Impact of McCarthy's ouster, Trump and GOP primaries,  gag order on Trump

Aftereffects of McCarthy ouster

The key to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s downfall is that he was a waffling sycophant [“McCarthy 1st to be removed,” News, Oct. 4].

After Jan. 6, when he thought the tide was clearly turning against former President Donald Trump, he condemned him in no uncertain terms. Yet, when it became clear that Trump was holding onto power, McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago, to kiss his ring.

When he was up for speaker of the House, he eventually gave in to Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to get the position at any cost. It took Gaetz nine months to turn around and kick McCarthy out of the position he always wanted.

— Jim Brennan, Rocky Point

I haven’t heard anything that warranted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s removal. If working for the American people and working across the aisle with Democrats are grounds for dismissal, then the two-party system we are stuck with has outlived its usefulness. We the people are paying for this self-serving, agenda-driven, supposed representative government.

If we truly want to drain the swamp of corrupt government leadership, our nation’s aging sewer systems could not sustain the overflow.

If there was ever a need for a third party, it is now.

— Tony Giametta, Oceanside

The snuffing of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s “glimmer of bipartisanship” was a slow suffocation, a symptom of a chronic debilitation [“Imploding GOP fails the nation,” Editorial, Oct. 4].

For 50 years, McCarthy’s party has been withdrawing from issues of “the general welfare” and democratic processes, accelerated by Tea Party and Freedom Caucus types and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s warfare-like tactics. Vacating the speakership implies that the occupant was illegitimate.

Criticism by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) points at the damage but not a path past the “wolves,” their gerrymandered lairs or their Cerberus, former President Donald Trump. What would Garbarino do were he speaker?

What shall we expect from Republican Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana or Jim Jordan of Ohio but further failure?

Breaking this fever will likely require the vacating of many more Republican seats in 2024.

— Brian Kelly, Rockville Centre

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster adds to the list of many firsts the Republicans have accomplished. They have the first president to be impeached twice, the first president to attempt a coup, the first president to refuse a peaceful transfer of power and the first president indicted for multiple crimes.

Former President Donald Trump also is the first candidate whom the Republican Party believes is the best candidate to run our country despite being charged with those crimes.

— Emily Lester, East Setauket

Stop GOP primaries for Trump? Really?

A reader thinks the 2024 Republican presidential debates should end [“GOP primaries need to be shut down,” Letters, Oct.3]. She says Trump “deserves every break imaginable . . . to rescue our country.” Really?

When Trump was in the White House, there was mostly chaos. He admittedly downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19, presumably to save his image. He divided the country, and we are still feeling the pain from the pandemic. He wanted to overthrow a valid election and is facing four court trials and 91 felony charges.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron already has declared him guilty of fraud in overvaluing his properties based on overwhelming evidence. The last thing he should get is a break.

— Lyn Mendelsohn, Oceanside

The reader, an acknowledged supporter of former President Donald Trump, recommends “shutting down the useless primaries.” Our country is a democracy, built on choice, not on providing advantages to one candidate over another. Doing otherwise represents a desire for establishing a dictatorship.

— Richard M. Frauenglass, Huntington

The reader says we need to give former President Donald Trump every break imaginable. If he were elected president, he would not rescue this country. He would likely destroy our democracy as we know it. He is corrupt and would be an authoritarian head of state.

— Joseph Januszkiewicz, Mastic

The other judges should apply gags

Judge Arthur Engoron took the necessary and long overdue step to put a gag order on former President Donald Trump [“Judge issues limited gag order,” News, Oct. 4].

I hope the judges in his several other cases will do the same to protect the integrity of the courts. Trump’s dangerous, unhinged rants against people who are doing their jobs are a disgrace. What happened to respect for the rule of law and to let the process unfold as the facts come to light?

If any one of us were to do the things that Trump so far seems to have gotten away with for far too long, we would be sitting in jail.

We have to get to a place in this country where civility, respect and good judgment rule the day. Without it, we are leaving future generations with a morally corrupt society.

— Brenda Ferrante, Lindenhurst