Letters to the Editor | Dec. 5, 2024

This is a case of extenuating circumstances. I believe President Joe Biden would have refrained from pardoning his son Hunter had Kamala Harris won the presidential election. With great remorse, we have witnessed the election of the most heinous candidate in my lifetime. Too many times Democrats have tried to do the right thing and paid a heavy price. This should not be one of them. Now that the party that has broken all norms and codes of conduct will soon be in power, Biden would be what Republicans and others have accused him of being — feeble and foolish — had he not pardoned his son. It should be abundantly obvious that he prevented Hunter Biden from being used and abused by unprincipled human beings.

Alexis Gerard Finger, Bala Cynwyd

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Criticism of President Joe Biden pardoning his son reminds me of those who would criticize people for lying to the Gestapo as they searched for people in hiding. Given the intent of the incoming administration to go after political opponents using trumped-up charges (pun intended), the president did the right thing. Besides the fact that, as Biden noted, the charges hardly merited the punishment, we can just imagine what Donald Trump’s U.S. Justice Department and FBI will do with Hunter Biden.

Trump supporters have absolutely no room to criticize. They basically pardoned their dear leader after he was criminally convicted, kept classified documents, tried to extort a foreign leader, engaged in an illegal plan to overturn an election, and orchestrated a violent coup to overthrow the government of the United States. A Democratic senator said Hunter Biden’s pardon is setting a bad precedent, as if Trump’s unprecedented pardoning of practically his entire criminal administration and his father-in-law never happened. Not to mention Trump’s plan to pardon those who violently tried to overthrow our democratically elected government.

Dave Posmontier, Elkins Park

As a longtime daily cyclist both in Philadelphia and around the world, I agree with David Karen’s op-ed that, for their safety, cyclists should be treated like traffic. This premise was first presented in Effective Cycling, a 1984 book by traffic engineer John Forester, who stated that “Cyclists fare best when they act as and are treated like traffic with the same rights and responsibilities that motorists have.” This is the approach I have successfully followed during over 200,000 miles of daily bike riding. When combined with properly designed and installed bike lanes, a sharp reduction in bike rider deaths and injuries is the norm.

Unfortunately, three motorist behaviors consistently put cyclists at risk: distracted driving (hang up your phone, focus on the road), aggressive driving (speeding and ignoring traffic rules), and driving while impaired. At the annual Philadelphia Ride of Silence (occurring in mid-May each year), we remembered 14 cyclists killed in the region and over 800 killed nationwide. This yearly cyclist death rate must be dramatically reduced. Motor vehicle drivers must be aware of us, that we have a place on the road, and that they need to drive safe and sober. And cyclists need to ride safely and courteously to all street users. With these changes, safe cycling trips everywhere will increase all our benefits.

Ray Scheinfeld, Philadelphia

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