Letters: Flames of NYC, Ferguson simmer

OBAMA wants 90 days to come up with a solution.

I got one in 90 seconds: Make every police officer obey the laws of the land and the regulations of the police force.

When that cop killed that brother in NYC with that chokehold, it was already against the department regulations. If the regulations had been enforced, the brother would not have been killed.

Cops talk about law and order, but when they're on the street they are the very first ones to break the law.

James Morton

Philadelphia

Michael Brown and Eric Garner are not dead because of racism. They are dead because they violently resisted arrest.

One thing has to be made perfectly clear: When a police officer, for whatever reason, says you are under arrest, you are under arrest, period. There's no debate, no arguing, no punching, no grabbing for the officer's gun. People like Brown and Garner, who feel they have the right to disregard a policeman's instructions, are not suffering from the scourge of racism - they are suffering from the scourge of their own stupidity and immaturity.

You see, both Brown and Garner were children, trapped in the bodies of grown men. That's the problem. There's no racist cop conspiracy. There is only a failure of men in the black community to pull up their pants, grow a pair and act like adults instead of overtired infants throwing a temper tantrum because they didn't get their bottle.

We as Americans must understand that the myth of racism is being pushed by the Democratic Party strictly for monetary and political reasons. The Democrats know that the race issue gets Democratic voters to show up at the election polls, and the race hustlers like Al Sharpton know that perpetuating the racism myth is an easy way to make a buck. Make no mistake about it, President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio are demonizing honest, hardworking police officers as racist just to promote the Democratic Party's racism agenda, which they feel will secure victory for them in the 2016 presidential election, and in elections beyond. These old-school political race hustlers know full well that a divided America, engulfed in hatred, poverty, destruction and violence over the myth of racism is an America that will always be dependent on the Democratic Party for survival.

Stuart Caesar

Philadelphia

Black lives matter; there's no question about it. Whether it's an unarmed teenager getting pumped full of lead in Missouri, a 43-year-old man suspected of selling loose cigarettes being choked to death in New York or a 12-year-old boy being shot to death while playing with a toy gun in Ohio, their lives certainly do matter.

Not only do black lives matter - every human life matters, regardless of race. Therefore, any time any human being is unjustly executed, every American should feel compelled to speak up and demand justice.

Rob Boyden

Drexel Hill, Pa.

So, I'm still looking for articles, riots, the burning of a community, hands-up gestures, Al Sharpton's racial invectives, etc., in connection with the beating to death with hammers of a married, hardworking Bosnian immigrant in St. Louis. The attackers were a group of four, consisting of blacks and, I believe, one Hispanic.

I won't hold my breath.

P.S. There was another report about a young Bosnian female in St. Louis whose car was surrounded by black teenagers. She was dragged out and severely beaten, and left lying in the street.

Facts are curious things.

Sharon Reiss

Philadelphia

Save money -

leave Jesus alone

Maybe it's me, but it's pretty clear that the city of Philadelphia is in debt. They are always complaining about not having enough money for this and for that. With that being said, it brings me to the arrest of Philly Jesus, a/k/a Michael Grant, of LOVE Park. He was arrested by police for disorderly conduct and failure to disperse. After all was said and done, his arrest took manpower and man-hours, his processing took paperwork and more man-hours, not to mention that he is somewhat of an icon at LOVE Park, which caused media attention. There was his court hearing, which used court time, court personnel and more manpower and man-hours, not to mention the ADA having to spend time to look over the case, the judge to hear the case and a public defender to be assigned and the arresting officer either pulled off the street or given OT just to be there in case he was to testify.

After all this, all of the wasted time and money (which the city swears we don't have), the city/ADA decides to drop all the charges. If this isn't a pure example of wasted expenses, I don't know what is. I'm all for police and the courts doing their jobs, but I think we need to pick and choose our battles much better. This way the city can put forth the money needed for better things that have the potential for a much better outcome and not a wasted one.

Andrew J. Dankanich

Philadelphia