Letters: The Rev. Michael Pfleger's political stand is ironic and hypocritical
Pfleger is best at street theater, and this is another example. Fortunately, Trump doesn't care, and if allowed, he will do more to help the St. Sabina community — such as reducing crime and increasing opportunity — than our one-party city and state can or has.
That's the biggest irony. One thing that approaches an autocracy in American government is the Democratic Party's stranglehold on Chicago and America's largest cities, which explains their common suffering.
— William Choslovsky, Chicago
We can't stand aside
The Catholic Church is alive! Finally, a Catholic priest has addressed the destruction of democracy.
For weeks, Sunday sermons in Catholic churches have tap-danced around the inhumane issues of the day, and have encouraged parishioners to 'Gaudete' — to have hope, to love one another. Each of these approaches is good, but they aren't getting to the heart of the matter when the soul of America is in jeopardy. By enumerating the many merciless changes in our government since January, the Rev. Michael Pleger is not making a political pitch. He is only summarizing the events that are changing the lives of so many people and asking everyone to respond to them.
Many churches serve all groups — regardless of religious affiliation — with food, shelter, housing and care for those in need. But Pfleger admonishes us that this is not enough. We cannot stand aside and silently witness the despicable treatment of immigrants, the poor, the homeless and government workers. We need to get our government officials involved.
Pfleger's plea is a call for church and state to work together to preserve the spirit of our nation so that our flag can fly honorably in the sun. Together, we can.
— Mary Ann McGinley, Wilmette
Desecrating grounds
Last Sunday was the anniversary of the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 80 years ago by United States Marines. Many of the Marines on Iwo Jima died in combat serving our country.
How could the Chicago Archdiocese allow the Rev. Michael Pfleger to desecrate sacred parish grounds built on American soil and off the sweat of immigrants?
Did he consider the men of faith from St. Sabina Catholic Church who died serving our country, from World War II to Afghanistan?
He can hang his flag upside down at his home. St. Sabina's belongs to all of us who worship Christ and the American flag.
— Patrick J. Madden, Tinley Park
Spread act of protest
Bravo to St. Sabina Catholic Church and the Rev. Michael Pfleger for flying the U.S. flag upside down in front of their church as a symbol of emergency in order to proclaim that America is in distress. I think that is such a beautiful and perfectly apt act of protest by this church — and I wish many more churches and institutions and people would do the same thing.
In my mind, I can imagine upside-down flags flying all over America in protest — planting a flag, so to speak, and saying that what is happening in our country is horribly, unconscionably and heartbreakingly wrong, and we do not support it!
— Victoria Young, DeKalb
Priest failing at duty
I don't need another person, especially a priest, creating an anti-government climate. A church is supposed to be a nondivisive setting. Perhaps the Rev. Michael Pfleger should be told by his superiors to either refrain or to step down. Why is he concerning himself with political issues? Isn't a priest's main goal to lead lost souls to the Lord and not cause the flock to go astray?
Pfleger might want to read Matthew 22:21 and take more time to pray for the pope's health instead of inciting anxiety and confusion in his followers.
— Christopher Gomez, Chicago
US flag outside church
Why does St. Sabina Catholic Church even have an American flag on its property?
— Marty Malone, Chicago
Recall power needed
In response to the op-ed by state Rep. Kam Buckner regarding a city charter for Chicago and mayoral recall, the urgent need for mayoral recall in Chicago cannot be overstated ('A city charter is the reform Chicago actually needs, not recall powers,' Feb. 23). Without this mechanism, residents are left powerless against serious misconduct.
At Recall This Fall, I highlight, with the counsel of former Gov. Pat Quinn, that some Midwestern states allow voters to recall their mayors, while Illinois remains stuck in the past. The Illinois Constitution provides a pathway for home rule municipalities to adopt recall ordinances, yet Chicago has failed to act. This must change immediately for the good of all Chicagoans.
Some, like Buckner, dismiss recalls as disruptive. However, recalls are crucial for holding elected officials accountable. When leaders betray public trust, voters must have the power to demand change. The push for a recall is about ensuring transparency and integrity in our government. Let Illinois HB1084 have its day in court by allowing hearings and a vote in the General Assembly.
Implementing a recall mechanism would not cost taxpayers extra, as elections can align with existing schedules. Rather than being disruptive, it could unite Chicagoans in a demand for better governance, prioritizing citizens over powerful interests such as the Chicago Teachers Union or Cook County Democrats.
A recall law sends a strong message: Mayors must serve the public diligently or face the consequences. Just as shareholders can remove a failing CEO, Chicagoans deserve the right to replace ineffective leadership.
Now is the time for action. We must assert our right to recall our mayor and regain control over the future of our city.
— Daniel Boland, executive director, Committee for Chicago Mayor Recall
'Progressive' incorrect
I think it is wrong to label Mayor Brandon Johnson as a progressive. His policies are not progressive in the sense that I understand the word.
Labeling Johnson progressive is far too positive and actually demeans the concept.
— Allen Schwartz, Chicago
Dangerous conflation
The editorial about the puppet at the Chicago Cultural Center opens up a new, and dangerous, conflation ('Antisemitic fears in Chicago coalesce around a controversial puppet,' Feb. 19). The Tribune Editorial Board indicates that 'blood on your hands' is an antisemitic trope. I could find no instance online in which that expression was particular to Jews or Judaism.
As an non-Jewish, American taxpayer, I do have the blood of 48,000 Palestinians on my hands because I helped pay for the bombs that killed them all and that maimed many, many more.
I would suggest that the many Jews and gentiles who oppose the war in Gaza, as well as the 23 aldermen who didn't sign Ald. Debra Silverstein's letter, might not like being labelled antisemitic.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
24 minutes ago
- NBC News
South Korean and U.S. militaries begin annual summertime drills to cope with North Korean threats
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale joint military exercise on Monday to better cope with threats by nuclear-armed North Korea, which has warned the drills would deepen regional tensions and vowed to respond to 'any provocation' against its territory. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, the second of two large-scale exercises held annually in South Korea, after another set in March, will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 South Koreans, in computer-simulated command post operations and field training. The drills, which the allies describe as defensive, could trigger a response from North Korea, which has long portrayed the allies' exercises as invasion rehearsals and has often used them as a pretext for military demonstrations and weapons tests aimed at advancing its nuclear program. In a statement last week, North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol said the drills show the allies' stance of 'military confrontation' with the North and declared that its forces would be ready to counteract 'any provocation going beyond the boundary line.' Ulchi Freedom Shield comes at a pivotal moment for South Korea's new liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who is preparing for an Aug. 25 summit with President Donald Trump in Washington. Trump has raised concerns in Seoul that he may shake up the decades-old alliance by demanding higher payments for the American troop presence in South Korea and possibly reducing it as Washington shifts its focus more toward China. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high as North Korea has brushed aside Lee's calls to resume diplomacy with its war-divided rival, with relations having soured in recent years as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerated his weapons program and deepened alignment with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 'What's needed now is the courage to steadily take steps toward easing tensions, grounded in a firmly maintained state of ironclad security readiness,' Lee said during a Cabinet meeting on Monday. South Korea also on Monday began a four-day civil defense drill involving thousands of public workers, often scheduled alongside the allies' summertime military exercises. Seoul's previous conservative government responded to North Korean threats by expanding military exercises with the United States and seeking stronger U.S. assurances for nuclear deterrence, drawing an angry reaction from Kim, who last year renounced long-term reconciliation goals and rewrote the North's constitution to label the South a permanent enemy. In his latest message to Pyongyang on Friday, Lee, who took office in June, said he would seek to restore a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement designed to reduce border tensions and called for North Korea to respond to the South's efforts to rebuild trust and revive talks. The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between the Koreas, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes. But South Korea suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume frontline military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea had already declared it would no longer abide by the agreement. When asked whether the Lee government's steps to restore the agreement would affect the allies' drills, the South's Defense Ministry said Monday that there are no immediate plans to suspend live-fire training near the Koreas' disputed western maritime border. While the allies have postponed half of Ulchi Freedom Shield's originally planned 44 field training programs to September, U.S. military officials denied South Korean media speculation that the scaled-back drills were meant to make room for diplomacy with the North, citing heat concerns and flood damage to some training fields. Dating back to his first term, Trump has regularly called for South Korea to pay more for the 28,500 American troops stationed on its soil. Public comments by senior Trump administration officials have suggested a push to restructure the alliance, which some experts say could potentially affect the size and role of U.S. forces in South Korea. Under this approach, South Korea would take a greater role in countering North Korean threats while U.S. forces focus more on China, possibly leaving Seoul to face reduced benefits but increased costs and risks, experts say.
Fox News
34 minutes ago
- Fox News
Democrats like Zohran Mamdani claim to embrace young people. They're betraying them
The Democratic Party's shift began quietly under President Bill Clinton with promises of welfare reform and opportunity for all. However, those promises are now a distant memory. The party is now a haven for elites who virtue-signal from their penthouses while pushing policies that crush economic mobility for the American working class. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old frontrunner for New York City mayor, embodies that betrayal. The son of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair and a prominent academic, he enjoys a six-figure salary while railing against privilege and taking advantage of a rent-controlled apartment meant for struggling families. This is elite entitlement disguised as socialism, not genuine populism. Mamdani's proposal for a citywide rent freeze affecting 2 million tenants and 200,000 subsidized units may sound compassionate, but it is a recycled failure. California and Seattle tried this playbook and the results were predictable: the housing supply shrank, landlords fled, and renters were left stuck in deteriorating units. For young Americans already crushed by $1.7 trillion in student debt, this means a lifetime of renting with no chance to build wealth. His plan for government-run supermarkets would be just as destructive, stiffling private innovation, gutting small businesses and creating another costly and inefficient bureaucracy. From a collapsing housing market to soaring food costs, Mamdani's $30 minimum wage proposal is another disastrous policy. It may briefly raise paychecks, but it will drive layoffs, fuel automation and force small businesses to close. The damage would hit hardest at a time when youth unemployment is already near 15 percent. This directly mirrors the Biden-Harris era of inflationary, anti-growth policies that destroyed the purchasing power of young Americans. The threat goes beyond paychecks. Mamdani doubles down on sanctuary city policies while pushing to reduce the NYPD as New York struggles with the arrival of approximately 200,000 illegal immigrants since 2022 who have overwhelmed New York's housing and public services. This results in fiercer competition for apartments, higher costs and eroding public safety. On education, he backs union-driven education, weakening mayoral control to prioritize political agendas over academic excellence. Mamdani's "Green Schools for a Healthier NYC" initiative, estimated to cost $3.27 billion over 10 years, claims to modernize school buildings with eco-upgrades. This vanity project, funded by taxing the rich, would ultimately hit middle-class families through higher rent, increased utility bills and fewer jobs. The pattern is a repeat of a failed Los Angeles attempt for a green school program that exploded costs far beyond initial estimates, forcing cuts to other public services while taxpayers were left with the bill. Instead of creating opportunity, Mamdani's scheme would saddle the next generation with higher taxes and fewer economic opportunities for a better life. We do not need to guess how Mamdani's socialist agenda would turn out, it has already been tested and failed in America's big cities. Just look at Chicago under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Her progressive agenda mirrors Mamdani's platforms, such as union control over schools, unsustainable social spending, soft-on-crime policies and a community-centered activist approach to policing that ultimately reduced the police force. The result was devastating yet predictable: violent crime surged 52%, the "share of carjackings by juveniles more than doubled, from 18% to 41%, according to CBS News," businesses shut down, and schools fell deeper into dysfunction with declining enrollment and academic performance. Lightfoot became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose re-election, proof that policies promising "equity" deliver chaos. Globally, Mamdani's democratic socialism brand follows the ruins of Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, where price controls and nationalization promised equality but delivered hyperinflation exceeding 10 million percent, triggering an economic crisis that ultimately drove millions of young people to flee in search of better living and working conditions. The same failures followed Fidel Castro's Cuba, where he aimed for "equity" but rent freezes led to decaying infrastructure and generations trapped in poverty. Socialist experiments always come wrapped in grand promises, but they leave the working class paying the price while elites like Mamdani remain shielded from the fallout. Young Americans cannot afford to be the next casualties of an elite experiment disguised as progress. The way forward is rooted in free-market growth, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and policies that reward work rather than dependency. It is our time to reject the cycle of socialist promises and economic failure. The future of our youth and the strength of our nation hinge on rejecting the Democrats' betrayal before it locks another generation into decline.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Liberals play partisan games with economic news
Will Democrats put politics aside and applaud as the American economy shows a strength and resilience that so many of them doubted? Probably not. Thanks to President Donald Trump's bold policies, it appears that the United States will avoid a recession this year − one that so many liberals were predicting only months ago. Will Democrats put politics aside and applaud as the American economy shows a strength and resilience that so many of them doubted? Probably not. The Bureau of Economic Analysis on July 30 released more good news about our nation's vibrant economy. Gross domestic product grew a healthy annual rate of 3% in the second quarter after recording a less than 1% decline in the first three months of this year. Fears of a recession should now dissipate like morning haze after the sunrise. Nearly all markers of a strong economy are in top form. Unemployment is low, hovering at 4.1%. The past three months have seen steady job growth. Average hourly earnings for U.S. workers grew 3.7% over the 12 months ending in June. Consumer spending is expected to rise, and there's been a modest uptick in consumer confidence. The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, increased 2.7% over the 12 months ending in June, far below the 40-year high recorded in President Joe Biden's term. Even the average price of eggs has dropped dramatically, to $3.31 per dozen, down from a spike to $8 in February and back to roughly the same price level as a year ago. Stock indexes continue to grow at a strong pace, recovering from the sell-off this spring driven by concerns over Trump's tariffs. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 have set multiple record highs in July, a boon to millions of Americans with retirement accounts and other investors. On the tariff front, Trump's new trade deal with the European Union should be a catalyst for further economic growth, particularly in the energy and construction sectors. If this is what a recession looks like, let's keep it coming. Critics said Trump was destroying the economy Despite such healthy economic markers, I doubt I'll see many kudos offered to the Trump administration for powering past a recession, which the left predicted in doomsday terms. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote in May that Trump and "MAGAnomics" were "destroying the economy and waging war on the middle class and the poor." The headline thundered that Trump was "making America backward again." Opinion: Trump's EU trade deal ushers in a golden age for blue-collar workers Interestingly, Krugman claimed that the U.S. economy was in good overall shape when Biden left office in January. He charged Trump with wrecking the economy in a mere three months. Now, that the data clearly shows otherwise, will Krugman admit his errors? I doubt it. Krugman, to be fair, wasn't the only so-called expert spouting off about our supposedly crumbling economy. CNN published an analysis in April with a headline that claimed "Trump took the US economy to the brink of a crisis in just 100 days." That same month, the Center for American Progress bemoaned that "President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally launch a global trade war could be one of the worst economic statecraft blunders in American history." Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delivered to your inbox. I read these articles in the mainstream news media and wonder if we share the same universe. Do progressives not see the same healthy economic markers that millions of other Americans and I see? The answer, of course, is that they do see − but they are too blinded by partisanship to admit it. Good economic news should be nonpartisan I don't have a problem with liberals criticizing Trump. Sometimes he deserves it. But when it comes to obvious wins like a blossoming economy, the constant derision is tiresome and pedestrian. A robust economy under any president is good news for Americans, regardless of their party affiliation. Right? I didn't care for Biden's leftist policies. But I didn't cheer when the economy struggled. It was bad news not just for Biden but, far more important, also for our nation and its citizens. More than a year after Biden entered the White House, annual inflation spiked to 9% in June 2022, the highest rate in four decades. Americans were hit with sudden increases in food, housing and transportation costs. Opinion: Nvidia CEO says Trump gives America an advantage. Hear that, progressives? Compounding the pain, the Federal Reserve acted to cool inflation by raising interest rates, which pushed up consumers' payments for auto, housing and credit card loans. Democrats tried to blame decisions made in Trump's first term, including federal spending used to fight consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Biden spent more even as the pandemic began to wane. In 2024, more than half of American voters said the economy was the issue that mattered to them the most. It's why Trump won more than 77 million votes and returned to the White House. Now, he is delivering on his promises to rebuild our nation's economy. But not everyone is happy about it. It's too bad liberals can't separate economic success from Trump's party affiliation. I can't help but wonder if they wanted a recession so they could blame Trump even more. Nicole Russell is a columnist at USA TODAY and a mother of four who lives in Texas. Contact her at nrussell@ and follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @russell_nm. Sign up for her weekly newsletter, The Right Track, here. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
