Letters to the Editor | Oct. 23, 2024

I would like to know why, other than Will Bunch’s column, was there no mention of Donald Trump’s rambling speech about Arnold Palmer’s body parts, yet we got a fry-by-fry description of Trump’s appearance at a closed McDonald’s with handpicked customers? At best, it’s because it’s hard to keep up with his daily comments that prove Trump’s unfit for office. At worst, it’s the latest bit of sanewashing by the media, which, in an attempt to show they are fair and balanced, equates things like a vice presidential candidate possibly misstating when he was in China to horribly racist comments by a presidential candidate that endanger the lives of legal immigrants.

Bruce Levin, Cherry Hill

As a veteran who voted overseas from Germany while in the Air Force, I am deeply disturbed that Pennsylvania’s House Republicans are following Donald Trump’s voter suppression playbook with a lawsuit that could tear away the right of deployed service members to have their vote counted this election. Pennsylvania’s rules for overseas voting have been in place for decades and comply with federal law, which mandates that voting should not be unduly burdensome for Americans abroad — including our deployed men and women in uniform.

Yet, the lawsuit that Republican Reps. Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler, Lloyd Smucker, Dan Meuser, Glenn Thompson, and Mike Kelly filed out of loyalty to Trump alleges that ballots cast by American citizens living overseas — including deployed U.S. military members — are susceptible to fraud and should therefore be treated differently from other ballots, segregated, and potentially rejected. It’s disheartening that these lawmakers are willing to disenfranchise us to help Trump, but it’s not surprising given that every one of them refused to certify the 2020 election results, and voted to block the Honoring our PACT Act to expand health care for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during service. Our service members deserve better.

Jack Inacker, Pennsylvania cochair, Veterans for Harris, jack@vetsforharris.com

Let’s stop beating around the bush with rationales for finding Donald Trump unqualified to be president. His inappropriate, disgusting, and profane remarks about immigrants and political opponents show him to be a despicable human being who falls short of the standard required for our president. Many are ignoring the obvious outrageousness of his conduct, and these voters need to reexamine their own moral standards. It’s time to say out loud what most of us know to be true. Trump is an embarrassment.

Sandra Detweiler, West Chester

Donald Trump is a liar, a would-be autocrat, and has been convicted in court. He said the 2020 election was stolen, yet provided no proof to back up this claim, and he lost every court case filed to overturn the election. He claimed Haitians were eating cats and dogs, which local officials said was untrue. He claimed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was peaceful and no one had a gun, yet footage of the event and testimony of witnesses debunk that claim. He refuses to be interviewed if there is going to be fact-checking. If a perceived friendly interviewer calls him out, Trump says that person never liked him or was being unfair. This is how dictators come to power.

When a lie is repeated often enough, it is perceived as fact. When the lies act to scapegoat entire groups of people such as immigrants, susceptible people believe this is the reason for all their problems, and they act out, sometimes violently. Trump recently said that if he loses this election, Jews will be largely to blame, even though they are only 2.4% of the population.

This mentality has gotten many in the military, former cabinet members, and many prominent Republicans to come out and say Trump is not fit to be president. Say what you want about Kamala Harris, but character matters in a president, and Trump pales by comparison. This election shouldn’t even be a contest. We should be proud of our president and not have to make excuses and issue denials for everything he does.

Jeffrey Ettinger, Huntingdon Valley

Trump tells evangelical Christians he supports a nationwide abortion ban, yet he tells pro-choice advocates he opposes a nationwide abortion ban. Trump also recently said he voted against Florida’s ballot question that, if passed, will codify the right to abortion into Florida’s constitution. Trump also gloated several times about ending Roe v. Wade. He says he supports states’ rights, yet he ignores the possibility of every state eventually banning or legalizing abortion. Trump’s flip-flopping is obvious. Trump is either lying to evangelical Christians or pro-choice advocates. The news media needs to call him out.

Stan Horwitz, Philadelphia

The United States is an imperfect nation. It presents itself as a democracy dedicated to freedom and justice, but the theft of this space we call America from Native people does not exemplify freedom and justice. The 246 years of African people, kidnapped and enslaved, is in no way representative of a nation dedicated to freedom, justice, and equality. But — and this is a major but — we as Black people whose ancestors were enslaved and subjected to every manner of terror and injustice still hold on to a dream of a just America. So we continue to hold on to the promise of the stated American higher goals.

Conversely, Donald Trump portends much of what we have escaped and survived. Do not minimize what has become Kamala Harris’ mantra as she campaigns to be the president of this nation: We will not go back. People, we cannot go back! Trump is a cruel reminder of our nation’s past. As Martin Luther King Jr. queried, “Where do we go from here?” It is up to us to answer that basic and profound question as we go to the polls and cancel Trump’s career.

Karen Warrington, Philadelphia

As the election draws ever closer, it’s important to remember whose side the presidential candidates are on. The International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job on Oct. 1. The Biden administration was able to help both sides reach an agreement in three days. Who’s the dealmaker now? As Donald Trump hides in his happy places in Butler, Pa., and on Fox News, let’s remember in 2023 how the AFL-CIO noted in a press release that “Trump spent four years in office weakening unions and working people while pushing tax giveaways to the wealthiest among us. He stacked the courts with judges who want to roll back our rights on the job.”

The former president sought to soothe his ego onstage with Elon Musk. In August, the United Auto Workers filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk for publicly applauding the practice of firing employees who threatened to strike. Said Trump: “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, you’re all gone. You’re all gone.” So here’s the deal: Trump is not on our side. He is not on the side of labor, of workers, of the common man or woman trying to get ahead. Their way is anti-labor, anti-middle class, anti-you and me. It is all for one, and that one ain’t us. Nov. 5 is coming. The future is in your hands. Your mission is to vote.

Deborah DiMicco, Newtown

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