Just Sayin': Politicians are acting like reality TV stars

Reality TV may be entertaining, but when our government is run like “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” someone must pump the brakes. Every day, our politicians become a little more shocking as they apparently focus on ratings over reality, sensationalism over sense.

Politicians have become actors following a script certainly not written by Americans. We are not a hateful people, yet to hear members of Congress peddle their ideas, it’s hard to tell to whom they are speaking.

Some elected officials post racist, incendiary comments to fire up their fringe and reassure the base that they oppose the other party. They paint all diversity and inclusion as wildly out of place and instead promote white nationalism. The more outlandish and offensive, the better. Like a child who acts out, any attention is better than none.

As we the people play less and less a role in this chaos, we have become merely spectators watching our democracy slowly burn down. The game has become zero sum: Politicians win and Americans lose.

We can make popcorn and watch the show, or let these self-serving politicians know that we hired them and we can fire them.

— Christopher Martinez, Rocky Point

Texan sees LI traffic stuck in wrong lane

I was 13 in 1973, when my family moved from Long Island to Houston, but I still remember my parents’ rants about their hourslong battles on the Long Island Expressway. On a recent return visit, I was floored to find that — except for the HOV lane — it’s the same gridlocked LIE of 50 years ago.

My son-in-law leaves Bayville at 4:30 a.m. to drive to his job in Maspeth, Queens to avoid an otherwise two-hour commute, or longer, in rush hour.

Big Texas cities have terrible traffic problems, but they’re constantly innovating. Every major city, such as Austin, Houston and Dallas, all have loops so you don’t have to drive through the city. Austin even has two-tier highway levels to avoid city traffic.

Perhaps Long Island governments’ inaction may be due to a belief in a glorious electric vehicle future. So, every day, the LIE continues to rob commuters of precious hours with their loved ones.

Many New Yorkers are pretty smart, with their Ivy League degrees and such, but, in this Texan’s opinion, not so much when it comes to transit.

— Peter Merkl, Corpus Christi, Texas

Why don’t we see more police on the highways? There’s almost no visible law enforcement to stop the road craziness. Drivers fly by at speeds close to 100 miles per hour, weaving from lane to lane while flashing their headlights.

Then there’s the potholes. On the Northern State Parkway, it looks as if tanks had rolled by and left their tracks. Potholes deeper than 12 inches are all over, especially where the lane markings are. Meanwhile, are police just sitting in hidden areas instead of patrolling the roads to enforce law and order?

— Neil Siegel, Plainview