Sunday letters: Harvard president's exit; housing red tape; US priorities; mail voting
A long overdue public service
During the run-up to Claudine Gay's resignation as president of Harvard, she stated that in her testimony before Congress she failed to respond in a way that reflected "my truth," by not acknowledging that antisemitism was wrong.
This is utter nonsense. Her original statements, saying calls for genocide of Jews required "context," instead reflect exactly what she believes: that the world can be facilely divided into oppressor and oppressed, and that the oppressed can do no wrong. It is precisely this mindset that can condemn Israel for defending itself and rationalize the vicious brutality of Hamas, excuse the rioters in cities in the wake of George Floyd's death, the criminals facing reduced penalties for their crimes, the millions breaking our immigration laws, and so much more. It also typifies the apologists for Claudine Gay, who beclown themselves defending a serial plagiarist and academic mediocrity.
This disgraceful rot has infected universities, the media, and our government. The Gay episode has at least performed a long-overdue public service, by ripping the mask from this pernicious philosophy and exposing the entire Diversity, Equity and Inclusion apparatus, and the progressivism that undergirds them, for the moral frauds that they are.
Robert A. Richer, Charlestown
Harvard president exited on a low note
With the reluctant resignation of embattled Harvard president Claudine Gay, a sordid chapter at this once-unassailable university has mercifully drawn to a close.
Regrettably, Ms. Gay went out on a decidedly low note, blaming her departure on the dark forces of racism and right-wing extremism. There was no contrition. No conciliatory tones. No laudable displays of human awareness and consciousness. None of the sensibilities that would normally be expected of a university leader.
Through it all, Ms. Gay remained smug and arrogant, and blithely oblivious to just how artless, tone deaf and ignorant she appeared. In witnessing her unseemly lack of awareness, I was immediately reminded of an apt quote from famed American reformer and teacher Amos Bronson Alcott, who many years ago said: “To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.”
How sublimely fitting for Ms. Gay.
Michael J. DiStefano, Jamestown
Too much obstruction to build housing
There are constant media stories about the need for affordable housing and apartments with, it seems, little progress.
Yet we constantly hear of projects that are delayed, stalled or abandoned. Reasons often are: NIMBYism; zoning restrictions, minimum two-acre lots; planning boards ("Your design doesn’t fit the neighborhood, redesign and resubmit," "You need to provide a traffic impact study"); building codes and requirements that are the same for affordable housing and McMansions; delays that drive up costs due to inflation.
I submit that 90% of housing built more than 25 years ago are in violation of today's requirements and are safe, livable and happily occupied. We need to get the politicians and bureaucrats trying to safeguard us out of the picture. It should never take housing developers from 6 months to years with thousands of dollars of legal fees and study costs added to the selling price. As pointed out in The Providence Journal recently, that drove up the price of supposedly affordable condominiums where there are no takers.
Rhode Island needs a fast-track housing permitting program to truly solve the shortage. Contractors can then deliver housing on time, within budget and affordable prices.
Bruce Losty, Charlestown
Concerned about poll's priorities
I was startled to see no mention of climate change in the article by Will Weissert and Linley Sanders about the AP poll of Americans’ prioritization of issues the government needs to address ("Poll: More in US are prioritizing foreign policy," News, Jan. 2).
That sent me to the AP site where a more detailed version of the poll results is available. There I learned that climate change was mentioned only about half as frequently as foreign policy (21% vs. 39%). Even more disturbing was the fact that between December 2021 and December 2023, mentions of climate change actually fell in spite of 2023’s devastating floods, wildfires, and massive storms resulted in the highest number of U.S. natural disaster damages totaling $1 billion or more on record!
The fact that the call for government action on climate change is weakening as the pace of the climate crisis has far exceeded the scale of warnings broadcast from the scientific community is hard to believe.
Let’s hope that 2024 sees a reordering of these priorities. Of course, for that to happen each of us needs to redouble our efforts to convince our representatives at every level of government to reduce our country’s greenhouse gas production.
Robert Peter Mogielnicki, Charlestown
Eliminate voting by mail
I couldn’t disagree with Mr. Todd Olson more regarding his column, “Lawmakers should reconsider bill to expand voting by mail in 2024” (Commentary, Jan. 13). Mr. Olson is proposing an expansion to the vote by mail process. In actuality what we should be doing is severely restricting the use of mail ballots.
They should only be used by voters who physically cannot get to the polls and in that case, they need to request a mail-in ballot for every single election that they want to participate in, both primary and general. Democrats favor the use of mail ballots because it allows for the circumvention of voter ID laws. Many of the countries in Europe don’t allow mail ballots because it can lead to fraud. If you want to vote, get off your backside and get to a polling place with your ID, to vote in person.
In addition, early voting needs to be stopped. I have been voting since I was 18 years old. For years we voted on Election Day, but for some reason this is no longer acceptable. Now we have to have election season. As we all know, the Democratic Party never lets a crisis go to waste. These changes were initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic and everyone who pays attention knew that the Democrats would move to make these changes permanent, which is exactly what happened. Early voting and more mail-in ballots weren’t necessary in 2020 and they certainly are not needed now.
Hopefully the General Assembly will not consider Mr. Olson’s suggestion of universal or permanent opt in vote by mail.
Frank P. Cardi, Cranston
Opposing letters to the editor
Wow! Could two Jan. 14 letters to the editor express more opposite opinions, and rants, about which presidential candidate − Trump or Biden − would lead America to the destruction of democracy?
"The existential choice for voters in 2024," by stridently anti-Trump Gordon Rowley, and "Democrats ending democracy," by vehemently anti-Biden John Anderson, while containing bits of truth, were so extreme they rose (or descended) to a risible level.
I'd love to get the two writers in a room with a couple of beers, à la the much ballyhooed 2009 "Obama beer summit," and watch the fireworks!
Lonnie Barham, Warwick
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Sunday letters
