Enforce the law
Police Commissioner Bethel is beginning a crackdown on ATVs, which is all to the good. Yet I was disturbed about the recent incident at the Ben Franklin Bridge.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked traffic at the foot of the bridge for half an hour. It appears little was done to stop them. They proudly announced to a TV crew that they had the moral “right” — and tough luck for those stuck on the bridge.
The media did not ask people trapped in their cars how they felt. Imagine being trapped on a large bridge and needing a doctor, or even a bathroom? Suppose someone had a panic attack, or heart attack?
This is so typical of our city. The streets are a war zone, with blasting stereos, blacked-out windows, cars with expired tags, drivers with no insurance — all abusing the people who live within the law.
I am tired of paying massive taxes to a city that does nothing to defend my rights, if only the right to be left alone. If I was on that bridge and had a stroke — nobody would take responsibility. The burden would be on me.
Maybe what we need is a massive civil disobedience protest in wealthy Center City, demanding our tax dollars be returned to us when public safety laws are not enforced. (You can bet we’d be the ones who get arrested.)
I hope Commissioner Bethel will crack down on all unlawful behavior on our streets. It’s about time. We cannot use Larry Krasner as the generic excuse for not enforcing the law.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Authoritarianism
This is in response to writer Arthur Gurmankin’s June 26 response to John Farley’s opinion on Donald Trump’s Asking for a vote, where Gurmankin claims Trump is pretending to be something he is not. Your article is well written and goes right to your point that Trump is really an authoritarian intent on dismantling our democracy. Gimme a break, sir, are we supposed to pretend that Donald Trump was not president 2016 thru 2020 yet committed not one of the fear-mongering atrocities to our country you and your party constantly ramble about? Please stop it with the Jan. 6 nonsense, it is like the WNBA – nobody cares.
Are we supposed to pretend that our current government is not intent on flooding our country and financial system with millions of immigrants purely to stay in power? The only authoritarian government I have seen lately is trying to lock up the only person standing in their way of remaining in power.
Everybody knows Joe Biden is incompetent and his behavior at the debate was no different than the last three years. The only difference is our fraud media and Democratic party have once again been exposed for the lies they have been claiming about Joe’s health and competence. I suppose they figured they know what is best for us, right? Mr. Gurmankin, whom may I ask is behaving authoritarian?
Steve Madden
Mayfair
Throw the bums out
Why do Republican politicians constantly tell us how bad things are while Democratic politicians constantly tell us how good things are? They are both lying. Wake up, America. Throw the bums out and demand term limits for all.
Mark S. Ritter
Tacony
Fact checking, please
CNN failed in its journalistic responsibility to help the public sort out fact from fiction. While debate moderators should refrain from interfering with each side’s interpretation of events, they must assure that the public can come to conclusions based upon a groundwork of essential facts. During the Biden-Trump debate there were numerous opportunities to substantiate observable easily documented evidence of out-and-out lies. Technological advances make it possible to fact check nearly instantaneously as is now done at sports events. Not one misstatement was corrected.
There can be no civilized debate in any journalistic schoolyard where bullies are permitted to beat up the truth and throw away the rulebooks. The national audience can never be reassembled to rectify factual corrections of boldfaced lies and omissions. Just as there are only so many ways you can stop school-age bullies without the school disciplinarian looming overhead, there are only so many times you can keep saying, “That’s not true, “You’re lying,” “That’s a lie” without requiring backing from an authoritative source for credibility. Where was that authority?
Edwin H. Smith
Somerton
Freedom gone berserk
Headline: “Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters arrested at University of Virginia”
For these protesters who need a history lesson, University of Virginia was founded by one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, in 1819.
Thomas Jefferson encouraged religious freedom and planned that his university accept students of all “religious persuasions,” and included a full library of texts from Christian history as well as from all other religions, open and available to students of all faiths.
He went to say that, “No man has power to let another prescribe his faith onto others, and that all are entitled to the free exercise of religion.”
And here we are in 2024, we have protesters not only on the University of Virginia, but on college campuses throughout the nation intimidating, harassing, threatening and assaulting people of the Jewish faith.
Jefferson started his university to be an “academic village,” a place to exercise any modes of worship whatsoever, without constraints or prejudices, as well as to foster open discussions in which students and faculty could learn from one another to share academic excellence.
That’s certainly not holding true today on college campuses.
Higher learning has gone from academic integrity to hateful, hostile antisemitic spiel.
Al Ulus
Somerton
