Newsday letters to the editor for Friday, May 26, 2017
Treat feral cats as dangerous pests
There are two things I do not understand about feral cats [“Abandoned cats contribute to problem,” Letters, May 19]: It’s legal to kill certain birds, hares, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, weasels and opossums that damage my property. So why is it illegal to kill a wild or feral cat that is doing the same?
Trap, neuter and release is considered a more humane way to deal with feral cats, as opposed to euthanasia, and is endorsed by most municipalities. However, this method might allow a wild cat to starve, freeze or die on the road or of disease. How is that more humane?
New York State legislators will not deal with the issue, as it would be political suicide to license domestic cats and euthanize feral cats in the same manner as dogs. Unfortunately, I predict that nothing will be done until someone’s death is traced back to a feral cat
Ronald Enners, West Babylon
Why Cuomo hired high-priced talent
Newsday’s May 22 edition has two interesting contrasts. On the front page, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo laments the conditions at Penn Station and seeks federal aid for emergency repairs [“Penn Station repairs: state of emergency”]. Then on Page A34, a news article describes the governor hiring 13 former Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton staff members for $1.5 million to fill out “Team Cuomo” [“High-profile Cuomo hires cost $1.5M”].
I would be surprised if any of these political cronies spends 15 minutes on New York State business as they prepare Cuomo for the 2020 presidential primaries. Cuomo, of course, has the right to appoint whomever he wants, but the reality of these hires is that they should be paid from his campaign war chest and not the New York State budget.
Glenn Tyranski, Huntington
No longer the era of Murrow, Cronkite
I read with interest a letter critiquing Mike Vogel’s op-ed on TV host Stephen Colbert [“Colbert embodies decline of CBS,” May 21].
Colbert’s “filthiest language” troubled this writer, who misses the days when CBS journalists Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite were our truth-tellers and collective conscience. I miss them, too.
Today, we face a private-part grabbing, Miss Universe peeping president. For news and what passes for leadership, we get pundits and politicians who are alleged sexual predators like Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes or Anthony Weiner, among many others. Often, when caught, they are rewarded with golden parachutes that the rest of us couldn’t imagine in our wildest dreams, even for exemplary acts.
To paraphrase a Don Henley lyric, it’s the end of innocence. We’ll have to live with what we’ve got, try to challenge what we know is morally wrong and hope for the best.
Paul Pepe, Massapequa
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I’ve read few letters more disingenuous and misdirected than the criticism of CBS and Stephen Colbert.
It’s true that news anchors and reporters such as Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow preferred to allow a subject to speak without editorializing. They allowed the subjects’ own filth to sink them. But Colbert is not a reporter, he’s a comedian. A comedian’s job is to editorialize. Sometimes that includes offensive words, but intent is everything.
The letter writer seems to have forgotten that, although it certainly is flattering to Colbert to group him with these titans of journalism.
Jon Zipkin, Bay Shore
Shocking that Trump barred U.S. media
A letter writer bemoans the fact that a Michael Dobie column was “devoid of any factual analysis” [“Column lacked factual analysis,” May 19].
Dobie described the Oval Office meeting of Russian officials Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak with President Donald Trump. May I remind the letter writer that, at that particular meeting, only a Russian photographer was allowed in. Let that sink in for a moment. The American media were forbidden entrance by the Trump administration.
The only pictures we have of the meeting came from the Russian news agency Tass. Agree or disagree with the press as you like, but to have factual analysis, you first have to get in the door.
The writer made reference to not being a “Trump supporter,” but to analyze this administration, and others, we need a free and unfettered news media that are allowed to do their jobs.
Peter Larkin, Bayside
