Gjonaj letters & comments
To the BTR editor,
Were it not for the terrible
damage done by it being read
and accepted as factually correct
by the uninformed, it
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR OCTOBER 9-15, 2020 13
would be quite laughable every
time a Marxist had his/her
letter published when trying
to demonstrate his/her great
level of Constitutional knowledge.
In the “Bronx Times Reporter”
of Oct. 2-8, 2020, (Senate)
Republicans were accused
of demonstrating their party
loyalty (to whom ARE they to
demonstrate party loyalty, the
Democrats?) “by refusing to
allow witness testimony during
the impeachment trial
of their dear leader.” In fact,
what the Republicans did was
demonstrate, as a party, loyalty
to the United States Constitution
— something they
are sworn to do by oath.
The House of Representatives,
not the Senate, is where
impeachment trials are held as
set forth in the Constitution. It
is in the former where all witnesses,
in the interest of transparency
and fairness, are to be
called in open session; no such
testimonies are made in the
latter. Unfortunately for our
country, given that the House
was under Democratic control
at the time President Trump
was impeached, no such open
trial was held. Instead, Representative
Adam Schiff — California
Democrat and head of
the House Intelligence Committee
— was charged by
Speaker Nancy Pelosi with
leading the impeachment
hearings (common sense dictates
that the House Judiciary
Committee should have
conducted the trial.) Rather
than on the House fl oor, witnesses
were questioned/testifi
ed in secret inside the Intelligence
Committee’s House
basement “bunker,” with
(some) Republicans permitted
to attend but barred from any
direct participation.
Once the impeachment
fi ndings went to the Senate,
the Constitution halted any
further testimony from entering
the record as the trial
portion of the process was
over. If any accusation is to be
made, it is that Congressman
Schiff and House Democrats
were derelict in their Constitutional
duty by ending the
impeachment hearings (“inquisition”
would be a better
word) and sending the fi ndings
to the Senate before calling
all witnesses they wanted
heard, albeit in secret. Lastly,
it is Representative Schiff who
should be impeached, fi rst for
selectively leaking any testimony
he thought damaging to
the President, and, secondly,
for lying to the American
people when telling us he had
solid proof President Trump
colluded with Vladimir Putin
and the Russians during the
2016 election when in fact, he
had no such proof of any kind
at all.
Respectfully,
Michael A. Chmieloski
Councilman Mark Gjonaj File photo
BY COUNCILMAN
MARK GJONAJ
It has been a privilege to
offer, yet again, free book
bag giveaways for students
in my district. The need for
ample school supplies has
always been great, but even
more-so amidst all the fi nancial
turmoil the pandemic
has wrought upon our city
and community.
I am so fortunate to have
the support of community
leaders and organizations
for their help in putting these
events together. The community
fabric of the Bronx
is strong, and I fi nd myself
continually impressed in
its ability to organize and
pool resources together to
provide those in need what
would otherwise go unprovided.
Such gracious partners
include Montefi ore, the
Throggs Neck Houses Resident
Council and others.
From food to masks and
now to school supplies, my
offi ce is here to provide its
community with the essential
resources it needs. Like
nutrition and health, education
is an equally important
initiative to my offi ce and
certainly new, functional
book bags are an essential
basic for academic success.
Pencils, notebooks and other
supplies are also important.
My offi ce wishes every child
to be able to return to school
excited and ready to learn!
At the time of writing, I
have already hosted several
giveaway events at varying
locations throughout
New York City Council District
13, including one at the
NYPD 49th Precinct on Eastchester
Road, on City Island
and at the NYCHA Pelham
Parkway Houses. Stay tuned
for additional events.
For further information
about the free book bag giveaways
offered by my offi ce,
please contact my staff at
718-931-1721. As a reminder,
parents or legal guardians
must accompany their
child to pick up book bags at
these events.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Dear editor,
Italian American heritage
is something all immigrant
groups can be proud of and celebrate.
The United States is
a melting pot where cultures
come together to recognize
each other’s history, our shared
past and our collective identity.
These are the fundamental facts
that make America, America.
One leading example and a
source of pride for many Italian
Americans is Christopher Columbus;
and the statue that lies
near Central Park in New York
which Italian Americans built
to memorialize him. Additionally,
many other statues of Columbus
were erected throughout
NYC and our country.
Columbus represents the story
of Italian American migrants
and is a symbol of their aspirations
and dreams in America.
They pay tribute to the entire
Italian American heritage and
the tremendous contributions
made by Italian immigrants
in building modern America.
They all worked their way up
from the bottom to overcome
bigotry and discrimination to
attain full integration in every
aspect of American life.
Historical documents shows
how Columbus was celebrated
for an entire week in 1892,
the 400th anniversary of his
discovering America.
Annually, the Columbus
Day parade draws nearly a million
viewers to Fifth Avenue,
but that’s nothing compared to
the festivities of 1892, when New
Yorkers celebrated the 400th
anniversary of the Italian explorer’s
Caribbean landing for
seven full days.
Columbus Week was a completely
decked out party with
a Hudson River naval parade,
Brooklyn Bridge fi reworks, a
music festival, and the fi rst Columbus
Day Parade, which consisted
of 12,000 public school
children, 5,500 Catholic school
children, military drill squads,
and 29 marching bands.
In 1892, President Benjamin
Harrison issued a proclamation
that established a day to honor
the “400th anniversary of the
discovery of America,” known
as Discovery Day (Columbus
Day wouldn’t become a federal
holiday until 1937).
Contrary to much of today’s
backlash against the holiday, it
was originally intended to recognize
the Native Americans
who were here before Columbus,
as well as the countless immigrant
groups who came after.
As evidence of this, the fi rst Columbus
Day parade in New York
featured 350 Native American
students alongside several private
Italian schools, according
to the American Scholar.
This was also the year that
the Christopher Columbus monument
was erected at presentday
Columbus Circle. To mark
the anniversary, an Italian-
American newspaper funded
its creation by Gaetano Russo,
who sculpted a marble statue of
the explorer atop a 70-foot granite
column adorned with bronze
depictions of his three ships.
Sincerely yours,
Joseph Madia
Dear editor,
Last week a contributor
falsely maintained, without
supplying any evidence, that
leftist organizations are more
prone to the violent tactics
that have increasingly been a
feature in our politics, “proving”
that he is better informed
than the FBI leadership which
has clearly indicated that the
nation faces a graver threat
from right wing extremists.
This same individual also believes
that using the military
to suppress dissent is appropriate,
a strategy that is blatantly
unconstitutional, but favored
by authoritarians in banana
republics and former Soviet
captive nations. What’s next
Mr. C., re-education camps?
Meanwhile, the COMACTA
spokesman continues his misinformation
campaign, stating
that hapless conservatives
have been victims of physical
assaults that “many major politicians
on the left actually endorse.”
Quite an accusation!
The problem of providing evidence
has never troubled this
columnist, so none is offered
and we should not be surprised
by this omission. Yet week after
week, the BTR is befouled
with the extreme right wing
ideology of this columnist.
– Pasqual Pelosi
Back to school
supply drives
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