Letters to the Editor | Sept. 15, 2024

Actor James Earl Jones was truly a one-of-a-kind man. Those of us with a familiarity with the dramatic arts truly enjoyed his distinctive, sustained bass voice. He portrayed many different roles with an intonation that was unimaginably mystical in all of his stage, TV, and film performances. He portrayed many different characters with an outstanding vocal quality. Besides providing the voice for Mufasa in the animated The Lion King (both versions), his performance portraying Shakespeare’s Othello was simply remarkable. He will be missed.

Wayne E. Williams, Camden

My thoughts and prayers are extended to Police Officer Jaime Roman, his wife, and their children. Officer Roman sacrificed his life while in the performance of his duties and protecting the citizens of Philadelphia. He was fatally shot during what too many — with The Inquirer among them — labeled as a “routine” car stop. Let me tell you that there is nothing routine about police work. Every time you act as a police officer, every encounter with the public could deteriorate into a life-and-death situation in a matter of seconds. Police officers understand and accept the risks associated with their chosen profession. So please, in the future, do not characterize the actions of sworn police officers as routine.

William D. Markert Jr., retired, Philadelphia police captain

On Sept. 11, we mourned the deaths of the 2,996 people who died because of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Those who were murdered amounted to 0.0010% of our population at the time. Since Oct. 7, more than 40,000 citizens of the Gaza Strip have been killed with weapons the U.S. supplied. This amounts to almost 2% of the population.

Andrew Mills, Lower Gwynedd

Donald Trump depends on keeping his supporters ignorant. Not because they are dumb, but because he can convince them to not look for facts. Take his nonsense on tariffs. He makes the thrilling argument that he has made China pay many billions of dollars to the U.S. because of his tariffs. But in fact, the tariffs are not on China, or even Chinese companies. They fall on U.S. importers and companies — think Walmart, Amazon, Target, Nike — who must cough up the dough for anything they bring in from China. These companies naturally don’t want these tariffs to affect their profits, so they pass those costs on to consumers. Oh, they may absorb some of the costs to stay competitive and get major tax deductions to boot, but the basic bottom line is that consumers like you and me foot most of the bill — not China. Keep. It. Simple. Trump thinks you are dumb. You can prove him wrong by voting for Kamala Harris.

Joe Sundeen, Yardley

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