Republicans abandon beliefs to embrace Trump

I was disappointed to hear that Republicans like U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who held Donald Trump “practically and morally responsible” for his coup d’etat attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, now are giving Trump their full support (“Jan. 6 no problem for Senate GOP,” June 18).

Maybe they have something to learn from Alexander Hamilton who supported his arch political enemy, Thomas Jefferson, over Aaron Burr after the two had tied in the Electoral College in 1800. As Hamilton says in the hit musical about his life, “When all is said and all is done, Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.”

— Wes Michael, Towson

Baltimore Red Line alternatives all come up short

While I support expanding transit in Baltimore, the current Red Line alternatives will probably not offer the long-term solution to Baltimore’s transit challenges. The proposal has basically three alternatives and all are pretty bad and will likely not stand the test of time (“Dan Rodricks: Hogan, Alsobrooks and the politics of Red Line revival,” June 14).

Alternates 1 and 3 put light rail in a tunnel under Pratt Street right next to the harbor. Such a route will likely have challenges and cost overruns during construction. It is the fastest of the alternatives, but since the plan uses light rail cars it will have limited capacity, and since it uses tunnels it will have few stations. The map shows it ending near Fells Point. If the tunnel has expensive leaking problems once constructed or if it has the sort of cost overruns that a tunnel going through a site that was originally swamp, then the city and its taxpayers will really regret this option. It can be done, but it will be gambling with the taxpayer’s money.

Alternates 2A and 4A use a surface route through downtown, possibly with a tunnel on the west side. This is the least expensive solution. But for people familiar with these roads adding Bus Rapid Transit or BRT means either losing a lane of traffic or having the bus not be “rapid” at all — just another bus route in a city full of bus routes that are slower than a kid on a scooter or skateboard can travel during peak travel times. And since it will clog already clogged streets, there will be lots of unhappy people.

Alternates 2B and 4B are similar to 2A and 4A. Using light rail instead of buses could make for slightly higher speed and capacity, but can also lead to clogging some of the city’s most congested roads. I suspect that any of the surface options will be abandoned within 20 years unless someone invents inexpensive flying cars.

The original Red Line plan expanded the subway system under Baltimore Street. It added a branch splitting off to the southeast past downtown and a branch headed west to make an X layout. That would allow the current subway riders to have a choice of destinations and get there fairly quickly. As a true subway rather than a light rail car in a tunnel, it would have much more capacity. And since there already is a maintenance facility on the subway line would not need another one.

Such an option would be far more expensive since subway cars are more expensive than light rail cars and it would disrupt the subway system during construction. But such a system would likely be far more enduring than a plan to mess up traffic or build right next to water.

— William Hettchen, Ellicott City

Learning from our history of racial injustice

I so appreciate the letter to the editor contradicting Dr. Ben Carson’s opinion on the subject of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in school curriculum (“Achieving fairness requires learning about DEI, CRT,” June 18). The author mentions many examples of discrimination throughout the history of our country that were shocking to me when I began to wake up to this race-based reality. Did we learn in school about Black citizens being excluded from VA loans and other GI benefits? Or even about red-lining in Baltimore? The writer touches on Jim Crow laws, which I’m just beginning to understand at my age.

Our only hope is our children, and my college-graduate grandchild assures me that their classes in a Baltimore County high school have opened their eyes to some of these injustices I never learned about.

— Marilyn Carlisle, Baltimore