Oceanside, Island Park Letters to the Editor

Sandy couldn’t have been worse

To the Editor:

At first I thought I misread one line in the article on the front page of last week’s Herald, “Hurricane Sandy: three years later.” Most of us don’t need to be reminded that Sandy made a sharp left turn, right at us, when most hurricanes have historically moved out to sea. Not only did the storm hit at high tide, but it also hit us at a full moon. As far as damage goes, it was one of the most catastrophic, damaging storms ever to hit the U.S. Yet Barbra Rubin-Perry wrote, “The truth is, we were lucky. Sandy could have been a lot worse.”

I don’t think so.

Ray Xerri

Oceanside

Clinton is to blame for Benghazi

To the Editor:

Scott Brinton’s premise in his column last week, “Remember Beirut? We should,” that the House Benghazi Committee are awful investigators or Hillary Clinton is innocent of the claims against her, is absurd. Furthermore, attempts to compare Benghazi to Beirut while attempting to blame congressional Republicans for Benghazi as a result of imposing budget limits is ridiculous.

According to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Hillary Clinton could be facing more than a dozen serious charges as the FBI continues to conduct an investigation into her use of a personal email account and server. Among them are bribery, acts affecting a personal financial interest, conspiracy, false statements, mail fraud, fraud by wire, obstruction of justice, destruction of records in federal investigations or/and bankruptcy, perjury, disclosure of confidential information, unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, concealment of government records, attempt to evade or defeat a tax and attempt to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws.

Attempts to compare Benghazi to Beirut are ludicrous, as former President Ronald Reagan accepted that Beirut was an awful terrorist attack and communicated that clearly to the American public.

According to her testimony, Clinton told the nation on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, that the Benghazi attack was “a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet.” But the next morning she told the Egyptian prime minister that the assault “had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack — not a protest.” Clinton deliberately misled Americans two months before the 2012 presidential election. That she could tell that lie to the grieving families of four slain Americans is repugnant. 

As for blaming House Republicans for imposing budget limits for Benghazi, that’s a stretch even for Scott Brinton. The recent hearings emphasized how Clinton allowed Patrick F. Kennedy, the under-secretary of state for management, to repeatedly refuse requests from Ambassador Christopher Stephens for enhanced security. When those decisions were revealed to be fatal, Clinton failed to hold Kennedy accountable for his failures. 

Michael P. Mulhall

Rockville Centre