To the Editor:
Re “Inside the Democrats’ Effort to Stack the Alaska Midterm Ballot” (front page, Oct. 29):
With the re-election campaign of Dan S. Sullivan, one of Alaska’s two Republican senators, in trouble, fellow party members including President Trump and Alaska’s governor, Mike Dunleavy, have called for an investigation of his opponent, Mary Peltola, for finding another Dan Sullivan to run for senator.
Senator Sullivan has stood by as his president has raised our prices with erratic trade policies and tariffs, making life unaffordable for many of his constituents in the state. He has not objected to an expensive and deadly war in Iran that his president waged without approval from Congress or our allies.
Senator Sullivan has watched as his president and friends and family members have made billions from crypto schemes and numerous clearly unethical business deals. Senator Sullivan cast one of the 51 votes to block the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He voted to bring unqualified people like Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into cabinet positions.
We do not have to justify what Ms. Peltola did if her campaign recruited a second Dan Sullivan, but the investigation that Republicans are urging is an act of desperation that no one believes would happen if Senator Sullivan had a comfortable lead.
Senator Sullivan should have thought about representing the interests of his state during the 11 years he’s held office.
Elliott Miller Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
To the Editor:
While I certainly don’t approve of the concept of stacking a ballot, no matter which party does it, I find it rich that President Trump and his fellow Republicans are aghast at the reports that the Senate campaign of Mary Peltola, the Alaska Democrat, engaged in the questionable practice. Really?
This is akin to a parent watching as his beleaguered child finally punches the reigning schoolyard bully in the nose. It’s possible to condemn violence while experiencing a certain guilty satisfaction.
Don’t get me wrong; stacking ballots is wrong. And the lengths to which people in Alaska went in achieving it is upsetting to say the least, especially the lying about it.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but the bully sure had it coming.
Greg Joseph Sun City, Ariz.
Punishing Critics of Trump
To the Editor:
“Revoking Citizenship Is a Tool of Tyrants” (editorial, Oct. 25) raises a troubling question: Has the immense power of the federal government become an instrument for punishing those who dare criticize the president?
President Trump has repeatedly vilified Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and an immigrant from Somalia, using degrading and racially charged language while publicly calling for her deportation. Now his administration is investigating the citizenship of Ms. Omar, one of his most outspoken critics.
Political opponents face investigations and threats of prosecution, while presidential allies, including people convicted of serious crimes, receive pardons and favorable treatment. Is anyone surprised?
When a president uses the machinery of government to pursue perceived enemies while shielding political friends, the distinction between the rule of law and the rule of one man becomes dangerously blurred.
If citizenship, constitutional rights and equal justice depend on loyalty to the president, what remains of our constitutional democracy?
Robert Stewart Chantilly, Va.
Victories for Democracy
To the Editor:
There were two great victories for democracy over the weekend: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won another term as president in Brazil, and a new political grouping called Student List-Students Win in Serbia upset the authoritarian Aleksandar Vucic, after 14 years in power both as prime minister and president.
These results help put the lie to the notion that progressive politics worldwide no longer has any appeal. Meantime, President Trump is reportedly promoting former Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary to be the United Nations’ next secretary general.
One can only guess that Mr. Trump believes that you cannot let a good authoritarian to go to waste. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost the election in Brazil to Mr. Lula, is also apparently now available.
It would be especially shameful and contemptible for the United States to try to install a discredited autocrat as the United Nations’ next leader, especially as we helped create the organization 81 years ago to promote security, democracy and human rights.
Stephen Schlesinger New York The writer is the author of “Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations.”
Help for Struggling Farmers
To the Editor:
Re “Economic Misery Strains Republican Coalition in Farm Country” (news article, Oct. 21):
This report accurately captures the current sentiment of American farmers confronting the rising costs of agricultural equipment, fertilizer and fuel, and how these frustrations could weaken support from Republicans’ rural voters in battleground states.
While Washington has explored solutions — from additional farm aid to fertilizer relief — nothing tried to date will provide substantial assistance ahead of Election Day. But there is an immediate action the administration can take that will make a difference: Remove Section 232 metal tariffs on the all-terrain vehicles and utility-task vehicles that our farmers use every day.
These tariffs can drive up the cost of these vehicles and their replacement parts by thousands of dollars, and farmers are the ones who must shoulder the burden.
On farms like the one my family owns, these vehicles help transport equipment and supplies, care for livestock and monitor irrigation systems. While President Trump’s trade policies were meant to support American industries, they have produced unintended consequences for one of our country’s most fundamental sectors.
The administration can win back support from rural voters and alleviate the financial pressure on agricultural communities by providing full, permanent tariff relief on these vehicles. Farmers need economic help now.
Todd Cranney Meridian, Idaho The writer is the executive director of Save America’s Working Vehicles.
A Women’s Health Agenda
To the Editor:
Re “First Lady Unveils Women’s Health Initiative” (news article, Oct. 21):
While national attention to women’s health is welcome, greater investment cannot by itself change the enormous gaps in how women’s health is understood, researched and treated.
Reproductive and maternal health accounts for only a fraction of the conditions affecting women, yet it continues to dominate how we define health for half of our population. Women are more than their reproductive systems, and it’s past time to consider other health issues they face.
This will require sustained investment, scientific expertise and research priorities informed by women’s experiences. We need to widen the lens beyond clinical outcomes to consider what women identify as important.
We need sustained funding and a research agenda led by scientific expertise, not political priorities, that are accountable for improving women’s lives.
Emily Hansen Tampa, Fla.
The post A Tale of Alaska, Peltola and the Two Dan Sullivans appeared first on New York Times.
