I am bewildered and disappointed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desire to measure testosterone levels in service members.
I mean, why? During nearly four years of conflict during World War II, the United States lost over 400,000 troops. Nearly 300,000 died in hostile enemy action.
This amounts to about 1,400 service members killed in battle every week. No one asked to check their testosterone. No one ever questioned their bravery. Or their courage.
There was clearly no need.
— Scott W. Petersen, Wilmette
‘High-T’ Defense Department?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that there is a “high-T” Department of Defense. I have never heard of such a department and vigorously disagree.
I was in the Army from 1966 to 1971 as an infantry officer and helicopter pilot, and I trained and served at four Army bases in the states, flew Hueys for the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam and served as a staff officer with V Corps, United States Army Europe, in Frankfurt, Germany. The only time I experienced high tea was at the British Officer’s Club in Berlin.
— William Cragg, Oak Park
Progressive aldermen’s refusal
Twelve progressive aldermen are refusing to accept campaign donations from companies they consider to be supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement, and they are conducting a campaign to convince other members of the City Council to do the same.
The companies include Motorola Solutions, Waste Management, Target, Dell and Microsoft, to name a few.
Ald. Anthony Quezada, 35th, believes that “many Chicagoans will expect their representatives to reject contributions from companies that support or profit from ICE and Border Patrol operations.”
Moderates in the City Council have a different opinion. They do not believe local government has the authority to stop the federal government, but would be better served looking for common ground to work with the federal government rather than antagonizing the situation.
Many Chicagoans agree with the moderates. ICE and Border Patrol are enforcing laws passed at the federal level. Aldermen are locally elected officials who should be paying attention and solving the myriad of problems facing our great city.
While it’s arguably admirable that progressive aldermen are putting their money where their mouths are, I hope they stick to their guns and refuse donations in spite of not convincing other members of the City Council to follow suit. Hopefully, it will result in more moderate aldermen being elected.
That is on my wish list.
— Cathleen Bylina, Chicago
Advice for our border czar
Our illustrious border czar, Tom Homan, has every excuse in the book as to why Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, over whom he has control, are not wearing body cameras, which help verify the facts in rounding up folks. Folks who can end up dead, I might add.
Our government is in a shambles, and laws are being broken in every direction for the benefit of the powerful and well-connected. I suggest that Homan disregard all the red tape surrounding the delay in the ICE cameras arrival and order from Amazon.
They will be here the next day!
— Bonnie Smith, Big Rock
Forcing a child to translate
Regarding the July 22 article “ICE detains CPS custodian at check-in”: How cruel is it for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expect a 13-year-old to translate to his mother that the family was being detained?
What a complete outrage!
— Patricia Benenson, Highland Park
Tying socialism to communism
I’m very disappointed that the Tribune opinion section would prominently display an editorial cartoon falsely linking Democrats who are socialists with communism (July 15). This is the same mendacity being used by President Donald Trump; I would have hoped the editorial board would not choose a cartoon that would use the same lies as a president who can only insult people and lead us into stupid wars.
— Susan Eleuterio, Highland, Indiana
‘Medicare for All’ is foolish
“Medicare for All” is stupid and not feasible. Just ask any senior on Medicare.
Democrats and the leftist Democratic Socialists of America are using this to win elections. The uninformed believe this is the solution to healthcare insurance for all.
It’s not. Medicare coverage for seniors is not all-inclusive for medical costs. Ask a senior about the added cost for supplemental insurance coverage, which is purchased to pay for what Medicare doesn’t cover. Also, ask a senior about co-pays required for medical visits.
A Wall Street Journal columnist recently wrote that “Medicare for All would be incredibly expensive. It would require crushing taxes on the middle class.” The total gross national debt reached $39.68 trillion this month.
Most seniors are happy having Medicare coverage in their retirement years and accept the added expense of supplemental insurance, but what’s scary to many is: Would Medicare for All collapse our medical system?
If government keeps adding trillions to the national debt, will there be an America?
— Robert Meale, Crystal Lake
Trump’s blaming of Canada
How embarrassing and ridiculous that President Donald Trump is blaming Canada for its wildfires. Instead of offering to help, he’s imposing tariffs on a country that is already suffering a great loss.
Does he think Canadians really want to lose their forests? Does he think that they enjoy breathing smoky air? Does he think that they have gigantic fans sending the smoke to the United States?
The culprit is climate change, not the Canadian government. The many moves that Trump has made to remove environmental protections certainly have not helped the situation.
We must do everything we can to limit the effects of global climate change. And everyone must speak up against Trump’s bullying of a neighbor.
— Joyce Porter, Oak Park
Skirting War Powers Resolution
So it appears that Congress does not need to declare war in order to allow President Donald Trump to continue waging war against Iran. It just needs to ignore what is happening and therefore allows war to happen.
When the war started on Feb. 28, Trump had 60 days to wage war without approval from Congress. Before the 60 days were up, Trump declared that there was a ceasefire in place; therefore, there was not an active war taking place in Iran. Congress seemed to like this rationale, as it took no action to declare war or to stop the war.
Was the War Powers Resolution of 1973 really designed to reset after a brief ceasefire and then give the president another 60 days to fight a war?
— Dodd Mohr, Barrington
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
