To the Editor:
Re “Comey Targeted for Second Time With Indictment” (front page, April 29):
The Trump Justice Department’s securing of an indictment of James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, over an Instagram post of seashells on a seashore is as ludicrous as it is bone-chillingly dangerous.
Anyone who’s worked in an American restaurant or bar, as I did when I was younger, knows that when a chef or headwaiter uses the term 86’d, it means that the item is no longer available.
In bars, patrons who’ve had too much to drink and behave obnoxiously are often asked to leave and sometimes barred from returning; those customers are referred to as 86’d.
That members of the Trump administration honestly believe that Mr. Comey had nefarious intent when he posted the image is laughable at best. Americans can only hope that a judge or court quickly steps in to halt this semantical, nonsensical prosecution by the Justice Department’s latest head puppet of vengeance, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Cody Lyon Brooklyn
To the Editor:
One would think that displaying seashells by the seashore is a form of free speech.
Pat Speth Sherman Roseburg, Ore.
To the Editor:
I continue to be surprised by President Trump’s anger at James Comey. The announcement that Mr. Comey made 11 days before the 2016 election regarding the discovery of more Hillary Clinton emails presumably did not gain her votes. It may have even cost her the election.
Lee Livingston North Brunswick, N.J.
To the Editor:
Re “Trumps Demand Kimmel Be Fired for ‘Widow’ Joke” (news article, April 28):
I understand that our first family isn’t famous for personal reflection and self-examination. Perhaps if the Trumps want to speak of what is “far beyond the pale” in regards to violent rhetoric, a bit of introspection might be in order.
Sara McPherson Horle Denver
The U.S.A.I.D. Tragedy
To the Editor:
Re “Long Year of Struggle for Fired U.S.A.I.D. Staff” (front page, April 23):
The stories of those who lost their jobs because of the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development are heartbreaking. But what makes this a national and global tragedy, not just a personal one, is how desperately these people are still needed at the State Department.
Given the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to foreign aid, you might think that the United States is out of the foreign assistance business. But Congress has continued to appropriate funds in many areas the Trump administration tried to cut, particularly those that support the world’s most vulnerable children and families.
The most recent budget includes $915 million for maternal and child health, $524 million for family planning and $691 million for basic education, all areas that the Trump administration essentially zeroed out in its budget request. The State Department had never run programs in these areas.
After firing virtually all of the U.S.A.I.D. experts, who exactly is going to ensure that those funds reach the most vulnerable children and families, now that Congress has restored the funding?
The irony of the bogus “waste, fraud and abuse” accusations hurled against U.S.A.I.D. is that the risk of waste, fraud and abuse is now higher than ever without the experts on board.
Rebecca Levy Washington The writer is a former U.S. government special adviser for children in adversity at U.S.A.I.D. and the associate director of the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University.
Privatize the Mail
To the Editor:
Re “The Postal Service Is in Trouble. Here’s How It Could Affect Your Mail” (news article, nytimes.com, April 11):
Band-Aid fixes are not the solution to the U.S. Postal Service’s failed business model. Instead, contracting out mail and package delivery to private carriers is the long-overdue answer to the U.S.P.S.’s perennial financial and operational problems.
Companies like FedEx and U.P.S. did not exist when the postal system was created in 1775, but they are now efficiently delivering tens of millions of packages daily. Even if they required a government subsidy to serve all remote areas, it would surely be less costly and would provide better service to taxpayers than the Postal Service.
Kenneth A. Margolis Chappaqua, N.Y.
The post Comey and Kimmel: Seashells and a Joke appeared first on New York Times.
