Taxpayers deserve answers regarding the Marconi suspensions: Letters

Taxpayers deserve answers regarding the Marconi suspensions

July 26 − To the Editor:

Just when I thought we might be entering calmer waters, we now learn that the wife of suspended NH Port Director Marconi, a sitting NH Supreme Court Judge, has also been suspended without explanation. This must be historic. Two highly placed public servants suspended with absolutely no explanation.  It's time for an explanation. Both individuals continue to receive their taxpayer funded salaries. NH taxpayers deserve an answer.  

Kevin Monahan

Bow

Don't let new police station become 'tragedy of the commons'

 July 24 − To the Editor:

As a critic of the proposed site for the police station extension, I was recently heartened by Jeff McMenemy’s news article in the Portsmouth Herald (June 27th), concerning the formation of a working group to explore station options. This news came on the heels of the City Council’s 7-2 vote to ‘affirm the municipal campus as the preferred site’ for the new ‘community policing facility’.

While this news was, indeed, welcome, I remain troubled by some of the discourse pervading this new discussion.

For example, the comments of some of the councilors center on the $30 million “savings” of the proposed site, as if that fact renders the forthcoming decision a virtual fait accompli. I would argue that this cost-benefit analysis is based on a short-term perspective. While few would quibble over the need to keep taxes in line and budgets affordable, we need the wisdom of a long-term approach and a recognition that the preservation of the commons is invaluable. In fact, it is helpful to recognize the shared root of the terms the commons, community, and communication. Perhaps our public discourse should also fully amplify a transparent process of  communication beyond a short-term perspective to maintain the unfettered views offered by the commons in the aesthetic and environmental interests of the community in perpetuity. I believe that if we fail to do so, we will be the architects of a tragedy in the commons.

Patrick Daley

Portsmouth

Support Cinde Warmington in the Democratic Primary for Governor

July 23 − To the Editor:

There is an excellent slate of candidates running in the Democratic primary for Governor in New Hampshire, but the candidate that stands out is Cinde Warmington, who has served on the NH Executive Council since 2020.

In NH, our Executive Council has authority and responsibility with the Governor for administering the affairs of the State, including our budget, our infrastructure, judicial appointments, and much more. Every State contract over $10,000 must be approved by the Executive Council. 

Cinde has served us well on the Executive Council. As the sole Democrat on the five-person council, she has advocated for affordable housing, economic strategies that grow jobs, strong public schools, and accessible, quality health care.

What is most impressive is that even when Cinde disagrees with the Governor or her colleagues on the Executive Council, she has remained respectful, bringing civility and clear thinking to the discussion.

Before running for Executive Councilor, Cinde had a brilliant career in health care, from her first job after college as a hospital lab technician to her most recent role as a health care attorney and Chair of Shaheen & Gordon's Health Care Practice Group.

Also, Cinde has proven that she wins campaigns. She has never lost a race, having won two contested primaries and two general elections. She works incredibly hard and knows how to get elected.

There is no better preparation for the role of Governor than what Cinde has accomplished while on the Executive Council. Please join us in voting for Cinde Warmington on September 10 in the Democratic Primary for Governor. 

Ernie (Ernestine) Greenslade, Richard Greenslade 

Portsmouth

U.S. Senate should expel Robert Menendez

July 28 − To the Editor:

I believe that Democratic Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, made a mistake when he requested that convicted NJ Senator Robert Menendez resign.  Leader Schumer should have called for a Senate vote to expel Mr. Menendez from the once prestigious body.  The man was convicted on 16 charges of corruption!   Among them working as an agent for Egypt while chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.      

Loyalty and grace are noble virtues but not always deserved.  Mr. Menendez does not deserve to leave the Senate on his own terms and in his chosen time frame.  A time frame, by the way, which allows him to receive 2 more paychecks (about $13,000) paid for by you and me.  

Both parties need to raise their standards by holding their members to at least the standards that most Americans try to live by: doing the right thing, acting with civility and decency.  Mr. Menendez has shown none of these qualities and Speaker Schumer should have asked the Senate to expel him.  

Bess Mosley

Portsmouth

Trump's mental fitness in question

July 22 -- To the Editor:

Donald Trump is old. Almost as old as Joe Biden. Perhaps, now that Biden has withdrawn from the race, the media will start examining Trump’s fitness − especially his mental fitness − with a bit more vigor. 

Trump’s compulsive and continuous lying may not be a sign of dementia.  However, his apparent belief in his lies may well be.  (If he really knows he’s lying, then we need to worry about moral dementia. No, wait. Lack of a moral conscious is part of the man’s whole life.)

Then there’s his repeated confusion about names, places and historic events, although If memory is fueled by lies,  and those lies are believed to be true, it would be natural to get historical facts wrong. 

Other areas the media could keep track of:  astounding non sequiturs and contradictions, such as saying in the same posting that he knew nothing about Project 2025, while claiming he didn’t agree with all of it.  (How can you disagree with parts of something you know nothing about?)

Professional, objective cognitive baseline testing for Presidential candidates, especially those in their late 70’s, should be required. And maybe an IQ test as well since at least one Presidential candidate claims to be a “genius.”

Cathy Wolff

Kittery, Maine

Media will tell lies to prop up Kamala Harris

July 24 − To the Editor:

Joseph Goebbels, a master of the art of brainwashing, pretty much had it right. You tell the masses, not a very astute bunch, a lie over and over again that lie will become a truth. Just look what he did in Nazi Germany, impressive yet very evil. Things don’t really change that much. The liberal media uses Goebbels blueprint over and over again. In this case, they demonize Trump by calling him a dictator, a fascist or Nazi, a Hitler.  Over and over again you hear this from liberal talking heads and other purveyors of fake news and soon enough the not so bright masses believe this. The biggest lie, even bigger than the Russian Hoax, is that Trump is a threat to our democracy. Another lie constantly repeated. 

In recent days gone by, the true threat to our democracy surfaced. A sitting president, as senile, weak and ineffective as he may be, had the carpet pulled from beneath him by Democrat kingmakers who thought that Biden’s chances of success in the upcoming election were dwindling by the day. So, the 14.5 million votes garnered by Biden during the primaries are meaningless and the millions and millions of dollars on donations will likely come under the auspices of a very weak Kamala Harris. Democrats who voted for Biden have been disenfranchised in more ways than one. During the primaries RFK Jr. wasn’t even allowed to participate. And you think Trump is the primary threat to our democracy. Think again.

Now, onto Harris. A week ago this woman was considered by most to be a dimwitted political hack, which she is. While Goebbels was a master of propaganda, Harris became the master of the Word Salad. She recently stated she would be happy to compare records with Trump to which I say what record. Her only record is one of dismal failures.  And this is where the corrupt media steps in. They have anointed her as being the second coming of Christ and they will tell this to the masses over and over again and the masses, at some point, believe it. Brainwashing complete. The lies become truths and truths become lies. How Orwellian. Beware. Try thinking for yourselves and see things for how they really are.

Dan Hurley

Dover

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