On the Waterfront
Credit is due to Gov. Hochul for challenging New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s absurd assertion that the law-enforcement officers assigned to patrol our ports are no longer necessary (“The Gov vs. the Waterfront Mob,” Editorial, Feb. 14).
In addition to preventing crime, those officers determine whether prospective employees have mob ties, and ensure that qualified minorities get interviewed in the process.
Clearly New Jersey pols are happy with the money they receive from the longshoremen’s union (ILA) and the shipping associations they control. But to look the other way at the mob’s refusal to hire minority dock workers, denying them the breathtakingly high salaries that come with those jobs, is shameful.
New Jersey’s legislature is controlled by Democrats. They’re supposed to care about social justice. This month, ironically Black History Month, New Jersey has shown us it’s willing to toss minority hiring into the harbor in order to please the mob.
Charmian Neary
Staten Island
Opioids’ death toll
It’s quite shocking to read that US drug overdoses topped 100,000 in 2021 and 1.2 million are estimated to die by 2029 (“Fentanyl Follies,” PostOpinion, Carrie Sheffield, Feb. 16).
It appears that soon there will be more opioid deaths than COVID deaths. No vaccines or masks will stem the tide of drugs from our open southern border. Yet the administration seems totally oblivious just as long as the people smuggling fentanyl are wearing masks.
JJ Levine
Miami Beach, Fla.
Pulitzer recall
Maybe to help convince The Washington Post and New York Times to give back their Pulitzers, a change.org petition should be started (“Pulitzer-Winning Smears,” Editorial, Feb. 15).
The petition should probably also call on the Times to once and for all discontinue its misleading (if not outright dishonest) “All The News That’s Fit to Print” banner.
Mayer Ilovitz
Manhattan
Death of a great
I was saddened to read about the passing of P.J. O’Rourke, and pleased to see John Podhoretz’s appreciation of him (“Nicest Guy Ever,” PostOpinion, Feb. 16).
When “Parliament of Whores” was first published, I bought 30 copies and gave them to every liberal I knew. Despite being the target of much of his satire, most enjoyed it (those were less tendentious times), and a few became Libertarians because of his writing.
O’Rourke still has the single greatest take ever written on our two-party system: “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.” He will be missed.
Rick Collarini
Covington, La.
Lock up criminals
As Jim Quinn states, 49 states and the federal government allow holding defendants who pose a threat to the public to be held in jail pending trial (“Pols’ distorted bail view,” Feb. 15).
Why not New York?
We have nitwit, woke politicians who, let’s face the uncomfortable truth here, were elected because of nitwit voters. You have Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, who ignores rampant looting, stating, incredibly, that it’s just needy people getting bread and baby formula. That type of mindset is what normal New Yorkers are up against.
Joe Cesare
Copiague
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