SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 , 2021. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A
Free For All
MARÍA ALCONADA BROOKS, MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST; JEAN-FRANCOIS BÉRUBÉ; ISTOCK
Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny.Theo Zenou’s Oct. 10 Retrop-
olis column on President John
F. Kennedy and James Bond,
“JFK’s secret weapon in the
Cold War: James Bond,” re-
minded me of Ian Fleming’s
writing: imaginative and read-
able. However, Kennedy would
not have instructed the Office
of Te chnical Service (OTS) to
do anything in 1961. The office
did not exist until 1973, al-
though a smaller Te chnical
Services Division was then part
of CIA’s Plans Directorate. “Ex-
ploding cigars,” which may or
may not have been produced,
would have been designed for a
specific target, such as Fidel
Castro, not agents. We wanted
to keep our agents alive.
I served as deputy director
and then director of OTS be-
tween 1995 and 2002, years
during which three Bond films
were released. I considered
seeing each movie with its
latest Q device to be a profes-
sional obligation because de-
veloping imaginative spy gad-
gets was the OTS mission.
Robert Wallace , Reston
The writer is co-author of
“Spycraft: The Secret History
of the CIA Spytechs from Com-
munism to al-Qaeda” and
“Spy Sites of Washington, DC.”The
real-life
Q Branch
The Oct. 8 front-page article on the short-
term debt ceiling extension, “Senate moves
to delay a collision on debt ceiling,” attribut-
ed the delay in achieving even a short-term
extension to “key procedural hurdles,”
somehow not using the word “filibuster” in
explaining the hurdles, leaving the impres-
sion t hat they reflected the n ormal course of
legislation rather than a ctive obstruction by
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.) and the GOP.
T he distinction g ives the lie to Mr. McCon-
nell’s demand that the debt limit be lifted
only with Democratic votes, which he
sought to prevent through t hreat of a filibus-
ter. The filibuster has become a “procedural
hurdle” only because Mr. McConnell has
made it the cornerstone of his commitment
to prevent Congress from debating legisla-
tion addressing such challenges as voting
rights, climate change, gun control and
health care. President Biden’s suggestion
that he might support eliminating the fili-
buster for purposes of extending the debt
limit forced Mr. McConnell to relent, if only
for a couple of months.
Mr. McConnell’s now-Pavlovian invoca-
tion of the filibuster in response to Demo-
cratic efforts merely to keep paying the
nation’s debts had become a threat to his
power by potentially strengthening the
hand of Democrats calling for an end to the
filibuster.
T his larger context was inexplicably m iss-
ing from the article. The result was an
inaccurate portrayal of who caused the “col-
lision” over the debt ceiling and why it still
might lead to significant changes in the
filibuster rules when Congress is forced to
grapple with Republican obstruction again
in a few months’ time.
Bill Cordes , WashingtonWho caused
t he ‘collision’?
The Oct. 8 front-page article “Pregnant, unvaccinat-
ed and critically ill” missed a very important point:
why pregnant women are more susceptible to the
coronavirus.
Pregnant people undergo physical changes that can
make them more susceptible to airborne viruses and
pollutants. During pregnancy, women literally breathe
in more air — a 40 percent increase in volume inhaled
and exhaled and a 20 percent increase in oxygen
consumption. Pregnant people’s hearts also work more
— a 50 percent increase in cardiac output.
We discovered these statistics when we were re-searching why pregnant people are more susceptible to
air pollution. We think it’s important for pregnant
women to understand how their physical changes also
can make them more susceptible to the coronavirus.
Tracey J. Woodruff , San Francisco
T he writer is director of the University of California
San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health
a nd the Environment.
Patricia D. Koman , Ann Arbor, Mich.
T he writer is an assistant research scientist with
the University of Michigan Environmental
H ealth Sciences.Peril for pregnant people
CAMERON ZINSOU
Paige Ruiz walks with her husband, Daniel, and daughter Joanna. P aige died of coronavirus complications
on Aug. 15, within days of giving birth to her daughter Celeste.Kudos for the insightful article detailing
the culture at Blue Origin [“Inside Blue
Origin: Low morale, mistrust, delay,” front
page, Oct. 12].
The article was well substantiated. How-
ever, one critical fact was omitted in the
article’s description of the various Blue Ori-
gin support groups. The article said that the
“New Ride” group “is named for Sally Ride,
the first female NASA astronaut to reach
space.” Thus, it follows that this group
supports Blue Origin’s female employees, or
one would think so. However, the articlelater stated that the “New Ride” group
supports “LGBT+ employees and allies.”
The relationship between this group and
Ride should be made clear. “New Ride” is
named for Ride because she was a lesbian, a
fact made clear in her obituary and con-
firmed by her sister. Undoubtedly, Blue
Origin’s LGBT+ employees and allies recog-
nize Ride as a trailblazer for women. Howev-
er, the “New Ride” group foremost finds
inspiration and strength in the historic fact
that Ride was the first lesbian to reach space.
S cott Winn , ArlingtonA stellar role model
NASA
Astronaut Sally Ride, mission specialist on STS-7, in the pilot’s chair on June 25, 1983.Thanks for Ronald G. Shafer’s excellent Oct. 11 Retropolis
column, “First Columbus Day stemmed from violence, political
strategy.”
While the reputation of the “Master Mariner” has diminished in
recent years with recognition of the terrible treatment of Indig-
enous Americans that Christopher Columbus’s voyage brought
about, Shafer made the important point that the creation of Colum-
bus Day in 1892 was also meant to mitigate the vicious prejudice
against Italian Americans widespread at the time.
However, the article did not mention the important role in the
founding of Columbus Day played by our nation’s f irst prominent fe-
male historian. In speeches around the country and an essay in The
Post in 1890, Elizabeth Bryant Johnston suggested that Oct. 12 be
designated a “Day of Columbus” to honor the anniversary of his
voyage in 1492. With somewhat stilted Victorian imagery,
she praised the “storm-tossed, lion-hearted navigator” and pointed
out that he “broke the trammels of bigotry” and “raised high the
banner of science” at a t ime w hen most people were certain the Earth
was flat.
Johnston deserves to be recognized for her many contributions as
a historian. T he author of 10 books, she researched a nd published the
first records of Revolutionary War veterans in her role as historian
general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. S he also w rote
the first guidebook o f Mount Vernon in 1876 a nd the f irst catalogue o f
portraits of George Washington. Johnston was so admired by the
Regents of Mount Vernon that they invited her to live upstairs in
Washington’s home, and she often gave tours to visitors. When the
staff discovered that some of Mount Vernon’s floorboards were un-
safe, planks were replaced and the originals given to Johnston, who
made them into a table on which she wrote her books.
We can also thank the indomitable Johnston for the fact
that A merican flags fly at g overnment buildings. During the Chester
A. Arthur administration, she called on Treasury Secre-
tary Charles Folger and insisted that he fly t he American flag a top the
Treasury Building. And, she persisted, he should intercede with the
president to have the flag flown over other buildings, too. Her idea
was adopted by the federal government and of course continues to
this day.
Johnston also helped found the Literary Society of Washing-
ton and was for 34 years a member of that distin-
guished group, which continues to this day.
Edwin S. Grosvenor , Rockville
The writer is editor in chief of American Heritage magazine and
author or editor of 12 books on history.She made history
As a longtime fan of author Louise Penny and former
secretary of state Hillary Clinton, I was thrilled to see they
had co-written a book. I eagerly read “She alone can fix it,”
Ron Charles’s Oct. 13 Book World review of “State of Te rror,”
hoping for insights into how these two women came to
co-write a thriller and if the book was a compelling read.
However, apparently the primary thing we needed to knowwas how this book compares to similar thrillers co-written
by Clinton’s husband and that another former president —
without naming names — was mocked in the book.
This is a classic case of devaluing the work of women by
revealing only their reflection off men. I expect more from
The Post.
Alice Kelly , WashingtonThe case of the missing respect
The Oct. 9 Religion article “What science can tell us
about the benefits of religion, even for nonbelievers”
told readers much about the value of rituals, many of
which happen to be associated with religious practices,
but nothing about the benefits of religion itself. It
doesn’t require religious belief “to take time to reflect
on things that I’m grateful for every day,” to meditate, to
offer comfort to those who are mourning the loss of a
loved one, etc. David DeSteno, the psychologist inter-
viewed for the article, acknowledged that you don’t
need to be religious to benefit from these practices.
Somewhat ironically, DeSteno is an agnostic. It’s ritual,
not religion, that’s at issue. Conflating the two, as this
article did, is a mistake.
Ed Rader , Alexandria
Going through the motions
The Oct. 14 Economy & Business headline “Social
Security aid to rise 5.9% for 70 million in biggest boost
since 1982,” about the coming Social Security benefit
increase, used the word “aid” to characterize Social
Security benefits. Social Security benefits are not “aid.”
Welfare benefits are aid; food stamp benefits are aid;
Supplemental Security Income benefits are aid. Social
Security benefits are an earned entitlement for which
the beneficiary has qualified by working sufficiently
long in employment covered by the Social Security Act
to meet the requirements for entitlement. By no
stretch of the definition of the word can those benefits
be considered aid.
Harris Factor , Columbia
Entitled to the right term
The Oct. 8 Style article “No sympathy for some covid
deaths” referred to a GoFundMe request by the daugh-
ter of a man who died of covid-19. As a public service,
the article should have mentioned that under the
Coronavirus Response a nd Relief Supplemental Appro-
priations Act of 2021 and the American R escue Plan Act
of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is
providing financial assistance for coronavirus-related
funeral expenses incurred after Jan. 20, 2020.
Virginia Olin , Alexandria
Entitled to aid
I’ve been noticing a significant increase in the use of
statistical information in the form of graphs, histograms
and bar charts in The Post’s pages recently, and I really
appreciate it.
It not only serves the purpose of carrying the sense of
data in a visually compact fashion, but it is no doubt a
welcome change for our math-averse population. Keep it
up!
Ming Ivory , Harrisonburg, Va.
I congratulate The Post on its excellent use of
graphic art. I was especially intrigued by Juan Asta-
sio’s designs for the Oct. 10 Business article “The unseen
lives of Latina immigrant housekeepers.” He managed to
beautifully capture the individual personalities in the
article.
Also that day, Amy Ning’s illustration accompanying
David Appell’s O utlook e ssay, “ Woolly mammoths. To ilets
for cows. Solar cryptocoins.,” was lovely.
Mary Kiraly , Bethesda
Our graphs are off the charts
The sky is falling! But whom shall we tell? The Oct. 4
ScrabbleGrams offered this puzzle: Make a word from
the letters EIYLKRC. And the Oct. 5 puzzle p rovided this
“solution”: RICKETY. Yoicks! Email users these days
have learned this r ule (frequently t he hard way): Always
proofread before hitting “send”!
Ned Stone , Sandy Spring
Always proofread before hitting ‘sned’
To put it simply and with more kindness than is due,
the contrast was jarring. The Oct. 10 front-page article
“Pandemic toll leaves vast hole for kids” reported on the
study in the journal Pediatrics that revealed an overrep-
resentation of the loss from coronavirus of primary
caregivers i n families among Brown and Black people as
compared with Whites. However, the article was illus-
trated with photographs of families of White people.
When will we ever learn?
Lynne Slater , Greenbelt
Whiting out grief
A careless mistake marred the i nteresting Oct. 11 The
World article “Debate on Holocaust site roils Ukraine.”
The article said, “Nazi forces and local collaborators
rounded up and executed more than 33,000 Jewish
men, women and children.”
A dolf Eichmann was executed; the 33,000 Jews were
murdered. The Post should know the difference.
A llen S. Greenberg , Falls Church
They didn’t deserve it
The Oct. 5 Politics & the Nation article “Biden ends
Trump rule barring funds for clinics that advise on
abortions” reported that “the rule reverses a move
initiated in 2018 by President Donald Trump to appeal
to the social conservatives crucial to his political base.”
This funding of abortion clinics has been (and will
continue to be) a political football kicked by presidents
of both parties over the years. When the next Republi-
can president takes office and reinstates the ban, will
The Post write that “the rule reverses a move initiated
in 2021 by President Joe Biden to appeal to the liberals
crucial to his political base”?
Sidney O. Marcus III , Waldorf
Base language
I hope that Dana Hedgpeth’s Oct. 13 Metro article,
“Abandoned cheetah cub adopted by new family,” gets
commended. It d id a great job of turn-
ing something mundane into a read-
able story. Its prose flowed, leading
the reader from one paragraph to the
next. It p rogressed in a logical manner
and was salted with many germane
quotes from the parties involved. It
appeared to be a sterling example of
excellent reportorial prose.
Hugh Brendan McAloon ,
Springfield
Our grafs are off the charts
The cheetah