Letters to the Editor | Sept. 9, 2025

“The ‘Rocky’ statue at the top of the Art Museum has overstayed its welcome, readers agree,” read one recent headline in The Inquirer.

Well, here’s one reader who strongly disagrees. When the original statue was placed at the top of the museum steps decades ago, I thought it was a terrible idea, like placing a figure of Lady Gaga before the main altar at the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul. But over the years, I’ve come to realize just how popular a tourist attraction the Rocky statue is. I see crowds standing in line to have their pictures taken by the original statue at the base and off to the right of the museum steps every time I drive by. I’ve known of foreign tourists for whom the Rocky statue was their first Philly destination.

The city must capitalize on anything that will attract people here. So, yes, I would remove the statue now at the top of the steps that was recently lent to us by Sylvester Stallone and replace it with the original statue now relegated to an offstage position. Place photographs of the object on every piece of tourist material and official city documents — and thank God daily for the statue’s popularity.

Mike Egan, Plymouth Meeting

Donald Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated as president of the United States.

We eventually had to admit Joe Biden was too old for the job. Now, an aging Trump is displaying symptoms of senility. Aside from incoherent speech, constant contradiction, rambling proclamations, false statements, firing people whose scientific data don’t support his fantasies, and delusional attitudes toward Vladimir Putin, his paranoia is increasingly alarming.

Renaming the U.S. Department of Defense is the latest indicator of his bad judgment. Defense means to protect. War means to attack. He is already waging war against his own people in American cities, and now he is trying to provoke an international war. Remember the Lusitania? That was no less an act of war than the U.S. Navy SEALs killing civilians in North Korea, or the U.S. sinking a Venezuelan boat, killing 11 people.

When will the Republicans wake up to the obvious? Donald Trump is not fit to be the leader of the United States.

Gloria Fischel, Cherry Hill

As progressives continue to call for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there’s no question that the concerns about his views and qualifications that have been raised by critics like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are valid. Similar concerns that have been raised by Susan Monarez, the ousted head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are also valid. But I worry about us going from the frying pan into the fire: What if RFK Jr. shocks us and resigns? Or, and this would be a bigger surprise: What if the president fires him? Do we then get Joe Rogan running the CDC? The terrible position we’re already in would be worse. In normal times, we should do whatever we can to remove incompetent and dangerous people in power. But when the solution is to give Donald Trump an opportunity to go from bad to worse ... well, maybe a known idiot we can plan around is better than an unknown strategist or a quietly effective ideologue. Those of us left of stupid need a better strategy when it comes to issues like what to do with RFK Jr. — and all the others like him who are running this country into the ground.

Nate Craig, Estes Park, Colo.

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