Letters to the Editor | Sept. 14, 2022

After reading Jennifer Stefano’s screed against President Joe Biden in the paper, I had to go back and reread the president’s recent speech here in Philadelphia to see if I misheard or misremembered. No, I didn’t. The transcript says he denounced MAGA Republicans. Not all Republicans. In fact, he said, “I want to be very clear ... Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans.” Who are MAGA Republicans? Those who “do not respect the Constitution. ... [who] refuse to accept the results of a free election.” Donald Trump is the only president who tried to interfere with a peaceful transfer of power and has hailed those who stormed our U.S. Capitol and attempted to prevent Congress from doing its job as “patriots,” and he has vowed to consider pardoning all of them if reelected. If Stefano agrees with those Republicans who see that attack on democracy as “a legitimate form of protest,” then yes, she is a MAGA Republican, and yes, Biden was talking about her. If fully half the country, as she suggests, believes that what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, should not be condemned, then we’re in more trouble than Biden imagines.

Aaron Spiezer, Cherry Hill

I was disappointed to see both a letter to the editor and an op-ed criticizing President Joe Biden for condemning MAGA Republicans (Trump Republicans). Donald Trump refused to accept the results of a fair election, tried every scheme his lawyers could think of to try to stay in power, and when everything else failed, instigated an assault on the U.S. Capitol to prevent the transfer of power. Worse still, he watched the assault for hours and did nothing to stop it. MAGA Republicans have supported the lie of a stolen election, which presents a grave danger to our democracy — or, if you prefer, our democratic republic. Biden’s attack was not about differences in political views, but about saving our form of government. Biden’s purpose was to highlight that belief in our elections is necessary for our democracy to survive, and perpetuating the lie of a stolen election threatens this. If you want to find divisiveness, look no further than Trump’s frequent rallies, where he demonized the press, Democrats, and everyone who disagreed with him.

William J. Owens, Hammonton

Even if we buy the city’s feeble excuse for delays in mailing property tax notices — “an envelope shortage,” as you report — why doesn’t City Council step in to assist homeowners as we feverishly race to unravel assessment data, make informed decisions about appeals, and assemble the documents an appeal requires? Assessments were available online in May, but many homeowners, including elderly and low-income neighbors, may not have regular online access to this crucial information. Owning a computer or smartphone is costly. Public libraries, where many Philadelphians use computers for online services, have cut hours and staff, further limiting access to this information. Extending the appeal deadline by a few weeks or a month, and delaying the March 2023 tax implementation, likely would work no great hardship on the city’s ability to bill for the new taxes, and added time would go a long way to demonstrating that the city has taxpayers’ interests at heart.

Beth Z. Palubinsky, Philadelphia

In her recent op-ed “In Central Bucks schools, it doesn’t ‘get better,’” Lily Freeman, a trans student at Central Bucks High School East, courageously describes identity hate directed at her. It is alarming that our local school system refuses to publicly oppose this vitriol. The silence is an especially ironic rejection of a warning declared nearly seventy-five years ago by two famous Bucks county residents: Oscar Hammerstein II and James A. Michener. Hammerstein almost single-handedly invented the American musical as we know and love it. One of his many hits was the 1949 Broadway play South Pacific, based on Michener’s book, Tales of the South Pacific. A pointed song is “You’ve got to be taught.” A key line makes the entire play’s point: “You’ve got to be carefully taught to hate and fear.” How sad that today’s schools decline to fight this sort of bigotry.

Steven Miller, Doylestown, stevenmiller0470@gmail.com

I direct the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, which strongly supports the development of substantial wind resources for electricity generation. Wind power is a reliable, clean, renewable resource that can help reduce our dependence on polluting fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and nuclear power for electricity.

New Jersey, especially, has some of the worst air quality issues in the country, partly due to refineries and industrial facilities that release millions of pounds of chemicals into the air.Offshore wind is one of the most important ways New Jersey can move forward to deal with climate change while growing our economy. The project will power more than 500,000 homes, will create thousands of jobs over the project’s 25-year life span, and generate $1.2 billion in economic growth. Each proposed offshore wind project will help New Jersey to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050.

Once the offshore turbines are installed, their pylons create artificial reefs that can benefit several species of marine life, including mussels and demersal fish.

The windmills for Ocean Wind 1 will be placed in locations that have the best available wind and with the least environmental impact. With adequate site planning, the benefits of offshore wind power substantially outweigh the negative impacts associated with it.

Anjuli Ramos, Lawrence Township