I just read Susan K. Livio’s article recent article, ” ‘Leadership failed them’ Menlo Park veterans home should quit after 62 coronavirus deaths, lawmaker says.”
I really have to admire a Democratic state senator’s ability to call for the resignation of New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park CEO Elizabeth Schiff-Heedles. As a veteran myself, I feel for their loss of 62 residents and one employee.
But, as a resident of Middlesex County, where the home is located, I know that it is futile to wait for state Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, to have a real investigation into the actions and policies of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and his health commissioner, Judith Persichilli. These policies were responsible for many of the 6,500-plus COVID-19 deaths that occurred at all of the long-term care homes in the state.
To quote Vitale from the article, “It would have been unrealistic to suggest no one (at Menlo Park) would have gotten the virus, but it was the spread, the ongoing lack of PPE and how staff were told not to wear PPE, that could have saved their lives potentially.”
It’s our Democratic Party leadership that has failed us. I can’t wait for Vitale’s upcoming hearing to ask for Murphy and Persichilli to resign.
Robert Wojtkowiak, South Amboy
Medically necessary to reopen fitness centers
I would like to inform Paula Zevin, who wrote the recent letter “We all miss N.J. gyms, but risk is too great,” that the people who want gyms reopened are not just muscle-bound 18-year-olds or people looking for some social interaction.
I am a 63-year-old woman who is in constant pain from sciatica. The only thing that helps is exercise. I need to use certain gym equipment, like treadmills and ellipticals. I also have pre-osteoporosis, and weight-bearing exercise is a must for me to maintain bone density.
I cannot afford to have the necessary gym equipment at home, nor can I afford a personal trainer or physical therapy. Plus, gyms promote healthy lifestyles and exercise boosts the immune system.
Since liquor stores have been open during the whole pandemic, I guess I should drink my pain away. That’s a healthy lifestyle?
Donna Hofmann, Colonia
Apple (Facebook, Twitter, Google) for the teacher
Recently, billionaire CEOs of four monopolistic technology companies testified before Congress, attempting under hostile questioning to defend their unfair, but lucrative, business practices.
Meanwhile, schools across the United States are making plans to open completely or partially remotely because of COVID-19, while too many students have poor internet connections, or none at all, and will be unable to participate fully in remote learning.
Here is a good solution to both problems:
These CEOs and their companies should be required to spend a portion of their huge profits to fully remedy this technology gap. They should build the infrastructure to connect every person in the United States and its territories to the internet. At the same time, they should provide a laptop to every school-age child, along with the necessary training for every child to use the computer for schoolwork.
All children are required to attend school in this wealthy country, but closed school buildings make that impossible for those without the necessary technology. Let’s make sure that the pandemic doesn’t leave any of our children behind.
Ellen Kovac, Elizabeth
In this Trump corner, $250,000 a plate
Paul Mulshine’s description of President Donald Trump’s recent visit to a private fundraiser (“Rocky vs. Howie: The pro and anti-Trump forces face off in Long Branch,” column, Aug. 11) is shallow.
Lines of expensive cars bearing Trump flags and New York plates drove between the opposing crowds screaming obscenities. At least most of the anti-Trump crowd resides in-state.
Mulshine explains that the pro-Trumpers are pleased with his pro-Israel actions and fears the Democratic Party’s “Squad” (of progressive female House members) as dangerously anti-Israel. Yet, Trump is running for president of the United States and the Squad is not.
Trump’s domestic policies and authoritarian actions are destroying the constitutional makeup of this country. They are financially harming and causing the deaths of Americans, as Trump welcomes foreign interference into our elections. His international policies have destroyed relationships with allies and our world leadership that has that protected Americans.
Vacationing pro-Trumpers can spare $250,000 a plate to take photos with him, but the rest of us need someone who understands the Constitution and is capable of leading the United States.
Lisa Trimboli, Long Branch
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