A18 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, MAY 23 , 2022LETTERS TO THE EDITOR[email protected]DRAWING BOARD ED HALLB Y ED HALLABCDEFREDERICK J. RYAN JR.
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(202) 334-ABCDEAN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPEREDITORIALSVLADIMIR PUTIN’S atrocities
are growing by the day. In addi-
tion to having the blood of
Ukrainians on his hands from
his completely unjustified war, the Rus-
sian leader is also responsible for the
growing starvation of people around the
world. Ukraine is the breadbasket for
much of the Middle East and North
Africa. Right now, Mr. Putin is prevent-
ing Ukrainian grain from leaving the
port of Odessa and along other key Black
Sea routes. The result is dire: Global food
prices are at an all-time high, and
276 million people are food insecure —
more than double the numbers from
2019.
Sri Lanka is the latest example of just
how devastating Mr. Putin’s global food
crisis is becoming. The island nation has
nearly run out of food and fuel. People
are lining up for days for what little is
still available. As one desperate father
told Reuters, “Without food, we are going
to die.” As food prices have skyrocketedsince Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Sri
Lankans have not been able to afford the
higher costs, and the government does
not have enough money to help. The
country just defaulted on its debt for the
first time in its history.
Mr. Putin’s next moves will decide
whether much of the developing world
experiences mass hunger and even fam-
ine this year and next. World leaders are
urging the Russian leader to at least
allow grain shipments out of Ukraine to
help feed tens of millions of people in
countries that rely heavily on imported
food — such as Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso,
Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Tanzania,
Uganda, Egypt, Tunisia and Cameroon.
“If you have any heart at all for the rest
of the world, regardless of how you feel
about Ukraine, you need to open up
those ports,” U.N. World Food Program
head David Beasley said at the recent
Society for Advancing Business Editing
and Writing conference. Mr. Beasley’s
team normally sources about half of itsgrain from Ukraine. “Millions of people
around the world will die because these
ports are being blocked.”
It turns out not only is Mr. Putin
blockading shipments on the Black Sea,
he has even had Russian ships steal
Ukrainian grain and try to sell it, accord-
ing to CNN. Many nations refused to buy
the pilfered goods, but it appears the
grain ended up in Syria, one of
Mr. Putin’s few allies.
To their credit, other nations have
stepped up to provide more money and
food. The United States has already given
$2.6 billion to help prevent the food
crisis from turning into widespread fam-
ine, and lawmakers just approved nearly
$5 billion more for food and humanitari-
an needs as part of a Ukraine aid bill.
But with 20 million metric tons of
grain and corn just sitting in storage at
Ukrainian ports right now, there’s only so
much the rest of the world can do.
Mr. Putin’s war is on the verge of
becoming Mr. Putin’s global famine.Mr. Putin’s global famineBy blocking Ukrainian grain shipments, the Russian leader is starving millions of people.IF, AS many are predicting, Republi-
cans win the House in November’s
midterm elections, the District of
Columbia will likely be in for some
hard times. The Republican Party has
been brazen about using the city as a
political punching bag. Already, Republi-
cans on the committee that oversees
D.C. are talking about cracking down on
local officials’ ability to govern the city,
with some even saying they would try to
repeal the Home Rule Act. One only
needs to look at the radical policies
moving through state legislatures in
R epublican-run states — from curbing
abortion to banning books in schools —
to know what a Republican Congress
might do to D.C.
The District’s first line of defense in
Congress is its non-voting delegate, an
office held for 31 years by DemocratEleanor Holmes Norton. Two candi-
dates are challenging Ms. Norton in her
bid for another term in the June 21
Democratic primary. The Rev. Wendy
Hamilton, a community activist, and
Kelly Mikel Williams, a former
D.C. Council staff official, say that, after
16 terms, it is time for a change. But it is
precisely Ms. Norton’s experience that
makes her equipped to protect and ad-
vance the city’s interests.
Ms. Norton has served in the House
both when Democrats and Republicans
had majorities and under presidents of
both parties. While lacking a vote — an
enduring disgrace of our democracy —
she has been able to get bills passed that
benefited the city, such as the District of
Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant Pro-
gram (DCTAG), which helps D.C. stu-
dents attend any U.S. public college oruniversity. That she has been ranked as
one of the chamber’s most effective
lawmakers by the Center for Effective
Lawmaking is testament to her smarts,
her skills and her fortitude. Because of
her seniority, she chairs the Transporta-
tion subcommittee on highways and
transit and played a key role in passing a
$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
Ms. Norton would be the first to tell
you there is much still to be done.
Foremost is statehood. There has been no
more passionate advocate for that than
Ms. Norton. But she is also a realist who
understands that, while statehood is the
ultimate goal, there are other things that
need to be accomplished, such as secur-
ing the RFK Stadium site for the city and
increasing the DCTAG grant amount.
We urge voters to again return
Ms. Norton to the House.For D.C. delegateMs. Norton’s experience in Congress makes her equipped to advance the city’s interests.health-care claims of 75,252 patients
labeled with the code, the nonprofit
group FAIR Health found that a surpris-
ingly large share of them, three-
quarters, had not been hospitalized for
the virus but still showed symptoms of
long covid. Moreover, long covid
seemed to strike women more often, at
59.8 percent of the group compared
with 40.2 percent for men. Yet another
study published in the British medical
journal BMJ found that one dose, and
even more so two doses of vaccine,reduced the risks of long covid in
Britain.
The policy implications of long covid
are immense and just starting to come
into view. Not only will health-care
systems need to be prepared, but it could
also send shock waves through the labor
force as workers seek time off to deal
with their maladies, or go on disability. It
could also lead to a mental health crisis
as people struggle to cope with their
conditions. Long covid is going to mean
a long haul.C
OVID-19 HAS killed more than
6 million people worldwide but
will also leave a lasting scar on
hundreds of millions who have
survived. The disease can trigger
c ardiovascular, gastrointestinal and
neurological symptoms; it can affect
the skin, kidneys, liver, the endocrine
organs and the eyes. Moreover, the
damage to the body may linger long
after the initial sickness. Much about
this phenomenon of “long covid” is still
unclear, but evidence is accumulating
that populations will be struggling for
years to come.
What is long covid? Although there
are no hard-and-fast definitions, it
broadly means symptoms that persist
beyond four weeks since the initial
infection and that are hard to explain in
any other fashion. Some of the most
common are fatigue and memory prob-
lems, but others can include difficulty
breathing, cough, chest pain, heart pal-
pitations, headache, dizziness, change in
smell or taste, depression, anxiety and
diarrhea. More than two years into the
pandemic, scientists are trying to under-
stand who gets long covid and how the
infection can cause lasting harm.
It is becoming more clear that long
covid cuts a wide swath. A new survey
for the Journal of Infectious Diseases
examined about 50 articles and studies
covering nearly 1.7 million patients
worldwide who were infected with the
coronavirus. Overall, the authors found
the global prevalence of long covid
symptoms was 43 percent of those who
had been infected, higher for those who
had been hospitalized than those not.
They said that based on a World Health
Organization estimate of 470 million
people having been infected, their esti-
mate could mean about 200 million
people currently experience or have
previously experienced long-term
health-related consequences of the dis-
ease. The U.S. Government Account-
ability Office said recently that between
7.7 million a nd 23 million Americans
might have suffered from long covid so
far.
Another insight has come from the
creation in October 2021 of a diagnostic
code for those identified as suffering
from long covid. Studying the privateLong covid’s long haulEvidence is accumulating that populations will be struggling for years to come.MARK FELIX FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Liza Fisher, suffering from long covid, leaves a Houston health center in March
after a workout at a therapy session to help improve her ability to stand.As maternal mental health advocates,
we appreciated Jennifer Wadsworth’s
May 10 Health & Science article, “Rise of
perinatal and postpartum depressions.”
This problem demands urgent action.
But the health-care system responses
mentioned must be the beginning, not
the end, of reform.
Well before the coronavirus, millions
of pregnant women and mothers faced
domestic or community violence, pover-
ty and the denial of health care, food and
child care, among other threats. Under
those circumstances, anxiety, depres-
sion and other “disorders” are best
understood as normal responses to very
real dangers. The health-care system
can do little to mitigate these threats.
And, as the article noted, maternal
mental health problems are more
c ommon among women of color and
other marginalized people, whom
the health-care system has historically
u nderserved.
Progress requires community-based
interventions focused on prevention
alongside medical responses. And it
requires that reform efforts be led and
informed by women of color and other
moms at greatest risk.
Congress is now considering long-
overdue mental health legislation. Law-
makers must make community-based,
equity-focused maternal mental health
investments a centerpiece of that legis-
lation. If they do, we can save lives and
improve the well-being of millions of
moms and their babies.
Tina Sherman, Apex, N.C.
The writer is senior campaign director
for MomsRising.
Kay Matthews, Houston
The writer is executive director and
founder of the Shades of Blue Project.
Twylla Dillion, Chicago
The writer is executive director of
HealthConnect One.A priority for allRegarding the May 17 Politics & the
Nation article “Court sides with Cruz,
strikes campaign finance limit”:
In response to the Supreme Court’s
decision to strike down a campaign
finance law, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is
quoted as saying that the law he success-
fully challenged “unfairly benefited in-
cumbent politicians and the super
wealthy.” Meaning he believes the law
unfairly benefited people like himself.
Did he say this with a straight face?
Still, aren’t we all relieved that Mr.
Cruz will now be reimbursed the full
$260,000 he lent his campaign and not
just $250,000?
Karen Terhune, Takoma ParkHe w on’t go to the poorhouseRegarding the May 18 news article
“With eye to talks, U.S. eases oil sanctions
on Venezuela”:
Though gas prices are certainly higher
than they’ve been in recent years, they still
do not reflect the full cost of gasoline,
including billions in federal and state
subsidies and incalculable environmental
impacts such as smog, contaminated run-
off and climate change.
It’s worth noting that those who com-
plain that it now takes $100 to fill their
tanks are simply reaping the consequenc-
es of choosing to buy large vehicles: Eight
cylinders and four-wheel-drives are not
required to get coffee at Dunkin’, preceded
by idling for several minutes in the drive-
through. And even with higher prices,
drivers are still leaving their vehicles
idling while eating in them, while they are
inside a convenience store or while using
their smartphones. And this is besides
the more systemic problem of our
h ighway-dependent society.
I for one hope gas prices go even higher.
Maybe then, even fuel-wasting drivers
will finally change their habits. But reduc-
ing emissions enough to make a dent in
climate change will require that each one
of us modifies energy-consuming habits.
Such as making coffee at home.
Michael Wright, Glen Rock, Pa.Gas prices aren’t high enoughwhich defined “domestic terrorism,” iden-
tified the threats, and recommended en-
hancing resources to investigate and pros-
ecute it. Now is the time to act. The
president must use every legal tool at his
disposal to: (1) shut down hate speech and
seditious commentary on social media,
(2) disband or disable extreme radical/
revolutionary groups, and (3) call out and
denounce public figures who support or
condone domestic terrorism. He must
assign the defeat of domestic terrorism
the high priority it deserves and rally the
American people and its (small-d) demo-
cratic leaders in a national campaign to
vanquish it.
David Boesel, Severna ParkI am tired of politicians who say “This is
not who we are” every time there is a mass
shooting. Violent behavior is a lasting
characteristic of American culture. It be-
gan with the shameful treatment of Indig-
enous peoples by European settlers and
their descendants who slaughtered or
drove them to inhospitable parts of the
country. Then came the trafficking and
enslavement of Africans that went on for
250 years. Their progeny still bear psycho-
logical scars from that horror story.
Thereafter, waves of immigrants suf-
fered abuse and discrimination — until
some figured out that if they identified as
White, they could assimilate. Then there
is our sad history of political assassina-
tions. Need more proof? May 31 marks the
101st anniversary of the Tulsa massacre,
where White rioters leveled the prosper-
ous Black neighborhood of Greenwood.
In World War II, the U.S. government
held American citizens captive because
they were of Japanese descent and as-
sumed to be dangerous. Now, we mistreat
migrants from Latin America. These are
many of the same people who build our
houses and harvest and prepare our food.
Sadly, this is who we really are. Until we
admit that hateful impulses course
through our veins, we will not be the great
nation that we strive to be. What our
leaders should say is “We must do better.”
Recognition is the first step toward creat-
ing an America where liberty and justice
for all is real — a place where we do not
have to fear for our children every time
they walk out the door.
Cynthia Farrell Johnson, Silver SpringI see that the House passed the Domes-
tic Terrorism Prevention Act with only
one Republican yes vote. Maybe the rest of
the Republicans don’t want white su-
premacists to feel bad about themselves.
Nancy Chek, Silver SpringRegarding the May 18 front-page a rticle
“Biden vows in Buffalo: ‘Hate will not
prevail’ ”:
President Biden has shown great lead-
ership, energy and skill in uniting NATO
to defeat Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Now he must show the same leadership,
energy and skill in uniting our country to
defeat right-wing terrorism at home.
Domestic terrorists are authoritarian,
antidemocratic and violent, and they pose
an imminent threat to our security.
Mr. Biden has the means to defeat them.
A year ago, he released his National Strat-
egy for Countering Domestic Terrorism,This is who we areRegarding the May 14 editorial “For
D.C. attorney general”:
How can someone running as a clone of
current Attorney General Karl A. Racine
(D), who endorsed Robert C. White Jr.
over incumbent Mayor Muriel E. Bowser
(D) because she is soft on crime, be expect-
ed to “reset the toxic relationship” of the
attorney general’s office with the mayor’s
office? D.C. deserves an attorney general
untinged by conflict of interest. Bruce V.
Spiva is that person. Mr. Spiva tops Brian
Schwalb on experience and excellence on
every issue of concern to D.C. voters.
Edwin M. Truman, WashingtonFor D.C. attorney general