Readers sound off on the president’s influence, energy rates and pedestrian safety

Trump is the focus because he’s in charge

New Windsor, N.Y.: To Voicer Dave Kalin: You actually believe we can turn off President Trump’s effect on our lives and focus on other things? You think “there is so much more to life than the constant focus” on what Trump says and does? Obviously, your life is simple and you don’t see anything deeply.

Trump controls and changes everything we think about and depend on. I go for a walk in the woods to get my mind off Trump. It reminds me of the slashes he made to environmental programs. I see children getting on the school bus and I think of Trump’s cuts to education. I see many more people in the streets lining up for food because of what Trump did. I might look forward to my big night out at an expensive restaurant, but that has to be curtailed thanks to Trump’s inflation affecting my cash flow. Are you able to not think of Trump when you go to the gas pump or think about people dying in wars?

Trump has invaded every aspect of your life, whether you want to believe it or not. He’s on my mind because of the way he has changed my life and is ruining my country’s present and future. “This degree of fixation or hostility directed toward” no other president is proof that only Trump has turned everything upside down and inside out.

Brooklyn: To Voicer Dave Kalin: Trump can’t be described as “one individual.” He’s the president of the United States. His actions, good or bad, affect us all. Been to the gas station lately? Granted, his policy regarding Iran not attaining a nuclear weapon is a good one. But don’t fool yourself. This president, more than any other, poses the greatest threat to our democracy — and that’s why, Dave, we “focus on this one individual.”

Boynton Beach, Fla.: Not surprisingly, pro-Trump MAGA supporters, in this case Voicers Thomas and Constance Dowd, have promoted right-wing propaganda that “we have lost thousands of soldiers, with no end in sight” to “the evil regime in Iran.” The Dowd Voicers are either clueless about the facts or, like their hero Trump, are simply fabulists making up numbers to suit their biased narrative. More innocent civilians — fisherman off the coast of Venezuela and hospital workers, teachers and children in a dozen schools in Tehran — have been killed in the first 15 months of the second Trump regime than our courageous soldiers during the last 50 years by Iran and the Middle East terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis it supports. If those groups are proxies acting on behalf of Iran, then America under the sage leadership of Trump is a proxy of Israel.

Name of the game

Yonkers: Voicer Irwin Cantos takes Melania Trump to task over her husband’s name-calling. Firstly, the first lady played no part in the defamatory labeling by her husband. Secondly, the Voicer has a very selective memory. The president has been labeled with such nefarious terms as Satan, Hitler, rapist and pedophile by the Democrats and their ilk. Where’s the outcry?

Massapequa, L.I.: I just want to thank the president and first lady for introducing me to the Jimmy Kimmel show. I knew nothing about the program until the two of them led me to tune in. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are now watching for the first time. Thank you, Donnie.

San Francisco: Faster than a speeding bullet, in the aftermath of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner breach, super-dunce Donald J. Plump cited the incident as a need for his ego-boosting ballroom, which now, apparently, some legislators think the American taxpayers should pay for (sound familiar? Think the wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for but never did). What seems to have gone unnoticed is that his ballroom will only hold 999 people, but the WHCD had 2,600 people in attendance (dubious math, at best). I guess, if they ever have this event in that ballroom, everyone will have to leave that plus-one at home.

Newton, N.J.: Voicer Peter McCarthy is the typical Trumptard, launching accusations unsupported by any facts. Do you have anything beyond your own imagination proving that our intelligence agencies were behind the alleged assassination attempt on Dear Leader? You don’t, because there isn’t anything. And using President Barack Obama’s middle name is MAGA code for racism. Barack is a better president and a better man than your idol could hope to be.

Bronx: My monthly payment to Con Edison was addressed to “The thieves at Con Edison.” I hope to get arrested at my very advanced age so my protest about the unreasonable increase in gas, fuel and electric rates can be heard by a judge. On Tuesday in the northeast Bronx, gas prices jumped 10 and 20 cents in one day, to $4.29 and $4.39 per gallon — nearly $1 since Trump’s “excursion” in Iran. The food bill is also going up into the clouds. Car and home insurance have progressed to robberies. The orange destroyer gets richer as he destroys our lives and livelihoods. And the GOP controlling the three branches of government is deaf, dumb and inert. Are they waiting for a volcanic eruption from the public? Is that why the White House bunker is being excavated and Army generals are being purged?

Honesdale, Pa.: I think our members of Congress have forgotten where they live. We all live in the United States of America, not the Republican and Democratic states. Once they remember this and start working for the people, we can get our country back. Remember, you work for the U.S.A., not your party or one person. Our country can heal.

Ridge, L.I.: To Voicer Julia Grant: Great idea, but it has to go for both sides. I propose a new law: All pedestrians must stay off their phones, be alert and cross the street only when permitted. I’ve seen far too many of them cross against the light and while gabbing on their phones. They should be fined and ticketed for doing so. Accidents are not always the driver’s fault, Julia.

Paramus, N.J.: It amazes me that a team with a $380 million payroll can be so bad. Trading your top players who were longtime fan favorites hasn’t worked out, has it? Welcome to David Stearns’ Tomb.

Wallkill, N.Y.: Is anyone/anything proofreading your paper before it gets printed? Seems like in this day and age, with AI and all the other technology, this would be a simple process.…Read more by Voice of the People