Open primaries, potholes, Kristi Noem, climate change

Don’t let voters pick who opponent will be

Primary elections are held so members of political parties can select candidates to represent them in general elections. Opening the primaries to allow voting by other than members of their respective parties, as suggested in the guest essay “Why we must do away with closed primaries” [Opinion, March 6] makes about as much sense as allowing a sports team to dictate its opponent’s starting lineup.

In 2008, conservative national talk show host Rush Limbaugh conducted “Operation Chaos,” an effort to have Republicans vote in Democratic presidential primaries in states where cross-party voting was permitted. The idea: to vote for Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton in open primaries, in states such as Texas, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Some analysts believe the effort affected results and not in the Democrats’ favor.

And the argument that all voters should be primary-eligible because elections are taxpayer-funded? It’s ill-founded. By that logic, perhaps voters in every Long Island town should be allowed to vote in elections other than where they live because elections are paid for at the county level. Nobody has ever argued that.

Finally, contrary to what the writer says, unaffiliated voters are not “excluded” from the process. They elect not to participate in primaries by refusing to join a party. It’s their choice.

— David Levy, Laurel

Science has done a lot, but potholes?

Every winter, it’s the same thing, over and over again. Potholes spreading like an infectious disease [“Potholes damage cars across LI,” News, March 7].

We are a country of great accomplishment. We can send people to the moon and return them safely. Physicians can replace your heart or other organs. Magnetic resonance imaging can detect minuscule tumors.

Yet, surprisingly, we have failed to develop a cost-efficient paving compound that would resist our harsh winters, and so our tires continue to be brutalized. Go figure.

— Michael Cooney, Massapequa Park

Last week, I noticed a large pothole in East Meadow at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Merrick Avenue. I called the Nassau County roads department to report it. When asked which street it was on, I answered and heard from the employee the all-too-quick response: “Not ours — you need to call the Town of Hempstead.”

I called the town and received a similar response — call the Nassau County roads department. I related my story and was told someone would be sent to look at it, “but if it’s not ours, we are not fixing it.”

Why couldn’t each department I call just relay the information to the correct party and not play these games with residents?

— Michael Lefkowitz, East Meadow

Noem’s job didn’t include invincibility

Did Kristi Noem not realize she doesn’t exist under a cloak of invincibility? Her assumed entitlements weren’t protection from her being fired as Homeland Security secretary [“Noem fired from Cabinet post,” News, March 6]. Her egregious decisions and actions range from the debacle in Minnesota and her callous labeling of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as “domestic terrorists” before investigations to her launching $220 million in ads featuring herself.

Another $70 million bought a luxuriously outfitted plane for her personal use and to share with her subordinate Corey Lewandowski. Then she audaciously said that the plane’s purpose is to deport immigrants.

This should alert Attorney General Pam Bondi to reevaluate her practices in releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and her attitude toward the survivors.

These two women, in enviable positions of power, shock us with their dishonesty. As we celebrate role models during Women’s History Month, can’t our government give us better than this pair?

— Ellen Mason, Stony Brook

When President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem, I thought he would bar her from holding a government position again. Instead, Trump said, “Noem has served us well” and appointed her as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. This newly created position and rehiring Noem sounds like a joke.

— Phyliss Grodofsky, Merrick

Climate exits put us in rarefied company

As noted in the guest essay “The climate threat is too often lost in the fog” [Opinion, March 5], the United States has revoked the “endangerment finding” regulation under the Clean Air Act. It had been used to control greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. It follows our pullout from the Paris Agreement, initiated last year.

While most of the world recognizes the devastating effects of continuing to burn fossil fuels, we now join the authoritarian regimes of Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen, which also are not part of the Paris Agreement. Not exactly the best of company.

— Bill Domjan, Melville