SATURDAy, NOVEMbER 9 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
Free For All
I was saddened to read that the words “By Pamela
Constable” will no longer appear in The Post’s news
pages [“After years in Afghanistan, I’m going home
to an America I don’t recognize,” Outlook, Oct. 6].
Her well-researched and insightful reports over
the past several years helped clarify often-opaque
events in Afghanistan and Pakistan, troubled nations
with which the United States is deeply involved and
has important, complicated relationships.
I met Constable in Haiti in the 1980s, when I was
serving at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and she
was covering Latin America for the Boston Globe. It
was a time of great turmoil and change in that
country, and though her expertise had been in
Spanish-speaking countries, she quickly became anexpert in Haitian politics and culture, reporting and
interpreting events leading up to and after the
downfall of the Jean-Claude Duvalier regime in 1986.
I was particularly impressed by her bravery. Haiti
was a dangerous place in those days, yet she went
wherever the stories were. She was determined to
uncover and report the facts, despite the potential
consequences to her safety.
Several years later, after she had been hired by
The Post, she was assigned to cover the war in
Afghanistan, a part of the world she was then
unfamiliar with. Knowing that I had served at the
U.S. Embassy in Kabul before my time in Haiti, she
contacted me to ask my advice. “Be careful,” I told
her. Even so, she continued to take risks to reportbreaking news and also contributed thoughtful
backgrounders, providing the “why,” as well as the
“what.” She even found time to write stories about
the human costs of the conflict, both there and in
Pakistan. She brought to life ordinary men, women
and children who were just trying to eke out a living
and avoid becoming victims of the violence around
them. Her stories were often published with photo-
graphs she had taken in rural areas far away f rom the
relatively safe cities in which she was based (and
could have stayed). Her reportage will be missed.
Jeffrey Liteman, Arlington
The writer served as public affairs officer in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from 1983 to 1988 and
information officer in Kabul from 1968 to 1969.Constable will be missed
Among the places listed in the Oct. 25 Weekend
article “Sweet escapes that don’t require travel” was
“ ‘Grief’ a t Rock Creek Cemetery.” T he article said t he
Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery is “known
only as ‘Grief.’ ” Though the public called it “Grief,”
Augustus Saint-Gaudens named it “The Mystery of
the Hereafter and the Peace of God that Passeth
Understanding.”
Elizabeth D. Whiting, LeesburgReading Sebastian Smee’s Oct. 30 Style article
about the noise and crowds at the celebrated
Leonardo da Vinci show at the Louvre, “The genius
of Leonardo rises above the din at the Louvre,”
prompted me to describe my experience at the
National Gallery of Art’s Andrea del Verrocchioexhibit. Both shows present the teacher/student
relationship. A Verrocchio sculpture is included in
Paris, and works by da Vinci appear here.
Shortly after the gallery opened, my friends and I
enjoyed unobstructed views of Verrocchio’s “David,”
cupids and the Madonna and child. At the display of
Verrocchio photographs by Clarence Kennedy, we
were the only viewers. Want to admire the anteced-
ents of Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic smiles and
expressive hands, of Sandro Botticelli’s tilted heads, of
generations of swirling m arble draperies i n quiet, free
surroundings? Go to our national treasure house
before Jan. 12. Because mentors of the famous are
often neglected, this show is especially notable.
Thanks to the curators for bringing it here.
Sandra B. Calhoun, AlexandriaA mysterious sculpture and other glorious art
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
A close-up view of the Adams Memorial at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.I normally consider “Classic Peanuts” to be just
that — a paean to a great cartoonist, but without
relevance to what we are experiencing today. Con-
temporarily, we face a presidency without prece-
dent; a man who occupies the highest office who
does not have a basic understanding of the responsi-
bility the office requires. In the Oct. 28 “Classic
Peanuts,” Linus is facing the suppression of a book by
an author whom he loves. As could be expected, he
retains Snoopy as his attorney. Snoopy spends his
time quoting legal phrases.
However, in this instance, one of Snoopy’s quotes
originates from the John Peter Zenger trial of 1735,
which was strictly concerned with freedom of
speech. The quote has taken a legal life of its own:
“The suppressing of evidence ought always to be
taken for the strongest evidence.” Though libel is not
the issue regarding the impeachment proceedings,
the obstruction of testimony by the Trump adminis-
tration parallels what the quote addresses. Freedom
of speech, and the transparency that is part of that
right, when infringed upon in any legal proceeding,
is aptly represented by this quotation. When testi-
mony is suppressed, it surely appears that such
suppression is indeed “the strongest evidence.”
Don Greenwood, ViennaA ‘Classic’ timely message
I was delighted to read Thomas Boswell’s Nov. 1
Sports column, “Postseason upset run was great-
est in history,” not because of the quality of his
reporting or the elegance of his prose, both
customarily of high rank, but rather because of the
sheer, unadulterated, over-the-top joy ex-
pressed. No sophisticated analysis of the fine
points of the game, no discussion of free agency,
salary caps and the business of the sport, no real
criticism and no cynicism, just the pure joy of a
true baseball fan. Best of all, it made me wax
nostalgic for the 1950s, when I played third base at
the Westmoreland Hills Recreation Center in
Bethesda and longed to be a major leaguer.
Francis A. Cherry Jr., RichmondIn his praise of the Nationals, Thomas Boswell
has gone off the deep end. But so have many in this
area, me included.
For the past four years, I worked for the firm that
tests major league ballplayers for performance-
e nhancing drugs and have spent time in the
Nationals’ clubhouse. It has been fun to watch this
version of the N ats emerge. Stephen Strasburg went
from petulant to quietly mature. Howie Kendrick
worked all last year to rehab a physical injury and
brought with him his delightful sons when they
were not in school. Adam Eaton would talk cars
with anyone who would listen. On days he was
pitching, you did not talk to Max Scherzer. I would
like to mention the entire team.An individual’s and, in this case, a team’s,
character is revealed by how they treat those they do
not have to be nice to. The Nats certainly did not
have to be nice to us. We were aliens in their midst
requiring them to urinate into a cup while one of us
watched. They took it with good grace and, when a
rookie was slow in following the protocol, one of the
veterans would quietly tell them to get with the
program.
Boswell’s hyperbole was, if anything, understat-
ed. Every one of the Nats and their whole support
staff — from the clubhouse workers who pick up
their towels to the front office — deserved every
word of it. In the howling wilderness that is now
Washington, for at least one splendid moment, God
was in His heaven and all was right with the world.
B ill Tate, AlexandriaThe Oct. 31 front-page article “At last, Nats are
champs” said the Washington Nationals delivered
“the first baseball title for the nation’s capital since
Walter Johnson’s Senators won their only one in
1924.” Actually, the Washington Homestead Grays
won the Negro World Series in 1943, 1944 and 1948.
Roger Hartman, Annandale“Four.” So began Petula Dvorak’s Nov. 1 Metro
column, “As we celebrate Nats and Caps, let’s
remember 2 D.C. women’s champs, too,” purporting
to correctly state how many national titles have been
won by professional sports teams in the District in2018 and 2019. She reflexively blamed sexism for the
Capitals’ initial congratulatory tweet to the Nation-
als not mentioning the Mystics (or the D.C. Divas)
when she wrote, “It’s not real unless men do it?
Puhleez.”
Perhaps she should have given stronger consid-
eration to the real culprit being mere market
forces, namely the significantly lower popularity
of certain sports relative to others — because I’d
like to believe that just such an innocent explana-
tion (rather than lower regard for the opposite
sex) is responsible for her own undercounting.
You see, I was in attendance at Arena Bowl XXXI
on July 28, 2 018 (which i s even more recent than t he
Capitals’ winning of the Stanley Cup), when the
Washington Valor defeated the host Baltimore
Brigade 69-55 to capture that sport’s champion-
ship. Might its status that year as a mere four-team
league (that now is folding) have any bearing on its
exclusion?
In s training to detect the pea of sexism under a ny
number of mattresses, Dvorak hoisted herself by
her own Petula.
Brendan Regan, LeesburgI greatly appreciate the thoroughness and
completeness of The Post’s coverage of the Wash-
ington Nationals. In particular, I congratulate the
headline writers for a superb job in capturing the
Nats fans’ anxiety and glee!
Barbara Coleman, Chevy ChaseD.C. is a city of champions
Th e decision to capitalize “deep state” s ans quota-
tion marks in the Oct. 26 front-page article “Trump’s
strategy shifts as efforts to stymie probe fail” was
curious. When did “deep state” become a proper
noun? Capitalizing those words legitimizes the idea
that government bureaucrats are out to get the
president. Was that the intent?
Kirsten B. Mitchell, Washington
Was this a Capital offense?
I’ll bet Pete Buttigieg was feeling overlooked
when the Oct. 21 editorial “A compelling case for a
carbon tax” bemoaned the lack of a carbon-taxing
plan by Democratic candidates for president. That’s
because his website, peteforamerica.com, says this
about building a clean economy: “We will enact a
price on carbon and use the revenue to send rebates
to Americans. With money returned directly to their
pockets, lower- and middle-class households in
particular will experience economic gains.”
And what do Republicans think about a carbon
tax? A May poll by Luntz Global found that charging
fossil-fuel companies for their carbon emissions and
giving all the money to the American people through
a quarterly check had 2-to-1 GOP support and
75 percent support from Republicans younger than
- Another sign of growing support for a carbon tax
on fossil-fuel companies is the bipartisan, revenue-
n eutral Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend
Act, H.R. 763. It has nearly 70 co-sponsors because
Americans are telling their representatives they
want effective climate-change legislation that’s also
good for the economy. Climate change won’t slow
until we act. There’s a bill with teeth in Congress
now. We can’t wait until the next election to pass it.
Cheryl Arney, Ellicott City
The writer is a volunteer with
Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Don’t delay, Congress
Regarding Peter Marks’s Oct. 29 Style review of
Arena Stage’s “Right to Be Forgotten,” “ Onstage, it’s
wrong to be forgettable”:
The play asks: Should the Internet let you erase
your past bad acts? The answer in this case is clearly
“yes.” Marks’s review should disappear in its entirety,
taking with it such inappropriate terms as “anemic,”
“tepid” and “lackluster.”
Having read the review before seeing the play, I
was blindsided by a show that was topical, poignant
and quite humorous. It was simply fun theater,
grabbing my attention from the outset and holding
it throughout with interesting characters and good
acting. It did not answer any questions but asked
them i n clever ways that underscored t he complexi-
ty of the issues. To a one, the theatergoers I spoke
with and heard from at the play’s end and during
the enjoyable post-play discussion were uniformly
positive. Put simply, everybody seemed to enjoy the
play and could not comprehend Marks’s critique.
Michael Strauss, Rockville
Regarding “In David Alden’s bleak take on
‘Otello,’ the music finds a way to shine through,”
Anne Midgette’s Oct. 28 review of Washington
National Opera’s “Otello” [ Style]:
I attended a dress rehearsal and could not have
disagreed with Midgette more about the perfor-
mances, the sets, the costumes and the lighting.
Disagreements based on personal taste are one
thing, but my unhappiness with her review was
with the tone. How does it educate the public
considering buying tickets to write, “The singers
were reasonably cast and able to follow him [the
conductor] while offering more or less convincing
portrayals”? After this blah statement, later in the
review, Midgette writes, “The cast all did perfectly
well, however, even under these circumstances.”
Which is it? More or less convincing, or perfectly
well? Either way, Midgette’s praise bestowed be-
grudgingly felt insincere. I am not a professional
critic, but Midgette’s review of “Otello” missed the
mark on so many levels.
Wendy Hoffman, Rockville
Forget what the reviewer said
Regarding the Oct. 22 Health & Science article
“An athletic life vs. that time of the month?”:
I’m grateful that the Health & Science section
features articles specific to women’s health. Howev-
er, the euphemism “that time of the month” struck
me as odd and outdated. I’d love to see us calling it
what it is: menstruation. We don’t have to be afraid
of blood and women’s bodies.
Elena Pinsky, Oakland, Calif.
Skip the euphemisms. Period.
The Oct. 26 editorial “Without fear or favor”
referred to Harvard as “the country’s most presti-
gious university.” There are graduates of Princeton,
Yale, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of
Te chnology who would strongly disagree with that
assertion. In f act, the Princeton football team was so
outraged that it defeated Harvard that day on its way
to a second consecutive undefeated season.
In t he words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “You are
entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to
your own facts.” However, before the editorial board
writers expressed their opinion concerning Har-
vard’s status as our country’s “most prestigious
university,” they might have considered that the
owner of The Post, Jeff Bezos, is a graduate of
Princeton, not Harvard.
Laurence E. Block, Annapolis
Tiger! S-s-s-s-t! Boom! A-h-h-h!
LEFT AND CENTER, KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST; RIGHT, NEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM
From left, Washington Mystics guard Natasha Cloud savors her team’s WNBA championship on Oct. 10; the Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto and
teammates celebrate the team’s World Series victory in Washington on Nov. 2; members of the 1 946 Homestead Grays i n D.C.’s Griffith Stadium.PEANUTS WORLDWIDE LLC
The Oct. 28 “Classic Peanuts.”SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESA demonstrator in New Delhi on Nov. 3.