Readers Write: Dear Mr. President

The Island Now

Many years ago I had a friend who was effeminate and got picked on a lot. He said that someday, like magic, it would all stop. I told him that if he learned to defend himself, it would stop faster. I realized that it was necessary for him to be proactive in his defense or he would be a loser all his life. Things don’t stop by themselves by magic.

Now I have flashbacks of that talk when you say that the coronavirus will go away like magic. It ain’t gonna happen! We are in a war, and to win we have to have a strong person to lead us through, like Roosevelt or Churchill in World War II or, yes, Andrew Cuomo now. Churchill didn’t say that Hitler was going to go away by magic. He led!

I want to tell you about two of the many things that I have learned in my 80 years. The first is that when someone knows more about something than you do, listen to them. You have many very bright and knowledgeable people to advise you. Do what they advise.  You don’t know as much as they do, so don’t ignore them.

The other tidbit is that no matter what you think will happen, plan for the worst. I live in a very quiet neighborhood. There is little to no crime here, but almost everybody has burglar alarms. We could say that we have good feelings that we won’t be robbed, but we still have those little signs on our lawn warning potential burglars. We hope for the best, but plan for the worst. You don’t plan for anything and reap the worst. Look at the epidemic statistics. Much of the country is suffering, but New York is recovering. Believe me, it is not getting better here all by itself. You know in your heart that it is because we have a leader in Andrew Cuomo, not a dreamer who instead of acting tells us to believe in magic.

The sad part is that you had an opportunity to achieve greatness, Mr. President. Had you acted wisely at the very early stages of this virus, you would be recognized as one of the most important presidents and a great American hero.

You ain’t no Roosevelt or Churchill or Cuomo.

Fred Haber

Lake Success

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