To the Editor:
Jessica Bennett’s compelling essay “The Audacity of E. Jean Carroll” (Opinion, Feb. 4) vividly captures the occasions in that New York courtroom final month.
It’s really astonishing to me, even within the wake of the decision, that the previous president continues to command a considerable base of assist, particularly amongst girls of all ages. I discover it perplexing how girls of integrity can seemingly compartmentalize his abhorrent conduct and nonetheless forged their ballots for a infamous womanizer.
What’s much more disturbing is his public trashing, maligning and dehumanizing of anybody who dares to carry him accountable. Remarkably, the ladies who assist him consider his lies, many asserting that his insurance policies trump his conduct.
Moreover, the quite a few indictments and upcoming trials appear to, unbelievably, solely bolster his recognition. The prospect of his re-election as president of the USA isn’t just disconcerting; it’s additionally a chilling reminder of the challenges we face as a divided nation.
God assist us all!
(Rabbi) Reuven H. Taff
Sacramento
To the Editor:
Like E. Jean Carroll, I’m a author. I used to be additionally sexually assaulted. Not as soon as, however twice.
Like E. Jean, I stored silent for years. Fifty to be actual.
I’m a member of the silent era. I spent my profession writing nonfiction and historic fiction, most not too long ago “Sisters at Battle,” about courageous girls who fought again in opposition to the rape and brutality of the SS in wartime Paris.
Writing my guide impressed me to return ahead about my very own story. The perpetrators who assaulted me nonetheless hang-out me. The primary was an unknown assailant in Italy; the second was date rape and kidnapping in graduate college.
I’ll quickly have a good time 55 years since I graduated from the college. I’m on a committee to recreate the faculty expertise within the Sixties. Once I informed the occasion coordinator my story, she recommended that I educate incoming college students about date rape and what occurred to me.
I can’t carry the boys who harm me to justice like E. Jean, however I can speak about it. After half a century, I can say the phrase “rape” and transfer on. Educate a brand new era of younger girls.
And that’s my win.
Jina Bacarr
Irvine, Calif.
To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Libel Case Exposes the Legislation’s Limits,” by RonNell Andersen Jones (Opinion visitor essay, Jan. 30):
It’s true that even the $83.3 million in damages awarded in opposition to Donald Trump might not deter him from defaming E. Jean Carroll once more. As Ms. Jones notes, “the incentives to serve up lies for politics or revenue” might now be so robust that damages awards now not suffice to discourage repeat offenders.
However Ms. Jones overlooks an extra treatment that might be far simpler in stopping persistent defamers: an injunction in opposition to continued defamation. Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia election staff who received a $148 million award in opposition to Rudolph Giuliani, have sought simply any such treatment.
If Mr. Giuliani repeated his defamatory statements after the issuance of such an injunction, he would face the danger of a contempt order and a while in jail. That will give him a robust incentive to suppose lengthy and onerous earlier than he defames them once more.
Stuart Altschuler
New York
The author is a lawyer.
The U.S., Iran and the Dangers of Battle
To the Editor:
Re “As U.S. Acts, Biden Deems Iran Unlikely to Shoot Again,” by David E. Sanger and Farnaz Fassihi (information evaluation, Feb. 4):
Mr. Sanger and Ms. Fassihi provide a really nuanced and thorough prognosis for what might ensue because of the American airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria and Iraq.
They write that the expectation in Washington and amongst its allies is that the Iranians won’t reply, with the intention to keep away from a wider conflict. In my thoughts, this raises a important query: When does navy motion supposed to discourage aggression grow to be a tripwire for all-out conflict?
I’m particularly involved that that is going down in an election 12 months, because the article notes.
For Western minds to attempt to mission how nations within the Center East will reply is a raffle that might end in all-out conflict, and never simply within the Center East. Tensions are rising between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, whereas the conflict between Ukraine and Russia nonetheless has unpredictable outcomes.
John A. Viteritti
Laurel, N.Y.
Options to Biden
To the Editor:
“The Democratic Get together Is Having an ‘Identification Disaster,’” by Ezra Klein (column, Feb. 4):
Sure, the Democratic Get together has a picture of being the social gathering of the working class, however is now discovering its voters extra college-educated and cut up between these wanting progressive change and people wanting the established order.
But when President Biden appears too outdated to run for re-election, as many Democrats really feel, the query stays, who higher within the social gathering to be nominated? Not Vice President Kamala Harris, many additionally really feel. Maybe the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer? Maybe a Democratic senator from the Midwest?
Whereas there are numerous ready Democrats, each progressive and centrist, there aren’t any apparent decisions to run for president with nationwide enchantment. Why is that this so? As a result of the Democratic management has failed to coach up its subsequent era of leaders.
James Berkman
Boston
Combating Again at Penn
To the Editor:
Re “At Penn, President’s Exit Fails to Quell Turmoil” (information article, Jan. 30):
I’m extraordinarily completely happy to see that professors on the College of Pennsylvania have reacted strongly to a doc despatched by the billionaire Marc Rowan to, in essence, create a extra conservative campus.
With the latest Republican assaults on the presidents of Harvard, M.I.T. and Penn, the hostile authorities takeover of New Faculty of Florida, the banning of D.E.I. initiatives, the elimination of sociology as a core course in Florida’s public universities, and so forth, it’s about time that professors are starting to struggle again.
Furthermore, as professors, we must always not let college donors or politicians dictate to us about our occupation. We’re definitely able to operating our universities freed from interference from rich people and biased politicians who pander to their base.
To my colleagues at Penn, I say: Collectively we stand, divided we fall, and sustain the nice struggle.
Michael Hadjiargyrou
Centerport, N.Y.
The author is a professor of organic and chemical sciences on the New York Institute of Expertise.
Pets in Chilly Climate
To the Editor:
Re “The right way to Shield Pets From Chilly Climate” (Right here to Assist, Jan. 27):
Thanks for sharing details about defending animal companions throughout chilly climate.
I hope that readers will even look out for canines whose homeowners have left them chained or penned exterior. These animals aren’t any higher geared up to outlive freezing temperatures than people are, they usually generally undergo from frostbite and hypothermia. Some die from publicity.
Good Samaritans who see canines stored exterior for lengthy intervals with out sufficient shelter from the weather (no less than a sturdy doghouse insulated with dry straw that has a coated entrance to dam the wind) ought to word the animal’s actual location and alert native law-enforcement authorities instantly.
If officers don’t reply, they need to name PETA. Anybody who leaves animals exterior to undergo in extreme climate might face legal costs.
Kristin Rickman
Norfolk, Va.
The author is the director of the emergency response crew at PETA, Folks for the Moral Remedy of Animals.
