Letters to the Editor | Sept. 16, 2022

I was struck by Lily Freeman’s article, “In Central Bucks Schools, it doesn’t get better.”

What a coherent brave young woman who senses the earthquake before it happens and tries to warn us all. She understands that by marginalizing one of us, we endanger all of us.

We should be asking our children to open their hearts to others and open their minds to different perspectives, not to limit their thoughts and trust only those who look like them. How can we produce the next generation of problem solvers and creative thinkers, if we shut out a good portion of society?

Fran D’Angelo, North Wales

I am extremely disappointed in your continued promotion of guest spots for the Commonwealth Foundation to pass off its think tank ideas as the work of one individual writing weekly “op-eds.” It’s dishonest and downright dangerous. When we got our last contract and a modest pay bump teaching in the Philadelphia School District, I “treated” myself to choosing a charity to donate five bucks to monthly and, finally, a subscription to The Inquirer. Supporting local journalism seemed like one small tangible thing to do with anxiety around the state of our democracy. And the work of Kristen A. Graham and others, and the way The Inquirer holds the district accountable, make me proud to be a subscriber. (Indeed and unfortunately, sometimes it feels the only way the district acts is when it is embarrassed by Inquirer pieces calling out its mismanagement and deflections.)

Jennifer Stefano’s latest opinion does not pass the smell test. On top of the deeply insulting lies passed off in this piece and her other pieces, perhaps even worse is this passing “innocuous” remark that treats the actions of Donald Trump and Trumpers as distinctly not fascist: “No wonder President Joe Biden is banging around Pennsylvania demonizing those who disagree with him as threats to democracy.”

Do your editors not have a stance on the role media has played and will continue to play in the health of our democracy and how it covers Trump and his offshoots? At best, it seems your organization has fallen into the “both-sides” nonsense plaguing media, at worst it seems like an intentional calculation to forge a partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation, long-term consequences be damned.

I know it is a precarious time to manage media with changing technology and falling readership numbers. But this is simply not the way forward. Since seeing these running Stefano pieces go weekly, I’ve really struggled with whether or not I should continue my subscription. I am obviously one small fish in the market, but I know I’m not the only one with this sentiment.

Eric Hitchner, Elkins Park

Jennifer Stefano says that “Democrats are demonizing Republican voters again.” Untrue. Democrats are demonizing Trump voters, not all Republicans. She accuses President Joe Biden of doing the same, ignoring his words at Independence Hall when he explicitly said he was speaking not of all Republicans, just those who continue to support The Big Lie and who explicitly or implicitly condone the Jan. 6 insurrection. She calls Biden and Hillary Clinton demagogues, though Trump has set the bar for demagoguery.

It’s laughable that she mentions that Trump received more votes than any prior sitting president, overlooking the fact that he still lost by over 7,000,000 votes to Biden, more than the combined populations of Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. She glosses over Trump’s " rhetoric,” which denigrated the presidency more than any previous chief executive while ignoring Biden’s adherence to decorum and his restoration of dignity to the White House. Lastly, she points to high inflation as a black mark on the Biden administration, which while terrible for the country is only due in part to Biden’s policies, and they were policies that led to spending billions of dollars not on a wall or a pipeline but rather on American families who needed financial help during the height of the pandemic. Biden certainly has his flaws, but Stefano’s ignoring or twisting obvious facts makes her a lousy columnist for the conservative cause.

Scott B. Chelemer, Mount Laurel

The U.S. is the world’s oldest democracy, but we’re lagging behind.

If the grocery store had only vanilla and chocolate ice cream, what would you do? Demand more choices, right?

The two-party political system and American democracy need to catch up with the times — voters want better choices.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) is part of the answer. Maine and Alaska use it, and so do many cities and counties. With RCV you vote for your first, second, and third choices, not just for one candidate. If your first choice finishes last, your vote transfers to your second choice and the process continue until one candidate has more than 50% of the total votes. In other words, your second or third choice might be the winner.

RCV makes every vote count. Make sure your vote counts every time.

Van Temple, Southampton

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