Dismissing fantasyland nonsense

To the editor:

(re: “The election is over — move on,” Aug. 26)

A president lowers the capital gains tax from 28 percent to 20 percent. He puts a two-year limit on welfare.

I wrote at that time in October 1996 that this will probably not only mean an increase in the working poor, but an explosion in the working homeless. I wasn’t a prophet. I simply knew that if you force people to take jobs that don’t pay a living wage, they can’t afford rent.

He also signed the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that helped export jobs, among other things.

But somehow Helen Morik and Ira Bigeleisen think Bill Clinton was progressive.

Another president started a 30-year, $1 trillion nuclear modernization in 2016. Apparently he feels we can’t blow up the world enough times over. He supported a coup in Honduras in 2009, and then opposed letting those fleeing the new, brutal government immigrate to the United States.

He supported the Ukraine coup in 2015 and Saudi Arabia’s brutal war against Yemen. He fired Shirley Sherrod from the agriculture department based on a dishonestly edited Breitbart video that falsely made her appear to be a racist. But Morik and Bigeleisen considered Barack Obama a progressive.

The following week, there’s a letter from Andrea Tekirian (re: “Just don’t believe the government,” Sept. 2) that ignores reality. Despite the government’s track record with the truth, you can believe them when they say wear a mask and get vaccinated. Nearly 100 percent of those currently getting the virus are not vaccinated, and nearly 100 percent of those vaccinated are not getting the virus.

If everyone without a legitimate medical reason to decline the vaccine got it, the pandemic would be over.

Also on fantasyland are some union leaders. If they fought as hard against wage freezes and “raises” that don’t keep up with inflation as they do against vaccine mandates, their workers would be living much better. Communication Workers of America president Gloria Middleton has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the city for requiring all education department employees to be vaccinated. She says “our job is to protect the rights of our members.”

I didn’t realize getting a horrible disease and possibly dying was a labor right.

Moving on to other nonsense, I could never figure out how Trump supporters could fall for someone telling them he’ll take away their health insurance and replace it with something better without being told what the replacement would be. Also, who falls for someone saying the election is only rigged if he loses?

In baseball, I could never understand how the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to pay Trevor Bauer more money — $28 million. This is based on one great season, and another great partial season.

As for the Houston Astros cheating scandal being talked about, how about this? If Billy Martin were alive and managed the New York Yankees in 2017, he would have noticed the trash can banging before every breaking pitch. He would have told the catcher to call for that pitch, and then told the pitcher to throw a high, inside fastball.

After the Astros’ batter wound up on his butt, that nonsense would have ended.

Now let’s deal with music. Someone’s got to insist that Rock & Roll Hall of Fame officials explain how the boring Doobie Brothers can be inducted while one of the greatest singers of all time, Patti LaBelle, is still not in.

Then there’s political correctness run amok. So the Dixie Chicks have to change their name because “Dixie” is now taboo? What about a Black female singing trio from the 1960s, The Dixie Cups, whose hits included two of my all-time favorites — “Chapel of Love” and “People Say”?

What about the Black gospel group the Dixie Hummingbirds, who Paul Simon fans may remember for their contributions to the classic albums, “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” and “Live Rhymin’”?

Also, should all the great recordings — some straight-out masterpieces — attacking racism, sexism and oppression by John Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Randy Newman and The Temptations that use the “n-word” be banned?

Then there’s Bill Cosby released on a legal technicality. Even in the unlikely event that all 70 women are lying about being raped, he admits to having sex with them. He also admits to giving them Quaaludes. So the man who used his classic television show to preach against consensual fornication and marijuana use thinks repeatedly cheating on his wife is OK.

As for climate change, we need to make public transit less time-consuming. People will not travel two hours when they can drive somewhere in 30 minutes. Also, some trips are not available by public transit. You have to drive or take a cab.

Finally, with John Lennon’s birthday coming Oct. 9, will someone give him a real tribute? Perhaps this year, one of the few radio stations that still play Lennon’s recordings, could do just that.

Richard Warren

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