Letters to the editor: Trump tweets, stimulus, post office, response, President Pelosi

High road

On May 15, President Trump retweeted a video and endorsed a group of individuals verbally harassing a reporter in New York. Early the next morning, May 16, Gov. Little tweeted support and compliments for “our local journalists.” That day and on May 18, the president retweeted the video and attacked the media. So what did the Statesman report or opine about President Trump’s tweets? Nothing — until May 19 when a Statesman editorial entitled “Gov. Little defends local journalists – sort of” condemned the president’s actions but focused the bulk of its criticism on Gov. Little for his “quiet support for local journalists” and not “stand(ing) up to the schoolyard bully in his own party.” Say what?

Almost daily, the president tweets dubious claims and denigrates individuals, groups and professions. The Statesman could report and examine these tweets but often does not. Perhaps there is simply not enough space, time or Idaho interest to merit the Statesman’s attention. But in this instance, when the president attacked the media, the governor was paying attention and he quickly and positively responded with support for our local media. Gov. Little took the high road. No good deed goes unpunished.

Curt Fransen, Garden City

Stimulus

I’m appalled that the word from the Senate is that there’s “no hurry” for another stimulus package. Obviously that’s because none of their neighbors or constituents are hungry or can’t pay their rent. Exactly how far do Mike Crapo and James Risch think $1,200 goes?

Seventy percent of the U.S. economy is consumer driven. How can anyone with no money consume anything?

Delay will only contribute to the time it takes to get the country going again.

It’s the job of our senators to protect Americans, and they are failing miserably.

Susan Hook, Boise

Post office

The president’s recent threats to withhold funding from the U.S. Post Office are poorly conceived, and we hope he reconsiders them. We also hope that Sens. Crapo and Risch will oppose anything less than full funding for the post office. It is unreasonable to withhold funding for a vital service like mail delivery because the president dislikes vote-by-mail. It is equally unreasonable to withhold it because the president dislikes Jeff Bezos and Amazon. In the absence of adult behavior from the executive branch, we need to see it from the legislative branch.

Todd Graeff, Boise

President Pelosi?

President Trump will not wear a mask or social distance and seems complacent to the Coronavirus epidemic. Vice President Pence even though in charge of the government response to the virus also seems somewhat complacent to the pandemic. Both have had close staffers diagnosed with the virus. Should both become incapacitated with the virus, guess who would be acting president... Nancy Pelosi.

John Miller, Boise

Pandemic response

My take on the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: It was like they were waiting for the fire to start before establishing a fire department to respond. And, in lieu of dispatching resources, Trump told the 50 victims of the fire(s) it was their responsibility to handle it on their own while he built a fire station — and competed with the victims for building/firefighting materials. And then, the fire station being built was exclusively for their use as they felt fit, according to the builder’s son-in-law.

Never forget the president’s team threw out their predecessor’s already-established fire department first, along with that fire department’s basic handbook for firefighting. And then had no fire department when the fire started.

Jefferson Young, Boise