Letters to the Editor

Old school pride

As a 1978 Martin Luther King High School graduate, I was honored to see young men from King grace the front page of The Inquirer ("Kings of the screen," April 24). When I started at King in 1972, King and Germantown High were big and little brother schools. At the time, students spent 9th and 10th grades at King and went to Germantown for 11th and 12th grades. In 1973, the School District separated the schools and they became sibling rivals. I chose to stay at King. We got to choose the school colors (purple and gold) that year and the mascot, the golden cougar. Many of my lifelong friends are heartbroken at the closing of Germantown. For me, it was always about the Northwest community of Mount Airy, West Oak Lane, and Germantown. Martin Luther King and Germantown High are forever family.

Karen M. Bryant, Philadelphia

Ties too tightly bind

As a practicing family lawyer for almost 30 years, I can unequivocally report that not one of the hundreds of people I've represented in divorce cases has ever told me they wished it were harder to get divorced ("Time to reform divorce laws," April 25). Do we really want to go back to a time when a paternalistic state got to decide the validity of a person's reasons for wanting a divorce? Or what is best for the kids? What's bad for children is conflict between their parents, and nothing creates as much conflict as prolonging the period of limbo between the beginning of a divorce and its resolution. We should focus on promoting less adversarial ways to get divorced by helping people stay out of court and make their own decisions about their families through mediation, collaborative law, or just plain working it out themselves.

Margaret Klaw, Philadelphia

Dress codes

While I respect a woman's right to wear a burqa as dictated by her beliefs, and deeply respect and admire a woman who wears a hijab (something I'm not sure I could do), few women dress specifically to "seek attention from men," as a letter writer claimed ("Burqa mandate," April 24). Women who choose not to wear a hijab or burqa, including myself, simply dress to please ourselves. And I certainly hope the letter writer does not truly believe that a hijab or burqa will protect a woman. Predators will not differentiate; they never have.

Margaret Leutwyler, Lansdale, margaretleutwyler@yahoo.com

Bundy bungling

Cliven Bundy doesn't believe in federal or states' rights, only a county sheriff's limited rights over sovereign men - in effect, a Posse Comitatus ideology ("Rancher's supporters retreat," April 25). It was dreamed up in the Confederacy to end Reconstruction and terrorize blacks. Hence, this government-hate ideology and so-called Second Amendment resistance to authority are directly connected to the nastiest forms of racism and not in any way patriotic. Those politicos who formerly championed Bundy but are now embarrassed by his racist comments didn't know post-Civil War history or didn't bother to Google Bundy.

Don DeMarco, Philadelphia, donald.demarco@verizon.net

Climate for change

As conservatives, we're looking to pair any new carbon tax with corresponding cuts in other taxes in order to produce a double dividend of lower emissions and increased growth ("What is a carbon footprint?" April 15). And as someone who believes in free enterprise and liberty, I hope the future is shaped through elegant price signals rather than stultifying regulations through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The environmental left has dominated the whole discussion about climate policy. As conservatives, we can continue to hide in the stands, or we can put forth our free-enterprise, market-based solution and compete.

Price Atkinson, Energy & Enterprise Initiative, Fairfax, Va., atkinson

@energyandenterprise.com