Letters to the Poughkeepsie Journal

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

See source page(s) for full text of letters.

Trump should show more respect for all types of freedom of speech

Pledging allegiance or burning the flag is "Freedom of speech." President Donald Trump wants to predetermine how and where one can pledge the flag or sing the National Anthem. Since becoming president, he has become a flag-waving zealot or a pretension for love of country. His vitriol condemning NFL players protest (blacks killed by police) by kneeling during the National Anthem is also a form of "Free Speech." The traditional "standing" when the National Anthem is played is considered in the President's words, "The correct way to show respect for the flag." …

Chuck Cooper
Hopewell Junction

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Town needs leadership to identify and then accomplish its objectives

I have lived in Wappingers Falls for over 51 years, and I am not affiliated with any political party. However, I continue to be concerned with the Town of Wappinger's apparent lack of clearly stated objectives that indicate as a priority, a commitment to the betterment of our community; that includes all of its components – lands and buildings. …

Louis DiCocco
Wappingers Falls

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Political investigations seem to target a particular party

I find it odd, that anyone connected to the Donald Trump campaign or the Trump presidency is subject to scrutiny by various committees and the special prosecutor, investigating issues dating back, in some cases, 10 years. …

William R. Strieder
Stormville

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Decency won out against party loyalty in Alabama election

"Have you no sense of decency?" That question by Joseph Welsh, an attorney for the Army in the Army-McCarthy hearings, shamed Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy into silence and eventual obscurity. …

Gerald Browne
Fishkill

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Writer gives another view on Christopher Columbus

This is a belated response to a Nov. 8 letter to the editor titled "About time people are criticizing Christopher Columbus.” The letter claims that the extinction of the three million member Arawak tribe was a result of the diseases that Europeans brought with them and the slavery that Columbus imposed. This was genocide, or so says the letter writer. I completely disagree with that accusation. The transmission of disease was obviously unintentional and therefore morally neutral. …

Robert Crolius
Hyde Park

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'Blue Tsunami' may sweep away some Republicans in House and Senate

"Blue Tsunami" was coined to describe a looming 2018 mid-term congressional turnover. Reacting to terrible GOP-led governance, American voters will eject many House and Senate Republicans. …

Jeff Akins
Highland

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