THE WASHINGTON TIMES

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Too useful to fix

Immigration is a major reason why President Trump won the election. But it seems members of Congress still don't get it. The latest attempt, the Tillis/Lankford bill, does nothing to stop illegal immigration. If anything, it only encourages it and will likely increase chain migration as well. Published October 4, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Democracy fails in Catalan

As a supporter of democracy and self determination, I was glad that last Sunday the people of the Catalan region of Spain tried to vote for independence. Unfortunately the Spanish police cracked down in a most undemocratic way. Published October 4, 2017

EDITORIAL: Beep, beep

Islam, it now turns out, is more flexible than everyone thought it was. King Salman of Saudi Arabia signed a royal decree last week stipulating that allowing women to drive an automobile won't offend Allah, after all. The mutaween, the religious police assigned to promote virtue where they find it and eradicate vice anywhere, will soon inherit an easier work day. Published October 3, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: U.S. not to blame for aftermath

The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, wants to blame President Trump for the situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. She should look in the mirror for the official responsible. Published October 3, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: No quick solution to gun violence

For society to manage, however imperfectly, who owns firearms is the Gordian knot no one has figured out how to untie ("President Trump calls Las Vegas mass shooting 'act of pure evil,'" Web, Oct. 2). The lethality of firearms calls for measures to get us from seeming intractability to solution. However, the stark reality is that, with some 300 million firearms (many feeding the underground market) in Americans' hands, it's impossible to unring that bell. Published October 3, 2017

EDITORIAL: Exploiting murder at Mandalay Bay

Exploiting a tragedy doesn't take long. It never does. Before the blood was cleaned from the pavement at Mandalay Bay Hotel predictable demands for more gun control lit up the media. Shooters who take the lives of the innocent are clearly deranged, and pols and pundits who immediately seize upon shootings to polish their attacks on the Second Amendment reveal their own cold inclinations. The rest of us are twice victimized. Published October 3, 2017

EDITORIAL: A nation grieves again

We live in a monstrous time, with evil lying in wait to pounce upon the innocent and the unwary. The size and scope of the expressions of such evil, as at the massacre of dozens of men and women at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas on Sunday night, overwhelms the ability of the language to describe it. Published October 2, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: No more subsidizing disloyalty

Perhaps it is time for everyone on welfare, the staff of every college that teaches anti-American courses, the players and owners of sports franchises that receive federal funds, and illegal aliens who receive benefits to be made to take an oath of loyalty to the people, flag and Constitution of the United States before receiving said funds. Published October 2, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Puerto Rico leaders derelict

There is something seriously wrong with politicians who have the audacity to blame President Trump for not acting fast enough in the aftermath of the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. Published October 2, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: First lady ‘racism’ hypocrisy

A Kansas teacher was fired over racist comments about the Obamas. A Georgia teacher was fired for racist comment about Michelle Obama. Liz Phipps Soeiro, the Massachusetts elementary school librarian, got a slap on the wrist for her rants about first lady Melania Trump's White House gift of Dr. Seuss books ("Elementary school librarian rejects books donated by Melania Trump." Web, Sept. 28). Published October 2, 2017

EDITORIAL: The clock pursues Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller is nothing if not relentless. Impatient with a fishing expedition that relies on slippery prey to swim into his net, the special counsel now dreams of besieging anyone at the White House who has so much as watched an episode of a television drama about Soviet spies in Washington. Scalps have to be taken because that's what special counsels, i.e., special prosecutors, do. Published October 2, 2017

EDITORIAL: The freshman vanishes

Good news is beginning to seep from the campus, not much but some, a heartening prospect for those with the patience to look for it. Shame may be coming back from exile. Published October 1, 2017

EDITORIAL: Ralph Northam meets Willie Horton

The ghost of Willie Horton, who is not even dead, continues to haunt Democratic dreams. Many Democrats continue to contest the legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election, and others, like Ralph Northam, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, are stuck in 1988, when Horton became a central figure in the campaign that put George H.W. Bush in the White House. Published October 1, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Anthem no time for politics

NFL players ought to stand during the national anthem. Our anthem is not about the president and it should not be about the players' causes. It is not about whether they have the right to sit, kneel or be absent. They do. It is not about whether fans, appalled by the sitting and kneeling, should turn off the games, stop buying tickets and merchandise, and let their own voice be heard. They should. Published October 1, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Coaches should not be recruiters

For those of us who advise high-school basketball players and their parents, your recent piece exposes an issue we have been struggling with for the past 25 years ("Column: A lot of nervous people wait for other shoe to drop," Web, Sept. 26). Who has the students' best interests at heart? Based on your article it seems it was not the coaches in question. Published October 1, 2017

EDITORIAL: Playing the Trump card

Promise them anything, but give them a tax cut. Republicans have a fleeting chance to clear the air of the odor of defeat by making good on a pledge that voters from towns big and small who have heard enough big talk won't easily forget. If Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan can't deliver this time, these voters are likely to say, "forget you." Who needs someone who can screw up a slam dunk? Published September 28, 2017

EDITORIAL: A late reward for the Gipper

The chiefs of the labor unions have always had differences with working stiffs over Ronald Reagan. The chiefs hated him and the working stiffs usually loved him. Published September 28, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Ban players from field during anthem

The only institution in American culture that manages to meet the high bars of avarice and hypocrisy set by our political class is the NFL. After leading the charge against spousal abuse, steroid overuse and the CTE epidemic, the NFL has now moved to the forefront in the defense of free speech (unless, of course, that speech involves a player or coach questioning the terrible officiating of the league's part-time officials). Next the organization will surely start running public service ads warning of the dangers of excessive tattooing. Published September 28, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Goodbye, Hugh

Hugh Hefner, despised and reviled by feminists, arch conservatives, law enforcement and religious leaders (but beloved by liberals, libertines, men in general and the oppressed) passed away Wednesday. "The Father of the Sexual Revolution" and the seemingly endless and ultimate playboy, Hefner was far more than just the creator and owner of a sex magazine which he called Playboy and which featured scantily clad women in suggestive poses. Published September 28, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let’s get back to being grateful

I'll be 91 on Oct. 30. As I have admitted on occasion, I've lived through some of the worst and best times in our nation's history. It seems to me there is as much or more discord in the country now than at any prior time. It is obvious to me that we need more of the spirit I've seen exhibited in the distant past ("NFL ratings fall as fans make clear: Quit the politics," Web, Sept. 27). Published September 27, 2017