Empathy

While reading the account of soldiers leaving Iraq ("U.S takes its leave from Iraq," Dec. 18), I was struck once again at the illegitimate question that is so often asked about the Iraq war: Was it worth it? That may be a proper question to ask when a financial investment is evaluated but not a suitable question when violence is initiated. Empathy seems to be non-existent. Imagine if the tables were turned and Iraq did to us what we did to them. What if you lost your family and business from Iraq attacking us and pundits from Iraq sat around a table with their lattes and discussed whether it was worth it?

While reading the account of soldiers leaving Iraq ("U.S takes its leave from Iraq," Dec. 18), I was struck once again at the illegitimate question that is so often asked about the Iraq war: Was it worth it? That may be a proper question to ask when a financial investment is evaluated but not a suitable question when violence is initiated. Empathy seems to be non-existent. Imagine if the tables were turned and Iraq did to us what we did to them. What if you lost your family and business from Iraq attacking us and pundits from Iraq sat around a table with their lattes and discussed whether it was worth it?

Sheila Dixon's natural instinct has always been to fight. She battled to become City Council president, and, later, mayor of Baltimore. She attained the office in 2007 after a decade of preparation. But on Wednesday, Dixon resisted her hard-edged inclinations and pleaded guilty to a charge of perjury, halting a political career built through steely determination and an ability to connect with average people in her hometown. At a City Hall news conference convened after her final courtroom appearance, Dixon displayed a little-glimpsed vulnerable side, choking on tears and taking some responsibility for her legal woes.

As completely disheartened and enraged as many of us still are over the senseless, tragic, brutal murder of Stephen Pitcairn last year, this week's article about Lavelva Merritt's trial ("Woman who helped rob Hopkins' Pitcairn sentenced to 15 years," Nov. 8) opens the floodgates for an equally strong reaction. Ms. Merritt is quoted as having said, "I punched him in the head and took his phone. " She described herself as, "just as guilty as John," referring to the now convicted murderer, John Wagner, Ms. Merritt's boyfriend.

Reading the editorial, "Vote for history" (Feb. 16) made me wonder. Do our legislators vote with their brains or their hearts? Personally, I have a great deal of love and understanding for those who choose alternative lifestyles. I also have a great deal of love and understanding for drug addicts, unwed mothers, the criminally insane, etc. I would hope that our legislators who may share in my personal "feelings" would use their intelligence in casting their votes now and in the future.

Why do judges wear robes? Does their peculiar mode of dress tell us anything about the ideal character and qualities of a judge? Do the robes indicate whether "empathy" - a quality highly touted by President Barack Obama in his appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court - ought to figure in the judicial temperament? From time immemorial, the special quality of a judge has been thought to be impartiality. Lady Justice is always pictured blindfolded. She does not see persons; if she did, she might empathize with some and not others.

HOW WOULD YOU feel if someone did that to you?"I have asked that question so many times, I am the one with no feelings -- in my lips or tongue."How do you think she would feel if she could hear what you are saying about her? How would you like it if someone said that about your hair/pimples/father?" (Fill in the blank.)I am a car-pooling mother of two, trapped in a matrix of rides to pools, fields and baseball diamonds, and, unless I turn the radio up very loud, most of what I hear is kids ripping other kids.

A baby who sees his father burst into tears suddenly starts crying himself, his sad little face the very picture of misery. Is this empathy? Or is it, as psychologist Andrew Meltzoff thinks, something less exalted, such as emotional "contagion"? A slightly more evolved toddler watches her mother wince and yell "ouch!" after hitting herself with a hammer. The child picks up a teddy bear to give it to her mother. Now, that has to be empathy, right? The child not only knew what her mother was feeling, she had an appropriately compassionate response.

Once, gym teachers scared me. They had field hockey sticks and knew how to use them. They made me wear ridiculous bloomers and pleated pinafores and could tell if I had tried to fake taking a shower. Worst of all, they taught gym. I hated gym. Decades later, things couldn't be more different. Not that I'm an Olympian, but I like to work out. And much to my amazement, I enjoy taking several classes at the gym, in particular BodyPump - a weightlifting regime - and spinning. I no longer fear my instructors.

Why make this complicated? President Barack Obama prefers Supreme Court justices who will violate their oath of office. And he hopes Sonia Sotomayor is the right Hispanic woman for the job. Here's the oath Supreme Court justices must take: "I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as (title)

The race, gender, or age of the attackers are largely irrelevant to the vicious and senseless beating of Chrissy Lee Polis ("18-year-old charged in McDonald's beating," April 25). This was an act of cowardice, hatred and bullying — pure and simple — and is not peculiar to any particular group. It is the personal responsibility of the attackers and the bystanders who apparently encouraged them. Ignorance, the arrogant self-righteousness to which it often leads, and a lack of empathy are at the root of such incidents.

Reading the editorial, "Vote for history" (Feb. 16) made me wonder. Do our legislators vote with their brains or their hearts? Personally, I have a great deal of love and understanding for those who choose alternative lifestyles. I also have a great deal of love and understanding for drug addicts, unwed mothers, the criminally insane, etc. I would hope that our legislators who may share in my personal "feelings" would use their intelligence in casting their votes now and in the future.

Johns Hopkins recently cleared the $200 million mark in grants received as part of federal stimulus spending, demonstrating that not even a deep recession could choke the university's ability to attract research money. The Johns Hopkins University recently cleared the $200 million mark in grants received as part of federal stimulus spending, demonstrating that not even a deep recession could choke its ability to attract research money. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave $12.4 billion to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for grants to be distributed between February 2009 and September 2010.

The Elena Kagan hearings were a sleepy affair. With no 12th-hour revelations and a candidate who acquitted herself as cagey and well qualified, the solicitor general proved adept at the kabuki dance of the Supreme Court confirmation process. Yet there was one exception to the otherwise humdrum hearings: the bewildering decision by Republicans to taint Ms. Kagan by her association with Thurgood Marshall. Yes, that Thurgood Marshall — Baltimore native, hero of the civil rights movement, mastermind of Brown v. Board of Education, and the first African-American Supreme Court justice.

It is hard not to notice that the ascension of women to the highest ranks of power brings out the most bizarre commentary on their character and qualifications, as if pants suits and piano playing had anything to do with anything. In the case of Elena Kagan, nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court, we are hearing about her "careerism." Her straight-to-the-top resume is apparently evidence of cold-blooded ambition, while the same quick march to success was considered evidence of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s brilliance.

Sheila Dixon's natural instinct has always been to fight. She battled to become City Council president, and, later, mayor of Baltimore. She attained the office in 2007 after a decade of preparation. But on Wednesday, Dixon resisted her hard-edged inclinations and pleaded guilty to a charge of perjury, halting a political career built through steely determination and an ability to connect with average people in her hometown. At a City Hall news conference convened after her final courtroom appearance, Dixon displayed a little-glimpsed vulnerable side, choking on tears and taking some responsibility for her legal woes.

As the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq has risen above 1,300, mothers of the dead have built a grim community of their own, separated by geography but bound together by death. Some have met in pews at funerals." My closest friends now are three other mothers I have met who lost their sons," said Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., whose son, Spc. Casey Sheehan, died in an ambush April 4. "Us moms are really the only ones who know what we're going through." In this network linked by sorrow and empathy, however, one issue divides them: the wisdom of the war. Relatives who believe the war in Iraq was necessary tend to gravitate to one another, talking little of politics and more of pride, sacrifice and loneliness.

The race, gender, or age of the attackers are largely irrelevant to the vicious and senseless beating of Chrissy Lee Polis ("18-year-old charged in McDonald's beating," April 25). This was an act of cowardice, hatred and bullying — pure and simple — and is not peculiar to any particular group. It is the personal responsibility of the attackers and the bystanders who apparently encouraged them. Ignorance, the arrogant self-righteousness to which it often leads, and a lack of empathy are at the root of such incidents.