MAGA adherent as House speaker
On his first full day on the job, newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) makes a statement to reporters about the mass shooting in Maine, at the Capitol in Washington Thursday. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
Speaker choice is a MAGA adherent
The Republican Party has worked through its dysfunction and installed Mike Johnson as House speaker [“House elects new speaker,” News, Oct. 26].
This means that the second-in-line to the U.S. presidency is both a climate and election denier, someone who led the legal push to overturn the 2020 election with the intent of giving Donald Trump the opportunity to continue to make America great again, based upon the hard-right, intolerant, conservative Christian definition of great.
This isn’t governing, this is ruling. There’s a big difference, if anyone is paying attention.
— Bob Bascelli, Seaford
That noise you hear in the background is President Abraham Lincoln turning in his grave at today’s Republican Party.
— Fred Marks, Wantagh
Relishing a moment without the noise
With world events and world order seemingly out of control, I was yearning to hear a voice of reason. I’m grateful that I could suspend the digital noise by reading something that allowed me to reinforce and cradle a common-sense approach to life. Psyche (soul) is a big staple of the Greek culture, and I applaud Michael Dobie for weaving its premise into his Sunday column [“Endless search for our collective soul,” Opinion, Oct. 15].
Although I’m a firm believer that it all starts with the individual, I try to remind people that we also need leaders like President John F. Kennedy, who said: “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
We need civil debate, discussions and diplomacy. After all, we are human and, as Dobie wrote, Gandhi spoke of our shared humanity. But I’m afraid that today “time” has become even more of a precious commodity. I thank Dobie for reminding me that the privilege of democracy is something that I will never take for granted.
— Chris N. Karalekas, Huntington
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