Readers sound off on dishonesty in politics, studio audiences and trans youth

Opelika, Ala.: Driven by his amoral power lust, George Santos multiplied mendacities to buttress his congressional candidacy for New York’s Third District. S.E. Cupp’s phrase, sociopathic dishonesty, captures Santos’ pervasive pathologies. Alas, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, rather than exert leadership — why do something novel? — covets the seat Santos occupies. His tacit approval whitewashes Santos’ treachery.

In 2015, Donald Trump glided down the Trump Tower escalator and spewed hatred. Rabid after President Barack Obama’s double term, the GOP affixed a clothespin to their noses and brokered a Faustian agreement with Trump. Cupp noted that the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress charged Bill Clinton with lying under oath and obstruction of justice. Clinton was acquitted on both charges. All 45 Democrats acquitted Clinton on Article 1 and on Article 2. The Democrats’ not-guilty vote preserved power and repudiated principle, a brazen, partisan act.

Likewise, Herschel Walker’s numerous lies didn’t disqualify him, he only lost by a sliver to incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock. In addition, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene traffics in toxic conspiratorial lies but remains a GOP stalwart.

President George W. Bush lied to justify his war-mongering against bogeyman Saddam Hussein. Embarrassed that the U.S. couldn’t defeat Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson lied incessantly.

It’s shocking that applicants for entry-level jobs face stiffer punishment for lying than members of America’s national government. Marc D. Greenwood

Rural Retreat, Va.: Why is Leslie Jones the only one asking why the National Archives let the documents out of their hands? Also, hey Archives, did you miss the President Biden documents? ‘Cause you didn’t seem to ask for them back. Someone please clear this up. Kathleen Cobbs

Water Valley, Miss.: Re “The cost of hatred and history” (editorial, Jan. 27): “Holocaust victims and perpetrators can never be forgotten” — and yet, you seem to have forgotten the millions of non-Jews also murdered. So, must history be useful to be remembered? C.L. Mullins

Jacksonville, Fla.: Can somebody please explain why “Live with Kelly and Ryan” is now the only TV show that still broadcasts without an audience? It’s really pathetic that three years after the start of the pandemic, this lame TV production crew has still not gotten its act together and brought back the audience! Each morning, the show opens up with a weak splattering of applause from the six or seven crewmembers scattered about in the 200-plus empty audience seats! Executive producers Art Moore and Michael Gelman and hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest are in effect snubbing their noses at the remarkable advances and sacrifices medical professionals have made at reigning in the COVID virus with life-saving vaccines! Why doesn’t the FCC get some viable answers from this lame production crew? Carl Cruz-Hafner

Merced, Calif.: What happened in New York can affect the country (“Guilty of massacre,” Jan. 27). What happened on Oct. 31, 2017, has been told many times in the five years since because of what one senseless terrorist did. Now that this individual has been found guilty, what will happen next? John Huerta

East Meadow, L.I.: In response to Voicer Paul Keeley regarding New York City and San Francisco: I’ve worked in New York City for the past 40 years and visited my family in San Francisco many, many times. These were always my two favorite cities in the country but they both have a long way to go to make them what they were. I remember taking my children to see shows at Radio City and never thought twice about riding the subways with them. My children wanted to bring my grandchildren to see the same shows, and I was concerned the entire day about bringing them on the subway. I was relieved to hear that they didn’t go. During the summer, I spent a few days at the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco. I was shocked to see the number of homeless people living around that area. So yes, maybe New York and San Francisco are still beautiful for their buildings, etc. but they have a lot of cleaning up to do. Jeff Tuck

Mendham, N.J.: Re “Big Blue no match for Jalen, Philly” (Jan. 22): Please spend some grammar time with your reporters and proofreaders: “Revert back” is grammatically incorrect. Steve Davis

Ridgewood, N.J.: The wave of migrants trying to survive by moving toward the southern border of the U.S. will not stop because in desperation they are escaping crime, violence, corruption, unemployment, poverty, drugs and gangs. The migration will not end given that they have nothing to lose by risking their lives compared to the intolerable conditions of their homelands. The solution to the migrant crisis does not fall entirely on the U.S. — it is a Western hemisphere problem and requires a Western Hemisphere Marshall Plan to eradicate the failed-state conditions that are driving the migrants north. It’s worth a try. There are no other proposals that are constructive. Creating an iron curtain with military support is a policy out of the decayed former Soviet Union. Ed Houlihan

Point Pleasant, N.J.: Re Paul Whelan: Court-martialed from the military in January 2008; convicted of multiple charges (stealing Social Security numbers, writing bad checks, making false statements, etc.); then he gets a job heading security for BorgWarner — really? He also claimed he graduated from college with multiple degrees. He did not. He was arrested in Moscow in 2018 with a hard drive containing security information and $80,000 in cash. Maybe innocent, maybe not. Margaret Brown

Madera, Calif.: Re “Anti-LGBTQ policies hit trans youth hard: poll” (Jan. 20): Transphobia and lack of family and social acceptance often lead to depression and excessive anxiety. As a transgender schizophrenic, I’m used to dealing with mental illnesses that others may not be. It’s important that we support our trans community through the difficult times of transitioning and beyond. For some, transitioning may bring a freeing feeling, but for the majority, transitioning brings complications such as being misgendered or dealing with transphobia. It is not an easy road to come out as our true, authentic selves. Depression can occur from all the transphobia and hate-filled rhetoric that comes from an uncomprehending society. Even we sometimes have self-doubts, fears and concerns — is this the road we were meant to travel? Ultimately, the answer is yes. For our sanity, we take the road less traveled. Good or bad, it is our journey, our decisions, our lives. Robyn Angelique Harvey

Brooklyn: I am writing to say thank you for publishing the op-ed piece on Jan. 21 by Monica Miller of the Nonhuman Rights Project (“Freedom for the Bronx Zoo elephants”). The more that people learn about Happy and Patty’s imprisonment at the Bronx Zoo, the better. It is quite clear that the Wildlife Conservation Society is in the business of making money and not the conservation of species. There can be no conservation without preserving natural habitat and then allowing wild animals to live their lives in that habitat. Ilene Lurie

Shaftesbury, Vt.: How long has it been that I’ve written letters to the editor? Ten years, maybe 20? The results are the same: My letters seldom get published in the newspapers I send them to. The decision to publish letters is so arbitrary that no one really knows why! We’re just whistling in the dark and into the wind. If it’s a matter of disagreement as to politics or point of view, that’s nice! I think that’s the newspaper’s right. No complaints, but please tell us. The letter from the paper to the letter writer refusing to publish would go something like this: Dear writer, we disagree with your point of view and have the right to refuse to publish your letters. We suggest that if you want to get letters to the editor published, you change your attitude. Since we don’t want to say what that need be, it’s your call, not ours.” Tommy King