Readers sound off on law enforcement culture, church and state and gas lines

Forest Hills: The No. 1 factoid about Alex Murdaugh, the powerful attorney in South Carolina who was convicted of murdering his wife and son, is his background in law enforcement, which is the whole reason he did such a ridiculously sloppy crime.

The press really buried that Murdaugh is a former prosecutor, proving again that we can’t pretend law enforcers are any more honest or law-abiding than the rest of us. In fact, they’re more dangerous than average citizens if you look closely.

It’s like living in North Korea when we are forced to call judges “honorable” or call them “justices,” which is ludicrous. Not one judge can explain what makes them any more honorable than any common criminal!

Society also needs to know that the drug smuggler in “Cocaine Bear” was law enforcement in real life. Of course, he was a narcotics cop who went dirty! We can predict it: Give humans a lot of power and they will become corrupt. I agree with nanny cams for all cops, judges and politicians.

And can we please stop letting all these public servants obstruct justice every day? Our government won’t answer important questions we ask them, and the press downplays that this is fraud, malpractice, obstruction and even theft, because they cashed the paycheck but didn’t do the job we paid them to do.

No public servant should be able to dodge questions by the taxpayers, but 100% of them do! Jim Ranium

Freeport, L.I.: Mayor Adams, one need not embrace any creation myth to hold high moral and ethical standards (“Putting God in gov’t,” March 1). In fact, religion-based politics is one of the leading causes of homicide throughout mankind. Our nation was populated with Europeans fleeing theocratic tyranny, which is why our forefathers emphatically wrote the separation of church and state as a plank in our Constitution. Bob Sterner

Bellerose: At an interfaith breakfast in Manhattan, Mayor Adams spoke about his religious faith and his belief about the need for prayer in school. He said the Big Apple ought to be more spiritual. I would like to praise Adams for saying we need to find a way to introduce some form of spirituality to our children who are growing up in an environment that is just so painful for them. I grew up in a home and school where prayer was an important way to start and end the day. It gave me a sense of peace and a way to deal with the problems of the day. Like Adams pointed out, when we took prayer out of schools, guns came into them. I feel that is so true. I also believe that for a family to stay together, prayer is vital. Mayor Adams, keep up the faith. Frederick R. Bedell Jr.

Fort Myers, Fla.: Re “Public mental health plans can be made to work” (op-ed, March 1): In the vernacular of many, there exists “the” mentally ill. It is a phrase — an assertion — to avoid. Like “the” Blacks and “the” Jews before it, it lends itself to caricature. The AP recently changed its guidelines to avoid that phrasing. Please consult those guidelines. Harold A. Maio

Yonkers: The article about New York City being the spiritual home of women pioneers (“Illuminating women’s history,” March 1) was almost spot-on. Laura Kavanagh was listed as the NYPD’s first female fire commissioner. That certainly is a pioneering position. Frank Brady

Cincinnati: Re “Where COVID began” (editorial, Feb. 28): Who would have thunk it? A deadly novel virus springs up in a city where a state-of-the-art virology laboratory operates with partial American government funding for gain-of-function research on that virus. American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci facilitated the research grant for the lab and also, after the pandemic began, obfuscated its origins in a plausible-deniability manner. When it looks like a Fauci and quacks like a Fauci — folks, that’s a Fauci. Paul Bloustein

Manhattan: A March 3 op-ed suggests “It’s time to revoke Fox News’ press credentials,” which essentially means that the network be put out of business because it promoted what the author says was a falsehood. By those standards, every major network and several newspapers should suffer the same fate for repeatedly reporting that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a fake story, that the COVID vaccines prevented the virus and that the 2016 election was rigged. Lucky for the media that the First Amendment also protects the right to be wrong. Linda Stewart

Fresh Meadows: Re “Gas-line crackdown” (Feb. 28): How about we eliminate fatal gas explosions by not putting up new buildings with gas lines? The city is already leading the way. The All-Electric Building Act would require new construction statewide to omit gas hookups in favor of clean, healthy electric heating, cooling and appliances. Proposed legislation would save consumers money in two ways: by eliminating the “obligation to serve” rule that allows gas companies to provide unnecessary hookups we jointly pay for in our utility service fees, and limiting utility bills to 6% of low- and moderate-income families’ earnings. Gov. Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins must come together to support these measures to clean up New Yorkers’ indoor and outdoor air and to support the state’s climate mandate. Sara Rebecca Storch

Rockaway, N.J.: Why is it that the Daily News feels it needs to change a historic poster from World War II by changing Rosie the Riveter to what is now called a person of color? Can you imagine the uprising if you changed a person of color to a white person? Explain to us your reasoning for doing this. Michael Ilardi

Pine Plains, N.Y.: The progressive, woke crowd is pioneering the rewriting of literary works to remove all uncomfortable words. I think they are on the right track, which should be followed through to its natural conclusion. For me and many others, I’m certain, any reference to slavery is unpleasant. Thinking about the horrors of slavery is extremely stressful. Therefore, I propose that every mention of slavery in literature, history books or the media should be expunged. The mental health of all, especially children, would be dramatically improved if they were not forced to encounter this unpleasant concept. Joseph McCluskey

Bloomington, Ind.: As I observe the abundance of outrage directed toward Scott Adams because of his career-ending, bigoted rant on YouTube, I’m a bit puzzled. To my eye, this outrage seems more like a celebration. Several media personalities appear energized by his fall. After years of having to morph innocent comments people have made into something horribly racist, they finally have something real they can sink their teeth into. They can play the video of Adams over and over again to prove their point that systemic racism does exist and is rampant. I don’t believe for a minute that Adams is a racist. I think he’s just gotten frustrated and was reacting to a recent poll revealing increased animosity toward whites. Much of the racism today appears to be anti-white. I think Adams was venting what many of us feel but don’t dare say. Scott Thompson

San Francisco: To Voicer James Hyland: James, James, James. “Pavlovian-like loyalty to the ‘big guy’ ”? Please, don’t insult me. I have followed President Biden’s career for at least the last 30 years and I’ve always found him to be a moderate and a gentleman. In the 2020 election, I would’ve voted for anybody but Donald Trump, even a Republican (even though thinking about it leaves a bad taste in my mouth). In the primaries, my first choice was Bernie Sanders. But I am happy enough with Biden (Pavlovian or not). That aside, I am glad that we both still agree that Felonious Drumpf is a loser. Jimmy Layton