Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), listens as Office of Management and...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), listens as Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russ Vought testifies before the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. Credit: AP / Susan Walsh

Shame on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shame on Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and shame on the House of Representatives for minimizing the impact of hateful words spoken by a fellow member of Congress.

Their watered-down resolution says nothing, explains nothing, demands nothing [“House vote condemns hate,” News, March 8]. The anti-Semitic statements of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) should have compelled Congress to respond with loud, direct and clear condemnation.

Clyburn defended Omar by talking about her experience in a refugee camp in Kenya after escaping from her native Somalia. My message to Clyburn is this: Personal suffering is not an excuse for ignorance and insensitivity to the plight and pain of others. It would behoove you and Omar to educate yourselves more thoroughly on the history of the Holocaust and its repercussions.

The path ahead is a tenuous one. Scapegoating provides a convenient yet dangerous route toward a past that must not be repeated. Statements by Omar and her supporters teeter on the edge of evil. We have a right to expect better from the people who represent us in Congress.

Eva Zimmerman,

  Jamaica

Cross-endorsements draw an abstention

As a voter, I refuse to vote for any candidate who runs on multiple party lines if I believe those parties’ philosophies run counter to one another [“Restore integrity to the ballot,” Editorial, March 10].

How can I, a registered Democrat, vote for a candidate endorsed by the Democratic Party, if that candidate is also endorsed by the Republican or Conservative party (or combinations of them)? Each party has a particular platform, and those platforms often run counter to each other.

So, there are times I don’t vote for any candidate if that candidate is cross-endorsed. Can I trust someone who is running as a Democrat and is supported by more conservative parties? I think not.

Melody S. Jacobs,

  Smithtown

Newsday LogoSUBSCRIBEUnlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 5 months
ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME