Letters: Trump gets special treatment; BOT candidates surveyed about PSU gambling policy

Trump gets special treatment

Donald Trump enjoys special treatment.

If any other candidate running for the highest office in the world had posted a life-size image of his/her opponent —the sitting president of the U.S., no less — hogtied and kidnapped in the back of a pickup truck, that candidate would have been driven from politics and promptly visited by the FBI.

If someone you know had threatened the child of a federal judge, the offender would have been visited by a U.S. Marshal — and carted off to jail in handcuffs.

If someone you know had defamed a rape victim, as Trump did with E. Jean Carroll, and declared liable by a jury of his peers, the slanderer would have been found guilty of contempt of court and severely fined (an $83M judgment couldn’t get him to stop his vile rhetoric).

If someone you know had led an insurrection against the U.S. that resulted in property and other damages exceeding $30M, the death and severe injuries of police officers who defended the U.S. capitol building, as Trump did on Jan. 6, 2021, the reprobate would have been convicted of treason and facing lifetime in prison.

But not Donald Trump. He’s not treated like the rest of us; he’s treated with kid gloves.

If he violates a gag order, I say treat him like any other criminal defendant is treated and put him in jail. If that means we must call out the National Guard to protect the jail in which he’s housed, so be it.

William J. Rothwell, State College

BOT candidates surveyed about PSU gambling policy

Prior to this year’s Penn State alumni trustee election, I distributed a questionnaire asking all five alumni trustee candidates where they stand on Penn State’s advertisement of addictive gambling products to students, whether they support the establishment of a university gambling policy, and what they will do to protect students from gambling addiction if they are elected.

These are softball questions that should not be controversial. Nevertheless, the candidates provided very different responses:

• Matt McGloin and Alvin de Levie believe Penn State should not be advertising gambling to students. They favor immediately establishing a university gambling policy to educate students about the dangers of gambling addiction, to help students who are struggling with gambling addiction, and to protect Penn State student-athletes and the integrity of Penn State athletics programs from gambling-related harms.

• Brandon Short and Steve Wagman did not directly answer the questions on the questionnaire, but instead simply restated that the Penn State Board of Trustees will not take a position regarding the development of the proposed casino at the Nittany Mall.

• Carl Nassib did not respond to the questionnaire (despite repeated contact attempts).

If you are eligible to vote in this year’s alumni trustee election, I strongly encourage you to vote for Matt McGloin and Alvin de Levie. They are the only candidates in this election who plan to take constructive action to protect Penn State students from gambling addiction.

For further information, the full report for the questionnaire is available at saynocasino.org/psutrustees.

Andrew Shaffer, State College

Taxpayer-funded disinformation

Rep. Glenn Thompson underestimates his constituents’ intelligence. His online newsletter, The Good, The Bad, and The Local, is a shameless and hyper-partisan screed. He not only grossly misrepresents and undercuts Biden’s many accomplishments, he uses taxpayer dollars to do it!

His April edition takes dishonesty to new levels. He writes: “From our historic border crisis to skyrocketing Bidenflation, to surging violent crime and America’s diminished standing in the world, all of these are the direct result of Biden’s failed Far Left agenda.”

The facts are not on Thompson’s side. Our economy has thrived under Biden and is one of the strongest in the world, with record-low unemployment, record-high job creation, and rising wages. Manufacturing jobs that left under Trump are returning — a result of Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

Violent crime is down, not up, nationwide! It hit record highs in 2020 under Trump, and has fallen steadily since 2022 under Biden.

Republicans, bowing to Trump, killed the long-awaited bipartisan security border bill. Trump not only wants chaos at the border, he needs it. It’s central to his campaign strategy.

Donald Trump, not Biden, diminishes America’s standing in the world. Thompson’s House colleagues refuse to authorize aid to Ukraine, jeopardizing the security of Europe and the U.S. Our NATO allies were horrified when Trump explicitly encouraged Russia to do “whatever the hell it wants” to countries that don’t allocate enough money to defense.

We’ve had enough of Thompson’s taxpayer-funded disinformation campaign!

Linda M. Westrick, Boalsburg

Alarming rate increase

According to information that was included in my current electric bill, First Energy has filed a request to increase my electric rate by 10.6% beginning June 1, which is less than two months away. The insert goes on to say that commercial customers’ rates would increase by 4.6%, and industrial customers’ rates would increase by .3%, if the PUC, Public Utility Commission, approves this request.

If I have done the math correctly, that translates to my rate increase being 35.33% higher than an industry customer and 2.30% higher than a commercial customer.

In addition to being aggrieved by this proposal’s disproportionately high rate increase for residential customers, I am discouraged, disappointed, disgusted and disheartened that this rate increase approach seems to reward high energy usage.

Della Chuderewicz, State College