Steve Chapman’s column “Republicans are fanning baseless fears about American Muslims” (Oct. 7) is humbug.
I’m a moderate Republican. For years, I’ve been welcomed at Ramadan iftars, festivals and gatherings at our local mosques and Islamic centers, and I’ve returned that welcome with support and inclusion. One Muslim center sponsors our community 5K run annually. These are real relationships, built over time between congregations and communities regardless of political party. Would Chapman have his readers believe they do not exist?
Chapman points to two misguided candidates, one in Florida and one in Tennessee, who made ugly anti-Muslim remarks. Then he leaps to the sweeping claim that “in this year’s campaign, Islamophobia is not a rare phenomenon. It’s become an essential part of the Republican brand.”
Humbug. It is rare. It is wrong. And it should be called out every time it happens. But two candidates are not a party. Tarring all Republicans with these candidates’ words is exactly the kind of guilt by association one would hope Chapman would rightly condemn if it were aimed at Muslims, or any other groups.
That’s the irony: A column decrying division sows more of it. Maybe that sells papers.
— Gary Grasso, Republican candidate, DuPage County chair
Memories haven’t faded
Undoubtedly, Muslim Americans should never be subjected to discrimination and hate. Islamophobia is as unacceptable as unfounded prejudice and scorn targeting any group of Americans.
Yet, I disagree with Steve Chapman when he writes that one would expect that memories of attacks by al-Qaida and other terrorists would have “subsided” by today. Since October 1979, Islamic extremists have murdered thousands of Americans, as reported by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Yes, a minuscule percentage of Muslims believe in the Islamic extremism that has caused so many American deaths, and Islamophobia should be eradicated. Still, to expect that Americans’ memories of terrorists’ murders of U.S. citizens would subside by today is unrealistic. Indeed, one would expect that the fading of such memories would be unthinkable to most Americans.
— Terry Takash, Western Springs
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ICE use of shock gloves
I was a cop for 33 years in Chicago. I witnessed some of the most intense civil disturbances in the country: the 1965 open housing marches, the 1968 demonstrations following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in August of that year. As bad as things were — rioting, looting, shootings and arson; accusations of police misconduct; even a mayor who gave orders to shoot to kill arsonists and wound-be looters — we law enforcement officers, who included soldiers, were not equipped with electrical devices that shocked individuals.
In 1963, police officers in Gadsden, Alabama, used electrical cattle prods on civil rights protesters. The sight of human beings being shocked and tortured by these devices caused an entire nation to be appalled.
Now comes the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased shock gloves at a cost of $16.7 million to be used on people who resist arrest and are combative and on demonstrators. My question is: Have we not learned from the past? Do law enforcement officers in a country that preaches about and practices freedoms and the right to demonstrate really need devices that no doubt will be considered a torture device? What’s the difference between a cattle prod and shock gloves? The difference is one is gone and the other is about to take its place.
People will resist, unfortunately, and cops will be injured. More intense training and other nonlethal equipment would most assuredly be better than using shock gloves on human beings.
Experience and commonsense tell me that use of shock gloves needs rethinking.
— Bob Angone, retired Chicago police lieutenant, Austin, Texas
Turning ‘us’ into ‘them’
President Donald Trump’s remark referencing the nuking of Los Angeles or San Diego wasn’t meant to incite Iran to do so. It was more of an aside, the kind of clumsy free association we should expect from him. When a commentator frames it as Trump launching a treasonous solicitation to an enemy, I go to my reflexive response of: “Doesn’t he give us enough legitimate outrages that we need not exacerbate his questionable ones?”
In short, my hair isn’t on fire over Trump’s very unpresidential remark. I don’t dismiss it as a joke, either. Jokes should be funny. Coming from a president, they shouldn’t be free-floating babble without context or purpose.
For me, the utterance was just continued affirmation of what we already know. Trump has an extremely limited imagination. Just about anyone reaching this professional pinnacle in America would be in awe of the office and the magnitude of the attendant responsibility. For most people, the bigger the population to serve, the better. Trump considers only his supporters to be under his domain. He shuts out the majority of Americans by turning them from “us” into “them.”
For Trump, LA and San Diego might as well be Iran. That’s the ongoing danger no commentator need embellish.
— Art Collins, Aurora
Donald Trump’s one truth
Here is a man who is truly afraid of being forgotten. President Donald Trump feeds the public with lies, and many people are eating it up. He is changing the world and the look of Washington, D.C., with the false hope he will be remembered as a brilliant leader, when, in truth, he will be disparaged as a mean, incompetent child.
Where is a president who cares about his country and the world’s citizens? Trump’s newest besties are all dictators. Oh, and let’s not forget about his accumulated wealth and perhaps the pride he enjoys in getting it unlawfully. He is making a mess and doesn’t care who’s there to clean it up.
His one true statement reveals his real fear. It doesn’t matter to him which party is elected to Congress. He just asks that Republicans fill those seats because if not, “They’ll impeach me.”
So, now he tells the truth!
— Corinne Sapstein, Chicago
That check would go to charity
When, or if, I get my $90 check from President Donald Trump, I will immediately send a $90 check to my favorite charity.
I hope everyone does the same.
— Arlene Kaganove, Chicago
What are politicians’ solutions?
Midterms are almost here. We hear the criticism but not solutions!
This is concerning. If there are no better plans to put in place, we will find ourselves in a worse position. To simply say things are bad or wrong or that we disagree is not enough. It must be backed up by a better plan. Use what is working; even work together.
Our country succeeds with better ideas. Every year, we have a better phone, new medicines and improved food.
Politicians, what are your solutions?
— Sue Atkenson, Frankfort
Note to readers
With Halloween coming, we’d like you to share your most memorable experience related to the holiday, either as a child or as an adult. A costume that you’ve never forgotten? A trip to a haunted house that scared you silly? Neighbors who went above and beyond to make things fun for the kids? Send a letter, of no more than 400 words, by Friday, Oct. 23 to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and your city/town.
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