A16 eZ re THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAy, NOVEMbER 9 , 2019
letters to tHe eDItor[email protected]loCAl oPINIoNsI
N HIS many videos on social media. José Daniel
Ferrer appears as a robust and determined
activist for democracy in Cuba, heading a
group named the Patriotic Union of Cuba, or
UNPACU. But in a short prison visit on Thursday,
more than a month after Mr. Ferrer was detained
Oct. 1 by authorities, his family says they saw a
broken man, hunched over, having lost half his
weight, covered in bruises. He was barely able to
speak but told them hastily he has been threatened
that he will not leave prison alive.
This horrific scene is cause for alarm, outrage
and international protest. Mr. Ferrer is a leading
opposition voice to the Cuban regime. He previ-
ously served several years in prison after the
2003 Black Spring” arrests of the followers of
Oswaldo Payá, champion of the Varela Project, acitizen initiative calling for a referendum on
democracy in Cuba. Mr. Ferrer founded UNPACU
in his hometown of Santiago de Cuba after his
release, and he has been tireless and unrelenting in
his pursuit of human rights and in his criticism of
the authoritarian regime established by Fidel
Castro six decades ago.
After his arrest, along with several others in his
movement, Mr. Ferrer was held incommunicado,
with no word about his situation. Then, in the past
week, a handwritten letter appeared in which he
wrote that he had been beaten and tortured and his
life was in grave danger. In a statement Thursday,
Mr. Ferrer’s family said he confirmed that he had
written the letter and had it smuggled out.
In t he brief meeting with h is family, c onducted in
a prison office, Mr. Ferrer said he is on a hungerstrike and has repeatedly torn off his prison
uniforms in protest, which were forcibly put back
on him. He showed his family bruises on his body.
He was hunched over and could barely embrace
them. Mr. Ferrer reported that he is being held in a
cell in chains with a common criminal who has
attacked him repeatedly.
No one should have any doubts why Mr. Ferrer is
being punished: to silence his outspoken demands
for an end to despotism in Cuba, a system that is
now run by Fidel’s brother Raúl, from the shadows,
and President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Mr. Ferrer’s
family quoted him as saying he is now ready to die
for his principles, telling them, “Freedom, d ignity or
death.” He must be released and given medical
treatment immediately — and his ideals must not be
allowed to flicker out in a dank prison cell.An endangered voice of democracy
A Cuban activist is being silenced and beaten in a prison cell.
This is not the first time the Trump administra-
tion has relied on fiction in judicial proceedings.
Notoriously, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and
the Justice Department fudged the motivation for a
new citizenship question on the 2020 Census.
Thankfully, the courts saw through that lie as well,
albeit by a 5-to-4 majority, with four conservative
justices willing to overlook the falsehood.
Lies helped Mr. Trump get elected, and as ofOct. 9, his 993rd day in office, he had made more
than 13,000 false and misleading claims, according
to the latest count by The Post’s Fact Checker. So
frequent are the lies, there is the danger of becoming
inured to them, treating them just as business as
usual and forgetting the real harm they can cause.
Since Republicans in Congress refuse to be any kind
of check on Mr. Trump and his dishonesty, let’s hope
the courts continue to do their job.W
HEN THE Trump administration an-
nounced a new rule to give greater
protection to health-care workers who
refuse to be involved in certain proce-
dures for religious or moral reasons, it cited a
reason: The number of people complaining that
they had been pressured to act against their faith
had increased dramatically, officials said. For a
decade, there had been on average just one
complaint a year, so the administration’s assertion
of a jump in complaints last year to 343 was
startling.
And, as it turns out, bogus.
Given how President Trump and his administra-
tion regularly traffic in deceptions and untruths,
maybe this shouldn’t be a surprise. Nonetheless, it
remains shocking to see an administration submit-
ting such falsehoods in court. A federal judge
called it out this week as he voided a rule set to go
into effect later this month. The broadly written
rule, challenged by New York and nearly two dozen
other, mostly Democratic states and municipali-
ties, would have allowed medical providers to
decline to participate in services to which they
morally object, such as abortion or assisted death.
In a 147-page decision, U.S. District Judge Paul
Engelmayer in Manhattan declared the regulation
unconstitutional, ruling that the Department of
Health and Human Services had exceeded its
authority and “acted arbitrarily and capriciously.”
“Flatly untrue” is the label he applied to the
administration’s central justification of a supposed
“significant increase” in complaints related to
conscience violations. Nearly 80 percent of the
complaints provided to the court were about
vaccinations and would not have been affected by
the regulation in question.‘Flatly untrue’
The courts again see through
the Trump administration’s
bogus claims.ABCDE
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the Washington Post
1301 K st. nW, Washington, D.C. 20071 (202) 334-The Nov. 4 Metro article “Crowded Va. schools
force tough decisions” brought to light one of the
many capacity issues that Arlington County is facing
with the increase in students. In addition to the
possibility of m aking Key Elementary School a neigh-
borhood school (currently housing the Spanish im-
mersion p rogram), t here a re m any anticipated d omi-
no effect changes happening once Reed Elementary
opens i n the growing Westover area.
Since kindergarten, our children have attended a
crowded Arlington school, McKinley Elementary.
Even after McKinley’s new wing opened in 2016 to
alleviate this crowding, the school was still over
capacity w hile some o ther n earby e lementary s chools
were under capacity.
Now Arlington Public Schools’ proposals to allevi-
ate capacity will disband McKinley e ntirely, s huffling
students to the new Reed location and likely toAshlawn Elementary, which is also crowded. Reed
will open i n 2021 at n ear-capacity — but again, leaving
other nearby elementary schools under capacity.
These proposals give no relief to any future growth
that this part of the county is projected to experience
because APS proposals move a choice school to
McKinley’s location. This is unacceptable.
We urge APS to delay its planned vote on a final
proposal i n early February 2 020. APS should take into
account forthcoming 2020 Census data to ensure
student enrollment projections are as accurate as
possible. If it does not delay, e ven b y APS’s admission,
it will need to amend boundaries again i n a few short
years. All APS students and families deserve a com-
prehensive process that is not rushed or jammed
through w ithout c onsidering a ll t he n ecessary data.
Kelly Oliver, Arlington
Kathleen Clark, ArlingtonArlington’s crowded schools
BIll o'leary/tHe WasHIngton Post
President Trump at the White House on Thursday.Rosemary Bowen’s story of voluntarily refusing
food and drink to hasten death is nothing short of
extraordinary [“In lieu of a pill, she chose a fatal
fast,” Metro, Nov. 4]. Bowen’s courage and clarity
around her decision and her family’s willingness to
support her and bear witness to her experience
were incredible — and thought-provoking.
With the United States’ growing aging popula-
tion, society is going to have to grapple with how
elderly people — including those without terminal
illness — live and die with dignity. Some states (and
the District) have laws giving those with a terminal
diagnosis the right to use medical aid in dying, but
people without a terminal illness cannot legally
implement death-with-dignity laws.
Bowen’s story represents a scenario that is
becoming more and more common and also still
falls in a gray area for our society. We do know that
it’s n ever t oo e arly t o learn about end-of-life o ptions
and prepare for death. From wills and advance
directives to decisions about medical interventions
and burial preferences, there is much to consider.
Sarah Farr, Silver Spring
The writer is founder of Death Positive DC.The profound issues raised by the article on
mother and daughter Bowen chronicling the moth-
er’s fatal fast were dealt with fairly and openly. The
debate between length vs. quality of life and if/how
individuals deal with that balance is one that needs
more d iscussion. I’m hopeful this is a beginning and
not an end to The Post’s reporting on this.
Paul Foldi, BethesdaDiscussing end-of-life options
Republicans apply the universal solution once
again. Rapid catastrophic environmental degrada-
tion? Not a problem: The market will solve it. No
need for anyone to make any sacrifices, work with
other countries, change energy practices or even
understand the issues and implications.
The Nov. 5 news article “It’s official: U.S. to exit
Paris climate deal in 2020” quoted P resident Tr ump,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. John
Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Mr. Trump reasoned it would
“hurt the competitiveness” of the United States and
be “a total disaster.” Mr. Pompeo: “Innovation and
open markets lead to greater prosperity, fewer
emissions.” Mr. Barrasso: “Free market innovation... will address climate change.”
Clearly, anything that might interfere with rich
people getting richer cannot be allowed because the
market solves all problems and causes none, and we
have to make all our decisions on this metric only.
Republicans might espouse similar notions to many
conservative Americans, but they don’t propose or
fund anything to solve problems except the market.
They don’t want to pay for anything that requires a
fair-share tax when everyone could just become an
entrepreneur and get rich or maybe work three jobs
to pay for rent and health care. Or we can just let our
grandchildren pay for e verything so we c an have a tax
break today.
Republicans have only one note on their horn.
Democrats’ diversity of ideas might be confusing
and discordant, but at least they have the whole
band playing.
William Hayes, Arlington
A tired tune on climate change
In the Nov. 3 Metro article “New era of speedier
trains faces obstacles,” Amtrak’s vice president for
the Northeast Corridor stated, “We aspire to hit
higher top speeds, and ultimately the goal is to
shrink the trip time.” To reduce trip time, it would
be more effective to increase the minimum speeds
(improve t he slower s ections of track), and shorten-
ing the distance would be even better.
Bobby Baum, BethesdaCutting train-trip time
The Nov. 5 front-page article “Financing the
migrant debt cycle,” about how microloan pro-
grams are affecting migration from Guatemala,
really opened my eyes to the complexity of this
problem. It i s so important for t he American p eople
to understand the causes of migration.
Microloan programs have been successful in
some places, but now I see how easily these plans
can unravel for the poorest recipients. If only the
current administration would see that building a
wall will not stop desperate people from coming. If
we would use the money we are spending on the
wall to set up a program through which Guatema-
lans could come here legally to work, I believe we
could limit the lure of the smugglers and help
U. S. businesses looking for workers.
Margaret Trzyzewski, Rehoboth Beach, Del.A wall won’t stop the poor
With the Kirwan Commission recommending that
Maryland adequately invest in a high-quality educa-
tion system, the Maryland Public Policy Institute’s
Carol Park argued in her Nov. 3 Local Opinions essay,
“Maryland has a spending problem,” that the state
needs instead an arbitrary limit on tax revenue and
spending. That w ould be bad news for families and the
state’s economy. To see why, just look at Colorado, the
only state with this sort of Ta xpayer Bill of Rights,
known as TABOR.
Since adopting TABOR in 1992, Colorado has fallen
to 48th among states in K-12 spending and 47 th in
higher-education spending as a share of personal
income. It f aces a roughly $1 billion annual shortfall for
transportation needs, including highways and bridges.
To raise needed revenue, lawmakers have resorted
to boosting fees, which generally aren’t based on
ability to pay. This forces struggling Coloradans to
bear more o f the load.
Voters have a pproved nearly 500 local measures to
relax TABOR’s restrictions on cities and towns. In
2005, they partially s uspended TABOR f or five years.
Maryland lawmakers should reject TABOR-type
gimmicks and instead raise the necessary revenue —
including what the Kirwan Commission has advised
— to invest in schools, health care and infrastructure
to promote broad-based prosperity.
Michael Leachman, Washington
The w riter i s senior director of state f iscal research at
the Center on B udget a nd Policy Priorities.Maryland, reject the gimmicks
letters to the editor: [email protected]I
T WOULD be wrong to overinterpret the results
of Tuesday’s elections, especially with regard to
what they might portend for 2020. There’s no
reason to underinterpret them, either. The vote
counts from Kentucky, Virginia and elsewhere
represent the latest hard data about voter tenden-
cies and, on the whole, they imply that, even in
longtime Southern bastions of Republican conserva-
tism, people support a pragmatic, progressive direc-
tion in policy — and a decent, inclusive style of
leadership.
Yes, yes: Virginia has been trending blue for years;
Democrat Andy Beshear’s declared gubernatorial
win in the Bluegrass State reflected the epic unpopu-
larity of incumbent Republican Matt Bevin, and did
not radiate downballot. Still, it’s a major turn of
events when Democrats take control of Richmond
for the first time in a quarter-century, with gun
control as their signature issue; and the same goes
for deep-red Kentucky’s rejection of President
Trump’s appeal for Mr. Bevin, in favor of a 41-year-
old who promised “together we can change the tone,
restore decency... and do so much for the people.”
We’re not in the business of political advice, but
Mr. Beshear’s formulation, similar as it was to the
Democrats’ winning message in 2018, strikes us as
one that the men and women running to replace
Mr. Trump might usefully take on board. The other
big political news this week was a New York
Times-Siena College poll that showed the leadingDemocrats struggling to beat the president in key
swing states, though former vice president Joe Biden
polls better than rivals Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). To t he extent this is
because Mr. Biden has become associated with
step-by-step policy reform and consensus-seeking
leadership, the findings are probably not accidental.
There is a hunger in the country — especially in
pivotal formerly GOP-leaning suburbs — not only for
change, substantive and stylistic, at the top, but also
for stability and sanity. A candidate, and a party, thatconvincingly offers to achieve the former without
sacrificing the latter might well beat Mr. Trump next
November.
To be sure, that one poll should not be overinter-
preted. A sign that it can be is the news that former
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who once held
office as a Republican, is considering entering the
Democratic primary. The case for Mr. Bloomberg’s
entry, if it does indeed occur, is that the Democrats
have veered too far left to beat Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden
is too ineffectual to win, and candidates of moderate
temperament, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.),
Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) or South Bend, Ind., Mayor
Pete Buttigieg, are of negligible significance. With-
out signing on to any of those political judgments,
we would note that Mr. Bloomberg has both an
impressive record and some baggage of his own. Is
the Democratic Party about to embrace a billionaire
whose signature crime-control policy, aggressive
“stop-and-frisk” policing — with a heavy impact on
youth of color — eventually alienated the very
communities it was intended to protect?
For now, it’s enough to note that Mr. Bloomberg’s
candidacy would further sharpen what is already an
intensifying debate among Democrats over their
direction, politically and in policy. We don’t yet have
a favorite candidate, but we do know that all of them
— indeed, politicians of both parties — would be well
advised to heed the sentiments voters expressed
Tuesday.A message for 2020
Democratic candidates would be well advised to heed the sentiments of recent elections.
ABCDE
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
eDItorIAlsBryan Woolston/assoCIateD Press
Andy Beshear o n Wednesday in Louisville.