America’s political divide could become a wall in our own country

Just as the Berlin Wall once divided east and west Berlin, and Korea was divided based on ideology, I now see the same thing happening in my own country. One can no longer openly express their views about our president, the state of the nation or its position in the world.

We are afraid to speak of anything “political” with our neighbors, friends or even our spouses. A friend who recently moved from a blue state to a red state was asked to leave a quilting group when she acknowledged that she was anti-Trump. Another individual I know parted ways with an insurance agent, whom he had entrusted with his affairs for three decades, when the two of them discovered they were on opposite sides of the political fence.

Granted, we are currently a united nation. But our country is clearly politically divided, and ridden with anger and angst. And it’s all about ideology and how we as a nation want to be governed.

Might it be possible that the wall Trump proposed for Mexico will become an invisible wall here in our own country? An ideologically ill-balanced Supreme Court is the first step.

Mel Novit, Morton Grove

Left-wing agenda

My biggest worry about Sinclair taking over WGN is that they might put a damper on the fun they have doing their shows. They are a delight to watch.

Your warnings (“Sinclair’s plan to buy WGN is bad news for local news,” July 18) about “right-wing” bias and “right-wing political gain” ring hollow for a newspaper so open in its contempt for President Trump and everything he does.

The left, the liberals, the progressives, Democrats — whatever name you prefer — have an agenda just as all-encompassing as any right-wing person. And the left is certainly more demanding in getting what they want. They are continually protesting and complaining about this or that, even to the point of destroying property, while most right-wing people are too busy working and raising a family to go march somewhere.

I still have my subscription, but it seems more often I just skip or skim articles, because you’re pushing an agenda more than independently reporting on the news.

Larry Craig, Wilmette

Providence St. Mel’s success

John Fountain’s column “At Providence St. Mel, we learned to believe against the odds” was a great article, filled with hope. While I celebrate the success that the school has had over the years, I also feel that there has been a lack of recognition for it during its transitional time. Providence St. Mel became a coed institution in the late 1960s and the first true coed class was that of 1970. As a member of that class, I often feel that we have been forgotten, when, in fact, we were the inaugural class of what Providence St. Mel has become today.

In those days, the school was representative of the changes occurring on the West Side. Students were white, black, and Hispanic, and we seemed to get along very well. The 50th anniversary of that class will be coming up in the not-too-distant future, and I wonder if anyone will bring attention to it. Probably not.

Jorge Tovar, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Gun cards, permits

Only July 14, a Chicago police officer was involved in a fatal shooting with an armed male. Some in the media keep harping on the fact that the man had a firearms owner identification (FOID) card. Yet no one in the media has shown the distinction between a FOID card and a concealed carry license (CCL), so I will.

A FOID card permits you to buy and own a gun legally, but does not permit you to carry your weapon in public. A CCL permits you to carry your weapon in public and in your car. You can only get a CCL once you have a valid FOID card. So, simply having a FOID card does not permit you to carry a weapon in public, period.

Richard Barber, Mount Greenwood

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