Mail Call

It's unfortunate that it takes a presidential funeral to bring a level of civility to our nation's capital. Now that Gerald Ford has been laid to rest, I suppose it will be business as usual in Washington. We can look forward to divisiveness, scandals, pork barreling, earmarking and name-calling as the new Congress gets underway.

Barry Campbell

Luther, Mich.

Your cover featuring Gerald Ford with smoke elegantly curling from his pipe sends a terrible message and glorifies an awful health risk. Tobacco-related health issues are Public Health Enemy No. 1 in our country. The American Cancer Society notes that in 2006, more than 170,000 cancer deaths were caused by tobacco use. The pipe smoking in this portrait is irrelevant to Ford's image as a president and serves no purpose to define his legacy. Why glamorize tobacco use and facilitate its horrible consequences?

Julian C. Schink, M.D.

Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center