Letters to the Editor | March 15, 2024

The most important reason to reelect President Joe Biden is that he, not Donald Trump, would likely appoint the next one or two U.S. Supreme Court justices. The court wields tremendous power. Its decisions affect millions. Its justices serve for life, which could be 30 to 40 years. This present court is horrendous. The Republican-appointed justices (three of them by Trump) consistently rule in favor of the rich and large corporations, and against individual rights and safety and the health of the planet itself. The court overturned Roe v. Wade, and may next go after IVF, gay marriage, and contraception.

Some of the Republican-appointed justices — most shamelessly Clarence Thomas — have accepted huge, expensive gifts from people and firms who then go before the court. They say with a straight face that the gifts don’t influence their decisions. One of the donors provides free rent to Thomas’ mother, and his wife worked actively to overturn the 2020 presidential election, yet he will not recuse himself from cases involving the attempts to overthrow the election. This court also blatantly helped Trump by delaying his insurrection trial by agreeing to hear a joke of a case in which he claims presidents are immune from absolutely anything they do while in office. Trump simply cannot be given the chance to appoint more terrible justices.

Dave Lipshutz, Mount Laurel, delipshutz@comcast.net

As I reflect on how far we have come — for the first time in Pennsylvania, a woman is speaker of the House, and we have a woman serving as vice president of our nation — I realize how far we have to go. My reflection is broken by flashes of the sexism and misogyny I face every day. Men using the word hysterical to describe me and my policy positions, men admitting to poor behavior because they enjoy messing with my head, men telling me not to worry about what we’re voting on in the Senate, just to concern myself with my then-pregnant belly. Men telling me that I could and should have been working during my maternity leave, men affording my male colleagues their earned titles of senator and representative while calling me Amanda. So, for my daughter and yours, for women who are tired of the mistreatment, for the women fired up by the injustice of it all, and every woman in between — I fight for you. This March is for you. As the saying goes: Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them. Happy Women’s History Month!

Amanda M. Cappelletti, state senator, 17th Senatorial District

I like to text, but I don’t use emojis. Words are my delight, and language is a blessing beyond measure (which makes my grief over the cessation of The Angry Grammarian’s column even sharper). However, I receive quite a lot of emoji content through texts, so I read Alfred Lubrano’s article about older people texting the wrong emojis, hoping it would clarify and educate me. The pitfalls of misusing an emoji are clear. So, I will continue to eschew them. But the 10 examples printed as a sidebar to the article are not as accurate as they should be.

No. 5, labeled “loudly crying (used for overwhelming laughter),” is not how Emojipedia labels it. It is defined as “loudly crying face,” with the primary emotion being grief, not laughter. No. 4, labeled “folded hands to express thanks,” is defined as such by Emojipedia, primarily reflecting Asian cultural practices. However, in my evangelical circles, this emoji is used exclusively to indicate praying, meaning that the person will pray for what has been shared in the text. All too often followed by “loudly crying face” to show how sad she or he feels about the prayer request.

Hilary Eshelman, Quakertown

The divided world that former President Donald Trump left at the end of his first term in office is an unsustainable one. Death threats are a constant for too many political officials. Nowadays, judges throughout the country are under threat. So, as I try to understand the unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Colorado Supreme Court case that kept Trump off the ballot, I would imagine care, welfare, safety, and security weighed on the justices’ decision.

Wayne E. Williams, Camden

Germany’s 30 months of police recruit training is more than triple Philadelphia’s. If the city were to lengthen its training, costs would balloon, but there would be fewer incidents of police misconduct and multimillion-dollar verdicts. Over the last eight years, Philadelphia has paid more than $100 million to victims of police misconduct and/or their families. In business, if a program fails, it’s scrapped. Current policies have failed and cost too many lives and far too much money. The police department has instilled fear, instead of trust, in communities of color, who are far more likely to be victims of crime. The department should institute a longer training period and raise requirements and salaries to encourage more qualified candidates. Longer training would allow for weeding out those who might exhibit the wrong mentality. The department should establish a clear policy that defendants must be arrested based on evidence. These suggestions, as well as hiring crisis-trained psychologists to deal with people dealing with mental health problems, would save the police department money.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

The headline of a recent Inquirer article states that “Peco may be forced to pick between fossil fuels or renewable energy,” which is misleading. Peco may be forced to buy more solar power than the current 0.5% it buys, yet most of Peco’s power will still be fossil fuel generated. The company’s response to generating less power from fossil fuels was, “Peco will work to ensure the electricity is purchased at the lowest price possible and in a way that will guard against price volatility for our customers.” That implies that the price of solar power is neither cheap nor stable. Really?

Do a quick search of “price of solar power vs. natural gas” and any article less than three years old states that solar-generated power is unquestionably less expensive. The sun is going to shine uninterrupted for the next five billion years, give or take a few. That’s pretty low volatility. Install a panel and it will generate power day after day after day, same cost, regardless of labor strike, political turmoil, natural disaster, war, you name it. Can the same guarantee be made that natural gas prices aren’t going to spike in six months when some event throws the energy market into turmoil? Is buying 1%, 2%, even 5% solar power really going to cause higher, unstable prices? Give it a try, Peco.

Peter Furcht, Philadelphia

Unsaid in the recent Inquirer article about the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s approval of an apartment building three times higher than existing zoning allows was that this will boost nearby property values to the detriment of renters and homeowners. What happens next around this development in North Philadelphia is predictable: property taxes go up, many homeowners and landlords must sell, rents increase, and affordable housing disappears. Displacement happens. My thanks to City Councilmember Jeffery Young, who is suing to reverse the zoning board’s mistake. The board used to protect neighbors, but now ZBA means Zoning Board of Approval. In 2022, 72% of Philly voters voted to change the board’s membership and mission, but this mandate is yet to be enacted. I hope Young wins. Most Philadelphians will win if City Council reins in the zoning board.

Joe Mikuliak, Philadelphia, joemikuliak@gmail.com

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