Thanks to Haven House staff

Special thanks to Jessica Katzbeck and her talented staff at Haven House for collaborating with Gracedale Nursing Home to provide life-changing services to identified residents. These seniors, often without close family connections, are paired with a compassionate, friendly visitor who spends quality time on several occasions each week with them at Gracedale. Sometimes the visitor helps write a note, send a card, find a misplaced letter, access voice mail messages, have a friendly chat — little tasks that have become challenging/impossible for the senior resident. Kudos. Well done.

— Phyllis Walsh, Emmaus

Climate conspiracies don’t add up

While the vast majority of the world’s climate scientists agree that human-caused climate change is a real and present danger, about 15% of Americans accept conspiracy narratives framing it as a hoax. Against a background of accelerating sea-level rise, massive worldwide wildfires, destructive weather events and retreating glaciers, there are numerous commonsense reasons why a conspiracy on this scale is impossible. First, science has no single global authority. Researchers work for rival universities, private corporations and competing governments worldwide. Second, modern science requires researchers to publish their raw data online, allowing anyone to verify their math. Third, any scientist who could genuinely disprove climate change with solid data would instantly achieve global fame and win prestigious awards. Finally, a recent study shows that a secret involving tens of thousands of people for over 50 years is very likely to be leaked by a whistleblower within just three to four years.

— Karl Schwartz, Nazareth

Widespread election fraud charges are without evidence

As an American citizen, Army veteran, faithful voter and former Republican, I am deeply insulted that the prominent Republican Party leaders would claim without any substantial evidence that the American election process is rife with corruption. We are better than that but I know any Republican legislator who feels the same as I would be committing political suicide to express it publicly. We miss you, John McCain.

— Alan Bevevino, Allentown

Communism is a threat to the US

During a meeting in 1956 with ambassadors from several Western nations, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev was reported to have said “We will bury you,” meaning communism would eventually replace capitalism throughout the world.

I remember my parents and grandparents regularly sending packages to our extended family in communist Hungary. We sent clothing and money secretly sewn into the clothing because they had very little of anything and the government controlled everything. I’ve known people who fled communism in Hungary and Czechoslovakia and they confirmed how communism oppresses people. Look around. Do you see anything happening today that might suggest Kruschev was right? Do Democratic Socialists of America and communists come to mind? We don’t need radical socialists or communists in our country and what they are promoting. China, Laos, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea already have what the socialists and communists want here. Radical socialism and communism are not American. Freedom is American.

— Stephen L. Radakovits, Allen Township

Congress failing in its obligations

Congress is not carrying out its obligations as defined in the Constitution and is deferring its responsibilities to the executive branch. It is Congress that is tasked with determining the scope of the federal agencies, levying tariffs and approving treaties. And most importantly, to declare war and send our military into danger. Instead, Congress allows the president to act in its place out of expediency. We are paying the penalty of this failure with a man willing to abuse those privileges at his whim.

Our nation’s good name has become tarnished. We insult our allies and use our military for grandstanding motives. We have decimated federal agencies and installed incompetent people to lead them. Conservative fiscal spending and social responsibility was the heart of the Republican Party. Instead, this administration and its allies in Congress add to a crushing debt. We are losing our sense of moral obligations. So much untruth comes from Washington, we can little trust our government or those who serve. Sad considering the vast majority are good people who know they need to toe the line or be dealt with. This is a threat to our republic. Congress needs to return to doing its job.

— Peter B. Locke, Bath

Trump administration’s attacks on museum are unfair

Recently the White House Domestic Policy Council issued a report accusing the Smithsonian National Museum of American History of allegedly presenting a “woke,” biased view of the country’s past and attempting to “divide, dispirit, and discourage” citizens. My family visited the museum in Washington over winter break last year. I can assure you that nobody in our group was “divided or dispirited” by the exhibits, nor did we suddenly hate our country after we left. There are a lot of positives throughout American history, but there are also several dark chapters, events we should acknowledge and learn from. Unfortunately, this opinion renders me low IQ or woke or somebody from the radical left if you ask President Trump or his MAGA base. It’s that type of reaction that makes me dispirited. If they want to unite and cheer us up, perhaps the administration should focus on the present instead of the past. Things like fixing potholes and working on solutions to bring down the cost of housing, healthcare, groceries and gasoline. To boost morale, please stop your renovation projects, insulting our allies, pushing voter suppression bills and whatever is going on with Iran.

— Owen Klicker, Macungie

The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.