Letters to the Editor | Aug. 20, 2024

Sunday’s editorial about Donald Trump’s peculiar state of mind reminded me of the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” First published in 1837, the tale is a parable that gets to the heart of a virtue that seems lost in today’s world: the truth. In the story, the weavers are dishonest about their claims of a glorious fabric that’s invisible to fools. Everyone worships the emperor, and as a result, he walks about in his underwear. The emperor’s entourage lies to him — even pretending to carry his train. The populace goes along with the pretense until a child blurts out that the emperor isn’t wearing anything. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled, but the emperor continues the procession walking more proudly than ever. The Inquirer Editorial Board, like the child in the story, is commended for writing about the risk posed by a second Trump presidency. Let’s hope the voting public hears.

Deborah Stone, North Wales

Columnist Will Bunch and others have compared 2024 with 1968 in the annals of Democratic Party politics, and, yes, there are similarities that are obvious: especially the withdrawal of a sitting president from the race. But having lived through 1968, I can say that the rage manifested in Chicago was a result of hopelessness and disappointment experienced by those who were at first inspired by the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy and then robbed of his leadership by his assassination. I believe he would have won the Democratic nomination rather than Hubert Humphrey, and then would have defeated Richard Nixon in the general election. Who knows what the history of the latter half of the 20th century would have been if the Vietnam War had been brought to a prompt end rather than four more years of carnage with no definable gain, and Watergate, which set the platform for our current political divisiveness, had never happened.

PM Procacci, Moorestown

The Inquirer’s Sunday article on city property assessments continues a pattern of articles that suggest the system is racially biased because assessments have skyrocketed in certain Black and brown neighborhoods. But the article provides no support for the assertion. Rather, the article establishes simply that home values are rapidly increasing in gentrifying neighborhoods. That, of course, is not news, as rapidly rising home values are the definition of a gentrifying neighborhood. The city’s assessment system is not to blame for the rising home values. The city’s assessment system simply reflects the increases in the market.

Richie Feder, former chief deputy city solicitor for legislation in the city’s Law Department, Philadelphia

Of course, everyone wants to see Gillian’s Wonderland Pier stay in Ocean City, N.J. What I’m tired of seeing are boardwalk stores selling Donald Trump swag with no visible Kamala Harris merch. I realize it may be a bit harder to get Harris swag, but make the effort. I’m also tired of evangelicals approaching people on the boardwalk asking personal questions about religion. Evangelicals have been on the boardwalk in Ocean City since I started going there in the late 1950s, but they seem to be more aggressive in the Trump era. I could also do without the person on the boardwalk on the evening of Aug. 14 who was using a microphone to explain his medieval views about Christianity. Who gave a permit for that intrusion on everyone walking on the boardwalk? I assume you need a permit for that type of thing. So Wonderland, yes; religious and political proselytizing, no.

Tom Lees, East Norriton

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