Nikki Haley’s Run for the Presidency

To the Editor:

Re “Run by Haley Is a Tightrope in the G.O.P.” (front page, Feb. 19):

Nikki Haley has no choice but to to use her gender to promote her candidacy. It is the only thing that distinguishes her from the pack of hypocritical, unprincipled Republican politicians likely to run for president.

She long ago joined the ranks of Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, etc., who discarded their justifiable contempt for Donald Trump in favor of attaining or retaining elective office. In her singular pursuit of the presidency she’s discarded any integrity she might have once had.

Ms. Haley is unqualified to be president not because she is a woman, but because she became “one of the boys” — the boys who sold their souls for power and position.

Jay Adolf
New York

To the Editor:

Re “Could Haley Be Our Next President?” (Opinion, Feb. 19):

It’s independents who often swing elections, and not one of the Times Opinion writers discussing Nikki Haley’s chances considered her appeal to these voters. By thinking only of how she does or doesn’t fit within the current Republican Party, they miss her considerable appeal as a non-Trumpian traditional Republican, which will attract swing independents.

Thomas B. Roberts
Sycamore, Ill.

To the Editor:

As an immigrant from India, a woman and an independent voter who sometimes voted Republican pre-Trump, I was excited when Nikki Haley became governor of South Carolina. But I do not support Ms. Haley’s presidential candidacy.

David Brooks nailed it, saying “there was an awful lot of complicity and silence when she served under Trump.” She subverted her independence and her fighting spirit by becoming part of Donald Trump’s establishment.

No self-respecting Democrat would ever cross party lines to vote for Ms. Haley even if she miraculously manages to secure the nomination. She would not beat Joe Biden!

Mona Jha
Montclair, N.J.

To the Editor:

Nikki Haley kicked off her campaign by suggesting that politicians over 75 should be required to take mental competency tests, implying that Donald Trump and President Biden were too old to be president.

She would do well to remember Ronald Reagan’s quip during the 1984 presidential debates with Walter Mondale: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

Robert Baty
Oakland, Calif.

To the Editor:

Re “The Fox Newsification of Nikki Haley,” by Thomas L. Friedman (column, Feb. 22):

Mr. Friedman isn’t taking into account what Nikki Haley must do to win the Republican nomination.

Strategists are pointing out that in order to win, one needs to play to the right, to win over Trump/MAGA voters (as I believe Mike Pompeo is doing based on his new memoir). Only once she secures the nomination can she pivot to the center and win over the moderates and independents.

Unfortunately our primary system makes it difficult for candidates to be overly principled if they want to win an election.

John Goldenberg
Mount Kisco, N.Y.

Tucker Carlson’s Spin on the Jan. 6 Tapes

To the Editor:

Re “Sharing Tapes, McCarthy Hits Rewind on Jan. 6” (news analysis, front page, Jan. 23):

Giving Tucker Carlson the first opportunity to show this footage to the public will make it all but impossible to correct the record. Once people form a judgment, they anchor onto that belief and are biased toward protecting it (so-called anchoring bias).

My fear (and certainty) is that Mr. Carlson’s inevitable spin will be so egregious and false that no matter how much the center and the left try to undo the damage, first impressions of this footage will win over even skeptics on the right.

And in blatant bad faith, Speaker Kevin McCarthy says: “I was asked in the press about these tapes, and I said they do belong to the American public. I think sunshine lets everybody make their own judgment.”

No sunshine will escape the prism of Tucker Carlson’s spin doctoring.

Lauren Plavisch
Milan

A Descent Into Dementia

To the Editor:

Re “Bruce Willis, My Father and the Decision of a Lifetime,” by Patti Davis (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Feb. 17), about dementia:

There is a desperation in watching someone you love disappear before your eyes. A hopelessness borne of the knowledge that there is no magic to slow the awful progression.

I wondered if my mom felt any fear as she began her decade-long descent. If, as the words left her, as her understanding of her universe dissipated, there was any comprehension of her undoing. My hope, and my belief, is that the farther away she traveled the less she was troubled.

And I know that Mr. Willis’s family must share the same sentiment. Let those who suffer insufferable indignities live in peace even as their lives are measured in shattered pieces.

When my mom died, even after that awful decade, we were able to celebrate. For though the disease stole so much of what once was, it could never rob us of the right to remember the essence of her that remained forever untouched.

Robert S. Nussbaum
Fort Lee, N.J.

Ageism and Covid

To the Editor:

Paula Span’s article “The Pandemic Rolls On for a Certain Group” (The New Old Age, Science Times, Feb. 14) is right on target.

Ageism is not new in the U.S., but the pandemic has shown us how deep it runs. Few seem to care if people over 65 are stuck at home and unable to visit their favorite restaurants, attend live cultural events or engage in other activities we once loved.

It’s harder to volunteer to benefit your community; it’s harder to spend time at the gym or library. Yes, we can wear masks, and many of us do. But older people continue to die at much higher rates. It’s not only because we are more vulnerable but also because of a lack of major public health campaigns that target older Americans specifically.

Many older people think it is safe to be out without a mask. A majority have not gotten the latest booster.

We need targeted information that explains to older adults how to navigate the world as safely as possible while still living as fully as possible.

Karen Kahn
Salem, Mass.

Risk Management

To the Editor:

Re “Let’s Embrace Constructive Paranoia,” by Jared Diamond (Opinion guest essay, Feb. 14):

What Mr. Diamond calls “constructive paranoia” sounds like a zippy name for the process that those of us in the project management community refer to as risk management.

For projects like I.T. software development, infrastructure or building construction, for example, it is essential to identify all possible risks throughout the project life cycle, assess their possible impact on the project, and develop a plan to avoid, transfer, mitigate or accept each risk.

As Mr. Diamond asserts, we are all subject to the whims of fortune, and it is useful to apply similar thinking to our personal lives. Project management skills like risk management are life skills that can help people of all ages prepare for and tame the disasters and the small everyday challenges that we will surely encounter.

Shari Rathet
Fernandina Beach, Fla.