Like the Tribune Editorial Board, I welcome Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement of more funding for Amtrak across the Midwest (“Transportation secretary puts his federal money in right place — popular, practical Midwestern trains,” Aug. 20). I live in Springfield, am almost totally blind and do not drive, and thus, I am a frequent user of the Lincoln Service Amtrak route to and from Chicago.
I hope the Illinois congressional delegation, the governor of Illinois, the legislature and others will continue to work for ongoing support of Amtrak across Illinois and the Midwest. This needs to include ways to enhance the very popular Lincoln Service route between St. Louis and Chicago. This route contains Illinois’ second busiest Amtrak station in Bloomington-Normal. Furthermore, we must work for transportation links to existing Amtrak routes such as the Lincoln Service to other locations.
Let’s be real. Trains do not and cannot go everywhere people may want or need to travel. As an example, in order to travel from Springfield to Rockford, I have to take a train all the way to Chicago, then travel northwest to Rockford by bus, which takes about six and a half to seven hours for a trip that would take three to four hours by car. When transportation alternatives can approach the time it takes by automobile, more people will use them.
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Also at present, even with the number of daily round trips, there’s a severe midday gap in service for central Illinois on the Lincoln Service route. As the editorial board accurately states, if you provide train service, people will use it.
Duffy is to be commended for his commitment to Amtrak across the Midwest. Let’s see this commitment extended to all Amtrak routes and to things like bus connections, which will make Amtrak a practical option for everyone regardless where they need and want to travel.
— Ray Campbell, Springfield
Why can’t we end the war?
It has long been acknowledged that the United States has the greatest military force in the world. Why then can’t the United States use this superior military force to successfully end the war with Iran? Is it a lack of will, of leadership?
Whatever it is, it sure is a head-scratcher.
— Richard Dreger, Batavia
How we are manipulated
I hope most people have had enough with President Donald Trump and his administration’s invented threats. We are repeatedly told that someone else — communists, liberal terrorists and bloodthirsty immigrants — is out to ruin the American way of life and make our lives miserable. Personally, I’ve never met anyone fitting that description. These threats didn’t seem to exist 15 years ago. Rather, they have been dredged up to manipulate us to go along with the administration’s policies and acts.
These include massive corruption, long-term wars, targeting of political opponents and power-mad, joyful cruelty. Fortunately, more and more people seem to be sick of this harmful nonsense.
— Marty Thompson, Barrington
What awaits deported Haitians
In Kenscoff, Haiti, a community the size of Oak Park, about 50 people were recently murdered and an equivalent number were kidnapped.
I have visited there twice and remember a beautiful mountainous community served by a winding road from the capital city. Displayed on the roadside were numerous paintings for sale by skilled Haitian artists on unframed canvases. Careening vehicles shared the sidewalk-less road with seemingly unfazed pedestrians. On Sundays, the pedestrians included older men in suits walking to church in the sweltering sun.
The massacre in Kenscoff is emblematic of the increased violence in the country. However, President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants based on the fiction that the situation in Haiti has improved. This is not the case: When TPS was initiated, Haiti was less dangerous. When I visited, I felt comfortable enough to walk the streets of the capital alone. Now, the U.S. State Department rates Haiti as one of the most dangerous countries on earth and advises Americans not to travel there.
The suspension of TPS and the deportations of Haitian immigrants are cruel. Undoubtedly, some who have been or will be deported to Haiti will be murdered; others will be raped; some will be kidnapped.
Making things even worse is that Trump’s policy is based on lies: that undocumented immigrants are dangerous (they actually commit crimes at a rate lower than native-born Americans), that they do not value freedom as much as native-born Americans do and that they are a drag on our economy.
— Richard Hudson, Chicago
Mnemonic device revealing
As schoolchildren, we memorized the names of the Great Lakes using the mnemonic device HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. It looks like we will now have to use SHAME: Superior, Huron, America, Michigan and Erie. That pretty much sums up my feelings for the current administration in Washington.
It will always be Lake Ontario to me (and the Gulf of Mexico).
Oh, Canada, I’m so sorry.
— Arlene R. Jarzab, Hinsdale
Investigation of Dr. Fauci
The congressional investigation into Dr. Anthony Fauci is certainly appropriate, although one questions why it took so long to begin. After all, the death rate from COVID-19 — number of deaths per 100,000 residents — was higher in the United States than other high-income countries and Fauci was in charge, at least ostensibly. Some nations did amazingly well: Australia’s death rate was about one-twentieth of ours and Japan’s one-fiftieth.
A closer match is Canada, which, despite similar geography and demographics, managed a death rate less than half of ours. How did it achieve such good results? Can we learn from them? Unfortunately, the investigation is far too narrow in scope. The cause of our disproportionate suffering was almost certainly multifactorial, with many important questions still unanswered.
The airline industry gives us a superb example of how to minimize future disasters by thoroughly investigating the causes when they occur. COVID-19 deserves a similar approach. Unfortunately, the investigation of Fauci smells a lot more like an effort to find a scapegoat than a search for answers. The first matter to settle is whether our performance was so awful in the first place. A large number of Americans believe that deaths from COVID-19 were greatly exaggerated. This deserves further scrutiny if only to help put us all on the same page.
— Craig Zabel, Sugar Grove
Parton’s nurturing of reading
We hear the word “legacy” a lot lately. Currently in the planning stage is a monstrous gilded triumphal arch in Washington, D.C., as a legacy reminder of a wealthy and powerful narcissistic egomaniac.
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Dolly Parton was equally wealthy and powerful. What she leaves behind as a legacy is a generation of children who received free books, through Imagination Library, nurturing literacy and knowledge. Maybe a future president will have benefited from Parton’s Imagination Library.
Vanity architecture nurtures no one. Books open the world to all.
— Susan Haley, Oak Brook
Note to readers
Construction on Chicago streets and bridges this summer has created headaches for many drivers. We’d like to hear from you about your frustrations with the delays and the city’s management of the closures and detours. Send a letter of no more than 400 words by Wednesday, Sept. 2 to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and city/town.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].