Letters to the Editor | July 29, 2026

Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, rewriting a 1793 law that was not being enforced in the North. The new measure gave slaveholders the ability to search for enslaved people who had escaped to the North, capture them, and force their return as the “property” of their enslaver.

What was new about the 1850 law was that defendants were not permitted to testify in special courts before federal commissioners who would decide their fate without a jury. The commissioners would be paid $5 if the defendant was freed, $10 if he or she was returned to bondage.

There’s more. The act had no statute of limitations for a search and capture — meaning five or 10 years after an escape and a new life, an enslaved person could be torn away from that life. Sounds a lot like what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is doing now.

The Fugitive Slave Act was repealed in 1864.

Murray Dubin, Philadelphia

Murray Dubin and Daniel R. Biddle, former reporters for The Inquirer, are the authors of “Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America.”

Why is Donald Trump permitted to “joke” about breaking the law by running for a third term with such seriousness that many people think he can and will actually do so, but if I even hinted in a joke I was going after him, the FBI would be breaking down my door? He is again playing the “I’m serious until I get in trouble, then I’ll say it’s a joke” game. A president declaring an intent to violate the law breaches their constitutional duties. A president swears an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and follow the laws. By saying he is going to ignore a very clear law saying he cannot run again is a direct breach of this oath. This is intentional defiance of the Constitution, which is an impeachable offense.

I do not understand why some reporters don’t corner him with an assortment of masked law enforcement officials (I hear he is OK with masks) and ask him point-blank on camera if he is serious about the crime of running again. Then either drag him off to jail or tell him to stop riling up his followers depending on his answer.

He is like an out-of-control child whose parents do absolutely nothing to stop him.

Ted Swirsky, Erial

I have always been a proud American. When many of my high school classmates were sick of saying the “Pledge of Allegiance” in high school in the 70s, I always said it proudly. I can tear up at sporting events when they play “The Star-Spangled Banner.” My grandparents were immigrants from Poland who settled in Camden and had a business. My mom got to graduate from high school. I was the first in my family to graduate from college, and my three children all have advanced degrees. America has treated us well. One of the highlights of my Sunday is reading The Inquirer. However, last week, it brought about discontent and sadness. First, I saw the article about Donald Trump’s insult-laden speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Then I read about the signs being placed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that say the displays are inaccurate. (Many people from outside the country visit this museum; they must think Americans are nuts.)

As if all that isn’t enough, I turn to the Health section and see that the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP are forced to close research programs because of Trump’s cuts. Many of these programs are for children.

When are Americans going to say, “Enough”? We cannot suffer through two more years of this administration and still have the country we had before. I haven’t even mentioned the war in Iran yet. To borrow a quote from the 1976 movie Network: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Who is willing to stand up and say, “Enough”? This is not who we are.

Jo-Ann Scarlet, Galloway

On Feb. 28, Donald Trump started a war of choice by attacking Iran. He had been convinced by Benjamin Netanyahu — another leader on the world stage who is avoiding criminal prosecution only because he holds national political office — that together they could, by military force, effect regime change in Iran in a matter of days, with very little cost.

Less than two weeks later, on March 11, Trump declared, “In the first hour, it was over.”

But it appears that like cats, Trump’s war has nine lives.

There are, however, several things that are over as a result of Trump’s war, including: the lives of at least 18 U.S. service members; the well-being of more than 400 wounded U.S. service members; the safety and security of our military personnel in the Middle East; an open Strait of Hormuz; decreasing inflation in the U.S.; low gas prices; and a sufficient supply of military weapons to deter China in Asia.

On Nov. 3, I promise to remember the Republican sycophants who are more concerned about their jobs than the health, safety, welfare, and economic security of their constituents and supported the depravity of this president. I sincerely hope there are enough aware, concerned, patriotic voters who will do the same, so that we get a Congress whose allegiances are to our Constitution and its constituents and not to a would-be king.

James A. Morano, New Britain Township

Leave it to the Greeks to have coined a term for a political process that appears to be playing out again in our own time. Plato’s notion of thymos, which means “spiritedness, courage, and righteous anger at abuse in a democratic polis,” has been debased by our current liar-in-chief and his cadre of oligarchs into a “thymotic politics” of paranoia, disclosure, persecution, victimization, and blood sacrifice, where mean-spiritedness and selective secrecy are the key. The extrapolation of this government of grievance is another Greek term, megalothymia, which is characterized as the desire to be recognized as superior to others, fueling drives for high status, dominance, or national greatness. Sound familiar? The arrogance of the MAGA agenda is just a recrudescence of an age-old grab for power at all moral costs.

Charles Derr, Philadelphia

I was disappointed to see the Pickles comic strip published on July 24. The punch line — “Yeah, you and Gramma used to be people!” — may have been intended as humor, but it rests on a tired and demeaning stereotype: that growing older somehow means becoming less of a person. In a society that increasingly recognizes the harm caused by prejudice based on race, gender, disability, and other characteristics, ageism is still too often dismissed as harmless comedy.

Older adults are raising grandchildren, volunteering, mentoring, creating art, serving our communities, working, learning, and contributing in countless ways. We are not relics of who we “used to be.”

The Inquirer has long demonstrated a commitment to enlightenment and thoughtful journalism, and has always represented the diversity of our community. I hope the paper will also consider the messages conveyed by the syndicated content it chooses to publish. Humor can be funny without diminishing an entire generation.

Patricia Conroy, Phoenixville, birds3711@gmail.com

I normally have little interest in the 76ers or the NBA, but I was delighted to pick up The Inquirer Saturday morning and be greeted by a front page without a mention of 45/47. Thank you, LeBron James, for helping to provide that much-needed respite, no matter what else happens during your sojourn here.

Edward “Ed” S. Bardzik Jr., West Chester

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