Letters to the Editor

Here's one good reason to ignore the rants and recommendations of Editorial Page editor Chris Satullo ("10 great reasons to say no to Knox," column, Sunday). His board twice endorsed Republican mayoral candidate Sam Katz, the same Sam Katz against whom the Delaware State Supreme Court upheld a chancery court ruling that he had defrauded his former business partners out of $2.1 million. You're a terrific judge of character and ethics, Mr. Satullo.

In your zeal to anoint St. Michael Nutter the next mayor of Philadelphia, you conveniently overlooked a significant development reported in your own paper. State Sen. Vince Fumo is contacting supporters of Dwight Evans and Bob Brady to urge them to rally behind Nutter.

Why? Because Fumo, the public face of the city's political machine that voters are rebelling against, knows that he and the members of his political cartel can cut deals with Nutter and retain their base of power. If Tom Knox or Chaka Fattah is elected mayor, Fumo and company are toast. The "reformer" image Nutter has so carefully crafted is a joke. He's the ultimate insider. If voters really want change and not politics as usual, then the last thing they should do is vote for Nutter.

John J. Dougherty
Business Manager
IBEW Local 98
Philadelphia

I was disappointed to read (Inquirer, April 27) that Gov. Rendell would not investigate the outrageous anti-gun-control banner displayed recently in the Pennsylvania Capitol Building. It said a state representative "should be hung from the tree of liberty for treasonous acts against the Constitution." Was Rendell scared of the NRA? It's scary if he is scared.

The banner was a throwback to the days when lynching spread fear throughout the land. I can imagine the people who put this banner together thinking they were being clever. Such behavior has no place in our democratic society. The action requires serious investigation.

Let's demand that our legislators pass sensible laws that will not interfere with legal uses, but will provide sensible constraints, such as a 10-day waiting period to buy a gun; a background check; no more than one gun purchase per month; and insurance to compensate anyone illegally injured or killed.

Christopher Nicholson
Philadelphia

Claudia Rosett ("Iran's ad should send shivers," Friday) wants us to be outraged because Iran has put an advertisement in a paper seeking bids for construction of two nuclear power plants. Nowhere in her column does she mention that it is perfectly legal for Iran, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to have nuclear power plants.

The ad is likely Iran's attempt to "prove" that its nuclear power ambitions are above board. What concerns me more is that Israel is allowed to neither confirm nor deny that it has nuclear bombs and has not signed the NPT. Rosett writes about "Iran's nuclear bomb program" with absolutely no proof whatsoever.

Mark F. Walker
Philadelphia

At the Defense Department, Paul Wolfowitz was called "Wolfowitz of Arabia" after he assured Congress that Iraq's oil would pay for U.S. liberation of that country. When President Bush named him to head the World Bank, Wolfowitz vowed to put an end to favoritism and corruption there. He then arranged a sweetheart deal for his sweetheart that pays her $193,000, tax-free, to work at the State Department.

Bush should reassign him to Iraq where he could not only fight corruption but also implement his plan to pay for the war with Iraqi oil.

Bill Keough
Chalfont

I am intrigued by the concept that heavy industrial polluters can save the environment by buying pollution credits from industries that produce too little pollution. I have decided to extend the concept to my medical practice so that skinny patients can sell "fat credits" to obese ones. This way, fat patients can gain all the health benefits of weight reduction without any work, and skinny patients can get rewarded for their virtuous lifestyle. Oh, the wonders of free-market economics!

Richard G. Fried

Phoenixville