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Category: Opinion

  • Nothing about Trump’s ballroom benefits us

    Nothing about Trump’s ballroom benefits us

    The White House is the People’s House. Period. It is public property that was paid for by us, built by us, and is maintained by us. And no matter who its current occupants are, we still own that building.

    Yet, we weren’t asked if we wanted a new 90,000-square-foot, mega-ballroom decorated with gold and who-knows-what-else to be added onto our house. But it’s a ballroom we’re getting from President Donald Trump, whether we like it or not. (Count me in the latter group.)

    I agree with those who say the design is tacky. I also agree with those who say we don’t really need it — especially when there is so much our fellow Americans actually need these days.

    The project, which will, of course, be called the Trump Ballroom, is projected to cost $300 million. The president says it will be paid for “100% by me and some friends of mine.”

    Sure. Just like the wall he promised to build and get Mexico to pay for. Same thing with his plan to produce a viable alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

    But even if construction costs are covered, taxpayers will get stuck with paying for maintenance and upkeep.

    A handout rendering of the interior of a “$200 million ballroom” in the East Wing of the White House that was announced by the Trump administration in July. The cost of building it has gone up since then — it is currently estimated at $300 million.

    Between high grocery bills, rising healthcare costs, over-the-top housing prices, and everything else that’s going on right now, building an addition onto the White House should be the lowest Trump priority.

    Yet, the project was very much on the president’s mind Sunday night because he boasted about it on Truth Social, claiming “it will be, at its completion, the most beautiful and spectacular Ballroom anywhere in the World!”

    But for a lot of us, the old East Wing, which was demolished to make way for the Trump Ballroom, was beautiful and spectacular on its own. That includes former first lady Michelle Obama, whose office was once located in the East Wing.

    Just last week, she described on the Jamie Kern Lima podcast what a jarring experience the demolition was for her. “It’s not about me, it’s about us and our traditions and what they stand for,” the former first lady explained. “I think in my body I felt confusion because I’m like, ‘Well, who are we? What do we value and who decides that?’”

    I grew up in Washington, D.C., just seven miles away from the White House. But it could have been a thousand miles away. I felt completely disconnected from the historic landmark and what took place there.

    That is, until Obama moved in with her family. She was the first person whom I ever heard refer to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as “the People’s House.” Putting it that way made me feel welcome. It gave me a sense of ownership. I loved how she reminded Americans of that shared ownership throughout her family’s eight years in the White House.

    Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks about her new book “The Look” during an event at Sixth and I Streets in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12.

    Trump supporters are quick to point out that the Obamas themselves made additions to the White House grounds. When he was in office, President Barack Obama painted lines on an existing tennis court and added basketball hoops. But those are minuscule changes compared with Trump’s addition, which would be almost double the size of the White House itself.

    I listened to Obama’s comments about the White House on the Kern podcast a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the most American traditions we celebrate.

    And as I mulled over her words, I thought about how, no matter what we think of them, U.S. presidents come and go from their official residence, but the building remains a stalwart symbol of the nation’s highest office.

    A Christmas tree decorates the White House on Monday during a preview of its Christmas decorations, which are themed “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”

    The theme of this year’s White House Christmas decor is “Home Is Where the Heart Is.” But we have to remember that home is ours; Trump is merely a temporary guest at the executive mansion. It still belongs to us, the American people. Period.

  • Trump dismisses affordability concerns as he rakes in billions. Most Americans aren’t that lucky. | Editorial

    Trump dismisses affordability concerns as he rakes in billions. Most Americans aren’t that lucky. | Editorial

    Donald Trump had a blunt message for anyone struggling to make ends meet: He does not feel your pain.

    During a lengthy cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president called the issue of affordability a “fake narrative.”

    Between nodding off and a racist rant, Trump declared during the gathering that the cost-of-living squeeze felt by millions of Americans “doesn’t mean anything to anybody.”

    Polls show affordability is the top issue facing Americans. But Trump claimed all the talk about affordability was a “con job.”

    So who is conning whom?

    Trump ran for office last year on the promise to lower prices, end the war in Ukraine, and release the Jeffrey Epstein files. He’s done none of it.

    “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,” he said in August 2024.

    Yes, the much-ballyhooed price of eggs has come down, but overall grocery costs have increased.

    For example, beef prices are up 14% this year and expected to soar next year because of fewer cattle. Coffee prices are the highest in decades due to drought and Trump’s tariffs.

    Killing of suspected traffickers at sea was already abhorrent. Hegseth may have made it a war crime. | Editorial

    Companies tried to shield consumers from higher prices brought on by Trump’s erratic trade war. But more prices are starting to rise as tariffs have driven up costs on a wide range of products, including clothes, shoes, toys, electronics, cars, and homes.

    Affordability is more than egg prices.

    Millions of Americans are struggling to keep up. A Wall Street portfolio manager argued that after factoring in the cost of childcare, housing, healthcare, and other essentials, the real poverty line for a family of four should be $140,000.

    The median household income in the U.S. is about $84,000. In Philadelphia, it is $60,000.

    While presidents don’t control prices, Trump’s countless chaotic actions have contributed to the growing costs many Americans face.

    An employee works at a cash register in a grocery store in Schaumburg, Ill., in September. Donald Trump campaigned on lowering prices, but overall grocery costs have increased, writes the Editorial Board.

    Polls show home prices and rental costs are among the top affordability issues. Trump’s tariffs on timber, furniture, and cabinets have fueled the increase in housing affordability.

    Trump’s crackdown on immigrants — who account for one-third of construction workers — is leading to a labor shortage and further driving up home prices.

    Elevated mortgage rates, property tax hikes, and higher insurance premiums from more intense storms are also adding to housing expenses.

    The affordability crisis is so bad that the average first-time home buyer is 40 years old.

    Trump also promised to cut energy prices in half, but that has not happened. Many homeowners and businesses have been hit with sharp increases in electricity bills.

    The price hikes vary by state. A booming demand by data centers sent prices up 20% in New Jersey, while utility companies in California have passed on the cost to rebuild after devastating wildfires.

    It’s Trump — not service members — who could benefit from a reminder about following the law | Editorial

    Trump has also contributed to the higher utility costs after his One Big Beautiful Bill slashed tax incentives for wind and solar energy projects.

    Many Americans are falling behind. Household debt levels — which include mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and student loans — are at a record high, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    Many are also rightly worried about their jobs. The unemployment rate hit its highest since 2021, and a record number of small businesses have filed for bankruptcy this year, along with several large companies such as Spirit Airlines, Claire’s, and First Brands.

    About 300,000 federal workers lost their jobs under Trump. U.S.-based companies have shed more than one million jobs through October of this year, a 65% increase from the period in 2024.

    Trump keeps blaming former President Joe Biden for the economic trouble. While inflation spiked under Biden, there was record job growth. Just weeks before the November 2024 election, the Economist magazine said the U.S. economy was “the envy of the world.”

    Despite Trump’s effort to dismiss affordability concerns, many Americans now blame him for the higher costs.

    Meanwhile, the rich get richer. The wealthiest 10% of Americans added $5 trillion to their fortunes in just the second quarter of 2025. And Trump’s net worth has increased by $3 billion this year.

    Now there is the real con job.

  • New study on historic districts counters claim preservation limits development, housing

    New study on historic districts counters claim preservation limits development, housing

    For years, preservationists have countered claims that historic designation limits development and housing supply. Some neighborhood groups have gone as far as filing petitions to oppose new historic districts in Philadelphia on these grounds.

    Until recently, there was little data to challenge these assumptions. That changed when the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia commissioned PlaceEconomics to study preservation’s impact in Philadelphia.

    Although only about 5% of the city’s land and 4.4% of its buildings are listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places — up from just 2.2% in 2016 — that expansion in designations shows how Philadelphia has begun to catch up with peer cities. This growth reflects both resident advocacy and the city’s expanded preservation capacity, which were spurred by efforts under Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration, including the convening of a Historic Preservation Task Force.

    The new report produced striking findings that flip the old narrative on its head: that preservation constricts housing supply and reduces density.

    In fact, the data show preservation supports growth and density. Population density in historic districts is 34% higher than in other neighborhoods, and housing units there grew 26% over the past decade, nearly triple the citywide rate.

    The study also found that older neighborhoods are becoming more diverse, with preservation helping sustain racial and economic inclusion. Nonwhite homeownership in these areas is rising faster than in the city as a whole, a clear sign that maintaining older housing can open doors to opportunity, not close them.

    It’s evidence that preserving the city’s older housing stock is a key component of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s H.O.M.E. Initiative to provide new affordable housing opportunities. Investing in these neighborhoods will support the growth of homeownership for Black and Hispanic populations.

    The 1500 block of Christian Street in the historic Black neighborhood nicknamed “Doctors Row,” photographed in 2021.

    Beyond the data, historic neighborhoods offer beauty, character, and a sense of place that newer developments often struggle to match. Built long before cars shaped our neighborhoods, these areas were designed for people: compact, walkable, and full of architectural variety. Their mix of rowhouses, corner stores, and small apartment buildings naturally creates the kind of density and vibrancy that newer communities struggle to emulate.

    Moreover, many older neighborhoods were built at a time when transportation options were more limited, such as walking and transit, causing them to be more densely developed than later, automobile-oriented areas of the city. These neighborhoods were often built with a wide variety of housing types, including multifamily buildings that are inherently denser than neighborhoods of primarily single-family homes.

    Historic districts are simply desirable places to live. And that attracts housing developers seeking to put up new housing, whether on vacant lots or on parcels containing “noncontributing” properties, which can be demolished under Philadelphia Historical Commission regulations.

    Philadelphia has one of America’s richest histories. Why aren’t we doing more to protect it? | Opinion

    These and other new buildings constructed within historic districts in recent years have been subject to Historical Commission review to ensure they do not detract from the character of the historic districts in which they were built.

    Preservation also fuels local jobs and investment. Philadelphia ranks among the nation’s leaders in historic tax credit projects, which, since 2010, have generated roughly 2,500 jobs and $141 million in annual labor income — a steady return that proves preservation is as much an economic strategy as a cultural one.

    Historic districts are living, breathing neighborhoods that welcome both new housing and new residents. The findings from the latest study should put to rest some of the more persistent claims of preservation’s detractors.

    Paul Steinke is the executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.

  • Letters to the Editor | Dec. 4, 2025

    Letters to the Editor | Dec. 4, 2025

    As I say, not as I do

    The president was highly critical of universities for protests he claimed were antisemitic. We did not hear a peep from the president, though, when Young Republicans in chat rooms used repugnant, antisemitic language, or when Tucker Carlson chatted on his podcast with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

    The president asked Republicans to release the Jeffrey Epstein files just 48 hours after he applied intense pressure on Lauren Boebert to change her vote on the discharge petition, which would have kept the files in the dark shadows where they have been for the last decade.

    As we seem to get closer and closer to military engagement in Venezuela, under the guise of stopping the flow of illegal drugs, our president has announced his plan to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras and a convicted drug trafficker.

    I appreciate the way The Inquirer has covered these stories, and I hope you will continue to shine a light on these obscene examples of the president’s hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy.

    Rob Howard, Rosemont

    . . .

    Donald Trump announced a “full and complete pardon” for Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison. He was found guilty, in a U.S. federal court, of conspiring to import cocaine into our country. In 2024, there were an estimated 1.3 million Americans aged 12 and older addicted to cocaine.

    Trump has murdered more than 80 people he suspected, with no evidence, of planning to bring drugs into our country.

    For Trump, being in a fast boat near the U.S. is proof enough of guilt, but a conviction in federal court is not. How’s that for a rational, effective drug policy?

    Is it possible that dirty drug money can buy a full and complete pardon?

    James A. Morano, New Britain Township

    Weaponizing truth

    I strongly disagree with Jonathan Zimmerman’s premise that calling the president a fascist doesn’t do anything to advance the Democrats’ cause. It’s similar to what happened almost 100 years ago in Europe when the Jewish people were saying the Nazi Party was dangerous and would destroy Germany. But that warning went unheeded.

    This isn’t an etiquette class or an English course at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Zimmerman; it’s the cold, hard world we’re living in. We should all be polite, but Donald Trump isn’t. He’s a bully, a name-caller, and he threatens people. Like those fascist Nazis 100 years ago, the MAGA movement, Project 2025, and Trump are all a threat to our democracy. If we don’t call Trump out for being the hateful, fascist liar he is — because it wouldn’t be nice or effective — what do you think is gonna happen? It’s gonna give Trump and his followers a signal that they can do even worse. Just look at Karoline Leavitt, Trump‘s press secretary, who usually responds to reporters’ questions as Trump does, with insults and division. And she’s been doing that since Day One. Zimmerman wants us to remain quiet about that?

    Michael Miller Jr., Philadelphia, michamille@comcast.net

    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.

  • Follow the money to understand Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine

    Follow the money to understand Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine

    The Wall Street Journal nailed it last week with a headline that read, “Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine.”

    That headline captures why the president is so eager to end Vladimir Putin’s war by sacrificing the Ukrainian victim to the Russian aggressor. And it helps explain why Donald Trump’s negotiators are returning home from Moscow empty-handed again.

    Without this explanation, it’s hard to grasp how Trump endorsed a 28-point “peace” plan for Ukraine based on direct input from a Kremlin negotiator, without any Ukrainian or European consultation. (Although a “revised” plan still favors Moscow, Putin continues to demand even more than the initial version.)

    Yes, Trump’s unending quest for a Nobel Peace Prize and his infatuation with the Russian despot figure into his kowtow to Putin. But I believe the Journal’s call to “follow the money” is right on the ruble.

    Trump’s capitulation to the Kremlin shames our country even more than the U.S. killing of civilians clinging to a burned-out Venezuelan boat.

    The Journal’s exposé details how Moscow’s representative sold Trump and his team on the idea they could get inside access to immense riches in Russia if the war were stopped quickly on Putin’s terms. Never mind that meant betraying NATO allies as well as Ukraine.

    Indeed, the Kremlin has long dangled visions of lucrative deals before the White House in an effort to woo the president. Putin has used wealthy Russian businessmen to develop contacts with the Trump administration, dating back to 2016.

    Kirill Dmitriev, the key Russian negotiator in Ukraine talks and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is the main salesman for a grandiose future that enhances certain Americans’ wealth.

    Trump’s pro-Kremlin ‘peace’ plan for Ukraine will encourage Putin to wage more war | Trudy Rubin

    The Harvard-educated Dmitriev, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, has cleverly played on the greed and naivete of Steve Witkoff and first son-in-law Jared Kushner, real estate moguls turned Trump peace negotiators. He convinced the pair — at a secret meeting at Witkoff’s Miami waterfront mansion in October — to view Russia not as a military threat, but as a cornucopia of investment possibilities to which friendly U.S. investors would have early access.

    That vision depends, of course, on the end of the war, the lifting of sanctions against Russia, and the U.S. welcoming Moscow back into the global economy.

    It was Dmitriev who provided much of the input into the infamous 28-point Trump plan that read like Russian talking points. The proposal made no demands on the Russian aggressor, but required Ukraine give up key defensive positions and land it still controls while shrinking and disarming its military.

    Equally outrageous, however, were the points that called for using much of Russia’s $200 billion-plus of frozen assets in European banks to invest in a U.S.-Russian investment “vehicle” to implement “joint projects” (and much of the rest to facilitate U.S. investment in Ukraine, from which the Americans would take 50% of the profits).

    This is the money the European Union still hopes to use as collateral for loans to arm Ukraine against further Russian advances, or to rebuild in peacetime. Yet, the Trumpers and Russians proposed to seize it — with no input from European allies — to feather U.S. and Russian business nests.

    In this photo provided by the Ukrainian president’s office, President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) shakes hands with U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll in Kyiv, Ukraine, in November.

    As for Witkoff, he is so deep in Russia’s pocket that he was recently heard on a leaked tape tutoring a Russian negotiator on how to win over Trump.

    Meantime, the president, indifferent to the public revelation of U.S.-Russian complicity, continues to send Witkoff on repeated trips to Moscow to negotiate with Putin. Witkoff has never once visited Ukraine.

    The Journal lays out how Dmitriev dangled before Witkoff and Kushner visions of joint U.S.-Russian exploitation of Arctic mineral wealth, and a potential joint mission to Mars with SpaceX, along with multimillion-dollar rare earth deals.

    The Russian money man played brilliantly on Trump’s misguided belief that business deals matter more than sovereignty and can paper over messy and dangerous political disputes — or invasions. Especially if U.S. investors get an inside piece of the action.

    Never mind that this crass theory has already been proven false in Gaza, where Trump still can’t grasp that grandiose visions of prosperity won’t come true when underlying political grievances remain unsettled. Although the Israeli hostages were returned, the rest of Trump’s peace plan is near collapse.

    As for the Ukraine plan, the idea that U.S. investments in Russia (or in Ukrainian rare earths) would prevent further military action is an ahistorical delusion. U.S. investments in both countries did not prevent Moscow from invading Ukraine in 2014 or 2022.

    ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’ captures the horror and the hope of Ukraine’s battle against Russia | Trudy Rubin

    Putin’s goal is to subordinate Kyiv to Russian domination. If he can’t do it militarily, he will be happy to advance this goal via a peace plan he will surely violate, as he has done with every accord he has previously made with Ukraine. Trump’s dreams of billions in profits will also go down the drain as Putin pursues his dream of conquest.

    POTUS and his real estate pals may think they are New York tough, but Moscow is not the Big Apple.

    Russia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world (154th out of 180 countries, according to Transparency International). Bribery, seizure of huge sums, or nationalization are employed at will by Putin and his oligarch cronies.

    Just consider the experience of William Browder, an American-born British citizen who built up the Heritage Fund into the largest foreign investment portfolio in Russia in the 1990s until he protested government corruption. The Kremlin expelled Browder in 2005 and attempted to assassinate him abroad.

    When Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, challenged a Russian attempt to steal $230 million in taxes that the fund had already paid, his offices were raided. Magnitsky was arrested, tortured, and killed in prison in 2009.

    I spoke with Browder by phone from London, and he had nothing but scorn for the ignorance of the Trump team. “Steve Witkoff and all his pals are not going to make a penny from the Russians,” he told me. “The Russians have a long history of enticing Americans and foreigners. They will defraud, arrest, cheat, and even murder you to prevent you from making a penny.

    “They are masters of expropriation. Every foreign investor has been burned.”

    The tragedy is that Trump, Witkoff and Kushner are willing to burn Ukraine in their quest for more wealth.

  • Manufactured ‘fraud’ narrative threatens veterans’ disability benefits

    Manufactured ‘fraud’ narrative threatens veterans’ disability benefits

    In the five-county Philadelphia region, nearly 34,000 veterans depend on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits. These benefits are not just a lifeline; they are a powerful economic engine that pumps nearly $955 million into our local economy every year.

    But on Oct. 29, the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing to “reform” the disability system, laying the groundwork to gut this vital support by using a false narrative that targets the very veterans who need it most.

    The hearing was built around a proposal by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) to create a commission similar to a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) procedure to fast-track changes, and by the testimony of one star witness, Daniel Gade.

    Gade, a retired Army colonel, professor, and disabilities activist who was badly wounded in Iraq and is now running for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia, argued that disability benefits “rob veterans of purpose” and that conditions like tinnitus and hypertension should not be compensated.

    As a Navy veteran and a medical student, I was alarmed by the medical and data-driven inaccuracies used to justify this attack.

    Questioning PTSD

    Gade’s claim that PTSD is “curable,” and thus shouldn’t be permanently compensated, is medically false. As any first-year medical student knows, post-traumatic stress disorder is a chronic condition that, at best, can be managed into remission. It is not “cured.”

    Gade’s dismissal of hypertension as a “lifestyle” condition is equally dangerous. As the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has testified, hypertension is scientifically linked to military service and associated with common toxic exposures to Agent Orange and other toxic substances. These conditions are not lifestyle choices; they are the documented, latent wounds of military service.

    The entire premise for this “reform” is based on a manufactured narrative of “massive fraud.” This is statistical fiction.

    My research at Temple University involves analyzing large medical data sets, and the data here is clear: The fraud narrative is a myth. The DAV’s testimony confirmed that the VA sees “fewer than 200 fraud convictions annually” out of nearly “3 million claims.” That is a fraud conviction rate of less than 1/100th of 1%.

    This isn’t just a national story. This rhetoric insults the 33,816 veterans in the Philadelphia region who receive these earned benefits.

    If the committee truly wants to find waste, it should focus on real problems, which were detailed by the VA’s own watchdogs at the same hearing.

    VA Inspector General Cheryl L. Mason focused her testimony on the real issue: predatory “claim sharks” and systemic management challenges, as outlined in an inspector general’s report on the Philadelphia office. The VA’s own data show its problems are internal, not with the veterans it serves.

    Dangerous distraction

    In other words, the “veteran fraud” narrative is a dangerous distraction from the real problem: a broken VA disability system. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed, confirming that the system has been on its “High Risk List” since 2003 due to “longstanding challenges” concerning oversight and training.

    Exterior of Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Regional Benefit Office, 5000 Wissahickon Ave.

    This is where reform is needed. Don’t misplace blame on veterans for the VA’s own systemic failures.

    While Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman do not sit on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the financial stability of over 33,000 of their constituents, and nearly a billion dollars in our local economy, is on the line.

    I urge them to publicly oppose this dangerous commission and demand Congress focus on the real problems: cracking down on the claim sharks who prey on veterans, and fixing the VA management failures the watchdogs have identified for decades.

    Alyster Alcudia is a U.S. Navy veteran, a former nuclear submarine warfare officer, and a medical student in Philadelphia.

  • Letters to the Editor | Dec. 3, 2025

    Letters to the Editor | Dec. 3, 2025

    Black spot

    A recent report in the Washington Post reveals that before a Sept. 2 strike on a boat suspected of smuggling drugs, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the military to “kill them all” — a reference to the vessel’s crew. After an initial ordnance strike, two survivors were spotted clinging to wreckage. In order to comply with Hegseth’s order, an officer ordered a second missile strike on them. His blind obedience violated the standards of humane treatment of combatants during armed conflict that are clearly spelled out under the Geneva Conventions. People need to realize this incident won’t be a one-off if they don’t start condemning such tactics.

    The conventions provide that all shipwrecked sailors, civilian or military, are to be protected, and all attempts on their lives are prohibited. The opposing party must treat them humanely and not willfully deny them medical care. It requires a party to the conflict to search for and care for those who are shipwrecked. Our country violated those rules on Sept. 2.

    This incident is a stain on the Navy that no twisted excuse can erase. The report should silence the hand-wringers upset with the members of Congress who reminded military members about their duty to obey only lawful orders. The indifference to legality — or even basic humanity — that has been shown by both Hegseth and President Donald Trump necessitated that reminder. As a Navy veteran, I never thought my country would stoop to launching a missile at shipwrecked souls. Hegseth and those following his sick orders proved me wrong and made the U.S. Navy little better than the so-called narco-terrorists it is combating.

    Stewart Speck, Wynnewood, speckstewart@gmail.com

    . . .

    We can’t say we weren’t warned. Anyone who remembered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s full-throated support of Eddie Gallagher’s tactics as a Navy SEAL platoon leader in Afghanistan was aware of Hegseth’s depraved mindset about “war-fighting.” Gallagher, you may remember, was brought to trial for murder and torture of an Afghan ISIS fighter, and was magically acquitted by a surprise admission of guilt by one of his platoon members (Gallagher later admitted to killing the POW in his charge by performing “medical“ procedures on him). Hegseth, then a Fox News talking head, lobbied Donald Trump to grant clemency to Gallagher for the crime of taking a picture with the corpse. Trump pardoned the SEAL. No wonder it’s not difficult for anyone to believe Hegseth ordered the summary execution of survivors of a boat bombing who were holding on for dear life to wreckage in the open sea. Our “war” secretary sees the mission of his department as being, in his own words, to “kill people and break things.”

    What have we come to? Are our service members given license to act as sadistic thugs in war? What will happen to our own troops if they become POWs of an enemy in some future military action? God help them — and God help us all.

    PM Procacci, West Palm Beach, Fla.

    What is your legacy?

    I would love to ask each of our politicians and government officials how they believe they will be remembered once their time on this earth is at an end. Would you be remembered as an American patriot who put our country ahead of your own party and personal interests?

    Would you expect thousands of people from all corners of the political spectrum to show love, respect, and admiration while mourning your loss, as was shown to John McCain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Dick Cheney? Or would your passing be greeted with relief, or maybe not even noticed?

    Your time on this earth is limited, but history will remember you for eternity. Once you are gone, the only footprint you will have left is your legacy. Is the desire for power and wealth worth leaving behind a tarnished legacy for eternity? How do you want to be remembered?

    As an American patriot, or as a complicit part of a dark era in American history? The choice is yours; there is still time to write another chapter in your own personal history.

    Fred Shapiro, Margate

    Still loving leftovers

    I’ve worked with an international team for several years now — and this time of year is always an opportunity for me to explain our American culture around Thanksgiving. Describing the celebration of football, food, and Friday shopping that necessitates the last Thursday in November off from work must seem like Bob Cratchit asking Ebenezer Scrooge for a full day off in A Christmas Carol. So I’ve resorted to this description: parades and food.

    Turkey leftovers. Turkey soup. Turkey sandwiches. Lots of them.

    In terms of parades, there is nothing like Philadelphia’s. I still remember the Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, even though it ended when I was only 7.

    Philadelphians don’t know how lucky they are to have the best Thanksgiving Day parade around — and that’s not to mention the Mummers on New Year’s Day.

    Michael Leibrandt, Abington

    Playing nice with a tyrant

    I found Jonathan Zimmerman’s recent column — about how we should stop referring to Donald Trump as a “fascist” — both aggravating and naive.

    Mr. Zimmerman essentially wants us to “play nice” with Trump. Just like the spineless German politicians did with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. How did that turn out?

    Has Mr. Zimmerman read the nefarious, hate-riddled treatise called Project 2025?

    Or has he heard Trump call for the elimination of Democratic lawmakers? By elimination, I mean death.

    Or has he heard Trump refer to journalists as ugly, pigs, etc.?

    And the list of outrageous statements by Trump goes on and on and on — unabated and sadly often not refuted by the mainstream press.

    Donald Trump is — by his own actions — a fascist. He is, in practice, the orange Hitler.

    Europe learned a very sobering lesson in the 1930s: You can’t appease a tyrant! You must confront him on his own terms. He understands nothing else.

    Stephen R. Gring, Ocean City, N.J., University of Pennsylvania, Class of 1979

    . . .

    In his recent column, Jonathan Zimmerman argues that in order to defeat Donald Trump, we must stop calling him names. The name Mr. Zimmerman suggests we stop using is fascist. He then goes on to say he does see elements of fascism in Trump’s MAGA movement: the relentless denunciation of perceived enemies, the Big Lie about elections, and his misguided belief that he is a strongman who alone can save us. But Mr. Zimmerman thinks it’s an enormous mistake to imagine all his supporters as fascists.

    When you support a fascist, you are, in fact, a fascist. Not calling an evil by its name does not defeat it. It just denies reality. And that won’t make it go away.

    Barry Berg, Langhorne

    A must-win

    If you are not yet afraid of the damage our current president is doing by appeasing his buddy Vladimir Putin, just watch 2000 Meters to Andriivka. Just five minutes in, and my stomach was in a knot, while the Russian devil destroyed these young men’s lives. Ukrainian men in hopeless positions, with broken arms and legs, begging their fellow soldiers to leave them behind in a burned-out, desolate wasteland. Meanwhile, a French army chief is warning its citizens that they must be ready for war, and that they must accept they may lose their children when they enlist in the military and head to the battlefield. Russia cannot be given one inch of Ukrainian territory. If we don’t support Ukraine and win this war, we are truly doomed — and we may end up losing our children, as well.

    Beth Logue, 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.

  • Killing of suspected traffickers at sea was already abhorrent. Hegseth may have made it a war crime. | Editorial

    Killing of suspected traffickers at sea was already abhorrent. Hegseth may have made it a war crime. | Editorial

    Donald Trump has been quick to post videos and brag about the heinous boat strikes on suspected drug traffickers by the U.S. military.

    But now comes a report by the Washington Post that a live drone feed showed two survivors from the first attack clinging to the wreckage.

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who a year ago was working weekends at Fox News, reportedly gave a spoken directive to “kill everybody.”

    To comply with Hegseth’s instructions, the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack ordered a second strike, and the two men were then blown apart in the water, according to the Post.

    The initial strikes are barbaric enough and violate international law, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

    The second strike appears to be a war crime.

    The boat strikes have been ghastly from the start. The U.S. military doesn’t even know who is being summarily killed. One man was a fisherman, according to his family. The legality is shaky at best, hinging on a secret U.S. Department of Justice memo that no one in the Trump administration has been willing to publicly defend.

    By killing suspected drug traffickers at sea, Trump’s lawlessness enters a grim new phase | Editorial

    Even if the boats are carrying drugs, those on board should be arrested and prosecuted, not assassinated. The killings are akin to if the Philadelphia police decided to gun down suspected dealers standing on the corner in Kensington.

    How does Trump reconcile summarily executing alleged drug runners while pardoning the former president of Honduras, who was convicted last year of taking bribes from drug cartels in return for helping to move hundreds of tons of cocaine to the U.S.?

    What do the drone killings have to do with making America great, let alone making it more affordable, as Trump promised last year?

    The boat strikes must stop, and Congress should conduct a full investigation before the United States loses whatever is left of its moral authority to lead the free world.

    Hegseth should be fired and held accountable for any wrongdoing.

    On Nov. 15, the U.S. military conducted the 21st known strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat, killing three men. The latest attack brings the total number of people killed by U.S. strikes on the alleged drug boats to 83.

    He was woefully unqualified to oversee the U.S. Department of Defense, given his lack of experience and previous allegations of excessive drinking, carousing, and financial mismanagement.

    Hegseth, who called the kill order report “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” has continued to demonstrate why he remains supremely unfit.

    He previously texted classified war plans to a journalist in advance of a separate military strike — a security breach that would get other military personnel court-martialed. Hegseth’s purging of career military leaders without cause is making America weaker.

    He initially celebrated the first boat attack. “We smoked a drug boat, and there’s 11 narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean, and when other people try to do that, they’re going to meet the same fate,” Hegseth told reporters in September.

    Since then, he has overseen more than 20 additional boat strikes, killing more than 80 people. In a social media post, he appeared to call the report fake news before adding, “Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them.”

    We’re executing people with impunity. Why are so many of us OK with this? | Luis F. Carrasco

    To underscore how unserious he is, Hegseth made light of the boat strikes by posting a mock cover of a Franklin the Turtle children’s book with a made-up title, Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.

    Trump, who handpicked Hegseth after watching him on TV, said his defense secretary told him he never gave the verbal order.

    “He says he didn’t do it,” Trump said.

    That may be good enough for Trump, but it falls far short for anyone who values the truth, international law, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Recall Trump also shamefully sided with Vladimir Putin, a foreign adversary, who claimed he didn’t interfere in the 2016 election. But a Republican-led Senate review and eight U.S. intelligence agencies found Russia meddled in the election.

    At least one top Republican in Congress said American military officials might have committed a war crime in the boat strike. “If that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that would be an illegal act,” said Rep. Mike Turner (R., Ohio), who is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

    Republicans and Democrats on two congressional committees promised to increase scrutiny of the boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific. Let’s hope that happens soon.

    The best way to get to the facts is to have Hegseth, the Special Operations commander, and other military officials involved in the boat strikes testify under oath. One benefit of recording extrajudicial killings is that there are videos and transcripts for all to see and hear.

    Let’s get all the facts out and hold any wrongdoers accountable. And let’s end the government-sanctioned killings and return to following the law.

  • Letters to the Editor | Dec. 2, 2025

    Letters to the Editor | Dec. 2, 2025

    Gun reform overdue

    A sign held by a protester at a memorial held for schoolchildren killed in an armed assault on their school read: “Thoughts & prayers don’t save lives. Gun reform will.” I am so done with people, including the president of the United States and other ranking politicos, offering their thoughts and prayers after another tragic, senseless murder. It’s long past time for Congress to enact sensible gun reform that makes gun purchasing more rigorous and difficult, and prevents those with recognized mental illness from being able to buy a lethal weapon. But this “do-nothing” Congress doesn’t even attempt to do anything without the blessing and advocacy of President Donald Trump. The president must do the right thing, the moral thing, and the courageous thing that will result in saving innocent lives and send a substantive and tough gun regulation bill to Congress.

    Mr. Trump, you said you prayed that the two members of the National Guard who were recently shot in Washington would survive. But how about you do something that might prevent the next tragedy from happening and help to keep firearms out of the hands of people who should not have them?

    Ken Derow, Swarthmore

    Unworkable geography

    The first time I looked at a map of Israel and its surrounding neighbors, it was clear to me that a “two-state solution” has always been geographically unworkable.

    No sovereign nation the size of New Jersey would willingly place itself in a position where it could be squeezed between two hostile territories on its east and west. The security risk is simply too great.

    Since 1948, Israel has faced both declared and undeclared wars on multiple fronts. That pattern began when the Arab world rejected United Nations Resolution 181, which proposed dividing the British Mandate into two states — one Arab and one Jewish. It continues to this day.

    Israel actually did withdraw from Gaza in 2005. Hamas seized power two years later and raised a generation taught to view Jews as enemies. The world saw the tragic consequences of that indoctrination on Oct. 7, 2023.

    Given this history, it is unrealistic to expect Israel to return to a territorial arrangement that once again leaves it exposed to the very threats it has faced since the moment of its birth. Any lasting agreement for the Palestinian people must begin with a structure that ensures security for both sides, not a map that repeats past mistakes.

    Lawrence Goldman, York, Pa.

    Still thankful

    As we approach the holiday season, a time of reflection and gratitude, I feel compelled as a proud American Muslim to address a persistent misconception: that Islam stands in opposition to the American way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    In fact, I would argue that the values enshrined in the American ideal, such as freedom of belief, opportunity through hard work, and equal access to education, are deeply aligned with the principles of my faith. In America, I am free to practice Islam without fear or coercion. I am encouraged to strive, to contribute, and to build a meaningful life through honest effort. My daughter has been granted the invaluable gift of education, empowering her to dream and to achieve in a way that many across the world cannot.

    Ironically, it is here in the United States, and not in some so-called Muslim countries, where I find the truest manifestation of justice, dignity, and liberty that Islam upholds. This nation, with all its imperfections, remains a place where faith and democracy coexist, where diversity is not merely tolerated but celebrated.

    For that, I am profoundly grateful. I am proud of my faith, and I am equally proud to call America my home.

    Madeel Abdullah, Garnet Valley

    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.

  • Fatigue is still a safety risk for air travel

    Fatigue is still a safety risk for air travel

    Even with the longest government shutdown in American history over, it is crucial to recognize that the menace of fatigue and its impact on air travel safety remains a serious and ongoing threat.

    Before the shutdown started on Oct. 1, air traffic controller staffing was below targeted levels, with many already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.

    The signs of stress on the system appeared immediately, as flight delays due to staffing shortages were reported at major airports, including the temporary closure of an airport control tower, affecting over five million passengers.

    These effects snowballed such that while just 11 flights were canceled between Oct. 1 and 29 because of controller staffing, the number surged to 4,162 between Oct. 30 and Nov. 9. Of those, 3,756 were between Nov. 7 and 9. To mitigate risk, an emergency order from the Federal Aviation Administration was issued, targeting a 10% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports across the country.

    A Delta Airlines plane comes in for a landing over the air traffic control tower at Denver International Airport on Nov. 9.

    As essential workers, air traffic controllers were required to work unpaid. Faced with mounting expenses, many workers took second jobs to cover their bills, cutting into their sleep. Others faced stress-induced insomnia from unpaid bills and job uncertainty. Overtime prevents recovery of sleep and increases fatigue-related error risk. Unsurprisingly, the White House warned that absenteeism among unpaid federal workers would increase.

    Even under normal conditions, irregular schedules, undiagnosed sleep disorders, and lifestyle factors contribute to fatigue-related errors. Shutdowns amplify these dangers.

    Air traffic controllers perform mentally demanding tasks requiring sustained vigilance. Controllers often work “rattler” schedules: five eight-hour shifts in four days, ending with a day shift followed by a night shift. These offer only 10 hours off between shifts, far too little for sleep recovery.

    One night of sleep loss can significantly impair performance. A 2008 University of Pennsylvania study found that sleep-deprived Transportation Security Administration agents were less able to detect weapons in bags.

    A NASA study found that 70% of air traffic controllers had nearly dozed off while actively working, and more than half of those who made operational errors cited fatigue as a contributing factor.

    Critically, people often misjudge their own level of sleepiness. One landmark study found that people rate themselves as only moderately sleepy even when their cognitive performance has significantly declined. As a result, well-intentioned workers may unknowingly put lives at risk.

    Many mistakenly believe they can overcome sleepiness through willpower and dedication to a task. However, sleepiness is not a minor inconvenience; it is a physiological condition that impairs judgment and performance.

    There is currently no real-time safety monitoring system in place that can determine whether an air traffic controller is fit for duty. The insidious effects of accumulated fatigue and stress may continue to linger long after the shutdown, as flight disruptions remain expected.

    Even though the shutdown has ended, air traffic controller leadership must take active steps, including restricting overtime, monitoring signs of fatigue, and avoiding reliance on self-reported assessments of fatigue.

    If necessary, airports should continue to scale back operations to allow workers time to rest. No one responsible for critical safety operations should be expected to perform under sustained, elevated fatigue levels.

    Allowing exhausted and compromised workers on the job is a recipe for disaster. The safety of millions depends on acknowledging the real threat of fatigue and taking immediate action to prevent avoidable disasters from becoming a reality.

    Jocelyn Y. Cheng is vice chair of the Public Safety Committee of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.