Letters to the Editor Wednesday, June 15

Stefanik twists narrative on Jan. 6

Rep. Elise Stefanik on the House investigation into January 6, 2021: “Most committees in Congress start in the morning. That’s the business hours,” Stefanik said on June 4.
But airing this committee’s year-long investigation into the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol just in time for highlights to make the nightly news, Stefanik said, shows that “all they care about is trying to take back the narrative to try and target patriotic Trump supporters across the country.” (Warren Rojas, Business Insider)
First, grammatically, “Those are business hours.” But in a democracy, news-sharing knows no time of day. Citizens need to be informed, in real time, the way we were even during the long-ago televised Army-McCarthy hearings.
Second, the committee members are developing a narrative by investigating those who know something about the event.
Trump’s narrative insults his enemies, with nasty language and lies, and Stefanik does not elevate the quality of the discussion.
Finally, this is not about patriotic Trump supporters. Some Trump supporters are appalled by what happened that day. For Stefanik to twist the specifics of this investigation, which is solely about those rioters and their accomplices, shows that whatever story she wants to tell is fabricated and self-serving.
Paul Lamar
Albany

Put efforts into passing tax relief

I wish our elected leaders could provide property tax relief as fast as they pass a gun bill. If the Sixth Commandment will not stop people from killing, then no law will stop people from killing.
Al Zanger
Schenectady

Keep up fight for sensible gun laws

Media reporting on the war in Ukraine, shows us dead bodies on the street, or bodies in bags, or mass graves. We see the injured.
Media reporting on our school shootings shows us the police and other armed security people standing around.
We see the building where the shooting took place. What we don’t see is the bodies of the children who were shot to death.
We don’t see the blood on the floors and perhaps walls. We don’t even see injured children.
You might suggest that we don’t see these things after an American mass shooting, since we don’t want to hurt the sensibilities of the American public.
Apparently, we can shoot people with abandon, but don’t show the results. Don’t show the young bodies in such a condition that DNA from the parent is needed for identification.
No. No. We can’t show the other side of “My Rights.” Who needs all those high powered guns for protection?
It would be interesting to see how often semi-automatic guns are effectively used in a home invasion. Listen to the gun and safety-vest commercials. They create such fear in people, much of it overplayed.
Several of us at church make little dresses for needy children. I am tempted to put one on my lawn covered with red paint just to remind people, do not let this issue fall to the wayside.
Keep the pressure on our legislatures to make a few sensible changes for all of our safety.
Janice Walz
Scotia

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Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion