All Brands Have an Expiration Date
Dear Editor:
When I was single, my girlfriends and I would joke about how, much like sour cream, our boyfriends each had an expiration date. The Trump Brand of the Repubican Party has expired. He lost. It is time to move on. Remember, “It’s the economy stupid!!!”; well now it’s, “remember his foul mouth stupid?” which made millions of Independents, moderate-to-conservative, middle ground Republicans, and even Democrats, hold their noses and vote for Biden, solely to get rid of Trump.
We are longing for someone to lead us, who will, as JFK did, demand of us, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” We are desperate for a Republican Party who will appoint a well spoken, articulate statesman, a dynamic educated leader who can speak to, and unite all of us, left and right, all ethnic groups, who can entertain some needed changes while restoring respect for America’s values and history, who will reject Trump’s polarization of every issue, of every discussion, pitting our worst extremes against each other, which will lead us to a civil war.
Read and act on this: “Trump’s Dominance Spells Trouble for the GOP”, by Michael D’Antonio, “Since 1992, Republicans have lost the popular vote in every presidential election except for 2004, when George W. Bush won reelection. Bush was a fully mainstream Republican who could appeal to independents and Democrats. He is out with a new book that is a rebuke to Trump-style politics and could direct the party toward a renewal that would make it more than a reflection of one angry man named Trump.
As Bush would know, the country is served best when both major parties present ideas and competent candidates with the temperament and integrity required for public service. Trump has, for years, pulled the GOP away from its roots as a functioning party in service to democracy and toward one-man rule. After a brief hiatus, he’s back and offering more of the same. Before they choose between the competing visions of Bush and Trump, Republicans might want to consider the past election and Trump’s current poll numbers, and ask: “How did it work out for us the last time?”
Sincerely
Serena Milanowitz
Patronizing Local Restaurants
Dear Editor:
In these difficult economic times, it is especially important to patronize your local neighborhood restaurant not only during “Long Island Restaurant Week April 25–May 2, 2021, but all year round. As more people are vaccinated from COVID-19, it is safer to dine out. There are so many great restaurants all over Nassau and Suffolk counties.
My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our local restaurants survive. Don’t forget your cook and server. We try to tip 20 percent against the total bill including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated.
Remember these people are our neighbors. Our local entrepreneurs work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment. If we don’t patronize our local restaurants to shop and eat, they don’t eat either.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Disgusted with the Oscar Awards
Dear Editor:
Well, folks, we can all draw a sigh of relief now that the 2021 scaled down Oscar awards ceremony is in the rear view mirror. I only hope we can forget the hideous display of “wokeism” and identity politics as quickly as turn a corner when we’re driving.
Yes, it is true that the presentation of the annual Academy Awards have always been a platform for those to extol their beliefs in one thing or another, but for the most part, actors, directors, producers, sound mixers, lighting crew, art directors, etc have graciously and humbly accepted their statue as a gift from the Hollywood establishment. Many took great pains to write acceptance speeches, to thank as many people as they could in record time and to thoroughly enjoy the fact that some great aunt or grandmother of theirs out there in some small rural town had the opportunity to see them on national television.
But that was long ago and very, very far away. Let’s call it the halcyon days of our youth for lack of a better expression. At the absolutely worst Academy Awards broadcast in their 93 year history, Hollywood’s politically correct politburo pulled out all the stops to ensure that this show would reflect the “grave realities” in which we live. And of course that includes the incessant coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial and the attendant speeches that were foisted upon us against our will.
We are quite aware that Hollywood has been under enormous pressure to squelch any form of racism in its midst and to promote films in which both cast and crew are people of color; namely black. And that was the precise theme at this year’s reprehensible Oscars broadcast. The show presented a great many black presenters, nominees and award recipients. Nothing wrong with that. The question that arises is that the global audience was more eager to hear about the films that landed them an award or a brief autobiographical sketch of their lives so we can really lean in and totally appreciate where they came from and how they got to where they are today.
Unfortunately, no such thing was in the cards. I guess we were dealt an atrocious hand. That being said, what we did hear from Travon Free, the director who won an award for his film “Two Distant Strangers” in the Best Live Action Short category was that each day police kill three people in this country and that means that over 1000 per year are killed and that the ones killed are predominantly black. And that we should not be indifferent to this pain. Hmmm…. Could this be yet another case of virtue signaling by the new echalon of the Hollywood elite? Let’s start boycotting awards shows that have a nefarious political agenda.
Sincerely
David Bistwick
