Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

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To the Editor:

Re “Explaining Hillary Clinton’s Lost Ground in the Polls” (The Upshot, nytimes.com, May 25):

Hillary Clinton can easily make this lost ground up and gain much more by winning Bernie Sanders’s impassioned young supporters in one smart move. She should vigorously adopt one of the main issues that drives them: free tuition for all qualified students at public colleges and universities, along with government efforts to significantly reduce student debt.

She should quickly adopt this before Donald Trump does.

ARTHUR PITCHENIK

Miami

Note from KBJ: Wait; wouldn't that be pandering, i.e., purchasing votes? Democrats would never stoop to such a thing.

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Here are some thoughts (in no particular order) about our second day in Scotland:

1. Do you know about serendipity? I learned the meaning of the word many years ago. Someone described it as follows. You're in a library looking for a particular book. You locate the shelf where the book should be, but it's not there. Instead of leaving, you browse. You pull a book with an interesting title off the shelf and open it. Before long, you're engrossed. The book changes your life. Katherine and I had a serendipitous moment this afternoon. We had just eaten dinner and were walking hand in hand along an Edinburgh street, heading in the general direction of our hotel (a Residence Inn Marriott). Out of the alley to our right come eight or 10 people in a line. Wondering what was going on, we looked into the alley. There was an open metal gate, at the top of which were the words "Grey Friars." Katherine suggested entering, which we did. To our amazement, it was a churchyard, which I later learned is known as the "Greyfriars Kirkyard." We wandered about for an hour or so in the fading light, reading the inscriptions and taking pictures. Another surprise was our first view of the Edinburgh Castle on a distant hill. What a magnificent sight! To think that we discovered this incredible place by accident is mind-boggling. It's not that we did no research on Edinburgh before arriving here, because we did; but our time here is limited (just part of today and tomorrow), and we have plans to visit the University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Castle. I'm glad we found time to visit Grey Friars.
2. Speaking of universities, we spent time today on the campus of the University of Glasgow, where Adam Smith taught. What a delightful place. We walked through a beautiful, lush park on the way to campus. Along the way, we found a large fountain that honors Queen Victoria for her work in improving the water supply of Glasgow. The park was filled with flowers and large, moss-covered trees. When we reached the campus proper, we asked directions to the bookstore. As we walked along the street in that direction, Katherine spotted a sign saying "Philosophy." I had no intention of visiting the Department of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, but how could I omit doing so when I was so close? We walked half a block or so and found the building. The door was open, so we went in. I looked at the list (and photographs) of the faculty members (none of whom I recognized, incidentally) and walked down the hallway toward an open door. I peeked in and saw a man sitting on a sofa with his back to me. In front of him was a large glass-enclosed bookcase with what appeared to be very old books. Needless to say, I wanted to examine those books! Just then the man turned to me. He asked, "Are you here for the conference? The next talk is at one o'clock." I told him no, that I was merely a philosopher visiting from the States. He showed me the agenda for the conference. Guess what? It was on philosophy of religion, a subject I teach and to the literature of which I have contributed several times during my career. We could hear someone speaking inside the conference room, and I'm sure I would have enjoyed entering, but we had a schedule to maintain, so we thanked the man for his time and left. Katherine took a picture of me outside the main entrance with the word "Philosophy" next to me.
3. Our dinner this evening was at Namaste Kathmandu, which describes itself as serving "Unique Royal Nepalese & Indian Cuisine." We had heard or read before our arrival that Scotland has excellent Indian food. I have no idea why this would be, but both of us like Indian food and decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed. The atmosphere was pleasant (though one table was occasionally boisterous); the service was good (and the servers friendly); and the food was delicious. Both of us had good appetites after many miles of walking during the day, in two historic and beautiful Scottish cities.
4. I've ridden on Amtrak a couple of times in my life, but that's about the extent of my experience with trains. Today we made our way from Glasgow to Edinburgh on ScotRail (known as "Scotland's Railway"). It was fun! The views of the Scottish countryside were superb. The Edinburgh train station was teeming with life, and overhead was a jaw-dropping view of the Balmoral Hotel through the glass ceiling. I must confess that I thought this was the Edinburgh Castle. Let's just say that if the Castle is grander than this, it must be grand indeed.
5. My general impression of Scotland so far is that it's old. I know that sounds strange, but there's a different sense of time here than in the United States. Americans love new, shiny things. A building is considered old, obsolete, and even decrepit after 50 years. Many of the buildings we've seen in Glasgow and Edinburgh are several hundred years old. The buildings are thick and solid, often with original engravings and sculptures on them. You can see that each stone of which the building is composed had to be quarried, cut, and honed to fit perfectly with the others. These buildings were made to withstand the ravages of wind, rain, snow, hail, dirt, heat, and cold—not to mention bird droppings. Admittedly, the stone buildings look stained and dirty all or much of the time (especially when wet), but that adds to the sense of age. In America, we flee our past. Scotland embraces its past.

See you tomorrow!

Framed (1972). I post this song to celebrate the life of one of Scotland's greatest musicians, Alex Harvey, who died all too young (one day shy of his 47th birthday) in 1992. He was born in Glasgow, where today a tree grows in an historic park in his honor. The song is apparently about Isobel Goudie, a 17th-Century Scottish woman who confessed to being a witch (and may have been put to death as a result), though the lyrics are bizarre.

To the Editor:

“Trumping on Eggshells,” by Frank Bruni (column, May 25), about his reluctance to talk politics with relatives, resonated with me as a Democrat in Georgia. I have adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with my Republican friends regarding Donald Trump.

However, anytime that one of my conservative friends offers up her support of Mr. Trump, I am left bewildered and rendered mute, so as to save the friendship. This election can’t be over fast enough for me.

LESLIE WOLFE

Atlanta

To the Editor:

Frank Bruni hesitates to ask friends and relatives if they plan to vote for Donald Trump. So do I, and I also hesitate to ask them if they support Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. But I ask anyway.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but if we do not challenge those close to us on such important issues, who will? Whatever our views, we must engage friends and relatives, particularly those with whom we disagree, in serious and honest discussions of what we really want for the future. We will get what we vote for. Let’s be sure that’s what we want.

LOUIS J. CUTRONA

Ridgewood, N.J.

To the Editor:

Frank Bruni says he avoids conversations about Donald Trump with conservative members of his family. I do the same.

I have a cousin from the Deep South who is staunchly conservative. We avoid politics. Imagine my shock, and relief, when three months ago, without prompting, she announced in the middle of a Scrabble game: “I hate Donald Trump! I’m voting for Hillary.”

Is it too much to hope that there may be many, many others who feel similarly and will vote equally independently?

SAM GOODYEAR

Binghamton, N.Y.

Note from KBJ: These letters show just how insulated the readers of the New York Times are. They honestly don't understand why anyone would support Donald Trump. May I help? Barack Hussein Obama, Thug in Chief. Americans are sick to death of having leftist ideology (including such things as ObamaCare) shoved down their throats. They are sick to death of being lectured to by a man who has never held a real job and whose only skill is "community organizing" (which means cultivating grievances). They are sick to death of being told that they are racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic. They are sick to death of hearing their president apologize to other countries for the behavior of the United States (especially given that the United States is the greatest force for good in the history of the world). They are sick to death of being divided against one another rather than united. They are sick to death of being mocked for their religiosity and their insistence on owning guns for self-defense (remember "clinging to God and guns"?) They are sick to death of having a bitter, resentful First Lady. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I suggest that these letter writers get used to saying "President Trump," just as I and many other ordinary Americans have had to get used to saying "President Obama." What goes around comes around.

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Here is the exciting finish of today's stage of the Giro d'Italia.