Readers sound off on the 14th Amendment, the NYPD commissioner and U.S. warmongering

Trump’s alleged insurrection isn’t so clear-cut

Malverne, L.I.: To Voicer Lynne Henderson: You do a great job defining Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. However, the amendment is very complex. To put it plainly, when interpreting the law, you are leaving out three important details.

The first is the context for the amendment. It was written post-Civil War to address many issues that had developed — most importantly, granting citizenship to “all persons,” specifically people who were former slaves, and granting equal protection under the law to them. Moreover, Section 3 specifically addresses former Confederates who tried to overthrow the government through acts of violence and form a new one (the exact definition of an insurrection), and excludes them from running for office.

Second, in order for it to apply, you should not only be charged by a federal prosecutor, found guilty by a jury of your peers and convicted of insurrection by a sitting federal judge, you also need to convince more than one-third of Congress to vote to affirm your ineligibility.

Third, Donald Trump has not even been charged, let alone found guilty or convicted of insurrection, making this whole point moot. Unfortunately, what the Colorado Supreme Court did was purely partisan and is an injustice. Hopefully, the U.S. Supreme Court will address this with a resounding 9-0 ruling. We must let the people decide who our candidates are, not the government. That is the principle on which our republic was founded. Additionally, people have got to stop taking as fact op-ed articles designed to draw an emotional response. David Kalin

Prized possession

Bronx: To Voicers Jim Hughes: I did receive a Christmas card from Donald Trump when he was president and I will cherish it forever, thank you very much. Mary Caggiano

Left to languish

Bronx: Gov. Hochul vetoed the bill banning noncompetitive agreements, which ban workers from taking a job with their employer’s competitors. She wouldn’t sign it because it wasn’t limited to low- and middle-income employees. Isn’t this supposed to be a free country? Also, this bill was passed by the Legislature last June, though it wasn’t sent to Hochul until Dec. 12. That was a half-year in which the governor and legislators could not settle their differences? Richard Warren

De facto commish

Brooklyn: To Voicer Catherine McQuillan: You wrote that we rarely see Eddie Caban, the police commissioner. I will tell you why. He is not really the commissioner. The real police commissioner is Jeff Maddrey, one of One-Term Eric’s cronies. Don’t you see him on TV in charge of all NYPD issues? Because of past misdeeds for which he should have been fired from the NYPD, this man should not be running the NYPD. Can’t wait until this mayor and his cronies are voted out. Kalmus Lowe

DINO

Laurelton: Re “Mayor Adams telling NYPD grads that City Council pushes paperwork over patrolling” (Dec. 30): Enough already, Adams does not deserve another term as New York City’s mayor. The media keeps portraying him as a centrist Democrat — he is a right-wing Democrat at best, and probably a closet Republican. He opposes the recently passed City Council bill requiring more transparency for police stops. He supports the continued use of solitary confinement in the jails. He openly goes after any proposal put forth by progressive Democrats. He’s at odds quite often with the duly elected City Council. He has played fast and loose with the campaign financing laws to the point that the FBI is investigating his top campaign finance staff. Although not totally his fault, he has mishandled the immigrant crisis and is cutting city services. Jumaane Williams, Brad Lander, Maya Wiley — one of you please don’t be afraid to challenge him in 2025. Michael Ferguson

Soap stars forgotten

Solvay, N.Y.: Although I realize you can’t recognize everyone due to space, I was disappointed to see a lack of acknowledgement of any daytime TV personalities in your New Year’s Eve “In Memoriam” section. N’neka Garland, Jackie Zeman, Andrea Evans, Billy Miller, Tyler Christopher, Kamar de los Reyes, Ellen Holly, Michael Levin, Lisa Loring, Pamela Blair, Inga Swenson and so many others. It would have been nice to see at least one of these individuals acknowledged. Patricia Catchouny

Inconsistent statements

White Plains, N.Y.: Nikki Haley’s town hall answer to the question of what caused the Civil War had more to it. She repeatedly said how government can’t get involved in people’s lives. She said the same thing at least four times: 1) The role of government is to secure the rights of people and not to tell you what you can and can’t do. 2) The government does not need to be a part of your life. 3) People should not be told by government how to live their lives. 4) People should have the freedom to do what they want without government getting in the way. So why then does she say government should control whether women can have an abortion and what they can’t do with their bodies? She strongly made the argument for government to stay out of the abortion issue, the opposite of her campaign promise. Jeff Gold

Technically right

Manhattan: Leonard Greene can pretend to be fair-minded, but it’s doubtful since he should at least know his history (“Haley’s cause and defect: Slavery is not on her radar,” column, Dec. 31). President Lincoln’s original and primary focus at the onset of the Civil War was to maintain the Union, the last best hope for freedom of action and thought, and from that reason flowed the Emancipation Proclamation. Nikki Haley was historically accurate in a way that few people know. Perhaps Greene’s penchant to see racism in every comment, but only from one side, is the reason his ilk does more to divide Americans than to unite. John Brindisi

War machine

Briarwood: The neo-imperialist state of Israel has received $130 billion from the U.S. since its founding in 1948, $3.8 billion in 2023 under the 10-year Obama initiative of $38 billion, and recently $14.5 billion in military aid earmarked for Israeli aggression and occupation in Palestine (Gaza Strip and West Bank). More than 20,000 Palestinian Arab civilians, mostly women and children, have been murdered and 2 million physically displaced by the Israel Defense Forces. President Biden identifies as a Zionist to boot. A Catholic-Zionist oxymoron? From 1955-1973, the U.S. financed the French/American neo-colonialist Vietnam War to the tune of $168 billion, primarily financed by higher tax rates. More than 1 million Vietnamese were murdered. This is mere déjà vu of the criminal organization known as the United States government. Abolish the Pentagon. Joseph N. Manago

Extraneous face

Bronx: I love watching football on Sundays. I like to watch different teams because New York football has been over for weeks. However, am I the only one who would like to watch a Kansas City Chiefs game without seeing photos of Taylor Swift all the time? So what if she’s dating a football player? I don’t need to see her face every single time. I’m boycotting Chiefs games until they break up. Susan Burgos

Updates overdue

Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.: Voicer Anna Maria Zucca makes an excellent point. The Roman Catholic Church should become more welcoming and more accepting. The Church should make an effort to move away from the prevailing antiquated mindset. For example, Catholics who are married in the church, get divorced and are remarried are, for all intents and purposes, living in a state of mortal sin. Roman Catholics who join the Masonic Fraternity are subject to excommunication, and as such, denied the sacraments. This kind of archaic dogma has no place in a modern-era church that is more in tune with humanity and its needs. Jacques Du Sabre

Deposed leadership

Western Springs, Ill.: The United States could be the world leader in the battle against climate change with a World War II-style mobilization that would inspire and help other countries to do more while creating millions of jobs worldwide. But blocking this are oil companies that haul in billions in profits and pour millions into political contributions — mostly to Republicans, stopping that party from acting against climate change. Oil companies can do this because of the Supreme Court’s 5-4, precedent-overturning 2010 Citizens United decision, which permits unlimited contributions, enabling ultrawealthy, narrow interests to prevail over the public interest and the health of our planet. Richard Barsanti