Readers write

White House is losing its simplicity

If you have never had the experience of leasing a dwelling to a difficult tenant, you are having it now — in spades.

All of us are the owners of a beautiful, historic property at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. We lease this property, free of charge, every four years to a new tenant.

Some previous tenants have had children and pets that have caused minor damage, and some made preapproved changes to the property, but our current tenant has turned out to be the type that all landlords have nightmares about. He clearly does not understand the difference between occupying a property and owning it.

First, he destroyed the historic republican simplicity of our property by gold-plating the Oval Office to a level that would have embarrassed French King Louis XIV. And then, without asking our permission, he tore down the entire historic East Wing of our building. And to make matters even worse, he plans to spend $300 million to build a gold-plated, crystal-laden ballroom that will dwarf what is left of our beloved White House.

I know it is too late now, but I think we should have done a more thorough background check.

LEE RAUDONIS, ATLANTA

AJC has been companion throughout 47-year marriage

On Nov. 18, my wife and I celebrated our 47th anniversary! It was also the day I received a letter from the AJC notifying me that, as a longer-than-25-year subscriber (actually closer to 55 years), we would receive two gifts, an AJC commemorative book and an Apple iPad to better read the AJC as it stops the presses and moves totally digital on Jan. 1, 2026.

The irony of the letter arriving on our anniversary day is that one of our first decisions we had to make as man and wife in Atlanta was: “Do we subscribe to the Atlanta Constitution or the Atlanta Journal?” Funny, I do not recall our decision, but after a few years, it became moot as the AJC was created and soon printed only one edition to be delivered in the morning.

I was disappointed with the recent digital-only decision for selfish reasons, such as no longer greeting each morning with a walk down our driveway, no longer sharing and discussing the news with my wife over breakfast, and no longer clipping articles to save or send to relatives and friends.

I’ll accept the iPad with much appreciation, but I am not sure how easy it will be to share the reading at the breakfast table. Although past coffee spills may have made a morning mess, the newspaper always did dry; I am not so sure the iPad will be as forgiving.