Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers’ grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week’s Free for All letters.
As a point of clarification, no one asked to unmask former national security adviser Michael Flynn by name, as if he were a target; they sought to unmask the unidentified person engaging in the troubling conversations with Russians. The point of unmasking is to identify the person; unmasking isn’t necessary if you know who it is.
For Trump, the law and his attorney general are political tools to be deployed for his revenge and reelection. The Post and all other media should stop enabling his abuse of our legal system and stop reporting on this conspiracy theory. There are enough lies coming out of the White House, and all of Trump’s enablers and allies, without The Post amplifying them further.
Deborah V. Rogers, Bethesda
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Rejecting 'rebuff'
The May 15 news article “Pompeo denies Trump’s request for Senate bid” used the word “rebuff” to describe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s preference to remain in that position rather than run for Senate. A definition of “rebuff” is “reject in an abrupt or ungracious manner.” I found nothing in the article that supported that claim.
Martha Lewis, Bethesda
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Angling for a better word choice
The artistry of The Post’s photography and writing is commendable. On the latter, I note with amusement the May 16 Free for All letter regarding a May 4 article on the salmon industry in Alaska that included the word “fishers” for fishermen and fisherwomen [“Weasel word”]. The letter-writer pointed out that, unfortunately for the word police, a fisher is a weasel-like animal. (He suggested “otters.”) I was asked for a more “woke” non-gender word for “fisherman” years ago by a friend who enjoyed fishing but hated to refer to herself as a “fisherman,” and I suggested “angler,” which she instantly adopted. But please ignore the fact that “angler” is short for “anglerfish” — at least it’s a fish.
Dave Prevar, Annapolis
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Rethinking the starting lineup
I enjoyed reading Neil Greenberg’s May 16 Sports article that listed his statistically based all-time best Major League Baseball roster, “By the numbers, this is the best team in baseball history.” I would like to point out one glaring omission: Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
“Joltin Joe’s” three Most Valuable Player awards, .325 lifetime batting average and full career on-base-plus-slugging all exceed those of Willie Mays. Mays’s 12 Gold Gloves would also have been matched by DiMaggio had that honor existed before 1957. Let’s also not forget that DiMaggio averaged only 34 strikeouts per season. Despite missing three seasons at the height of his career because of military service, DiMaggio should be regarded as the greatest of all time. I know I’d find him a spot on my roster.
Mark Tamaro, Kensington
There was one glaring omission in Neil Greenberg’s “By the numbers, this is the best team in baseball history.” How could Mickey Mantle not make the roster? He had a lifetime batting average of .298, hit 536 home runs and knocked in 1,509 runs. And he did all this on one leg — he tore his ACL in the 1951 World Series and played in great pain for the next 18 years.
“The Mick” won the Batting Triple Crown in 1956 when he hit .353 and had 52 home runs and 130 runs batted in. Among other players to achieve that honor before 1956 were Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams, all three of whom made Greenberg’s list. Mantle was also the Most Valuable Player of the American League in 1956, 1957 and 1962. In 1953, he hit a legendary home run of 565 feet off Chuck Stobbs here in the District’s Griffith Stadium. This is a feat that remains part of his mythology even today.
He may have been “the Last Boy” of the 1950s with his antisocial behavior, but he was the Roy Hobbs of the decade as well. For me and many others, he was the epitome of eternal youth, grace, speed and power. His record speaks for itself. He deserved a mention on the team, and I am not even a Yankees fan.
Michael Henry, College Park
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Their well-being is our national security
The May 15 front-page article “In poor nations, hunger may be the bigger killer” brought a regretful “I hate to say we told you so” to my mind.
Forty years ago, the Report of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger was issued, and much of what was described in the article was eerily reminiscent of the warnings and concerns expressed by the commission.
The article’s reports about chronic malnutrition, hidden hunger, loss of income and poverty echoed subjects also examined by the commission. They also raised the specter of an impoverished, unstable and insecure developing world — just as the commission warned of 40 years ago.
In a section on national security, the commission noted that “most Americans have been conditioned to equate national security with the strength of strategic military forces. The Commission considers this prevailing belief to be a simplistic illusion” and “is firmly convinced that a major worldwide effort to conquer hunger and poverty, far from a gesture of charity to be offered or withheld according to temporary political whims, holds the key to both global and national security.”
In his introduction to the commission’s report, the chairman, diplomat Sol Linowitz, said, “The hour is late. Age-old forces of poverty, disease, inequity, and hunger continue to challenge the world.” He was right.
Forty years later, we are challenged by the novel coronavirus and again the threat of hunger to those in the developing world. It is time, finally, to recognize that their well-being is our national security.
Daniel E. Shaughnessy, Purcellville
The writer was executive director of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger.
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Unspoiled and underappreciated
In The Post’s May 14 crossword, the answer to the clue “wasteland” was “heath.” In past crosswords, clues for other ecosystems, such as swamps, bogs and deserts, were often pejorative. Crossword creators should know that places without pavement have value.
John Meagher, Fairfax Station
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Not funny
Regarding the May 15 “Wumo” comic strip:
There is nothing humorous about a missing child, teen or otherwise! There is nothing humorous about the anguish of a parent of a missing child! This was a most insensitive, offensive, hurtful and cruel “comic” strip, with the implication being that a child having the issues described lacked the attributes to be lovable and therefore worthy of being found. Children have enough difficulty with self-image without being made the object of ridicule. It is long past time to replace this so-called comic strip with something more intelligent and possibly even funny.
Joyce Benson, Silver Spring
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All turned around
Recalling his encounter with fullback Mike Curtis in a football scrimmage, former high school defensive lineman Joseph O’Connell remembered that this one-man stampede stomped across his sternum to score. Lying “prone,” O’Connell nonetheless “managed to turn” and see Curtis, or anyway Curtis’s rump, in the end zone [“Brushed past by greatness,” Free for All, May 16]. If Curtis trod on O’Connell’s sternum, though, then O’Connell was lying belly up, not back up (and must have turned around, not over). So he must have been lying supine, not prone.
Patrick Judd Murray, Washington
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Mystery letters
In the May 16 news article “Drug promoted by Trump as ‘game changer’ increasingly linked to deaths,” the abbreviation “EUA” was used three times without any explanation of what the letters stood for. I had to play detective and go back to the earlier part of the article to find three words together with these three first letters to understand their meaning. I finally found them — “emergency use authorization” — but without any quotation marks, capitalization or any other way to differentiate them from the rest of the text. Please, when an abbreviation is used, let the reader know what the letters stand for by citing the abbreviation immediately following the abbreviated words’ use for the first time.
Roger Hartman, Annandale
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Remember these war heroes, too
Reading the May 17 Washington Post Magazine article “Flight status” about the Pan Am stewardesses who served on military transport flights during the Vietnam War reminded me of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II.
Although the WASPs were not Army members, these 1,102 women performed the vital task of ferrying planes from factories to military installations and towing practice targets for antiaircraft units. Thirty-eight WASPs died in service to our country, but because they were civilians, the government offered them no funeral or burial benefits. They weren’t granted veterans’ status until 1977. They were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010, but it took a bitter bureaucratic battle before their burial was permitted at Arlington National Cemetery. We should always remember that since 1775, women have played a vital role in defending our country and their service is oftentimes overlooked, ignored and forgotten.
Paul L. Newman, Merion Station, Pa.
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Such a common misconception
The May 17 Metro article about a virtual wedding ceremony, “D.C. Superior Court trains to help love find a way,” referred to “bride Jameila Roache and her groom, Andre Rambana.”
That reminded me of how I used the term “groom” in a conversation with a much wiser person when I was a young man. He corrected me by advising that the proper term was “bridegroom.” I replied, “I know, but it’s commonly called the ‘groom.’ ” His response to that was: “Yes, very commonly.” A “groom” is a person employed to care for horses.
Richard Johnson, Potomac
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A pitch for more coverage
Thanks for the comprehensive and interesting obituary for Mary Pratt, a former pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League [“Pitcher was early member of pioneering women’s baseball team,” obituaries, May 12]. Pratt obviously had a deep love of sport and a passion to play, and it’s a reminder to this old girl athlete how women including her made it possible for girls to play any professional (or amateur) sports.
I hope that, with the dearth of sports news, maybe someone will explore Pratt’s story and the effect of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League on acceptance and promotion of women’s sports, starting with Title IX.
Mary Blissard, Leesburg
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'Dancing' around 'Shavuot'
Patrick Reynolds’s description of Lag b’Omer in “Flashbacks” in the May 10 Sunday Comics section was a nice daydream for postpandemic times: outdoor activities, weddings and bonfires. But “danging”? I’ll be darned. Also, I’m not observant, but I did observe that it should be “Shavuot,” not “Shavout.”
Andrew Schotz, Hagerstown, Md.
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One of nature's modest stewards
Regarding the May 19 Health & Science article “Watching over at-risk butterflies, bugs”:
I’m sure the reporter wasn’t aware, because the Jim Waggener I know — and who was featured in the article — is much too modest to have told her, that Waggener is largely responsible for the existence of the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to which the article referred. When the Army decided to abandon the property, local elected officials and developers were intent on spreading more suburban sprawl over this incredible property. I, along with Kim Hosen of the Prince William Conservation Alliance and many others, worked with Waggener, and we benefited greatly from his leadership and military contacts to prevail over the forces of development. It was not easy, but the result was well worth the effort, and Waggener has since continued to serve the community.
Here’s an idea for another article on Jim Waggener: his service in the Cold War as a U-2 reconnaissance pilot. Wait — maybe I’ll write that one!
Martin Jeter, Woodbridge
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