Readers Write: Trump’s cabinet picks, RFK Jr., voting, immigration

Isn't it astoundingly obvious that Trump, now as producer, is still hugely fixed on the model of his celebrity derived from the reality show "The Apprentice"? He wants to appoint a cabinet of dramatically unqualified, mindlessly vocal, photogenic younger people (much like the TV show) to lead the essential elements of our government. That is not a path to any hope of success for the people of this country, however they voted. It's just a means to keep himself as the center of attention, as the appointees wrestle with one another for media exposure and he gloats over the opportunity to someone.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination as the Department of Health and Human Services secretary has great potential. He could prioritize the overweight/obesity epidemic in the U.S., which is projected to rise from 40% to 61.5% by 2050, according to the Lancet. He rightly blames processed food and environmental toxins and promises to take them off the shelves. Doing so would require a comprehensive change in agricultural practice, elimination of corn subsidies, more regulation and a stronger Environmental Protection Agency.

The reported laughter was that of our lawmakers. They were either laughing at his "joke" because our president-elect needs them to cover for him, so that others believe he was joking (which he likely wasn't), or they believe he was making a joke, or they are afraid to not laugh. Whichever the case, was this really a joke? What's funny about our president-elect saying this, behind closed doors, to our lawmakers? This seems to be a continuation of a messaging-savant, who will be our president, workin' the audience.

Single-day voting in the U.S. would mean millions of people couldn't vote. We would need many more volunteers and many more polling places to accommodate this. Or we would need to make voting day a holiday. As for it being "largely considered too great of a burden ... to travel a short distance to a polling station" the writer is being presumptuous here. He has no idea how many people literally cannot travel any distance to vote. Should they not be allowed to vote? Is he objecting to mail-in ballots? As for the rest of us, I'm sure the large majority of us make every effort to go any distance to cast our votes. I stood in line on a cool, windy November day for nearly two hours this year. There were more than 100 people in line at that particular time of the day and location. If voting were only allowed on one day, how long would that line have been?

Many years ago, Democrats decided that they would try to win the argument over illegal immigration by refusing to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. They repeatedly claim that Republicans are anti-immigrant when the truth is that Republicans are against illegal immigration. Zak Yudhishthu and Bobbie Pennington say that President-elect Donald Trump's statements regarding immigration are harmful, but they fail to distinguish between legal and illegal immigration ( "Despite what Trump says, immigrants bring a lot of value to the U.S.," Strib Voices, Nov. 15).

Of course, immigrants are valuable. We need more workers, and they often bring new ideas and create new businesses. Every year the U.S. lets about 1 million immigrants into the country legally. But during the Biden administration, the number of people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally greatly increased. Border Patrol encountered about 6.5 million people who were attempting to enter the U.S. illegally and 2.5 million of them were released into the U.S. (according to a Factcheck.org titled "Breaking Down the Immigration Figures" posted on Feb. 27).