Durbin, Duckworth put House Speaker Michael Madigan before the people

Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have decided that cronyism and party come before constituents. By recording robocalls for Mike Madigan for an election where he doesn’t even have an opponent, it is apparent that keeping the speaker’s grip on the rest of his loyal subjects is high on their agenda (“They like Mike: Durbin, Duckworth go to bat for ‘progressive’ Madigan” — March 8).

He actually did have one challenger, but the board of elections apparently is in Madigan’s pocket too, kicking Mat Tomkowiak off the ballot for the age-old Chicago scam of having invalid signatures. So while our two senators waste their time promoting a man with no opponent, the rest of us are left wondering what are they actually doing for Illinois?

In Durbin’s call, he calls Madigan one of our “…progressive leaders.” Seriously? A guy with a chokehold on Illinois is progressive? If Durbin and Duckworth believe that malarkey, then just how wrong are they about everything else? Party and career first, voters a dead last.

Scot Sinclair, Third Lake

Playing the hot-button issue

Can somebody please tell me what Joe Berrios’s latest television commercial — about his stand on the NRA and gun control — has to do with the high assessment of my home?

Pat Kardasz, Bucktown

Elephants are next in Trump’s environmental trash bin

The Trump administration is prepared to allow elephant tusks and body parts to be imported into the United States.

This inhumane decision will increase the cruel poaching and trophy hunting of these magnificent and imperiled creatures in certain parts of Africa. President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke continue to exhibit a callous disregard for the well-being of wildlife, including endangered and threatened species.

Brien Comerford, Glenview