Take some options off the table
Bethesda, Md.: Re the Aug. 30 article about the missile launch over Japan “‘All options’ are in play on N. Korea: Don”: Let’s be clear, no strategic policy — bellicose or benign — has dissuaded North Korea from test-firing its ballistic missiles as part of its full-bore effort to advance its nuclear weapons program. And no such policy will. Under the circumstances, therefore, I have no truck with the pretense that “all options are on the table” — code for the purported willingness to initiate a military dustup, even if we’re not attacked. Clearly not all options are on the table.
The statement gets regurgitated, to no real effect, every time an actual or incipient enemy decides to rattle its saber. The claim about “all options” is clearly hollow, having lost credibility years ago — and everyone, here and abroad, knows it. The claim’s shelf life has expired. No one genuinely believes, for example, that in the case of North Korea, the U.S. administration will resort to kinetic military action unless North Korea first struck the United States or its allies.
The North Korean regime knows it and can otherwise be as truculent as it wishes. So, let’s permanently retire the canard that “all options are on the table.” Keith Tidman
Bar the door
Manhattan: Once again Linda Stasi has hit the nail on the head (“Man of ‘God’ a man of greed,” column, Aug. 30). Joel Osteen should be ashamed of himself. But what can we expect from a church where the cross is off to the side — rather than front and center. Dianne Collins
Nattering class makes it worse
Lake Arrowhead, Calif.: Re “Tempest rages over Melania’s flashy stilettos” (Aug. 30): Again you jump to a stupid conclusion. The First Lady isn’t unaware of the situation. She changed her shoes. You guys drive the nation crazy with your ridiculous comments like this. Why not write about what is being done right, such as those that are helping, that the government has all the infrastructure in place and was ready to help? Your articles drive the country apart instead of uniting, where you could use your influence in a positive manner. Instead of profiling by attire, why don’t you listen to the content and look at the results? Pray for the people of Houston and New Orleans, where your time will be better spent. Sandy Puglisi Lyndhurst, N.J.: As Hurricane Harvey takes over the news cycle, once again we see the real problem in this country, and it’s not President Trump and it’s not the American people, whether you voted for him or not. No matter what this man does, the mainstream media will attempt to use every situation to attack him. Too soon for the President to visit a ravaged and destroyed area of our beautiful country? According to whom? You want to tell me that these people are the standardbearers for how Americans think or should think? These left-wing, agenda-driven, silver spoon-fed
Closing time
Manhattan: The Riviera has been a fixture in the West Village for nearly 50 years. But the owners are closing it today. They didn’t sell it, but closed it down. Why? No one knows. I’ve watched Yankees, Mets, and Knicks games there and, this week, the U.S. Open. I will miss this landmark. A sports bar where everybody knows your name. R.I.P.
Marilyn Moorcroft
Addressing past and present
Manhattan: Thank you, Errol Louis, for voicing a clear, positive direction (“Let the monument debate begin,” column, Aug. 29). Our nation’s two original sins, the genocide of many native people and the enslavement of the African-Americans, have never been deeply confronted. We have never had a truth and reconciliation movement. The Confederate monuments must go, and they will go. The myth of the Old South needs to be defeated with facts. We can discuss and debate the future of other statues. While I believe that some statues, like Thomas Jefferson’s, should remain, I’d like to see the statue of J. Marion Sims torn down. Could a WPA-style arts program hold design competitions to replace these statues? The pedestal of the Sims statue could have additional, historical inscriptions, along with a newly designed statue in honor of the sacrifice of the African-American women who suffered at his hands. Perhaps other statues could remain, with new designs added to represent the truth and educate all about our complicated, conflicted history. Only after the truth of our country’s history is honestly examined can we move forward from our past. We can dream and we can work to be a better America, a truly United States of America. Mary Garvey
Do it in order
Brooklyn: While it’s great that they are refurbishing the N line platforms in Brooklyn and now are in Phase 2, wouldn’t it make sense to finish Phase 1 before starting Phase 2? Why are the 18th Ave. and 20th Ave. stations on the Manhattan-bound side not completed yet? Finish what you start before you start on something else. Complete the work on these stations, please.
Steve Yanowsky
The war at home
New Paltz, N.Y.: The FBI has reported that nearly 60,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016. This exceeds the number killed during the Vietnam War and yearly gun and auto deaths. It doesn’t even include drug-related deaths from disease from drug use, killings to obtain drugs or territorial disputes, to say nothing of the children who will never have a chance due to their parents’ addiction. It’s time to start calling them what they are, biochemical weapons of mass destruction. Those who smuggle them or illegally manufacture them should be called terrorists and treated as we would anyone caught distributing anthrax. Terrorists do it for ideology and are willing to die for their cause. The smugglers do it for profit. I wonder if they’re willing to die for that. They need to be treated as saboteurs and tried in military courts. John Habersberger
They had their chance
Mamaroneck, N.Y.: Voicer Barbara Berger hit the nail right on the head, correctly calling out Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi as hypocrites. A few years ago, when the Republicans took over Congress during the Obama administration, the Democrats complained that the GOP became the “party of no.” Don’t Schumer and Pelosi realize that they are doing the same thing now? They are both typical Washington bureaucrats who should step aside as minority leaders in the best interest of this country. Ted Rallis
They win, we lose
Terre Haute, Ind.: The media buildup prior to Saturday’s Mayweather-McGregor Las Vegas hate-filled event was nothing but a grandstanding hype to promote this latest of big-money fights. But, as usual, America bought into this ballyhoo hook, line and sinker. So, what did the boxing world have to offer last weekend? Mayweather, “the gangster player,” who fashions himself to be “the answer to every female’s question,” while he parties all night in his 7,000-square-foot strip club. And then we had McGregor, another dandy, who is “nothing to write home about” either with his profane potty mouth and racial slurs. Although this fight hype was a farce, these promoters must likewise be complimented for having navigated and engineered this stunt to its successful fruition. While both men and their entourages bounce to the bank ensconced in their high-dollar limousines to cash in their millions, America sadly once again got fleeced to the gills. Earl Beal
A straight-arrow prober
Howard Beach: Robert Mueller’s investigation has been underway for several months, and there’s not a peep or hint of a leak to be found. People who are loyal to the Constitution and professional have no need to leak information, because what they are doing is highly ethical. They just do their work quietly and thoroughly. May our country benefit “hugely” from their evidence and recommendations. Ernest Kienzle
The right dog breed?
REUTERS Bronx: I read the piece “B’klyn pit bull drama,” (Aug. 30), and the dog in question looked like a Presa Canario. Every time there are aggressive dogs in the news, right off the bat, they’re labeled “pit bull.” I’ve never seen a 150-pound pit bull. The dog in your story was found with a heavy tow truck-sized chain and padlock around its neck. How would you feel walking around with that? Anyone who puts a chain like that on a dog should be fined or arrested for animal abuse.
Jolinda Celentano