Helping kids who may turn violent, pensioners drawing paychecks

Help the child who may become violent

Michael Dobie’s column on Thomas Crooks’ attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump made good points “Puzzling anatomy of would-be assassin,” Opinion, July 21]. Regardless of whether one is for or against Trump, we cannot condone this action.

Dobie wrote that “we grasp at shards,” and the shards are deeply embedded in the survivors of those murdered and disfigured by violent individuals every day in our country. Our country is made up of millions of people wondering if we will ever be safe in our hometowns anytime soon.

Our politicians, on both sides, scream insults at each other and add to our daily dose of hatred. Yes, I can turn off the news, but then I’m accused of apathy.

Mentally ill people watching violent computer games, the news, and social media infused with grotesque visuals and rhetoric can’t cope or pick out what’s real or fantasy, let alone know right from wrong.

Why did this sick young man have access to a rifle? If you knew your son was ill as a minor, you should have taken control and gotten him the help he needed.

Parents should wake up and act on behalf of their child when he’s not well. Certainly, schools cannot be expected to do this. Responsibility resides in the home.

— Audrey J. Schroeder, Islip

Newsday’s editorial board, like other media, quickly sought information that was not yet available about the assassination attempt. The editorial “Secret Service needs overhaul” [Opinion, July 23] opined, “Those whose lives are on the line deserve answers, and so do the American people.”

And the House Oversight and Accountability Committee spent hours on Monday employing harsh and foul language in ridiculing Kimberly Cheatle, now the former director of the Secret Service, for the failure she readily admitted and for not providing the committee with the results of an investigation that had just begun “Director: Agency ‘failed,’ ” News, July 23].

President Joe Biden announced an independent investigation into this terrible failure, and Cheatle had initiated an internal investigation.

The committee could have asked Cheatle how the Secret Service internal investigation will unfold, how and by whom it will be conducted, its time frame, and for release of the full report to the committee. The committee could have asked Cheatle to comment, without compromising methods and techniques, on enhancing venue protection now, before completion of the investigations.

Adding rational thinking into problem-solving may lead to better results.

— Howard Lerner, Commack

The million-dollar question for which there seems no direct answer is: Why wasn’t that roof secured? Whether it was Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Pope Francis, Oprah or Big Bird, that roof, which was close to the stage, was not secured. Why not?

Every roof surrounding that podium should have had security on it and around it. A person was killed and others were wounded.

— Josephine Budway, West Babylon

Pause paychecks for returning pensioners

When I retired as a state employee, I told my friends that it was time, and also wanted to givesomeone else who never worked in the state system a chance.

Perhaps the theory is that if you can afford to retire on a governmental pension, then you shouldn’t need to go back to work [“Gov’t workers ‘double dip’ in Suffolk,” News, July 19]. It’s that simple.

Now, I don’t know if those who are double-dipping are still paying into the retirement system. Perhaps the law should be changed. If you are retired and collecting a pension, and then go back to work in a government job, your pension should be paused, since the new paycheck should provide for your needs. In many cases, as noted in the article, these individuals are making more than their retirement income.

— Frank Knight, Mastic

County can find better things to do

I couldn’t help but notice in the photo accompanying the article about the New York Civil Liberties Union suing Nassau County that not a single person under age 50 seemed to be pictured in it “Nassau sued over trans athlete ban,” News, July 16].

Why not have all the female athletes who lost their spots to transgender female athletes at that signing? Oh, that’s right — there may not be any.

Could there be a more useless law than this one? While Nassau still has a broken property tax assessment process and Nassau University Medical Center is hanging by a thread, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is wasting time with identity politics.

— Dominick Turturro, Levittown