Letters to the Editor | Aug. 29, 2024

Known as an anti-vaccine proponent, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has joined the Donald Trump campaign in return for what he hopes will be a cabinet post, perhaps head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The thought that Kennedy could oversee 13 agencies — including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is alarming, scary, and weird. What do Trump and Kennedy have in common? Both are in their 70s, both are wealthy and white, both have multiple marriages, and both are desperate for power. Desperate ambitions certainly make for strange bedfellows.

Carol Sundeen, Lower Makefield Township

As I watched Republicans speak at the recently concluded Democratic National Convention, I couldn’t help thinking back to the first book I read as a teenager, John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage, which presented short biographies of U.S. senators who were politically ostracized when they defied their own parties and constituents on matters of principle.

The DNC speakers included Donald Trump’s former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who resigned because, she said, “I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer.” Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said, “Donald Trump is a criminal and a danger to the future of our county and our world.” Former national security adviser Olivia Troye said, “Being inside Trump’s White House was terrifying ... what keeps me up at night is what’ll happen if he gets back in there,” while former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger urged his fellow Republicans to put country over party by voting for Kamala Harris. Genuine profiles in courage all. After the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection instigated by Trump, how can any patriotic American vote to put him behind the Resolute desk again?

Martin Raffel, Langhorne

The war in Gaza is often justified by saying Israel has a right to defend itself. I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of Israeli civilians, including innocent children, on Oct. 7, and have tremendous compassion for the plight of the hostages and what their families are experiencing. However, there is so much rhetoric from our government, and others, focused on Israel’s right to security and the Israeli people’s right to protection from danger and to their homeland. Where is the same level of concern about the Palestinians’ right to protection from danger, their security, and their right to the integrity of their homeland?

Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas are being killed by the tens of thousands, maimed, deprived of the necessities of life, and forced off their land. Even in the West Bank, Palestinians are being forced off their land, and settlements are being expanded. Democrats expressing concern for the horrific devastation experienced by Palestinians in Gaza, while supporting supplying Israel with the means to continue to inflict that devastation, seem morally bankrupt.

Deborah McIlvaine, Philadelphia, deborahmcilvaine@gmail.com

Jalen Hurts should be commended for contributing $200,000 for the purchase of air conditioners for classrooms in the Philadelphia School District. Students cannot learn in infernos, and teachers cannot teach in these deplorable environments. Now it’s time for Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie — a billionaire — to finish the job. A few more air conditioners cost so little and benefit so many children. Lurie should step up and do his part: Make the Eagles organization a proud supporter of public education.

Stephen Gring, Ocean City, N.J.

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