The Jussie Smollett verdict ushers in a collective sense of relief, not least because it suggests that, despite their disagreements, Americans still share a common sense of reality. The world may abound with wonders, the illumination of which may call for scientific or scholarly expertise, but up is still up, down is down and no one reading these words was born yesterday.
Almost from the start, Smollett’s story had a suspicious odor to it, and the more it was investigated, the worse it smelled. Smollett continues to maintain that doubts riddle the case against him. But then, the law does not require that guilt be proved beyond all doubt — only beyond a reasonable doubt.
Just as Smollett maintains his innocence, I could maintain that I am Napoleon Bonaparte. You might note that my DNA does not match Napoleon’s. In answer, I could claim the DNA tests are wrong. You might wonder why such tests work for everyone else but not for me. Because, I might say, when I reincarnated as Napoleon, my genes underwent a unique transformation. And so on.
Smollett might be innocent. No one can prove his guilt beyond all doubt. But, if you’re living in my world — the world where things fall down, not up; where no one pays you for snoring; where trees need sunlight; and where every dog must eat — you can take heart in the Smollett jury’s verdict.
Yes, he may be innocent, but probably not in the real world.
— Michael W. Drwiega, Wilmette
GOP’s gun support helps crime
If letter writer Sharon Novickas (“Voter influenced by crime,” Dec. 10) seriously thinks the Republican Party doesn’t promote crime, she’s not paying attention. Republicans show no concern over their willingness to put guns in the hands of everyone, including the murderous and irresponsible.
The people who feel no hesitation at killing and carjacking would think twice if they didn’t feel emboldened by a gun. That old attempt to say, “Guns don’t kill, people do,” is silly. People with guns kill. That’s why a 12-year-old with a gun feels emboldened to rob adults on the street.
It seems that every week an infant is killed by gunfire, yet Republicans oppose tougher gun laws. National Republicans have shown no discomfort over the illegal acts of a street mob on Jan. 6 and no remorse for the injuries and deaths of Capitol police, so forget about their support of police, and of law and order. Republican officials send out inflammatory statements that encourage violence.
I share Novickas’s concern over lawlessness in our society but don’t see the Republican Party as offering a solution to lawlessness, but rather promoting it.
— Marsha Niazmand, Evanston
Holding officials accountable
If cigarette smokers can sue tobacco companies, if people addicted to drugs can sue pharmaceutical companies, if on behalf of teenagers tech companies may be held accountable for their actions, if the Department of Justice can sue the state of Texas over the legislative map its lawmakers drew, why can’t victims of crimes perpetrated by repeat violent offenders hold legislators, prosecutors and judges accountable (other than at the next election) for not living up to their duty to keep people safe?
— Cathleen Bylina, Chicago
Baldwin and Smollett’s plights
Regarding Alec Baldwin and Jussie Smollett, I’m sorry to interrupt their career salvaging, but I just can’t work up any feelings whatsoever for their plights.
You see, innocent high school children were killed recently, and a synagogue close by was racially defaced. The real story here isn’t Baldwin and Smollett. It’s guns and racism.
But I gotta admire their manipulation of the media. Young people love this kind of celebrity shenanigans. Except the ones who didn’t make it home from school.
— Joe Sadowski, Chicago
Trying to make city better
Thank you to Sam Royko for his op-ed (“A better Chicago,” Nov. 23). I appreciate his kind and practical approach to helping make Chicago safe. I like how he is gathering facts and reaching out to victims of carjackings. He is calling for cooperation. I hope all those organizations he listed are listening.
— Marcella Farrell, Oak Lawn
We all lose with betting
The five pro sports team executives got one thing right in their rebuke (“Editorial misses the mark on betting,” Nov. 23) of a Nov. 14 editorial’s characterization (“Only in Chicago does a debate about one casino turn into a fight over six”) that sports betting lounges in Chicago stadiums would become mini-casinos. Sports betting would be easier, cheaper and more convenient, and perhaps more lucrative for the owners, if there were betting parlors below the stands.
What they ignore, however, is that sports betting carries the same burdens on communities and families as does casino gambling. Dr. Earl Grinols documented almost two decades ago while he was at the University of Illinois that, when everything is tabulated, we all lose. He added up the actual costs of casino gambling in terms of lost days at work, theft, embezzlement, crime, sickness, bankruptcy, child neglect and divorce, and proved that we all lose money except for the casino syndicates. He did not factor in the real cost in dollars to the community of suicide.
While those same costs to the community caused by casino gambling are inherent in sports betting, too, there are other threats that ought to keep pro team executives up at night: game-fixing and point-shaving. We have seen it for decades, of course. In baseball, we remember the Black Sox scandal, an abiding embarrassment for Chicago baseball. There was the steroid misuse of a few decades ago and the sign-stealing in the World Series a few years ago.
In college basketball, there is a history of fixing games, most notably in 1950 when several colleges were charged with altering the outcome of games. And in 1998 there was the point-shaving low point at Northwestern, which sullied the integrity of Big Ten sports, betrayed the trust among teammates and placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of those implicated as they went out into society after their indictments.
The claim pro sports executives make that having sports betting parlors at Chicago stadiums will spur economic growth, energize communities, create jobs and make the games more fun simply is not supported by the facts. The odds are that it will cost society even more, and it will put the integrity of their sports at risk. I’d bet on it.
— Phil Blackwell, St. Louis, Missouri
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