Letters

Lee Zeldin, our recently reelected congressman, chose to add his name to a list of more than 120 other Republican congressmen who signed on to a Texas lawsuit aimed at overthrowing the presidential election in four battleground states.

Really? Lee, you are the duly elected congressman from one of the most well-informed, sophisticated districts in the United States, and the best you can do is add your name to what amounts to a calamitous, ill-thought-out plot to steal a presidential election?

Trump, who has trashed every institution during his presidency and has been trying to go line by line to dismantle the Constitution, is now making a mockery of the Supreme Court — and you decided to “join in.” I really do want to understand it. Understanding is the path to healing, right?

You supported a lawsuit so flawed that it directly violated the Constitution, which clearly stipulates that states are permitted to decide the manner in which they conduct their elections. And, Lee, you are a lawyer! Wouldn’t this mean you would have taken at least one constitutional law course?

If you seriously believed in this lawsuit, it would mean that the election of dozens of individuals — not just President Trump — would have to be overturned. This includes even some of the individuals who endorsed the lawsuit! A lawsuit that is so absurd that it’s outrage only applies to the four states that Trump wants to win, not those dozens of other states that also changed their election procedures during this unprecedented time.

But Trump and his cabal (which now includes you) are not interested in the states that he won. He just wants those four. Are you not aware that most states’ rules regarding mail-in ballots had to be modified this year due to a global pandemic? It wasn’t some weird conspiracy among only these four battleground states.

I have scoured your website for days now, and I see no explanation to your constituents. What were you thinking? Do you not believe that you owe your constituents an explanation?

One reason people are elected to public office is because the public believes they can rely on their judgment. Where was your judgment here, Lee? How am I to understand it?

One final point: Perhaps your time and energy would have been better spent working in a bipartisan way to pass a relief package for your state, which has been devastated by the emotional and financial impact of the coronavirus. New York State, your state, was almost overwhelmed by this virus for months in the spring and has been bravely and successfully fighting it off for over nine months now.

Just perhaps, Lee, you might want to rearrange your priorities.

Paula Angelone, Ph.D.

Southampton Village