读者对选举、特朗普和拜登大喊大叫

对前总统唐纳德·特朗普在关税运作方式上撒谎或误解的批评似乎有点不合时宜。

Ted Diadium’s opinion article, “Take the long view when deciding your vote,” surprised me. I may understand his uncertainty about both of the the two main presidential candidates, but I see what I think are flaws in his arguments.

特德·迪亚迪姆 (Ted Diadium) 的观点文章“在决定投票时着眼长远”让我感到惊讶。我可能理解他对两位主要总统候选人的不确定性，但我看到了他的论点中的缺陷。

First, and basically, I think he’s being naive by assuming that news — any news — is untainted by the writer, the observer, etc. Everything and everyone has a “bent.” Most of us - I think —accept that the world is round, but all else is up for interpretation.

首先，基本上，我认为他假设新闻——任何新闻——没有受到作者、观察者等的污染，这是很天真的。一切、每个人都有“倾向”。我认为，我们大多数人都承认世界是圆的，但其他一切都取决于解释。

Second, Donald Trump may present some interesting deviations from the norm, but please look at the context and look at the track record. And, maybe most important, look at those around him.

其次，唐纳德·特朗普可能会提出一些有趣的偏离常规的做法，但请看看背景并看看以往的记录。也许最重要的是，看看他周围的人。

Third, the author points out that Kamala Harris has a limited track record. Right! But, no candidate who has not played a role in state or federal government has a track record. Is that good or bad — or neither? What vice president has stood out for his/her decisions, actions, etc., while serving in that role? She may be constrained by being vice president to Joe Biden. She may or may not follow his patterns, but, if she wins, must be careful in how she acts — until Jan. 20, 2025.

第三，作者指出卡马拉·哈里斯的履历有限。正确的！但是，没有在州或联邦政府中发挥过作用的候选人都没有记录。这是好事还是坏事——或者两者都不是？哪位副总统在担任该职务期间，其决策、行动等表现突出？她可能会因为担任乔·拜登的副总统而受到限制。她可能会也可能不会遵循他的模式，但如果她赢了，就必须小心自己的行为——直到 2025 年 1 月 20 日。

Instead of Diadium planning to use a “flip a coin” approach when he walks into the voting booth, I suggest he spend time analyzing the candidates, their platforms and their backgrounds, and then use his best — and prejudiced — opinions and choose one of the two. I’m pretty sure that’s what he really will do.

Diadium 不打算在走进投票站时使用“掷硬币”的方式，我建议他花时间分析候选人、他们的平台和背景，然后使用他最好的——也是有偏见的——观点并选择其中之一两个。我很确定这就是他真正会做的事情。

Herb Skovronek, Morris Plains

赫伯·斯科罗内克 (Herb Skovronek)，莫里斯·普莱恩斯

Trump may be smarter on tariffs

特朗普在关税问题上可能更聪明

Criticism of former President Donald Trump as lying about or misunderstanding how tariffs work seems a bit misplaced. Perhaps Trump’s understanding may, in the real world, be far better than that of his critics.

对前总统唐纳德·特朗普在关税运作方式上撒谎或误解的批评似乎有点不合时宜。也许在现实世界中，特朗普的理解可能比他的批评者的理解要好得多。

In Alan Ferber’s recent letter, “Tariffs don’t work the way Trump says they do,” the writer gives a perfectly accurate description of how tariffs work, but then goes on to suggest that the amount imposed by the tariff “is then paid by you and me,” the end buyers of the product.

在艾伦·费伯最近的信中，“关税并不像特朗普所说的那样发挥作用”，作者对关税的运作方式进行了非常准确的描述，但随后表示，关税征收的金额“然后由你和我”，产品的最终买家。

But, that would be true only if the imports upon which tariffs had been imposed were, in fact, purchased by a retail customer. If the products were not purchased — maybe not even imported — and if the real purpose of the tariff was to discourage the purchase of designated imports rather than to raise money, wouldn’t the tariff have accomplished exactly what it was intended to do?

但是，只有当被征收关税的进口产品实际上是由零售客户购买时，这种情况才是正确的。如果这些产品没有被购买——甚至可能没有进口——并且如果关税的真正目的是阻止购买指定进口产品而不是筹集资金，那么关税岂不是完全达到了它的目的吗？

That outcome would be without cost to consumers, other than the theoretical cost of not being able to buy something they might otherwise have chosen to buy.

除了无法购买他们可能选择购买的东西的理论上的成本之外，这一结果不会给消费者带来任何成本。

Robert B. Ardis, Chester

罗伯特·B·阿迪斯，切斯特

Sticks and stones ...

棍子和石头...

Regarding President Joe Biden’s recent comment about “Trump supporters,” I never thought I would be proud to be demoted, from “deplorable” (Hillary Clinton) to “garbage.”

关于乔·拜登总统最近关于“特朗普支持者”的评论，我从未想过自己会为自己被降职而感到自豪，从“可悲的”（希拉里·克林顿）降级为“垃圾”。

So much for unity, hope and joy.

团结、希望和欢乐就到此为止。

Peter Leone, Bloomfield

彼得·利昂，布卢姆菲尔德

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