Letters to the Editor | Sept. 29, 2026
Inquirer readers on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum and President Trump’s attacks on the free press.
Find a way
It wasn’t just “Philadelphians” who “reacted with outrage” when news broke that Drexel University and the Academy of Natural Sciences were closing the Academy’s premier natural sciences museum at the end of the month. My family and I in Bucks County are upset, too.
While reading the well-written article by Peter Dobrin about the museum’s collection of artifacts and specimens, my family and I reminisced about our many visits to the museum. We were always amazed by the fascinating specimens we saw there, and our takeaway every time was a further understanding of the living organisms that make up our world.
Now that the museum has hosted visitors for what’s believed to be its final day, my family and I hope the great city of Philadelphia will find a major benefactor who will step up and provide the needed financial backing to keep this great museum’s collection together.
Holly Allen Homka, Perkasie
Silence isn’t bliss
So the sound of silence can actually be very loud — as President Donald Trump has learned firsthand. Because TV networks withheld coverage of him last week to protest the removal of some of their colleagues from the White House press corps, the president’s helicopter landing pad opening was shown but not heard, an oddity in modern news reporting — but it was all of his own doing.
It is tempting to be pleased with reduced coverage of President Trump for many reasons, but any official restrictions on public debate are wrong and must be called out — loudly.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill, Australia
. . .
Many readers have called for a long-term boycott of White House press coverage over the president’s exclusion of some news outlets from the White House. While this is a tempting idea, it would put reporting about the executive branch under the complete control of the administration. That is exactly what a dictator wants, because it prevents us from seeing their response to tough questions posed by the few remaining real journalists. Even lies tell part of the story.
Jacques Gordon, Devon
MAGA reckoning
Will Americans finally wake up to the confusion and chaos that this administration has created both here in America and around the world? An arch is planned to be built that will hold drones, snipers, and ammunition in the middle of Washington, D.C.; why is this necessary? A war started in Iran because our president had a gut feeling we were going to be attacked. The official objective of this war was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In June 2025, we were told Iran’s nuclear program was obliterated. Did they rebuild in the eight months before the war, or were we told a lie? Suspected drug traffickers, if they were apprehended and found guilty, would typically receive an average sentence of 87 months in prison, not the death penalty. These are just a few of the things said or done by the Trump administration with the overwhelming support of Republicans in Congress. To Trump supporters: Make America Great Again is not working.
Ken Biles, Douglassville, Pa.
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