EDITOR – The 2024 US presidential election is the most crucial in years. We learned in 2016 that polls are not a guaranteed indicator when Donald Trump was a shock winner. He didn’t expect to win and had no proper transition team ready.
Past US presidential election wins were more predictable, but some of them had seriously underhand dealings. Watergate is one of two examples when a few of the Republican and Democrat party members succumbed to unethical behaviour.
The first example is the Watergate break-in into the Democrat Party’s office in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington DC to steal their election plans for the US election in 1972.
The burglars were caught on the spot by security guards and it led to Republican US president Richard Nixon having to resign two years later, because of his attempted cover-up of the break-in. The 50th anniversary of his resignation was this year.
Too close to call: the US election is next month. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The break-in was unnecessary as Nixon won his second term in 1972 by a landslide and already had huge support from the American voters. His insecurity as to whether he would win was a factor in the break-in. He previously lost the 1960 US election to JFK by a narrow margin.
The men who were caught trying to break in to the Watergate complex were found guilty. President Nixon resigned or he would have been impeached and forced to resign. His successor, vice-president Gerald Ford was not involved in any way in the break-in. He pardoned him to bring it to a dignified end.
The second example is when a decade before, the Democrats broke into the Republican Party election offices before the 1964 US presidential election. Their operatives stole election plans of the Republican candidate, Barry Goldwater.
The difference between the two break-ins is their burglars were not caught.
Another unnecessary break-in. Barry Goldwater did not have national support. President Lyndon Johnson was sure to win. He did by a landslide with sympathy from voters for the Democrat Party after the assassination and loss to the country of his predecessor JFK, the previous year.
Johnson had similar insecurities to Nixon about popularity. This time, few can predict the outcome of the US presidential election on November 5th.
Mary Sullivan,
Cork.
Please help the people of Lebanon today
EDITOR – The situation here in Lebanon is extremely concerning and getting worse each day. Frightening and sleepless nights due to frequent bombing is the new normal for everyone, including us humanitarian workers.
It is truly terrifying to live in a city where anywhere can be attacked at any time. The country is witnessing its largest displacement crisis in history due to the ongoing conflict with over 1.2m people seeking refuge from the conflict.
The impact of the ongoing hostilities on displaced populations has been immense. Many have lost their homes and loved ones. They are exhausted. People hitchhike for days to try to reach safer locations elsewhere in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of people are now camping and sleeping outside in the streets or in parks and on beaches. People are in urgent need of shelters and also basic items like blankets, mattresses, pillows and soap.
More and more people are arriving each day after fleeing their homes. Many people are sleeping on floors with no mattresses. Vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and newborn children require specialised support.
Concern are on the ground receiving and supporting as many families as we can, but there are huge gaps in the availability of critical services to respond to the ever-increasing overcrowding. The lack of resources will only get worse too as the conflict is further exacerbated.
I would like to call upon the Irish community who are known for their compassion and generosity to come forward in this hour of extreme hardship and support our appeal to help the families, children, elderly and everyone displaced in this crisis.
Sherzada Khan,
Lebanon country director,
Concern Worldwide,
Beirut.
We need a wow factor in our town for tourists
EDITOR – There has been no action on the road – no action whatsoever on the problem with the school buses so the children can get to school.
What does it take for the government to be involved in what they are supposed to? They are perfectly able to build an exorbitantly-priced bicycle stand and they can ignore the disaster of a children’s hospital price. I’m afraid to ask, what have I missed?
Since I have lived here there have been constant repairs, in spots, on the N71.
Skibbereen was tantalised with a scheme to improve the centre of town. That was a year ago. Perhaps the new footpath on Bridge Street is part of that. But oh please, we need paint! Actually, I would applaud anything that would involve something for our teenagers. A cinema, a bowling area, a swimming pool. What will happen when all the kids move away? Then where is the town going? Wrong word, as it is definitely not going anywhere. Here we are, an Olympic gold medal town … can we not stand up and be counted?
Wouldn’t it be something if people said ‘wow’ when they visited?
What a show of appreciation if we saw people taking pictures because they want to remember our town. For those of us who live here, it’s the people that make the town, but if we want revenue and support for businesses, we need the visitors.
And we need the visitors to talk about us because they are impressed with what they have seen.
Lorelie Tomko
Skibbereen
Give us gardaí, not lights
EDITOR – I was gobsmacked – to put it mildly – to hear last week that the Cork Business Association is going to pay shop owners to keep their lights on – for security reasons – in Cork city. I had to read it twice to be sure it wasn’t a mistake – and then check the date that it wasn’t April 1st.
Are we really saying, at at time when every emphasis around us is on keeping energy consumption down, that money will be used to fund this hair-brained scheme?
If so, this money is being used to shore up the gaps left by a shortage of gardaí. If we had more gardaí patrolling the streets we wouldn’t need a ‘Leave a Light On’ initiative.
We’ll be a laughing stock with this kind of backwards attitude to energy – as the decent people of Ireland strive, every day, to save the planet.
Susan Crowe
Ballincollig
