Reaction to SOTU, Trump trial

I am sick of hearing and reading about our wonderful and robust economy [“Economic gains are touted,” News Feb. 5].

Yes the stock market is pretty strong, but that is not an indicator for most of Americans who are not in the stock market. Yes unemployment is very low, but that is just a part of the story. These numbers don’t show those who have left the job search or those who have taken low-paying jobs just so they could have some income.

If things are so great why am I, a recently widowed senior, working two part-time jobs and seriously considering a third, living in fear of not having enough money to sustain myself? I am not alone. The middle class keeps shrinking, drug and health care costs and the price of food keep rising. Finding an affordable place to live here is becoming a frightening scavenger hunt.

Our so-called leaders are not addressing these issues seriously. With Republicans in control of the executive branch and with the GOP-controlled Senate doing the president’s bidding, we are doomed. So stop promulgating the lie that our economy is great.

It is not!

Brenda Reiss,

Commack

The “heart full of love” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims she was raised with was clearly not visible during Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech. The scowl on her face and constant muttering were visible. And the grand finale of tearing up the copy of the address shows her deep disdain for President Donald Trump. With impeachment over, it is time to get to work trying to remove this president with the process of the election, and leave your “hatred” behind.

Raymond P. Moran,

Massapequa Park

Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up the president’s speech was disrespectful, childish and embarrassing. I suppose she will claim that she went home and “prayed for the president.” I waited for her to start polishing her nails during the speech. What a disgrace.

Lorraine Maggio,

Oakdale

Both President Donald Trump (not shaking hands) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (ripping the speech) missed opportunities to be role models for their parties and the country by doing the right thing. Instead of showing respect for each other’s positions and taking the high road, they choose to publicly continue polarizing the country.

What message are they sending the world? Don’t cooperate and don’t try to see things from the other person’s point of view. This is a great time to look at the Dale Carnegie Human Relation Principles to be leaders!

Bob Ranieri,

St. James

How did Trump win over and grip such a persistently loyal base?

He has an uncanny gut for appealing to emotions rather than to reasoning for persuading people to believe in him. The emotion he panders to is fear: if you believe that the country is becoming less like you and that your culture is in jeopardy, then I am your savior.

It is no secret that non-Hispanic whites will become in the not so distant future a minority.

Trump is not a racist, though many of his policies seem to belie it. His Muslim ban, the border wall, “[expletive] countries,” the tightening of all immigration, his “good people on both sides,” his continued denigration of Democrats of color, all seem to prove a racist tendency.

Not so. Trump’s plan for power depends on a constituency which fears a loss of power. His party is so unbendingly loyal that during his impeachment trial it voted 51-49 not to admit relevant witnesses nor testimony. His base will support any lie he propounds; irrationality doesn’t matter. One cannot easily persuade another not to fear. Telling him or her “I can save you” trumps logic.

Henry Cierski,

Port Jefferson Station

Where has all honesty gone?

The song “Where Have all the Flowers Gone” keeps floating through my head but as “Where has all the honesty gone?”

Like many Americans, I am appalled by the Senate voting against the truth! How did we get here where truths are valueless and our country is constantly being bombarded by tragic decisions about our environment, about our health care, about our treatment of people who valued us as a country who would be there to help when help was needed.

It is a tragedy that America has been so thrown around that it can’t seem to get itself righted.

I sigh when we see our flag because it seems to be not what it has always represented. It seems as sad as many Americans now are!

Sylvia Essman,

Plainview