Silvonek doesn’t deserve to have sentence commuted
I am appalled that The Morning Call would run not one, but two articles about Jamie Silvonek. I read her opinion piece with great interest. How can she possibly think that her sentence should be commuted? True, you should not be judged by your worst action; however, she knew her boyfriend was going to kill her mother. She helped plan the killing, hide her mother’s body and went to Walmart to buy supplies to clean up the mess. That is a whole new level of evil. It is not something you get a do-over for. She claims this young man had her under his spell. She claims he was verbally, physically and sexually abusive. That is truly horrible that she had to endure this, but he was in the military. He was not physically in her presence on a daily basis. The perfect opportunity was available to tell her parents when they found out about the relationship. The military would have dealt with him. He would have been charged by the military police. Killing her mother was not the solution. Sorry, she should not get her sentence commuted. She should continue to be a good prisoner and counsel others behind bars!
Ann Marie Berner
Allen Township
Trump’s words, actions unworthy of peace prize
I can’t wrap my head around this: Donald Trump desperately wants the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s said so himself, and numerous sycophants have either advocated for him or actually nominated him to the Nobel Committee. But just last week he ordered that the Department of Defense be renamed the Department of War. And here I thought war was the opposite of peace.
Meanwhile, planning is officially underway for an Ultimate Fighting Championship match to be hosted at the White House next summer, according to the league’s CEO, Dana White. If you haven’t watched one of these fights, they can be brutal in the extreme. UFC fights take place not in a ring, a la boxing, but in a “cage,” which seems appropriate to the sometimes animalistic carnage that goes on there. It’s not uncommon for a fighter whose face is already streaming with blood to be held on the mat and pummelled into unconsciousness, before the fight is stopped. What a peaceful spectacle to bring to the White House lawn. What’s next, gladiators?
Fortunately there are 244 individuals and 94 organizations also nominated for the peace prize, and we can only hope common sense prevails and a truly honorable recipient wins.
Tony O’Malley
Emmaus
Hard to see how county comes back together
Things are so divided in our country that I occasionally hear people say there will be a civil war one day. I believe it has already begun! But the weapons aren’t guns and knives, but rather social media, TV, radio, etc.
For you more mature people (i.e., older), you may remember when Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill would sit down and work things out. That doesn’t happen anymore. The disagreements are so deep, we can’t agree on anything. I don’t think there is any one person who can bring our country back into balance.
Unfortunately, I only see two ways our country can get on the same page, and both are very traumatic. The first is a massive natural disaster. I’m not talking about some hurricane like Katrina. I’m talking about something like the San Andreas fault or some massive volcano blowing away a third of the country. The other event would be a war fought partially on our soil. Both of those would definitely be wake-up calls and just may pull the country back together, but only after catastrophic results. So, until then, the civil war of words will simply continue.
Jim Knerr
Emmaus
We already know why we must preserve land
A popular opinion among Lehigh Valley residents is that we are being consistently encroached upon by warehouses and developments. They are popping up everywhere and even if you are not personally affected (yet) in your area, you know someone who is. In a recent Morning Call opinion piece, Matt Sprung said we should question why a piece of farmland is preserved, and what public benefit such preservation has on the community. This “why” question is misused.
Shouldn’t we ask the real reason “why” we are in a housing crisis? This situation is and always will be dictated by wealth, who benefits the most financially and who has more skin in the game. Reliance on “proper planning” is less than a Band-Aid when out-of-state developers have their way via legal lawsuits to bulldoze as they see fit.
Farmland conserved is in perpetuity. No farmer or landowner should have to wait decades for there to be a good reason “why.” Open space has far-reaching public benefits, as quoted from the Lehigh Valley Local Food Economy Assessment: “When farmland goes, food goes. Asphalt is the land’s last crop.”
Nancy Trach
North Whitehall Township
Don’t let domestic violence be minimized as ‘little fight’
In 2023, a civil jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually assaulting a woman. Is it any wonder then that he recently stated “a little fight with the wife” should not count as a crime. Once again he shows his disdain for women and his ignorance at the expense of the more than 10 million annual victims of domestic violence in the U.S. Every year, thousands of women, and some men, lose their lives when their “little fights” escalate to murder at the hands of domestic partners. Unborn babies die when their mothers are assaulted in “little” fights. And these “little fights with the wife” sometimes include rape. Shame on this man for understating the huge physical, emotional and financial toll of domestic violence. A crime is a crime is a crime. These violent crimes must not be minimized.
Susan Reppert
Fountain Hill
The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
