Readers sound off on political engagement, Democrats’ failings and funding the MTA

Opposing Trump's policies means not giving up Rockville Centre, L.I.: To Greg Marotta (" Lucky Donald wins it all again ," op-ed, Nov. 8): I understand your "I'm out" frustration, but I'm sure your "love America" and "not a quitter" sentiments will eventually prevail. The system you now feel to be "not worth it" is all that we have.

To be "out" is to concede to the man you have called a coward and moron. But cowards, sir, are the ones who opt out of the fight. What intelligence will passively accept the whims of a moron? I'm sure that when MAGA comes for the "enemy of the people" media, you'll be on the ramparts; that as the maternal/infant mortality rates rise, at some point, you'll cry "enough!" As the workings of the Donald Trump kleptocracy impinge, you'll see that Hollywood is no refuge, and the moral stain of protection-racket diplomacy will color all, even silent Americans.

You will realize that your Lucky Ray analogy is misplaced. Ray was a con man, as in "confidence." Trump is as well, but more a "con" as in conspiracy, his victory the product of close cooperation with "con-federates," not luck. Similarly, your charge that the "broadcast media has failed repeatedly to reveal Trump" seems to omit the frequent coverage of this mendacious, clownishly glitzy, racist New Yorker since the 1980s, and the extended hearings and impeachments that revealed some key co-conspirators and the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that exposed others. I am happy to hear that you have better things to do. Work matters and love is a wonderful thing, but such interests should neither negate love of country nor the responsibilities of citizenship. Brian Kelly

Required maintenance Bergenfield, N.J.: It has been said that when the U.S. won its independence from Great Britain and created our Constitution, the question by Ben Franklin was: Now that we have a republic, can we keep it? Jack DeLucia

Separate state Kew Gardens Hills: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a special meeting of his state's legislature in order to, in Newsom's words, make California "Trump-proof." That's fine, because Trump will make the rest of the country California-proof. Barry Koppel

Forest Hills: The Democrats have their hearts in the right place, but they have an enormous perception problem. They want to be perceived as the only party that cares about minorities. Unfortunately, in too many places, they are perceived instead as the party that cares only about minorities. Alan Hirschberg

To do is to be Brooklyn: To Voicer Ron Turek: If only it were true that Democrats are the "law and order" party, we would've seen the orange domestic terrorist in our midst in his appropriately orange jumpsuit as of 2016 when, out loud, he invited Russia to get involved in our elections and Vladimir Putin was more than happy to oblige. We can only pray for time to correct this nightmare. A good start would be for the Democrats to stiffen their spines and actually be the rule-of-law party. Start by taking on the Supreme Court and its two blatant, radical grifters. Patricia Levinton-Herschtein

Sat it out College Point: I did not vote in this year's presidential election. The Republican and Democratic parties should be ashamed of what they are offering the American people. I would not give my vote to either of these losers. One is a sick, mentally ill man and the other is a progressive feminist baby-killer. What a choice we had. Garbage! Joan Kraft

Ordinary elites? Woodstock, N.Y.: It's shocking to call Democratic voters "the elites." Apparently, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Timothy Mellon, Miriam Adelson, Kelcy Warren, Woody Johnson, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Roger Penske, Steve Wynn, Robert Kennedy Jr. and Yale Law School graduate JD Vance are not elites? How can the richest people in the world not be considered elite? Trump's support from these uber-wealthy people is simply because he says he will cut the corporate tax rate, and that will benefit only these high-end donors. Yet somehow, my associate's degree from a SUNY school makes me elite because I voted for Kamala Harris. Trump won mostly because he was allowed to lie nonstop about an invasion of pet-eating murderers flooding into the country and to say the economy was worse than when he left office, when the economy actually tanked because of his first term. His new tariffs and deportation ideas will again cause it to tank. Michael Patrick Kelly

Women's issues Yonkers: Voicer Steven Kaszab cites some gender differences he thinks explain Trump's victory. He portrays men in a very simplistic fashion. They primarily think about sex, sports, alcohol and more sex, according to Kaszab. Of course, the innuendo here is that these characteristics reverberate well with the president-elect. In addition, men's supposedly shorter attention span allowed them to easily process Trump's simple answers. Unfortunately, Kaszab still hasn't grasped that the harsh realities of border control, crime, inflation and the direction the country is heading were key factors that not just men but significant numbers of women based their vote on. Frank Brady

Prepped for turmoil Brooklyn: As a Democrat and someone who disagrees with Trump on just about every issue, including his vulgar behavior, I was at least comforted to know that the election went smoothly and decisively. I'm also glad there will be a peaceful transfer of power, unlike the mayhem, lies and violence that occurred after the 2020 election thanks to the sore losers that Trump and his misguided and gullible followers are. The Jan. 6 insurrection and fake electors plot was the most disgraceful episode in American politics in our lifetimes. And make no mistake, he was already claiming fraud this time in Pennsylvania well before the results were announced. Had he lost, there would definitely be many forms of random violence around the country. This is a man so un-American and "fascist to the core," as Gen. Mark Milley stated, that he was ready to not accept the results and provoke violence again. Irwin Cantos

Last laugh? Whiting, N.J.: To Voicer Vin Morabito: A big thanks for a great laugh about the dangers of Trump during this very contentious time. Let's hope we still have something to laugh about after these election results. Judy Bevan

Get moving Manhattan: You cited Gov. Hochul as saying she had called on the newly elected Trump to help fund some of the region's major transit projects (" Elex clouds MTA funding ," Nov. 7). You ended the with the observation that under four years of Trump's last presidency, the MTA received only about $77 million in discretionary federal grants, whereas under President Biden it was $2 billion — 26 times more than what we received from Trump. He has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't like or intend to help Democratic-lead and Democratic-voting cities. Before Trump takes office with the power to halt congestion pricing and its purpose of generating crucial MTA funding, Hochul must end her illegal pause of it and ensure that our public transit system has the funding to update its outdated infrastructure, to expand and to continue to serve New Yorkers and our metro area's economy. Estelle Bajou

Fairer fee Brooklyn: Congestion pricing is a rather unpopular plan, but the MTA needs more funding and we should aim to decrease air pollution. Here is what I consider a less onerous money-raising proposal: Charge toll crossings at the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges the cost of a transit fare. That would be less painful than congestion pricing and would still benefit public transit. I think most drivers would gripe less at this idea because it's more affordable. Ellen Levitt

Fave Met Bronx: I'm sorry the Mets lost. They are a great team and great guys. I love Francisco Lindor. I have four shirts with his name on them. He never gave up on the team. He is a great role model, husband and father and has a great smile! He radiates happiness to everyone! Maryanne Schulhoff