Letters to the Editor | Dec. 2, 2022

Thanks to President Joe Biden and the Democrats for recognizing the rights of Americans by crafting and passing the Respect for Marriage Act. I lightly thank the 12 Republicans who voted with the Democrats, recognizing that the majority of their GOP colleagues still chose hate before people. As Republicans plan to destroy more fundamental rights, against the wishes of most Americans, Biden continues to take them on. The Respect for Marriage Act isn’t perfect, but it does move this country toward the real meaning of the Constitution, captured in the 14th Amendment: no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Yolanda Roman, Philadelphia

On Thanksgiving, I was taking a walk with my family when we witnessed a man suddenly punch another man near 25th Street and Fairmount Avenue. The man fell to the ground. I heard a scream. The attacker approached the man again, menacingly. Looking around, I saw several police vehicles by the Art Museum, so, dragging my 4-year-old by the arm, I went running over, screaming, “Police, help, police, help!” Two officers approached, and I quickly told them what happened. As I was leading them back to the scene of the incident, the officers were giving multiple reasons as to why they couldn’t do anything, theorizing that “It’s just a simple assault” and “We can’t do anything if we didn’t see it ourselves.” I said, “You could at least help the family.” When it became clear they weren’t going to do anything, I asked the police for their names and badge numbers and tried to read one of the officer’s name tags. He did an immediate about-face, hiding his uniform from my view as he hurried away, saying, “Oh no, it doesn’t work that way.” The second officer followed suit. The police officers practically ran away from me to the other side of the street. Meanwhile, the attacker had by then turned around and was now coming toward me and my daughter. I felt like I was in some sort of nightmare. Thankfully, a third officer driving down Fairmount did stop to help me, but I’m still so shaken by this incident — and what of my poor little girl? What lesson did she learn that day? I’ve taught her that if she gets lost or needs help and mommy and daddy aren’t around that she should look for a police officer and they will help her, but she saw that wasn’t the case at all. She saw mom trying frantically to get help by doing exactly what I’ve always told her to do, but it didn’t work — not until the third officer appeared. What happened to serve and protect?

Miriam Valoy, Philadelphia

As reported in The Inquirer, Pennsylvania students’ standardized test scores remain below pre-pandemic levels. While the drop is disturbing, the pre-pandemic numbers themselves are troubling. The 2019 Pennsylvania System of State Assessments results showed that less than two-thirds of eighth graders were proficient in English and science and less than one-third were proficient in math. How well will the nonproficient students do in high school? Will they get into college? Will they graduate? What kind of jobs will they get? There’s been much discussion recently about the level of violent crime in Philadelphia. Violent crime is tied to poverty and income inequality, and the greatest determinant of income level is education. We must do a better job of educating children. How much will that cost? How much is the current cost of violent crime? The Philadelphia city budget for police and prisons is about $1 billion.

Mike Egan, Plymouth Meeting

Republicans constantly complain about the gun violence in our cities, but they bear much of the responsibility. Nationally, and in Pennsylvania, GOP lawmakers have refused to address the common factor in all the shootings in our cities: easy access to guns. Republicans have refused to enforce universal background checks and have tied the hands of cities by refusing them the ability to enact commonsense gun control. Donald Trump recently complained about the streets in our cities “running red with blood,” but the blood in our streets pools at the feet of the Republicans in this country. Until Republicans nationally and in Harrisburg accept their role in contributing to gun violence, it is doomed to continue.

Gary Sprague, Ambler

John Fetterman has problems arising from a stroke that he had after his campaign for senator began. Donald Trump demonstrated problems that appeared to come from an advanced age while he was president. Are the two situations alike, as a recent op-ed conflated? Are we making an apples-to-apples comparison? Not really. Fetterman suffered a temporary problem that didn’t affect his essential intelligence or capability to represent us. Trump suffered … well, we don’t know what he was suffering from, as he never revealed just what the problem was. We have no idea whether his problem was a temporary one or whether or not he’ll get better. If it was his age, he wouldn’t ever recover. If it was something else, we have no idea whether it will recur. So no, it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison to place Fetterman and Trump side by side.

Richmond L. Gardner, Horsham

Will weapons alone stop Russia’s attack on Ukraine? President Joe Biden ended our invasion of Afghanistan after Donald Trump talked with the Taliban. Congress must make further aid to Ukraine conditional on the Biden administration and NATO engaging in direct talks with Moscow. Does our ruling class wish to end what they call a “proxy war” anytime soon? They appear indifferent to destruction and death in Ukraine, suffering caused by the war to Europeans, and the risks of a wider war or nuclear war. Dozens of catastrophic wars and disastrous regime change interventions were led by our corrupt and depraved political class. How are our own masters of war different from Vladimir Putin? Ukraine shouldn’t be pressured to make concessions. Neither should we hand the merchants of death a blank check. The U.S. and NATO could make concessions that would likely end the war, guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty, and bring about peace in Europe. To accomplish that, Americans, acting through our congressional representatives, must force our leaders to abandon hegemony and embrace diplomacy.

Rob Baker, Ambler

More than 3,000 people in New Jersey died of a drug overdose last year, with a majority of those deaths involving some form of an opioid. That is 3,000 deaths too many. New Jersey has a trusted resource in opioid education and awareness in the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ). A recent statewide survey cited the partnership as one of the most trusted resources for information about opioid addiction and education, second only to their physician.

PDFNJ has been focused on reducing opioid addiction and overdoses through its award-winning awareness campaigns, parent, student, and prescriber education, and its Knock Out Opioid Abuse learning series. PDFNJ has educated hundreds of thousands of Garden State residents about the links between prescribed opioids and addiction and overdoses. All these programs are free to New Jersey residents, businesses, and community organizations. We are humbled by the trust shown to PDFNJ and urge everyone to take advantage of these free programs, as they are the key to saving lives.

Angelo Valente, executive director, Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey

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