Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers’ grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week’s Free for All letters.
Surface mining was the most contentious environmental issue of the decade. The coal lobby fought congressional bills tooth and tong, claiming their solutions would be too costly and cripple coal production, which would irreparably damage electricity generation. Because of those concerns, both Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford vetoed bills passed by wide margins in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The vetoes were sustained.
Campaigning in Appalachia in 1976, Carter pledged that he would sign the strip-mining bill, as well as mine safety legislation pending in Congress. He did both in August 1977. The concerns of the coal industry proved to be unfounded, and since 1977 hundreds of thousands of acres of coal-mined land throughout the country have been restored to productive post-mining use, from agricultural to wildlife purposes. This law proved to be a true success story.
Edward Green, Rockville
More clarity in coverage of police misconduct
The title of the Feb. 18 Metro article “Mistrial in former Pentagon officer’s murder case” was misleading, because at the time of the shooting he was employed as an officer. Another Feb. 18 news article was titled “5 ex-Memphis police officers plead not guilty in death of Tyre Nichols,” and a Feb. 14 front-page article had the headline “Scrutiny for FBI over ex-agent’s side work.” In the former case, all of the alleged misconduct took place while the officers were employed, and in the latter much of it did, too.
The Post seems to have adopted the convention of referring to law enforcement personnel who left employment after alleged incidents of misconduct as “ex” or “former.” These titles are often misleading and always confusing to the reader. With alleged police misconduct very much in the public eye, the distinction between whether misconduct was committed by a current or a former officer is meaningful.
Jim Gillespie, Fairfax
A good article on police reports that could have been great
As a former attorney with the Justice Department’s civil rights division criminal section, I found that the Feb. 22 front-page article “In police reports, early claims often misleading,” on how initial police reports are not fully accurate, in part because of passive language, hit home and raised important issues.
Yes, initial reports are often written to avoid casting blame on the very police officers writing the reports (who could be surprised by that?). And, yes, active voice will be clearer, particularly as to the identity of the actors. But come on. Don’t cavil that the report relating to Breonna Taylor’s death listed her injuries as “none,” when that mistake was obviously akin to a typo. With the unfortunate victim pronounced dead on the scene, there couldn’t have been a motive to deceive. Dredging up silly examples demeaned the overall credibility of the article.
Bruce J. Berger, Silver Spring
Why Vermeer likely didn’t use an optical projection drive
There’s a simple argument that counters the idea that Johannes Vermeer used an optical projection device, as cited in the Feb. 19 Style article “There will never be another Vermeer show to match this one.” It is that the light source, the sun, constantly changes. That would cause critical illuminated and shadow masses in Vermeer’s scenes to change as well, posing substantial difficulties for a painter of his exacting technique. More interesting and pertinent to Dutch interior paintings of his era is the manipulation of the windows shutters to compose the portrayal of normally diffused interior light.
As for optical devices, there were two types available to Vermeer. One was the camera obscura, similar to a box camera but much larger. The other was the camera lucida, a more compact mirror and lens arrangement. Either one would reverse the scene: right becomes left, top becomes bottom. And both would have posed the problem of the room’s ambient light muddying the projected image, especially exacting lines. But what about the figures in his paintings? Could they have stood perfectly still while he laboriously traced their images?
All that aside, why would an artist of Vermeer’s stature need any optical device other than his own eyes?
Paul Spreiregen, Washington
So long, Sky Watch; you will be missed
Regarding Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.’s Feb. 26 Sky Watch column, “Jupiter and Venus dance, and spring arrives with a farewell”:
“Over the next few nights, notice how those planets seem to get closer, like long-lost lovers racing toward each other in an airport terminal, just in slow motion.” This quote, from the final edition of the Sky Watch column, is but one of many examples over the years, going back to 1986, of Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.’s poetic depictions of celestial events.
The universe is a mostly dark, empty place, so I and others will miss Friedlander’s warm, colorful prose that brought distant objects closer to us, and we will also miss his listings of astronomy-related meetings.
Friedlander, the local astronomical community salutes you for your long service and repeated reminders to enjoy the heavens.
Bill Burton, Reston
All of the Opinion writers need bios in the print section
I wish The Post would return to the days when it properly identified Opinion page writers.
On the Feb. 13 op-ed page, for example, there were no biographies for any of the writers. I recognize the name of E.J. Dionne Jr. [“Democrats look to the new (old) class politics”], who is a well-known op-ed writer, but who are Heather Long [“The economy is almost too good to be true”], Lizette Alvarez [“The elderly are scam targets. My family learned too late.”] and Keith B. Richburg [“What Hong Kong can’t disguise”]? A line or two telling me who the person is and, therefore, why I should read the column would be helpful: “Mr. X is a lobbyist for the oil industry” or “Ms. Z is an inmate in San Quentin.”
I was taught to know who is writing a piece before reading. Why else would I pay attention to what writers are advising me on?
R.V. Arnaudo, Falls Church
Generalizing requires broader evidence
Hugh Hewitt’s Feb. 14 Tuesday Opinion column, “Is the FBI targeting traditional Catholics?,” was based on his sole experience and that of people he knows. He found “laughable” the FBI memo warning “of extremists being drawn into ‘radical-traditionalist’ Roman Catholic organizations known primarily for their love of the Latin Mass and the relatively few churches where it is celebrated.”
Along the same lines, I was an altar boy for five years and was never molested, so pedophilia did not exist in the Catholic Church. I was also a Boy Scout for five years and had a great experience. Hence, no pedophilia there as well. My daughters, 21 and 19, have never been raped, so young women their age do not experience sexual assault.
Hewitt provided readers basically no insight.
James Vanderzon, Chevy Chase
At the Lincoln Memorial, a family affair
The Feb. 20 Metro article about the construction of the new Lincoln Memorial visitor center, “Exhibit space to be built under Lincoln Memorial,” missed the cogent and compellingly coincidental fun fact about sculptor Daniel Chester French and his equally significant father, Henry Flagg French. This father-son “tag team” was fundamentally and integrally a part of that significant memorial. Henry Flagg French was the inventor of the ingenious and ubiquitous French drain. Daniel Chester French, of course, was the sculptor of that magnificent seated Abraham Lincoln within the memorial’s “temple.”
Installation of a French drain around the perimeter of the Lincoln Memorial due to its formerly swampy location was a significant feature of its original construction, and its restoration was one of the first phases of the visitor center construction now underway. This family connection is an extraordinary detail about the memorial’s history.
Rocky Semmes, Alexandria
Focus on the perpetrators instead of the victims
Regarding the Feb. 18 front-page article “The crisis in American girlhood”:
Why is it that whenever there’s an article about young girls being sexually assaulted, the spotlight is on them? Why on earth is the focus not on the boys and men carrying out the violent, sexual acts? Stop victimizing women in your articles. Focus on the criminals, and stop perpetuating the sickness and violence.
Lauren McNulty, Los Angeles
‘Deniers’ label is being too kind
Regarding the Feb. 16 front-page article “A wave of pushback on election deniers”:
When will The Post, as well as other media, stop using that new, oh-so-objective term and call election “deniers” what they truly are? Sore losers. Whatever happened to using plain old, venerable English for these whiners?
Gus Bauman, Silver Spring
Editors in short supply on this lede
The Feb. 20 Metro article “Carjacker met victims on Tinder, police say” needed a good copy editor. The article started out this way: “A 26-year-old Maryland man is accused of raping, kidnapping and carjacking people he met on a dating app at gunpoint.” It must be an interesting dating app where you get to meet people at gunpoint.
Melissa Yorks, Gaithersburg
A syntactic question on the IRS
The sub headline “The IRS should be not running on 60-year-old technology” of the Feb. 23 editorial, “A taxing situation,” raised a Shakespearean syntactical question: To be, or not to be, or to be not?
Gary A. Michel, North Potomac
Good answers start with good questions
Regarding the Feb. 7 front-page article “Poll: Biden policies not making an impact”:
How should I respond when a Post-ABC poll asks whether an elected official “has made progress” on some issue when I don’t want the official’s target to happen? Perhaps I disagree with the policy, or perhaps I believe the “problem” isn’t the official’s to solve. A newspaper that phrases questions that way displays its own desired outcomes.
Thomas Burket, Potomac
Duruflé’s musical work is beloved
Regarding the Feb. 14 Metro obituary “Organist at ‘Church of the Presidents’ in D.C.”:
The content on renowned organist, choirmaster and music director Albert Russell noted that Maurice Duruflé’s “Requiem” is the only work by Duruflé to take its place within the standard choral repertory. That might be true for full-size choruses, but just as beloved by chamber choruses are Duruflé’s “Four Motets on Gregorian Themes,” especially the opening “Ubi caritas.”
As a singer in choruses, large and small, for nearly half a century, I have loved performing these compositions and everything else Duruflé wrote.
Donald R. Juran, Rockville
A better way to describe hospice
The Feb. 19 news article “Carter, longest-living president, opts for home hospice” provided a generally helpful description of hospice but included an inaccuracy. It said that hospice is for those who have “chosen to suspend treatment.”
As a certified hospice nurse practitioner and health policy consultant for national hospice organizations, I need to point out that hospice is its own kind of very special medical treatment. Perhaps a better way to describe it would have been to say hospice is a “special treatment for patients who have chosen to focus on comfort, quality of life, and support for themselves and their families.”
Marian Grant, Reisterstown
Before his NBA failure, Rubin provided great memories for kids
The Feb. 27 Sports article “Making NBA history, for the worst possible reason” accurately portrayed Roy Rubin’s only shot as an NBA coach, with the Philadelphia 76ers, as an abysmal failure. However, Rubin was more than an outstanding college coach with Long Island University, as the article mentioned, and an outstanding high school coach before that. I can also speak to my experience with him at a summer basketball camp.
While he was coaching at LIU, he also was an owner and coach at Camp Chippewa in New Hampshire. I was fortunate to play under him at the camp as a 14-year-old about to enter 10th grade. I was definitely the worst of the players that summer.
I was there by the grace of my father’s friendship with Rubin, a relationship that went back to their high school days. I never played high school or college ball; youth leagues were fine for me. Rubin was a superb coach, tutor and passionate leader of youths; he instilled great values.
The highlight for me that summer, thanks to Rubin, was when we participated in Bob Cousy’s Camp Graylag tournament — when I met the Boston Celtic great. The article brought back all those memories.
George Margolies, Rockville