Letters

I was surprised and amused by the rant directed at me in the previous issue [“Lickspittle Proselytizer,” Letters, March 10].

Frances Genovese has a lot anger toward Donald Trump that requires some professional counseling. She is not alone, I’m afraid. While I am all too aware that Trump is no longer in office, it seems that many like Ms. Genovese are haunted by him. No matter how extraneous he is to a current issue, the tormented Left must insert him into every nightmare they can imagine.

Ms. Genovese has somehow made me her Trump pinata, and for this she owes me an apology, because I have had my problems with Trump, the man, from the beginning. The fact is, I didn’t vote for him in 2016.

But facts don’t matter to the Trump-afflicted, just raw emotion. I hesitate to respond to the balance of Ms. Genovese’s personal attack, because she disqualified herself by not knowing me or understanding my views.

Ms. Genovese has embarrassed herself with her invective and bile. If she doesn’t agree with my point of view, I can live with that. I invite a healthy contest of ideas. We are blessed to be able to criticize and debate, because we are free to.

And, yes, I love to wrap myself in our flag and our nation’s history, good and bad, because it inspires me. Celebrating freedom by the expressing of my point of view shall not be stifled even when assaulted by an ignoramus who has lost touch with her better self.

My reference to the Ukrainian resistance in 2014, as depicted in the documentary “Winter on Fire,” was out of respect and admiration for the rebellion in Kyiv to the then-Russian puppet government. It was inspirational and demonstrated to anyone watching it that the Ukrainians would fight desperately to save their freedom from Russian interference. It continues as the Ukrainian resistance today inspires all who love freedom.

However, Mike Anthony [“Almost Treasonous,” Letters, March 10] spent his 400 words on debunking a common thought these days: that the Biden administration has been rendered impotent by Vladimir Putin, as the West has been on its heels and ineffective in discouraging the current Russian invasion. He also is consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome, as he flails away at Trump policy with a dysfunctional NATO and the famously corrupt Ukraine.

Here is my pertinent fact: Russia invaded the Crimea in 2014. Who led America then? Obama and Biden. Today, Russia is again invading the Ukraine.

Coincidence? Or did Putin view the leadership in Washington differently?

Ed Surgan

Westhampton