Macklemore (and Trump) deserve our scorn

I don’t often agree with Armstrong Williams, but a line in his most recent column hit the nail on the head (“Armstrong Williams: Macklemore and the anti-Israel crowd deserve our scorn,” Oct. 2).

“You can judge a person by the company he or she keeps, or who he or she admires,” Williams wrote.

So Macklemore doesn’t deserve our support, and be aware that a vote for former President Donald Trump is a vote for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

— Norma Cohen, Baltimore

CBS was the big loser in the VP debate

I was a journalist for 45 years, rising from reporter to editor-in-chief of a national newspaper, managing a newspaper and several magazine publications for Knight-Ridder, and ultimately owning a media company.

Candy Woodall, the opinion editor for The Baltimore Sun, is helping bring about a better-balanced editorial page to the newspaper, one reflective of the long history of the Sun and its standing in the country. Her review of Tuesday night’s debate between vice presidential candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. JD Vance was accurate as far as it went (“Who won the debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz? 5 takeaways,” Oct. 2). She correctly represented what both candidates said. She also accurately suggested that Vance won the debate.

What she did not do — and as a journalist what I believe was required of her — was to point out that the CBS moderator Margaret Brennan was very partisan is her support of Walz. Brennan would lead Walz with questions that were favorable to him. And then she fact-checked Vance although the debate rules precluded such fact checking. When Vance challenged her on fact checking him, she attempted to kill his microphone.

The loser of the debate was CBS.

— Stanford Erickson, Baltimore

It’s past time for Pete Rose to be in Hall of Fame

As a lifetime baseball fan, I am more than well aware of Pete Rose’s gigantic legendary career in Major League Baseball (“Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at age 83,” Sept. 30). He was banished for life from MLB for gambling and now is deceased. That would lead me to maintain that since he served his sentence meted out by A. Bartlett Giamatti, then MLB commissioner, Rose should now be eligible for posthumous induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I feel that MLB is being very hypocritical by not budging from their continual draconian outlook on gambling by players, coaches, etc. Major League Baseball is currently raking in gigantic revenues from their advertising of the now-legal sports books. Also, MLB is projected to get $1 billion for their piece of the betting action on baseball this year from Fan Duel, Draft Kings and others. Yes, “Charlie Hustle” broke a then-serious rule. I am certain he walked through his later life as a pariah barred from all baseball venues. I’m sure he died full of regrets. Isn’t that enough?

Finally, letter writer Patrick Lynch’s disparaging comments about Rose’s intelligence are, to me, quite wrong, unkind and totally off-base (“The good and the bad of Pete Rose,” Oct. 1). Rose was simply a gambling addict suffering from the disease of addiction — no more, no less.

— George Hammerbacher, Baltimore

A travesty for UM students to honor Hamas atrocities

Shame on the federal judge who ruled that the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) can proceed with their celebration on Oct. 7 (“Federal judge restores University of Maryland students’ ability to host Oct. 7 vigil,” Oct. 2).

Contrary to your article, they will not be commemorating the deaths committed by Hamas. As they did last Oct. 7, they will be celebrating the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. SJP has been banned from many college campuses throughout the United States for its unholy ties to Hamas, a terrorist group financed by Iran.

Allowing a pro-terrorist group to hold a ceremony on a U.S. campus is a travesty.

— Jack Kinstlinger, Towson

Who are the real heroes?

Well said, Mr. Muldoon, comparing professional sports to the military service (“Let’s not forget Ravens play a children’s game,” Oct. 3). The heroes in America are the ones who cross the goal line or pitch a no hitter. Those who die in the military are not even mentioned. Yet when stuff hits the fan, who will they call? Certainly not professional athletes.

When I retired as an Army lieutenant colonel after 23 years in the military, I had only $10,000 in the bank. You don’t join or stay in the military to make money. You do it because of dedication to the country. Dedication in professional sports depends on who pays you the most money. \

Sports are games while war, as can be seen in the Middle East, is pure hell. America’s priorities are lopsided until our military is needed.

— Stas Chrzanowski, Baltimore