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Behind the masks

Who is keeping count of the people killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents? Reports indicate that 10 people have died at the hands of ICE during President Donald Trump’s second term. Here’s another bleak number: zero. That’s how many trials we’ve witnessed in connection with those deaths. There are so many unanswered questions: How are these masked men not in jail awaiting trial? Who are they? How many, if unmasked, would be insurrectionists pardoned by the president? How many are his “stand down,” white, right wing, radical, racist extremists like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, or Patriot Front? Are their actions acceptable? Are murders now legalized anywhere in this country? How many more lives will be lost? Why should the murders cease, when the killers face no retribution or penalty? You tell me, what will it take to end this ever expanding “legalized lawlessness”?

William Cohen, Huntingdon Valley

Missing context

I was gratified to read Paul McElhinney’s op-ed about the Dreyfus affair. Many are still not aware of the extent to which antisemitism pervaded the French world of the 1890s when the Jewish French Army captain Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of spying and exiled for five years. My talented great aunt — who was Jewish — painted many oil copies of Renoir paintings; I still wonder if she was even aware of Renoir’s deep antisemitism and anti-Dreyfusard sentiments. When the writer asks what we have learned, I must ask why our great museums like the Barnes and the Philadelphia Museum of Art have never confronted the antisemitism of the times and the deep involvement of Renoir and Degas, among others, in the French art world’s stirring debates over the Dreyfus case.

Susan Dyshel Sommovilla, Elkins Park

…

Paul McElhinney’s excellent analysis of the Dreyfus affair omitted two key elements. Theodor Herzl, an assimilated Jewish journalist covering Dreyfus’ arrest, was incensed that Jews were still subjected to antisemitism when they tried to join European society. Herzl became obsessed with the idea that Jews should have their own country. After Dreyfus’ conviction and exile to Devil’s Island, Herzl wrote Der Judenstaat, The Jewish State; organized the first Zionist Congress, which sparked some Jews living in Eastern Europe to migrate to their ancestral homeland; and lobbied the crown heads of Europe to support a Jewish state in what was then Palestine.

After Dreyfus’ exoneration, he rejoined the French Army as a major. He retired a year later but served in World War I as a lieutenant colonel. Last year, France posthumously promoted him to the rank of brigadier general, a position he would’ve easily had if he hadn’t been scapegoated.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

Thanks, SEPTA

Kudos to SEPTA for their service during the World Cup. Instead of raising the price of a ride, like NJ Transit, SEPTA kept its normal price and provided free rides and DJ entertainment for people waiting for the trains. I’m certain that our guests left Philly with wonderful memories.

Joseph Grinkewicz, Philadelphia

Scientific research

Thank you, Ayaan Shah for your op-ed on how a new proposal in Washington could gut American science. For those who missed it, I share the following.

How would you like to go to your doctor’s office with a medical need (important to you) only to be told by the person responsible for scheduling office visits, that you would not be put on the schedule because your needs were not in “the national interest.”

This is what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing in its published 100-page proposed rules. This is a plan to restructure who gets to cut research funding and decide which studies are allowed.

The OMB plan is to have political appointees make decisions about whether or not rigorous, peer-reviewed grant proposals get approved and which grants in process are allowed to continue. People with no experience, unqualified to make scientific evaluations will determine what will affect all of us in the years ahead.

And, ask yourself like I have, what is “the national interest” anymore and why do unqualified people get to define this term in the various offices they hold? This is another test of loyalty to the administration. One that will hurt all of us and generations to come. So — speak your mind. Share your stories of why scientific research decisions must remain in the hands of those with knowledge, not the gatekeeper who is not qualified.

Judy Endicott, Dresher

Uncomfortable truths

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) recently stated that he would leave the Democratic Party if it became anti-Israel and did not support Israel’s right to defend itself.

But destroying the means of sustaining human life in Gaza is not self-defense. This includes Israel’s devastation of Gaza’s fields, orchards, greenhouses, water infrastructure, and homes.

After the ceasefire began, Israel destroyed an additional 1,500 buildings in Gaza. Multiple United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups also report that Israel has blocked or severely restricted shelter supplies, including tarps, timber, plywood, and sandbags from entering the Gaza Strip. Families are forced to live in permanent tent cities, with their makeshift homes infested with rats and parasites.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble. And the world isn’t stopping us.”

Being pro-Israel should not mean downplaying or denying the atrocities Israel has committed.

Terry Hansen, Grafton, Wis.

Storm cleanup

The microbursts on Saturday uprooted at least four large trees within five blocks of my house. The electricity was out and my neighbors and I figured it was going to take a long time to recover. Peco was on our block within four hours to get the electricity back on. Tree specialists came out the next day to get the trees off destroyed cars and out of the streets.

Neighbors made new friends, consoling and supporting each other.

Thanks to the city for a quick and efficient response!

David Tatgenhorst, Philadelphia

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

Affordability challenge

The Democratic National Committee should require each presidential candidate — as a condition of receiving campaign financing support — to issue at least one press release a week on affordability. There is no issue that is going to be more important to voters in the midterms or in 2028 than their ability to afford food, housing, and healthcare. Not abortion, not LGBTQ issues — nothing takes precedence over being able to afford your own food, housing, and healthcare. The president dangles so many alluring targets for commentary — the failed war in Iran, the grift, and of course, the algae and peeling paint in the Reflecting Pool. But don’t be sidetracked, Democrats: What people care about is their money. Get on it. At least one piece a week solely on affordability. You can thank me later.

Linda Falcao, Baltimore

Personal option needed

The Editorial Board is right: Washington is failing patients. But a public option would only make things worse.

The Inquirer’s editorial claims five insurers have “earned” $9 trillion since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. But that’s a misleading figure because it represents revenue, not profit.

Those companies made a combined $371 billion in net income over that period — a 4.1% margin (low compared with other industries), or roughly $25 billion a year. Against the nearly $5 trillion Americans spend on healthcare annually, that’s about one-half of one percent. Insurer profit isn’t driving the affordability crisis.

The ACA has already pushed America toward government-managed healthcare, consolidated insurers, and increased premiums. A public option would deepen that path.

Canada’s median wait for specialist care now runs nearly 29 weeks, and the U.K. has more than 7 million patients on its waiting list. This rationing isn’t incidental; it’s how governments control costs when a fixed budget meets unlimited demand.

The real fix is to empower patients. This means enacting price transparency, expanding telemedicine, and allowing nurse practitioners and pharmacists to practice the full extent of their training. But that’s just the beginning of getting government out of the way of affordable care.

Andrew Lewis, president and CEO, Commonwealth Foundation

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

Protect democracy

Your recent editorial on Donald Trump’s losses in the courts and elsewhere correctly described as historic the mounting damage caused by his corruption, incompetence, and cruelty. You also pointed out that Trump is never more dangerous than when he is losing. That said, I don’t think you went far enough by calling on readers to hold Trump and his GOP enablers accountable by voting in the midterms. What makes you think Trump will accept the November results if he is not completely successful in suppressing the vote? Here’s a more effective action plan: Impeach Trump for treason and remove him from office before he subverts the next election. Treason is specifically defined among the constitutional grounds for impeachment, and treason is what Trump has committed repeatedly. He instigated an attack on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, and indiscriminately pardoned hundreds of the attackers. More recently he pardoned the former president of Honduras who was convicted by a jury of conspiring to smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine into our country. These acts — giving aid comfort to the enemies of the United States — meet the definition of treason. Notably, Trump has ordered the summary execution of hundreds of noncombatants suspected of lesser crimes. If we follow the Constitution and hold the wrongdoer-in-chief accountable, we will be able to vote — and have our votes count.

Peter Pinnola, Elkins Park

No-fail consequences

The recent article in which some teachers say that there is essentially a “no fail” policy in Philadelphia public schools should incite a community discussion about the consequences of such a policy. To this reader, the policy of passing students to the next grade even though they have not shown up for class — nor completed basic classroom assignments, nor mastered even minimal requirements — is teaching those young people that they can succeed without any effort on their part. Such a policy teaches children to be irresponsible. Why take any personal responsibility to earn your achievements when your success of being promoted is preordained?

Students need to enter the school year knowing that they are responsible for attending class.

They are responsible for completing assignments.

They are responsible for achieving some mastery of the classroom curriculum.

This is the way the world works. As they grow up, they need to realize that the world does not give them a free pass. They need to learn to be responsible individuals.

William Cooney Jr., Philadelphia

Mr. Trillionaire

Now that Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire, let’s help him figure out what to do with this unfathomable amount of money. Start with paying taxes. Roughly 20% of his worth would certainly help our Social Security fund. Then there is public education, the arts, healthcare, scientific studies — and all the other things that he and DOGE eviscerated. I don’t think he’d even miss a few billion here or there.

Barbara Gold, Philadelphia

…

A year after Elon Musk all but wiped out U.S. aid to the poorest people on the planet, he has become the world’s first trillionaire.

Because the U.S. Agency for International Development, where I served for 14 years, was eliminated, hundreds of thousands of people have died — including more than 500,000 children. The Lancet concluded that by 2030, aid cuts could lead to 9.4 million additional deaths; 2.5 million are projected deaths of young children. Ebola is one of many deadly diseases on the rise in USAID’s absence; others include bird flu, mpox, HIV/AIDS, diphtheria, polio, and measles. The economic fallout from the ruinous war with Iran is having catastrophic effects on the world’s most vulnerable people overseas, as well as on all of us here at home who are facing the highest inflation rates in years.

Meanwhile, Musk’s graduation from unaccountable billionaire to unaccountable trillionaire is a galling example of the unprecedented amounts of wealth and power we’re currently witnessing elites accrue.

We can change this reality only by fixing our broken politics: organizing, demanding more from our elected officials, and electing new leadership willing to actually fight corruption and the tech oligarchs threatening our air, water, privacy, and jobs. Our communities, livelihoods, and values are worth the fight.

Maura O’Brien, Ardmore

Keep fields natural

It’s disheartening to see that Major League Baseball plans to install artificial turf at Richie Ashburn Fields in FDR Park, replacing natural grass that was beautifully maintained by the Phillies.

That’s three more acres of turf that potentially exposes kids to cancer-causing forever chemicals, in addition to the 30 acres that the city and the Fairmount Park Conservancy plan to install in the FDR Meadows.

All artificial turf contains PFAS, the “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, and more. The city itself has sued PFAS makers over these risks, and The Inquirer has reported on them several time in recent years — including a gut-wrenching article on the Phillies players who died of brain cancer after exposure at the Vet.

Aside from the PFAS, artificial turf has other serious liabilities — it becomes dangerously hot, increases injuries, sheds microplastics, and contributes to climate change, especially when it replaces grass fields, meadows, or woodlands.

There’s no excuse for endangering our kids’ health and future. They deserve safe, healthy fields, and that means grass, not plastic.

Rich Garella, Philadelphia

Sports tix surcharge

Why not try to add a “schoolkids surcharge” of $1 (yes, just $1) to all Philly sporting events tickets. Let the “team spirit” of the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, Union, and any other willing teams spread to our very needy school kids and their respective classroom and building needs.

That way all the fans can earn an easy A+.

Lynn Taylor Morawski, Abington

Fund solar

Regarding your recent editorial on the budgeting process in City Hall and Harrisburg, while an on-time budget is important, a budget is also a chance to make Pennsylvania a better place to live. In an effort to help clean up our air, I advocated for a state budget that includes more renewable energy at PennEnvironment’s recent clean energy Lobby Day.

Air quality here in Philly, and in many metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania, is so bad that it’s often unhealthy to breathe. Each day, it becomes more clear that we must move toward clean, renewable energy sources that don’t pollute our air and threaten our health. While Harrisburg works to meet this year’s June 30 budget deadline, I urged our legislators to fund the Solar for Schools program to ensure that clean, solar energy is what powers our schools.

I believe that Pennsylvania communities deserve a healthy and livable future, and together we can make that happen.

Kaovya Vel, Pennsylvania

Moderate moniker

The Inquirer’s fine writing and reporting notwithstanding, I do wish your paper and other media outlets would correctly refer to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick as “so-called moderate” rather than anointing him as such without the qualifier, as in a recent article. Yes, he sometimes works with Democrats to vote against egregious GOP legislation, but that doesn’t make him a moderate. The late Sen. Edward Kennedy sometimes worked with and voted with arch-conservative Sen. Orrin Hatch, but no one called Sen. Kennedy a moderate. Some statistics show that Fitzpatrick is not in lockstep with the MAGA GOP majority, while a drill-down of his voting record shows that on substantive issues he consistently votes with his party.

Therefore, the accurate way for the Fourth Estate to describe Fitzpatrick is “Republican Brian Fitzpatrick” or “U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.” Leave it to the voters to determine if he’s a moderate or not.

Scott Chelemer, Mount Laurel

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

Birthday spectacle

Donald Trump built an arena at the White House to stage a UFC fight on his birthday. It is an abomination, which means it is loathsome and disgusting. Not only is it disgusting to look at but also detestable for the violence and greed it displays and promotes. The “fight scape” should be revolting to those who appreciate American constitutional values.

I want to point out that the arena is an abomination in the matter of religious faith, too. Biblically speaking, an abomination was (and is) something ritually and ethically repugnant to God and to those who follow a religious path. Called “detestable things,” abominations were objects associated with idolatry and heathen deities, unclean or prohibited foods, and offensive violation of religious customs. A revolting example of this was the attempt by the Roman emperor Caligula, in 40 A.D., to have his statue erected in the temple in Jerusalem.

The arena is another effort by President Trump to spread his name, image, and likeness in areas of American public life, so he can stand foremost in the eyes of our nation’s people. His face is on banners, and his name is on buildings. He has his (blessed) statue. He’s looking for approval and idolization, but these attempts strike me more like a meandering dog profanely marking his territory.

His birthday festival usurped Flag Day. Trump appeared as the main attraction for his birthday — and he will also make July Fourth all about himself as well. His UFC fights happened. He hinted that the arena may stay up beyond that date. What for? Maybe he will try to establish new gladiatorial games holding matches between UFC champions and Mr. Trump’s “enemies.” What could be more detestable? That’s a big “thumbs down.” We already have enough bloodshed, corruption, and violence. One abomination at the White House is already too many.

The Rev. Jack McAnlis, Langhorne

Water weaponized

A reported U.S. attack on two water reservoirs in southern Iran shortly before the ceasefire was announced left 20,000 people without access to drinking water, according to the Mizan news agency in Iran. In a statement, the local Iranian water utility company said the reservoirs were “targeted and completely destroyed” in the U.S. strikes in the Bemani area of Sirik in Iran. If true, it would be a crime against humanity, something no American would want our country to do.

Andrew Mills, Lower Gwynedd

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.