Michelle Obama might be proud of her country for the first time in her life, but I'm ashamed of my country during this election process. This was the worst display of sexism I've witnessed in a long time. Should she feel proud that her husband is the first male to run against a female with the obvious "good old boys" behind him?

I wonder what we would have witnessed if Hillary were a male with the same qualifications and these primaries pitted "male Barack" against "male Hillary." I'm not convinced that the results would have been the same. He's a lightweight compared to her.

Sorry, but discrimination does not only belong to blacks. At least he received some votes from women, but blacks voted 90 to 97 percent for Mr. Obama. This was true even though the Clintons have been the best friends blacks have had in this century. Who are the racists here?

As soon as it became evident that a male might have a shot, all the sexist males began to leap for joy that they had a possibility of throwing the woman under the bus. Thus began the parade of males emerging out of shadows to endorse Barack, even though they (and the media pundits) tried to make us believe that they all wanted the voters to decide.

The media (CNN, MSNBC, etc.) attacked Hillary, no matter what successes she attained. If they really wanted the voters to decide, these male troops would have waited until the primaries were over.

After being stabbed in the back by so many of her colleagues, why should she worry about unity?

PATRICIA H. DAVIDSON
Zelinople

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Bravo to letter writer Susanne M. Gollin "Hillary Certainly Has Been a Victim of Sexism," (June 7.) There is no doubt Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate, for the reasons Ms. Gollin stated.

One criticism I heard over and over is that Mrs. Clinton thought she was entitled, and let's face it, there are (some) men, especially in the media, who think women are not entitled ... period.

MARY E. BROWN
Wilkins

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Regarding "Hart Is Older, Wiser in Time for a Rematch," June 3 story:

Let me see, the voters fired then-Rep. Melissa Hart because she was joined at the hip to the pro-war George Bush and Rick Santorum and no longer did an adequate job of representing their problems, views and concerns. So they hired a new guy, Jason Altmire, who has done a terrific job of listening and serving all of his constituents, not just corporations, defense contractors and lobbyists.

Now Ms. Hart wants her job back, saying she has "changed." She thinks voters are supposed to just fire the new guy and take another chance on her. I'm afraid that's not the way it works. Not in business, not in sports and certainly not with voters.

Goodbye, Ms. Hart.

JACK PHILLIPS
McKeesport

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Can someone please help me with Gov. Ed Rendell's math on the proposed Pennsylvania Turnpike lease bamboozle?

Originally the governor stated that the turnpike could be leased for approximately $18 billion. Or, to put it in terms that we all can understand, the lease/sale price would have equaled 6 billion gallons of gasoline. Today, the same amount would buy 4.5 billion gallons of gas at $4 a gallon.

But with the latest "good deal" of $12.8 billion, the price now equals 3.2 billion gallons of gas.

But wait! Next year, if and when the governor gets paid for the proposed turnpike lease, that figure might be worth only 2.56 billion gallons of gas at $5 a gallon.

How much fuel will that same lease/sale purchase price buy in five, 25 or 75 years from now? Probably not as much as what a year's worth of turnpike receipts would!

I don't know about anyone else, but selling a public asset for the equivalent of two and a half billion gallons of gasoline in 2009 dollars doesn't sound like a "good deal" to me.

A good deal would be to keep our inflation-protected and income-producing asset; and then hiring Abertis and other competitive bidders to manage it on short-term contracts for a percentage of the turnpike's revenue and raising our state's gas tax 20 cents a gallon instead!

DON BINDAS
Franklin Park

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I am writing this letter concerning my trip to Mellon Arena for Game Four of the Stanley Cup final. Although the game was exciting (and disappointing for Pens fans), the amount of abuse I saw leveled at Red Wings fans by drunken Pittsburghers was embarrassing.

There was some good-natured kidding at the entrance of the arena, but, once inside, I witnessed many hostile remarks and a near fight or two in the men's room. All of this over who was rooting for which team.

Also, there were no police to help with the side parking lots exiting the game. More drunken morons were causing problems in the parking lots.

I did have a great time, but it seems we unfortunately need more police to deal with such drunken stupidity. And yes, I realize our fans probably get harassed on the road, but can we have more class?

J.M. MCLAUGHLIN
Westwood

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I am so tired of hearing these stories about Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Penguins' playoff games. If this man were 30 years older none of this would be an issue. We all know that being a politician gets you certain perks. That is not a new concept.

I can't believe the mayor of Pittsburgh was made to purchase his own tickets and accommodations in Detroit. He is representing our city. Not only should we have paid his way, but we should have put him in a private box with food and drinks provided. Please stop trying to sell this man out because of his age. It's getting old!

AMY LEWIS
Scott

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How have we progressed so far backward to be so afraid of a harmless bee swarm as to get the fire department and the Public Works department involved, with sidewalks taped off and security guards detouring pedestrians? ("Downtown Rush Hour Abuzz About Bee Swarm," June 3 briefs.)

A swarm of bees hanging from a street sign is a good sign. Bees have been fighting diseases for years that are killing off hives. It's clear that if they don't survive we'll clearly have to change our eating habits as they pollinate many of the foods that we eat.

What those bees had done was to split from one large hive to search for another place to start a new hive. While they were hanging on that sign, other bees were in search of a suitable nesting place and were as dangerous as fish in a pond, unless provoked.

On the other hand, try to call about a neighbor's dog straining to break its leash and cause you a world of hurt. Call anybody you want and they'll say there's nothing they can do until the leash breaks and you get mauled. Go figure, but that's the government at work.

DAN CINOWALT
Bonair

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The June 2 letter by Christian Preus ("America Is Being Hurt by Educating Foreign Students") advocating that U.S. universities close their doors to top foreign students is a pandering, protectionist argument that shows a fundamentally limited understanding of how our knowledge industry actually works.

Any successful university must attract strong graduate students. These students, working as research and teaching aides, attract the best professors. The best professors enhance the reputation of the school, which enhances the competition for undergraduate enrollment and attracts research grants. It is by encouraging this self-perpetuating loop that major universities stay at the top of the "best schools" lists, and it starts with high-performing graduate students.

After receiving their graduate degrees (after years of being paid a pittance for important teaching and research work at their university) the best of the best of these kids find jobs here, where salaries are higher; the rest go home. This phenomenon is called "the brain drain" and it is an unapologetically brutal, Darwinian process that yanks the hardest-working students out of the developing world and deposits them on American soil.

Intellectuals are not a renewable resource. These scholars make contributions that pay for themselves a hundred times over by fueling our leadership position in research and technology worldwide, and possibly even more importantly, by continuing America's legacy as the worldwide home of excellence in thought and action. In a world dominated by multinational corporations, the focus in U.S. immigration policy reform should be on keeping such demonstrated achievers here in the States, not keeping them out or getting rid of them.

JIM KARATASSOS
Ross

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