Come one, come all, to America

Manhattan: Voicer Maria DePalma shows appalling ignorance. Her logic seems to be that if a person’s chosen style of dress “conjures up a great deal of pain,” then that person should expect to be attacked. Her logic is dangerous, highly offensive and extremely flawed. Has she read the laws of our country that guarantee people the right to wear whatever clothing they like and to observe whatever religion they like? I’m a black man, and I accept that if the Klan gets a permit to hold a march or a rally, I have to suck it up. I can’t go and attack them because their garb triggers painful memories.

I’m quite certain that if I did attack them, DePalma would be among those saying I should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law because those Klansmen have the right to wear whatever costume they want. Does she realize that it is the duty of the police and courts to track down and punish those who would deny anyone these rights? The United States is not a club. It is a democracy. Tom Hall

America the beautiful

Bronx: Voicer Maria DePalma is the epitome of what is wrong with this country. Assimilate into the American culture? How to dress for that? Should we all wear uniforms? Or maybe she just wants everyone to look, think, dress, speak, worship and behave like her. That is not this country. I suppose then tallits, kippahs, tichels, habits, etc. are also unacceptable? Please don’t assume “Americans” think and feel the way you do, and don’t speak on my behalf. I mourned losses on 9/11, and that beautiful young lady dressed in her hijab doesn’t conjure up images of 9/11 and terrorists to me. She’s acknowledging her religion and she has the right to feel safe commuting to and from school.

Michele Nicolosi

Who’s a terrorist?

Manhattan: I am a Muslim American citizen, and have been in America all my life. I’ve been reading the Daily News since I was 13. My wife wears the veil, and I’m proud she does. You don’t see Muslims going after transvestites and gay people screaming slurs at them and pulling their fake weaves off, because it’s not our duty to judge. The teaching of Islam is: Do not cause harm to innocent people, for you will be punished. It is your duty to help protect yourself and your loved ones when you are in danger. Why is it that we are called terrorists, when Christians are going around killing innocent kids learning at schools or congregants at a church? Why do they get labeled as crazy people and not terrorists? They are terrorists, too, but I don’t see Muslims labeling all of them. Stop with the ignorance, please.

Izzy Zindani

Judd the right thing

Alta Loma, Calif.: I am so thankful for Naomi Judd (“Judd opens up about life-threatening depression,” Dec. 6). A lot of people will be deeply touched by her courage to speak out. She is not alone, and there are treatments that really help. Meds are poison for the body and the side effects are killing people. I would love to tell her that she will be set free from this very real darkness soon. First, love yourself and care for yourself. Eat nothing but organic, real food and drink good water. Sleep is the most important thing. Good luck to Naomi. Her voice is a gift from God. Susan Haire

Left behind

Masspequa, L.I.: Is it ironic that the candidate with the most anti-minority views gets elected without the majority vote, losing it by more than two and a half million? Paul Pepe Manhattan: Donald Trump castigates Hillary Clinton for stupidly misusing her email account and server, then follows by considering David Petraeus for a serious and sensitive post, even though Petraeus knowingly committed a crime involving the same thing. This is not a surprise. Sociopaths always accuse others of their own faults, flaws, sins and crimes. If you really want to know our coming President, just understand the personality of the individual who comes from a family in which alcoholism is present. Trump doesn’t hesitate to admit he worries he has the alcoholism “gene” but readily acknowledges he does have the “personality.” And that personality type is no stranger to lies, deception, deceit. That personality can charm the birds out of the trees and knows exactly how to make one feel he cares. All the right words; none of the feelings. It isn’t too late to strategize how to handle the next four years. While all the TV talking heads are busy following up on his every comment, maybe they should simply understand that whatever Trump accuses others of, it is true of him. Jeanne M. Reed

Just the facts, please

Guelph, Ontario: Please cover Donald Trump accurately. Cover him relentlessly. And at all times be accurate, with triple-verified facts. Facts like bankruptcies. Facts like fraud settlements. Facts like massive conflicts of interest. Facts like a President-elect skipping security intelligence briefings. Facts like the qualifications, or lack thereof, of his coming cabinet members. Accuracy is true to the historic role of a free press in a healthy democracy. No one person, however loud, can ever be the final arbiter of what is real. As we used to say in the Bronx of my youth, people who act that way can dish it out, but they can’t take it. Rachel Adelson

It’s ‘bigly’

Elmont, L.I.: To Voicer Gabriel Pompe, regarding Trump’s use of the word “bigly”: Voicer Lorraine Crimando’s memory may be short, but her hearing is excellent. Trump is in fact saying “bigly,” which isn’t a word! He isn’t saying “big league.” Pay attention to any of his speeches. Furthermore, Obama was indeed elected twice, and it was for several important qualifications. What intelligent person wouldn’t vote for him because of a mispronounced word? Angel Joyner

Bus in reverse

Brooklyn: The Trump race accelerant has been at work for almost a month — even in liberal Park Slope. Two days after the Nov. 8 election, when I ran into a friend, a black woman who’s been my neighbor for 38 years, we exchanged Trump fallout stories. A friend of hers, 61 years old, black, boarded the B67 bus going west on Seventh Ave. through the heart of progressive Park Slope. She took a front seat beside an older white woman. The white woman glared at the black woman: “Don’t you know you belong in the back of the bus now!”

Patti Hagan

Time machine, NYC

Flushing: I never thought things would go back to the way they were in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when this city was a mess. Then came Rudy Giuliani, and though I’m no fan of what he has become, he did clean up this city and Michael Bloomberg kept it that way. Now we have this complete and utter idiot for a mayor and it looks like 1989 again. Homeless people everywhere setting up camp in front of businesses, office buildings and subways, and when you call the police, they tell you, “Sorry, not much we can do these days.” Our joke of a mayor can’t be gone soon enough. Joseph Gross

The right stuff

Hallandale Beach, Fla.: John Glenn was a great astronaut and senator. On Feb. 20, 1962, aboard Friendship 7, he became the first American to orbit the Earth. He served as senator from Ohio for four consecutive terms. In 1998, he became the oldest person to participate in a space flight mission Spencer Platt/Getty Images as a crew member of the Space Shuttle Discovery. We will remember Glenn as a great astronaut and lawmaker always and forever. John Glenn, RIP.

Paul Bacon

Deadly neglect

Manhattan: Women who have children are supposed to protect them. How do they leave children with boyfriends who have no interest or patience with their child? Now for the next horror. How do two little girls get burned by radiator steam? Where was the mother? They were just babies. Now we have little angels who no longer have to feel pain or neglect.

Yvonne Carr

Sports trade

Brooklyn: Andy Martino, Bob Raissman, Anthony McCarron — all gone, while Mike Lupica still writes for the Daily News? Is there anyway we can trade Lupica to get those other guys back? I don’t like the direction the Daily News is heading in. Joe Ferra

Stamp out waste

Oceanside, L.I.: Can someone explain why organizations asking for donations are adding five one-cent stamps to their envelopes, which have a no-postage stamp already? Am I supposed to add 42 cents in stamps to make it free for them? I used to just add a first-class stamp, but with the penny stamps, I now have to add two 21-cent stamps, which means I have to keep a supply of them also. What a waste!

John F. Rossano