Letters: Mass protests needed to save country from Trump

Kudos to the Inquirer for its editorial ("All hail the Apprentice," Dec. 20), which explains what a huge mistake Donald Trump voters have made by foisting an obvious incompetent upon the rest of us.

The only check we can have on this man is a huge, constant public display of anger. The Republican-controlled Congress won't do it. The federal courts, which Trump will stock with sycophantic nonentities, won't do it.

According to Henry Kissinger (one of Trump's heroes), the only thing that stopped President Richard Nixon from nuking North Vietnam during the Vietnam War was the massive antiwar movement. We will have to do it again to save our democracy, country, and planet during the next four years.

See you at the massive protests planned for Jan. 21.

|Tom Lees, East Norriton

The grim editorial delineating the assured catastrophe of a Donald Trump administration didn't identify the most salient aspect of his success: thin-skinnedness joined seamlessly with indifference. If he has a conscience, it hasn't surfaced.

No campaign promise was made with an underlying commitment or any estimate of feasibility. The only certainty is that the archconservative agenda, which Trump doesn't adhere to personally, will wreak havoc with nature, liberty, science, education, health care, the social safety net, and other "frills" that have made America superb. It won't be pretty.

|James Miles, Malvern, jayxxphilly@gmail.com

Donald Trump may not do everything I hope he does, but one thing he has been doing well is upsetting the established, self-important media with his reporter-bypassing tweets.

I understand your opposition to him, because he threatens your relevancy and even your shrinking bottom line. Good for him. I've grown so tired of reading news stories that are written with a political and social bias. Anyone who has a view different than yours is characterized as homophobic, racist, antichoice, etc.

Can someone disagree with the LGBT agenda without being demonized in your paper? No. Can someone who supports protection for unborn children be called anything but antichoice? Again, no. Using tweets allows Trump to get out his message without going through editors with an agenda. Whether or not I like what is tweeted, at least I get it unadulterated and uneditorialized. That may unnerve you, but it's refreshing to me.

|John Wiese, Dresher

The article, "New life for closed mall" (Dec. 16), painted an exciting picture for the future use of the former Granite Run Mall. Living space, shopping, entertainment, and pediatric health care would all be within easy reach. But there is one caveat: traffic. In recent years, development south of the mall has turned Baltimore Pike into a heavily traveled road. The short stretch between Routes 352 (just south of the Media Bypass) and 452 runs along the Granite Run property. It is clogged by 3 p.m. daily, and motorists often must wait through three or four traffic lights to make a left turn onto 452 (Pennell Road). On the other side of the road, Riddle Hospital and the Rothman Institute also draw traffic, including buses.

With an additional 400 apartments coming to the area, what about the inevitable increase in traffic? It would be ironic if people avoided the new promenade because traffic was unbearable.

|Brenda A. Brenner, Havertown, martybren2@snip.net

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said the assassination of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, by a Turkish zealot, was a ploy to wreck the Syrian peace process ("Russian ambassador shot dead in Turkey," Dec. 20). That is a laugh, as I didn't even know such a peace process existed. It seems Russia has been doing everything to cause destruction and create chaos in Syria, not bring about peace.

|Kenneth L. Zimmerman, Huntington Beach, Calif., kennethzim@aol.com

Oh, great - Philadelphia will start charging a soda tax on Sunday ("Judge: Sugary beverage tax legal," Dec. 20). As a senior citizen already on a limited income, I'll have to shell out more money that will go to day-care (pre-K) centers. When are people going to start being responsible for their children? I waited until I could afford to stay home and watch my own children. Do you know why? I stayed in school. Graduated. Got a job. Got married and then had children. Didn't rely on welfare. We did without, and so did my parents, who raised eight children.

Schools are free. Stay in school, get a job, get married, and have children. That's how it is done. I'm sick of paying for others' irresponsibility. Also, I sacrificed to send my children to parochial school. I paid, not the taxpayers.

I hope the state Supreme Court blocks this ridiculous tax.

|Jane Lemerise, Philadelphia