Letters to the Editor | Sept. 3, 2024

Donald Trump continues to have one debacle after another when it comes to veterans. The latest, which is already backfiring on Trump, is his attempt to use the laying of a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign ad. In doing so, he broke federal laws that govern using the cemetery for political purposes. When confronted by an Arlington employee, his campaign staff verbally abused and pushed her aside and went ahead anyway. More egregiously, Steven Cheung claimed the staff member was “suffering from a mental health episode” and Chris LaCivita called her a “despicable individual.”

This shows what Trump is all about: a total disregard for the law, a disrespect for the servicemen buried there, the callous use of the suffering of families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan, and the complete nastiness of his campaign staff to degrade and humiliate the official for doing her job. The incident will not be taken further because Arlington officials want to protect the woman from retaliation. Trump continues to blame Joe Biden, but it was Trump who engineered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. To add icing to this rancid cake, JD Vance downplayed the matter and said that Kamala Harris “can go to hell” after being asked about the incident.

George Magakis Jr., Norristown

I was delighted to read that Walnut Street from 15th to 18th streets at Rittenhouse Square, and 18th Street from Locust to Chestnut streets will be closed to vehicular traffic on four consecutive Sundays in September. Thanks go to the Center City District and Rittenhouse Row for proposing this fine plan. Residents and tourists walking down these thoroughfares will have the opportunity to admire our charming streetscapes in a way impossible when they are clogged with traffic. A drawback, however, is the presence of graffiti which they will see along 18th Street. High on the north wall of a building on the 100 block of South 18th Street, near the corner of Sansom, there is a very visible, horrific graffiti that will surely make a bad impression. From this vantage point more graffiti can be seen on buildings toward Market Street. The pedestrians will wonder why it has been permitted to remain there. As a fact, it is required by city ordinance that property owners remove graffiti from their buildings. For the success of the vehicular-free, pedestrian ways, it is hoped that the law will be enforced.

David S. Traub, Philadelphia, davidstraub@verizon.net

Columnist Will Bunch, with a superb opinion, was right on target when he wrote that the media is avoiding confrontation with candidates, and not delving more into questioning candidates and their surrogates to explain their positions and allegations against the opposition. Donald Trump has gotten away without the media’s hard questioning of his outrageous and slanderous speech in respect to President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and most Democrats. People would react more to the truth rather than listening to the consistent drone of misinformation and accusations by a candidate who has been convicted of criminal activity, liable for sex offenses, an insurrection, and a tax cheat in the state of New York. The press should be all over Trump and publish more with the aim to make people understand that they may be voting for a man who is unqualified for the presidency, and surely a risk to democracy.

Marnin Spigelman, Henderson, Nev.

I noted the bicycle community’s delivery of petitions and subsequent “snubbing” by the mayor’s office as reported in The Inquirer. I was interested to see that the director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia was quoted as saying that “traffic safety is an issue that people care about.” I agree with this sentiment but am still waiting to see how the bicycle community sees the solutions that may lead us to safer roadways.

In a recent walk along the Schuylkill trail, I encountered a bicyclist riding on the South Street bridge sidewalk and weaving among pedestrians, despite a well-marked bicycle lane right next to it. On the ramp down from the bridge to the trail, despite signs clearly indicating that bikes should be walked, I was passed by four very quickly moving bikes. On the trail itself, there were many using it, taking advantage of an unusually nice late August afternoon, again with many bikers insistent on speeding despite the trail’s 7 mph speed advisory.

Thus, to me, hearing the purported concerns about safety, it seems that the bikers want to be protected but are not all that concerned about their own selfish and unsafe operation and how it might impact others. As for Spruce Street, the bicycle community has forced most of the churches to give up their permits for Sunday parking, which helped older adults. Apparently, there can be no compromise to develop a meaningful solution that will benefit all. This same group that has advocated for years to share the road seems to have forgotten the share part. Bicyclists pay no fees toward public infrastructure, thus the benefits they gain through their demanded bike lanes, trails, etc., come through fuel taxes and vehicle fees. Maybe this needs to change.

R.M. Wright, Philadelphia

The Bible tells us that Jesus overturned the tables of corrupt money-changing bureaucrats in the temple, rebuking them for turning his house into a den of thieves. The state of Louisiana has resumed public corruption of the Christian religion by enforcing the display of the Ten Commandments in government-run public schools. Will the display of commandments reduce classroom wall area for black board space through which teachers communicate critical ideas for critical thinking? Will it eat into space to display projects by proud students, space for the permanent display of the alphabet in lower grades or maybe just wall space for windows letting literal fresh air and sunlight into classrooms?

The apparent acquiescence of the Christian leaders to government instruction of their faith indicates an uncertainty in their own portrayal of faith. Which version of the Ten Commandments will be used, the Jewish, the Catholic, or the Protestant? Would baptism become part of the school ritual? By immersion or sprinkling? For infants or for those old-enough-to-believe? How will predestination, transubstantiation, or purgatory be handled by the government regulators?

Wayne Williams, Malvern

Concerns about party unity, a bruising selection process, and chaos on the floor of the DNC. Many Democrats enumerated those reasons and more for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee to avoid a truly open convention. But an open convention did not have to be any of those things. With ranked-choice voting, the DNC could have conducted a democratic yet unifying process that elevated the best candidate to the top of the ticket. Chicago need not have been a coronation to avoid a repeat of 1968.

Ranked-choice voting is simple: voters can rank candidates in order of preference, first, second, and so on. If no candidate gets a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and those votes count for the voter’s second choice. Voters need not cast another ballot in a runoff, and it decreases divisiveness since candidates must win second choice votes on top of their own base. Despite the DNC’s decision, Pennsylvania is in an excellent position to legalize ranked-choice voting and improve democracy while decreasing divisions in localities that want to use it. That’s why I’m supporting House Bill 1178 and Senate Bill 729, and I wish that the DNC would use ranked-choice voting, too.

Lauren Johnson, Haverford