Law-and-order candidate
In his letter to this page (“Law and order loses on Election Day,” Nov. 16), Mr. Richard Iaconelli asks the question, “Could there have been a worse Senate candidate for law and order in the whole USA than John Fetterman?”
The answer is yes. We the people of Pa. answered that question, and his name was Mr. Mehmet Oz. We said so by our votes.
And Mr. Iaconelli fails to understand that, no, law and order did not lose on Election Day. Law and order wins when we vote for the candidate who shows the greater respect for freedom, democracy and human rights. In this election we say this was Mr. John Fetterman.
Roland Williams
Pennypack East
Support law enforcement
Courage, bravery, hero, public servant. These are all words that come to mind when you think of an individual in law enforcement.
When someone answers the call to serve and protect, they are doing more than that. They are often sacrificing sleep, holidays with loved ones and potentially their life for the safety and security of their community. And yet, knowing the dangers of the job and the ultimate sacrifice that could be made during a shift, they report to work reaffirming the oath to which they solemnly swore.
The news about law enforcement being killed in the line of duty is heartbreaking and only continues to get worse. Sadly, Pennsylvania is among the top eight states with the most officers shot on the job in 2022. This is not a ranking we should ever celebrate. Those who were shot, some of whom perished, knew the dangers and continued anyway.
For the men and women of Pennsylvania’s law enforcement family putting their uniforms on each day, I’d ask you to express your support and gratitude for them and their fallen peers. Law Enforcement Appreciation Day recently passed on Jan. 9.
There are ways you can do this:
• Thank a police officer.
• Send a letter of support to your local and state law enforcement.
• Wear blue clothing.
• Change your social media profile picture to a message of thanks.
• Participate in Project Blue Light by shining a blue light on your home.
On behalf of Pennsylvania’s law enforcement community and their loved ones, thank you for your support not just today, but every day.
Joe Regan
President
Pennsylvania FOP
Missed opportunity
Biden went to the southern border to see his immigration plan (or lack of one) in action. But it’s like visiting New York City and going to the Hamptons. He ignored the hot spot El Paso and toured a fence line where no one crosses. Wasn’t Kamala Harris supposed to have this handled. Oh, that’s right she didn’t visit the border when she was the immigration czar. This situation was one big photo op for the president acting like he really cares about our borders that are leaking like a sieve. I guess this is another payback to the teachers’ union by filling up the classrooms of the public schools that have been losing enrollment for the last 50 years. Total waste of time.
Richard Donofry
East Torresdale
Make informed decisions
Now that the midterm elections are over maybe we can again be more civil toward one another. The lies both sides spewed in TV ads should be considered. The sponsor’s candidate is portrayed smiling in glorious color while the opponent is unfocused in dim black and white caught with mouth open looking like a fool. One candidate claims that he would lower your taxes as if it is within his power single handedly to do so. Various letter writers say that “there can be no denying that Fetterman will not serve his full 6-year term” and, “This is not in dispute.” The writer goes on to say, “You know it, I know it. Gov.-elect Shapiro knows it.” Does the letter writer read minds? One writer to the Opinion page starts sentences with, “Everyone knows.” Who knows? Everyone? In the past one politician will start a sentence with, “People are saying … ” and, ”I hear that ….” No evidence is offered. The fact is that Fetterman and Shapiro received more votes than their opponents. Why? Perhaps it was not that the public liked them better but that they disliked Oz and Mastriano more. Many times over the years as I approached the voting stations I was handed a pamphlet by someone I did not know asking me to vote for someone I never heard of. Do they assume that people come to vote having no idea who they will vote for and wait for a stranger to tell them? Lawn signs for candidates from both parties pop up like mushrooms. What effect do they have? Do they assume that if we see a name on a piece of cardboard they will vote for them? Both parties do this. I hope that in the future we will examine what the candidates say now and have done in the past and make informed decisions as to who would best represent us in the future.
Mel Flitter
Somerton
Telling it like it is
I must take my hat off to Al Ulus and his spot-on letter to the editor that appeared in your Jan. 4 issue. I just hadn’t realized that the Jan. 6, 2021 event at the Capitol wasn’t such a big deal after all. You know, thousands of rioters storming the Capitol, unintentionally assaulting the Capitol police and unintentionally injuring scores of them, erecting stand-by gallows if needed for Vice President Pence, defecating in house offices and the 5 consequent deaths. To his credit, Mr. Ulus does condemn the death of one of the attackers – “an ex-US military personnel,” no less — but for some reason fails to mention the deaths of the 4 “attackees.” Just an oversight perhaps. Also omitted from his otherwise brilliant piece were the pre-Jan. 6 slates of false electors that were submitted by the Trumpies and their many phone calls to state officials to alter the election counts (e.g., the call by President Trump innocently requesting that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “find” him 11,780 votes). Not to mention obstructing the certifying of the electoral-vote count Jan. 6-7 and the immense pressure on Mike Pence to obfuscate the count. But I nitpick.
And a special shoutout for mocking Ukraine President Zelenskyy who had the gall to appeal to Congress on behalf of his besieged country. What a piker! Why should we give a damn if war crimes are committed against women, children — and men? Bravo.
Once more, I am indebted to Mr. Ulus for having the courage and good sense to tell it like it is.
Dennis Sing
Somerton
First Amendment rights
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and offer my deep and humble appreciation to the Northeast Times for its unwavering support of our beloved American Constitution, specifically the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.
As the recipient of several Facebook suspensions as well as a recent lifetime banishment from Twitter, I find it extremely refreshing that there is still at least one outlet left where people like myself and others can express their widely disliked, often controversial views.
In this zany can’t-say-this, can’t-think-that, don’t-you-dare-even-try-to-acknowledge-that-happened world of ours, the Times offers a much-needed glimmer of hope to those among us who still believe that the ideas contained in that long-ago document still have some relevance today.
Bill McDevitt Jr.
Bensalem
