Harborplace opposition isn’t about race

I take umbrage at Mayor Brandon Scott’s statement recently quoted in The Baltimore Sun about how “Harborplace sat there deteriorating for 20 years. No one tried to do anything. No one said they wanted to redevelop it. No one said that we should do anything. And then the moment a Black man from West Baltimore decides to intervene and jump on top of it and actually build it…all of a sudden there’s a group of people who oppose that” (“Baltimore to join state appeal of Harborplace ballot question nullification,” Sept. 18).

Nothing could be further from the truth for me, a proud Baltimorean for almost 40 years. I feel that the Inner Harbor is for all Marylanders and those who visit our fine state. I simply don’t like the plan. I would prefer a plan that truly showcases our Inner Harbor and Baltimore. I believe in Baltimore, and I believe that it deserves better.

You, Mayor Scott, have lost my confidence.

— Mary Hewes Friedman, Baltimore

A balanced view of Hogan-Alsobrooks Senate race

Thanks to Candy Woodall for a great column on The Baltimore Sun’s interview with former Gov. Larry Gov Hogan (“5 takeaways from our interview with Larry Hogan,” Sept. 26). It was very informative and fair coverage. I think the U.S. Senate race in Maryland is very interesting. I think it will show whether voters actually evaluate the candidates or just vote whomever their political party puts up. The differences in experience between Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, his Democratic opponent, is striking. Alsobrooks has been running a very negative campaign as she must because she has little to say on the positive side. I have been surprised how restrained the Hogan campaign has been. It will be interesting to see the results.

— Steve Hendricks, Chesapeake Beach

Can Harris be a president to Americans who oppose abortion?

In her television ads, Vice President Kamala Harris states that she wants to be a president for all Americans (“Kamala Harris to skip Catholic charity dinner, breaking long-standing presidential tradition,” Sept. 23).

I applaud her for that idea, but how can she claim that when she wants to codify abortion rights across the United States? There are many of us who oppose abortion and don’t want this to come to fruition. Is Harris really going to be a president for all Americans?

— Ed Whitesell, Arbutus

How about some respect for non-biological parents?

This is in reply to the recent Republican obsession with the concept that women without children are less valuable than women who have birthed their own children and their deprecation of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a stepmother rather than a “birther” (“Kamala Harris’ racial and cultural firsts were onstage throughout the Democratic convention,” Aug. 23).

I have three children who I carried and “birthed,” according to Republican dogma. Nature provides the mother with many emotional and physical incentives to encourage a woman to love and nurture her child, not the least of which is the ever-apparent knowledge that there is another human body within her own body. That becomes more and more obvious as pregnancy progresses. Nursing may deepen that bond.

Having said that, I will say that a woman capable of missing these joyous and enlightening experiences and becoming a good and loving mother of children she did not birth is an extraordinary person. And by all accounts, Vice President Harris is just such an extraordinary woman. I think all women and men who become parents of children they adopt or families they marry into are to be encouraged and appreciated for their love and attention and their Christian value of commitment to family. So, to Kamala and her family, I offer my praise and admiration for the values she represents: Go, girl, go.

— Diane Rust, Halethorpe

Strong military can keep U.S. out of war

Bruce Fein served under President Ronald Reagan, so he should know that “the Gipper” is most remembered for his line, “Tear down this wall,” directed to the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev in West Berlin.

It’s romantic to cite admonishments from famous leaders who relied on the American Revolution as a basis for foreign policy. Two world wars drastically changed that calculus (“America’s foreign policy tempts disaster,” Sept. 27). Submarines threatened our shores in World War II. Now, we must deal with nuclear weapons, hypersonic missiles, threats from space and attacks on our information infrastructure. There’s a reason Reagan led the largest military buildup in our country when we weren’t at war.

Deterrence.

— Eric Greene, Annapolis