20 were Hamas fighters, they would look at the situation differently. Here is another serious distortion of the truth. The headline might read, IDF detains Gaza hospital head forcing him to strip. What the headline writers don’t know is that the head of the hospital was a colonel in Hamas fully responsible for the housing of hundreds of Hamas soldiers in the hospital. The meaning of all this is that Hamas and those supporting it want to make Israel look like it indiscriminately kills civilians, when those who really know, like the U.S. State Department and John Spencer, head of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point acknowledge that Is the IDF does more to protect civilians than any army in history.
Larry Shapiro, Calgary. Alberta, Canada
Restore fiscal sanity
The United States ran up more than $30.5 trillion in federal deficits between 1998 and 2024, and the national debt, which exceeds $36 trillion, is costing Americans $1.8 billion per day in interest payments. Dollars held in 1998 have been devalued to 51 cents today. “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.” (Ronald Reagan). The big spenders in Washington must realize that when you are in a hole, stop digging, reduce debt, prioritize spending and restore fiscal sanity in our country.
Frank Mazur, Fort Myers
This post was originally published on here
