Readers sound off on the 49ers, Valentine’s Day and Trump vs. NATO

It takes a great team to lose such a great game

San Francisco: My 49ers lost Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs in a pitched, torturous, violent battle that went into the final seconds of the first overtime. The fact that it continued to the final seconds of, in boxing championship parlance, the 16th round is testament to the highest levels of competitiveness, skill, determination and championship mettle of both teams.

To the victor go the spoils, and the 49ers suffered a devastating loss. It was devastating because, after two Super Bowl losses in the past several years, it seemed that with just a couple of minutes to go, we were going to win this!

The 49ers were facing a player, Patrick Mahomes, who one day might be considered the Muhammed Ali of football — the greatest quarterback to ever play. His challenger was Brock Purdy, the upstart but mature-beyond-his-years 49ers quarterback — calm, talented, cerebral, impressive on the biggest of all stages, the Super Bowl. Purdy, the last player picked in the 2022 draft, matched the heavyweight champion Mahomes, even exceeding him for much of the game. But in the final seconds, Mahomes and the Chiefs prevailed, as defending champions often do. It was a game that turned multiple times like hairline curves on a two-lane highway. A game of inches? Take away the Kansas City punt that inadvertently touched the shoe of a 49er player downfield — resulting in a Chiefs touchdown — and this game likely has a different ending.

The pundits will criticize coaching decisions, but despite losing, we witnessed a championship-caliber performance by the 49ers that has this 49er faithful quite proud. Bruce Farrell Rosen

Crazy candidate

Yorktown Heights, N.Y.: Some of the Super Bowl ads were very influential, but none more so than RFK Jr.’s. After watching this anti-vaxxer’s ad, it made me wish for a vaccine that would put me in a coma until after his presidential run is over. Anthony Vegliante

Bozo Romo

Bergenfield, N.J.: Did you watch the big game? Tony Romo did the impossible — he was more annoying than Joe Buck! Al Schwarzler

Singular song

Bronx: Congratulations to the NFL for further cultivating the seed of racial division during the Super Bowl. By choosing to play one ethnic group’s anthem while excluding those of other ethnic groups, the NFL tore the heart out of the United States’ national anthem. Its purpose is to bring all people together under one ideal or flag. By choosing to have two anthems, they made it exclusive rather than inclusive. Bill Reddan

Hate speech

Brooklyn: I believe that the lead letter in Monday’s Voice of the People by Voicer Vincent L. Tripp contains egregious hate speech and should not have been published by the Daily News. Describing Palestinians as a group as “savage murderers” and stating that it wasn’t until Israel began building its own country that made a civilized nation in a savage part of the world is totally inappropriate. I believe that the editors who allowed this letter to be published need to be held to account and issue an apology. Charlotte Phillips

State of ethnic cleansing

Brooklyn: Voicer Vincent L. Tripp applauds the obnoxious project that Israel has long promoted: colonialism of the region and transfer of Palestinians out of their lands. Indeed, in 1938, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founder, declared: “With compulsory transfer we [would] have vast areas… I support compulsory [population] transfer. I do not see anything immoral in it.” This utter lack of morality has always been Israel’s guiding light. Earlier, Theodor Herzl stated that getting rid of the Palestinians was “a colonial thing.” These ideas gave Zionists a hunting license to kill Palestinians. Given the subsequent Zionist savagery, it is not at all strange that the events of Oct. 7 happened. Tripp pretends not to know this, but he does know. The hallmark of Zionism is an infantile sense of entitlement coupled with a culture of imposition. Marwan Barghouti, arguably the Nelson Mandela of the Palestinian people, said it best: “Zionists only understand the law of the gun.” Nick Smith

Love wins

Cibolo, Texas: Saint Valentine’s Day is set aside to recognize who we regard as meaningful and special in our lives. Those in an intimate relationship exchange tokens of their love and affection for each other — the romantic Valentine’s Day card, the beautiful bouquet of flowers and the box of fancy chocolates. However, the real lesson and meaning behind Saint Valentine’s Day is being totally missed, obscured behind all the commercialism associated with this day. It is that the forces of hatred and evil fear love above all else because love creates a world in which the dark, loathsome powers of turpitude, intolerance, detestation and violence can neither control nor manipulate. Lastly, we should all keep in mind: “Amor vincit omnia” — love conquers all. Or, as the Beatles once sang: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” John Di Genio

Major transgressions

Somerset, N.J.: Voicer Wallington M. Simpson seems to think Donald Trump was an excellent president other than running his mouth with no restraint. On what basis does he come to this absurd conclusion? Trump was the first president to not allow taxpayers to deduct their entire state taxes from their federal income taxes because he needed that money to offset reduced corporate taxes that he implemented. Despite that, the federal deficit increased dramatically in his term. He belittled the effects of COVID-19, saying its end was just around the corner when it actually lasted for years. His original lack of action resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. He embraced our enemies and angered our friends. Our military feared that his ignorance and actions could get us into WWIII and took precautions that would sidestep his possibly absurd orders. While still president, he orchestrated an insurrection. Arthur Bressler

Took action

Kings Park, L.I.: Voicer Elizabeth Winters chastised me for defending Trump’s early response to COVID, telling me to look up the numbers, they don’t lie. Well, if Winters was honest and open-minded, she should point to others’ views at the early stages, such as Anthony Fauci saying, “The American people should not be worried or frightened,” or Nancy Pelosi urging people to go to Chinatown, where it’s safe and sound. Trump stopped all travel to China in January 2020 and announced Operation Warp Speed in May 2020. He’s not responsible for thousands more deaths. If anything, his actions prevented more deaths. Andrew Ross

Chief culprit

Bellerose Village: Does anybody else find it ironic when Trump tells NATO, “Ya gotta pay your bills”? This from a guy who is on trial for not paying his bills. Peter O’Connor

No credibility

Staten Island: Isn’t it ironic for Trump to say that people must pay their bills? I guess he and all of his supporters forgot why his Atlantic City casinos closed or went into bankruptcy, all because he didn’t pay the hard-working electricians, plumbers and all union-skilled workers. I wonder if he ever learned about WWII — if it was not for all allied countries standing together against Nazi Germany, we would never have won the war. Also, didn’t the U.K. send in jets to help fight against Iran and the Houthis? Maria Tarasiewicz

Betrayal

Ashburn, Va.: At a weekend rally in South Carolina, former President Trump recalled a conversation he had with another country’s leader who asked, “If we don’t pay [what you regard as sufficient to NATO] and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” Trump’s response: “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” That’s how Trump treats our friends in Europe. Of course, we want European countries to contribute to their own defense, but it’s absurd to encourage contributions by inviting Vladimir Putin and Russia to invade those countries and “do whatever the hell they want.” Is that the kind of America we want? Because that’s what we’ll get with Trump. Mike Barrett