SNAP fraud
Reading the March 2 Herald editorial “SNAP fraud needs fixing, not blame game” I was, as I am often, reminded of something taught to me many years ago. All politics can be summed up in five words. Taking credit or assessing blame.
This is the perfect example. SNAP fraud has been going on for many years. It was exacerbated during COVID. And has continued unabated since. But let’s blame Trump for trying to create a distraction. It was Biden-era policy changes that made fraud easier. It was also a Biden-era letter urging “Healey to improve and bring to ‘acceptable’ levels the Department of Transitional Assistance’s payment error rate, case and procedural error rate, and its application processing timeliness, adding that all three didn’t meet ‘basic federal requirements.’ ”
This isn’t a distraction thought up by the sitting president. It’s a problem that needs fixing. The problem didn’t start under your watch governor, but it continues and has accelerated under your watch. To borrow a phrase just “do your job.” Assessing blame accomplishes nothing. Acknowledge the problem, own the solution, and take credit when the job is accomplished.
George F. Czyzewski
Palmer
Striking Iran
1,406 Americans killed or horribly injured.
That’s the conservative tally of U.S. service members who have bled at the hands of Iran and its proxies. Reading the Massachusetts delegation’s reactions to recent U.S. strikes (“Mass. pols react to US military action in Iran,” March 1), you’d think America just initiated an unprovoked conflict.
Having served and consulted in defense and national security for 39 years, I find this political theater exhausting. I understand the tension between Article I congressional war powers and Article II presidential authority, but this politicization is absurd. The courts recognize a reality our delegation ignores: the president has a constitutional obligation to prevent imminent threats from manifesting.
Rep. Seth Moulton’s attempt to equate these strikes with the 2003 Iraq War is intellectually dishonest posturing designed to stir up a handwringing base. Before condemning these actions, our representatives must revisit Iran’s documented aggression:
1983 (Beirut): Hezbollah bombed the Marine Barracks. 241 Americans killed.
1996 (Khobar Towers): Iran-directed terrorists bombed a U.S. complex. 19 Americans killed.
2003–2011 (Iraq): Iran’s IRGC supplied Shia militias with armor-piercing explosives. Over 600 U.S. troops killed.
2024 (Jordan): Iran-backed drone attack on Tower 22. 3 Americans killed.
This doesn’t even count the tens of thousands of Iranians murdered in domestic crackdowns.
National security is too important for performative bloviating. Dismantling the terror infrastructure that has killed hundreds of Americans isn’t constitutional overreach; it’s a long-overdue act of proportional response and informed self-defense.
Gary Durst
North Billerica
