History tells us he won’t cede power willingly
Brick, N.J.: I’m bewildered by the search for optimism on the part of a significant number of disappointed voters. Without some, it is impossible for them to carry on, I suppose. Optimism might be expressed with this adage: We can get through these four years, then get back to democratic normalcy!
While dreading to dash this optimism, students of history know that characters who finagled the democratic process to gain legitimacy on their march to dictatorship never willingly gave up their power. Italy and Germany were democratic states when Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler came upon the world stage!
This prediction of a total and permanent takeover of national power by Donald Trump is powered by his July 28 speech to Christians: “If you vote for me this November, in four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.” And they voted for him in great numbers! It’s paradoxical that these Trump fans have accepted him as America’s savior and their personal shepherd, yet they resort to linguistic legerdemain to downplay, interpret and reinterpret his promises into more palatable fiction! Oh, that’s only Donald being Donald. The words say one thing, but that is not what he means.
Once he has been inaugurated, there is no viable opposition to his will. No guardrails, no checks and balances! His ego demands that he achieve at least as much power as the greatest tyrants before him or in his own era. He is involving his family to carry on after his death in office! Welcome to the Trump Dynasty! Nicholas S. Molinari
Charge him
Manhattan: I understand why Judge Juan Merchan did not impose jail time for The Donald. He deserves jail for the crimes he will never be charged with, but not these 34. However, I do not understand why Trump wasn’t given a hefty fine. His actions resulted in a false tax filing. Couldn’t the state use the money to offset the cost of the trial? If he’s so rich, why can’t he afford to pay a fine? Anita Connair
Above the law
Manhattan: There is no provision in the Constitution stating that an individual is immune from criminal prosecution while running for the presidency. Even the Supreme Court stating that a president can’t be charged with crimes while doing “official acts” related to his office does not preclude a president-elect from receiving a jail sentence. From Merchan’s refusal to give Trump a jail sentence or fine to the justices granting imperial power of a king to the presidency, there’s no doubt that America has a three-tiered system of justice — one for the very rich, who can do whatever they want without worry of any meaningful consequences, one for well-off white or connected individuals who get probation or much lesser sentences, and one for Blacks and other people who get the full extent of the law. This is your America! Unequal opportunity and justice under the law, depending on where you fit. Andre Carl Jones
Get off the green
Manhattan: I sit here reading about the outcome of the Trump sentencing, which does not seem to be an outcome at all, and I thought to myself, “Not even community service?” For reasons unknown to me, Trump’s golfing suddenly popped into my brain. I remembered that last time, Trump played more golf than any other sitting president. I figure that this will continue. On any day golf is planned, a fitting punishment (since real punishment is off the table) would be if those days would be filled by a noteworthy community service project. I don’t think the president-felon has ever completed a single day of community anything ever. Oh well, pardon me while I play through. Don Cerrone
Certain Americans
Brooklyn: To Voicer Phil Serpico: Trump won the election because he continues to traffic in the entrenched sexism and racism in this country, not because he was convicted in a Manhattan courtroom for his criminal behaviors. That’s all. First it was Hillary Clinton and now it is Kamala Harris. Both of these female candidates are experienced, accomplished, educated, intelligent and have grit. Yet, 77 million voters in red states with majority and supermajority white populations voted for Trump and would rather have a DEI, uneducated, ignorant con man who stole his first election as president for another four years of American carnage. Taplow Vincennes
Teams in crisis
Oak Ridge, N.J.: President Trump, please save us from the MSG debacle and step in and give us our teams back (Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Knicks). For God’s sake, man, help us. We’re all alone here. Use your MAGAtism! Jim Heimbuch
One-term prez
Greenville, S.C.: Sorry about the passing of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 at age 100. Although Carter did a few good things, like pardoning Vietnam War draft evaders and the Panama Canal treaties, I really didn’t like his presidency. Because he was so bad with the economy, he failed like Joe Biden to get a second term. But this failure brought about 12 years of a GOP mandate with the elections of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who brought about a great economy where happy days were here again in America. Carter brought about high interest rates and high inflation. We should now look forward to good things Trump would do for the economy in his second term. Although Carter made some serious blunders, he will truly be missed. Steven Hawkins
Make it known
Brooklyn: We recently saw another horrific school incident in Wisconsin (” ‘Manifesto’ eyed in Wis. school slays,” Dec. 18). I believe that we should have all pertinent information regarding all schools in the precinct areas. That is from the top down, and a map of the school, a contact person and a listing of all personnel assigned there. Also, whether there are any problem students at the school. If we have this, maybe we would not have any more incidents like the one in Wisconsin. This sadly reminded us of that need. I hope this change will be made soon. Sharon Cesario
Not interested
Bronx: There are people dying in California, along with complete devastation in some areas, and the headline in the Daily News is “I’m with Satan” (Jan. 13). This is a classic example of how this newspaper has become a garbage tabloid. If you want some news, maybe you can find it 10-20 pages in. You call yourself a newspaper but fail at your claim. I finally got so fed up with the garbage you report that I cancelled my subscription after decades. Stephen Markbreit
Return to facilities
Bronx: Writing as a health care professional who worked in a large state psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, it is way past time to admit that the great experiment of the 1960s, where we downsized patient populations of such hospitals throughout the country, has failed utterly. The plan was to discharge most patients to halfway houses in residential neighborhoods where they could continue to receive treatment close to home. But the houses were not built, largely because people did not want them in their neighborhoods. The discharged patients wound up in the streets, bus and train stations and subways, not receiving treatment and needed medicines. Now we see people being slashed, pushed onto subway tracks, and most recently, a homeless woman set on fire while sleeping in a subway car. It is time to restore involuntary commitment to psychiatric hospitals. We need to train more psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, and reopen closed hospital wards. Bruce D. Campbell
Unacknowledged atrocities
Jamaica: Many Voicers who are commenting on the tragedy in Gaza are ignoring the tragedy that befell Israel on Oct. 7. Parents were killed in front of their children and vice versa. Families were burned alive. The March 2024 report of the UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas committed rape and sexualized torture of women before murdering them. Ebere Osu
Nice name
Manhattan: Re “Cat owner’s heartbreak” (Jan. 13): All seriousness aside, do you realize that if the reporter of this story married its unfortunate protagonist, she would become JoNel Journell? Howard Charles Yourow