Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers’ grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week’s Free for All letters.

Regarding the Feb. 26 news article “ ‘Dilbert’ dropped by The Post, other papers after cartoonist’s racist rant”:

I will miss “Dilbert.” For more than 30 years, it has been a welcome bit of humor with which to start my day. Anyone who has ever worked in an office cubicle could certainly identify with its cast of characters.

Evidently, “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams crossed a line by speaking the musings of his politically incorrect and arguably racist mind out loud. Beware the thought police. Never mind that the actual content of “Dilbert” rarely offended anyone other than upper management, clueless office interns and Elbonians. But The Post should not let this comical political incorrectness reckoning go to waste. The moment is auspicious to inaugurate a similar vacuity correctness standard for the comics.

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By such a standard, the vapid likes of “Nancy,” “Beetle Bailey,” “Popeye,” “Reply All Lite,” “Blondie” and “Hagar the Horrible” would join “Dilbert,” “The Katzenjammer Kids” and “Hambone’s Meditations” on the ash heap of comics history.

William E. Fallon, Gaithersburg

In addition to the disappointment of learning that “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams harbors racist views, I am disappointed about two things that resulted from the recent brouhaha. First, I am disappointed that I will no longer be able to read the “Dilbert” comic strip in The Post (which was entirely justified in dropping it). I have enjoyed reading “Dilbert” for decades and have several “Dilbert” books. It’s sad to see it go.

Second, I am disappointed in myself for misunderstanding the comic strip. All these years, I admired the character Dilbert. He is a hard-working engineer who, despite a terrible boss, does his best to do a good job and get things right. He is not afraid to confront the pointy-haired boss when the latter is wrong, which is often. Although I never had a boss like the one Dilbert has, I like to think that I was, at least in some ways, like Dilbert during my career. I’ve always thought of the pointy-haired boss as Adams’s way of telling us what he thought was wrong with management in corporate America. The pointy-haired boss is interested only in his own well-being, never caring about his employees or others. He is ignorant of much of what his employees do. He makes bad decisions. He orders employees to initiate projects that have little chance of success, and, when they fail, he blames them. He never accepts responsibility for failures that are his fault. When Donald Trump arrived on the political scene and especially when he was president, it was obvious to me that the pointy-haired boss was like Trump as a middle manager.

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So when I recently learned, because of the brouhaha, that Adams was an avid Trump fan and advocate, it made me rethink my whole understanding of the comic strip. Is the pointy-haired boss the real hero of the strip? Was Adams trying to tell us that is what management in corporate America should be like? What a disappointment.

Myron Fliegel, Silver Spring

I regret that The Post canceled one of my favorite comic strips, “Dilbert.” I also regretted that The Post stopped publishing the columns of Garrison Keillor. That doesn’t mean I condone racist comments or alleged sexual harassment, but I feel punished by the cancellation of these talented people. “Dilbert” was often savagely funny, and Keillor’s columns were always entertaining. “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams obviously made some stupid comments. I never knew why Keillor’s column was canceled.

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Is there not some other way to show displeasure? Columns that point out the error of their ways? There will be a lot of those anyway. Adams will not go to jail for his comments, and I am sure he has enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Keillor, as far as I know, is living happily in New York and still performing. Just not on public radio or writing in The Post.

I have been deprived of enjoying the work of these two talented people. There must be a better way of expressing displeasure than removing them from the newspaper.

Al Volkman, Alexandria

Though I agree with eliminating “Dilbert” from the comics in The Post, I have not been impressed with its replacement, “Heart of the City.” I would prefer to have “Dilbert” replaced with Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly’s “Shoe.” As a print subscriber, it is helpful to access the comic strips all in one place without the need for an electronic device, as the images are either too small or the device is too heavy or bulky. Adding “Shoe” to the print comics page would be delightful.

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“Dilbert” creator Scott Adams should spend some quality time viewing Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s PBS program “Finding Your Roots” and PBS’s “American Experience.” They could provide him with some needed insight and perspective when it comes to the history of this country.

Carole Lohman, Charlottesville

I was disappointed that The Post canceled the “Dilbert” comic strip. I was one of the comic’s most dedicated fans. I always saved “Dilbert” to read last because that comic strip was my outlet, my reality check, my fun thing for the day.

That strip reflected what I was going through as a small-business owner. Whether it was issues in human relations, information technology or the water cooler, “Dilbert” had a way of calling it out and making me feel that I was not alone with these issues. “Dilbert” understood. Everyone knew how much I loved that comic strip, so I always received Dilbert gifts and used his episodes in many of my business presentations.

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So yes, I was disappointed — but also proud of The Post for canceling. I was relieved, because the very dark side of the creator of “Dilbert” had ruined the lighthearted fun in reading that strip. Yes, I will sorely miss “Dilbert,” but I am relieved that by dropping the comic from my life, I will hold on to my dignity and help preserve my heritage.

Pedro Alfonso, Washington

‘Christian nationalism’ movement deserves critique

I have no sympathy at all for the “Christian nationalism” movement and have labored to inculcate the grand principles of religious liberty throughout my preaching and teaching career. However, the Feb. 25 Religion article “ ‘Christian patriots’ are leaving liberal states for Idaho” acknowledged, “This story was reported with support from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation.” Is it The Post’s policy to publish articles funded by an organization that is consciously and professedly opposed to, and actively engaged in efforts antithetical to, the subjects of the article?

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David F. Coffin Jr., Fairfax

I was disappointed that the article on “Christian nationalists” moving to Idaho failed to incorporate the perspectives of everyday people in the state who have seen an influx of so-called Christian patriots. I am a proud son of Moscow, Idaho. Moscow is a college town in the foothills of the Bitterroot Mountains with a vibrant, progressive community, and it is hardly a haven for religious extremists and the right-wing fringe.

Christ Church and its pastor, Douglas Wilson, have been on a mission to bend the town to their theocratic will for as long as I can remember. For decades, they’ve failed. It seemed in poor taste to focus on Wilson, who is famous for publishing a pamphlet claiming that slavery created affection between the races, without asking typical Moscow residents what they think of Wilson and his project. I think the majority would say that Moscow rejects Wilson’s creepy fiefdom and always will.

David Noel Steury, Washington

Goodbye to a conservative who reliably crossed the aisle

The Feb. 21 obituary for former congressman Jim Broyhill, “GOP congressman from North Carolina briefly served in the Senate,” described him as a “reliable conservative.” That did not do justice to his impact on consumer and environmental legislation.

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During his long tenure on the House commerce committee, Broyhill was a frequent negotiating partner with committee Democrats. While never compromising his conservative principles, he was able to find the intersection of liberal and conservative ideas to help craft landmark legislation. In addition to his role in the creation of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, discussed in the obituary, Broyhill also worked with Rep. John Moss (D-Calif.) to pass legislation to revitalize the Federal Trade Commission and with Rep. Bob Eckhardt (D-Tex.) to pass the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 that regulates chemicals that pose “an unreasonable risk to health or the environment.”

Broyhill’s belief that members of goodwill on both sides of the aisle could work together to find ways to improve the lives of their constituents made him one of the most important Republicans who helped make the legislative process work for the public good in the 1970s. More members of both parties in Congress today should approach their jobs in the same way.

Peter Kinzler, Alexandria

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The writer was Democratic counsel to the House commerce consumer protection subcommittee from 1975 to 1981.

SOS: A definition in distress

The March 1 Style review of SZA’s “SOS” album and concert, “At Capital One Arena, SZA creates waves of reflection,” explained that SOS, depending on whom you ask, means either “save our ship” or “save our souls.”

Actually, it means neither.

SOS, as a distress call, is merely a short stream of three dots, three dashes and three more dots. The letters themselves stand for no words, but those two phrases have been attached to the letters by unknowing wags in years following its adoption in 1908.

The original distress call, CQ, was used by land-based telegraph operators years before Guglielmo Marconi’s wireless was installed in ships. CQ simply meant that this message is “intended for all stations.” The “D” was later added to make it a distress call. But CQD was not universal; Germany used SOE and the United States used NC, both of which were calls for immediate help. (And CQD did not mean “come quick, danger,” despite what I’ve seen in print.)

At an international radio conference in Berlin in 1906, SOS was proposed as the universal distress call for ships. Nearly all nations, except for the United States, formally accepted this by 1908, but implementation took a while. Small wonder that the Titanic in 1912 sent out both CQD and SOS after it hit an iceberg.

Jack French, Fairfax

A bad example of a failure

In his March 1 op-ed, “Chinese aid for Russia is a red line Biden must enforce,” Jim Geraghty made the misleading charge that President Barack Obama “did next to nothing” after Syria crossed his “red line” warning about the consequences of chemical weapons use.

Before Obama’s warning was issued, Syria was believed to have more chemical weapons in its active inventory than any country in the world, except perhaps North Korea. But the events set in motion after Syria’s use led to the elimination of Syria’s declared inventory of more than 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons precursors and agents, along with the associated facilities for production, storage and filling. And this was achieved with political pressure on Damascus from Syria’s powerful ally Russia and implementation assistance from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) states-parties.

An acknowledgment that Syria has fallen short of its full obligations under the CWC and has apparently retained a small portion of prohibited chemical weapons does not erase the impressive technical and political achievement of safely and nonviolently disarming one of the world’s last holders of nearly universally reviled weapons.

Moreover, it hardly merits Geraghty’s contention that Obama’s red-line threat “turned out badly.” If only other red-line warnings could be so successful!

Paul Walker, Washington

The writer is vice chair of the Arms Control Association board of directors.

Greg Thielmann, Washington

The writer is a member of the Arms Control Association board of directors.

Art reflects life, and vice versa

The Feb. 23 obituary for Simone Segouin, “As a teen, she fought with French Resistance,” revealed a remarkable life that many would not have known about otherwise. The obituary noted that she joined a ragtag group of armed fighters, marched into reclaimed Paris with Gen. Charles de Gaulle and earned the nickname “the Girl Partisan of Chartres.”

That medieval town’s cathedral now draws travelers and pilgrims, however, not for its “twin” spires but for its defiance of symmetry. In the 16th century, when one of its circa 12th-century Romanesque towers burned, the Catholic citizenry replaced it with one in flamboyant Gothic style. That commitment to living in the present also figured in the confident heroism of young Segouin.

Jean Lawlor Cohen, Chevy Chase

Lack of explanations is systemic

The Feb. 25 front-page article “Fraught fight over AP’s new course” seemed as though it would explain the controversy over the word “systemic” in the ongoing discussion of the College Board’s new African American studies program. But beyond noting the word’s omission in the final version of the curriculum, the story failed to deliver any explanation.

Do opponents of the word “systemic” believe slavery and Jim Crow segregation were not entrenched systems? Do proponents believe racism is still broadly institutionalized in American society? Has there been any discussion of a middle-ground view that racism is no longer “systemic” but that its legacies still have serious effects? Nowhere did the article discuss any of this.

The article also did not explain what Florida officials described as “discriminatory and historically fictional topics” that have been removed from the proposed curriculum. Those words from Florida are a strong indictment. It would be helpful to know what they were referring to and whether there was any merit in their description.

Lawrence Bruser, Chevy Chase

Where in the world are the maps?

Thanks for the Feb. 24 front-page article “Climate puts prized winter tradition on thin ice.” However, who knows where Fairlee, Vt., or Lake Morey is? Upstate? Downstate? Twenty minutes from Hanover doesn’t help. Where is Hanover, N.H.? How about a map?

The lack of a map is an egregious omission that The Post also applied in the print edition to the Oct. 23 front-page article on the Australian Outback, “Can Australia tame its remote Outback Way?” Where exactly in the Outback?

The Post needs to include maps in the print edition, not just in the online article, to help readers orient themselves better to the world. All of these words about a place that you don’t know or only vaguely might know can be frustrating.

Nancy Shiner, Washington

‘90s relics include — cabooses?

Regarding the Feb. 26 editorial, “How to fix freight rail after the Ohio derailment debacle”:

The editorial was correct in calling for better regulations and more emphasis on rail safety, but it must have been a while since the writers watched a train at a train crossing. In advocating for better brakes on freight trains, the editorial stated that air brakes “work by sending an air signal throughout the train. It takes time for the signal to reach the caboose.” It would take a very long time. Cabooses haven’t been used on freight trains by the major railroads since the 1990s.

Jamie Horwitz, Washington

The writer is a media relations adviser for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and other rail unions.

Was Michael de Adder’s March 3 editorial cartoon a see-if-you’re-a-genius quiz? Maybe “find the ganglia that’s not like the others in seven seconds”?

Inquiring minds want to know. We are stumped.

S.K. Gerard, Washington

Abbreviations have GTG

In the March 1 editorial “An uncompetitive defense industry puts the nation at risk,” “M&A” appears in the third paragraph. In preceding sentences, nowhere is the meaning of this abbreviation. What does it mean?

In general, why does The Post continue to use abbreviations without identifying them when first used? The practice is distractive. Does M&A stand for molecules and atoms? Proper usage is “molecules and atoms (M&A).” Notice the letters within the parentheses. The practice is getting worse. Readers who reside or work within the Beltway are not strangers to many official abbreviations, but outside this viable interstate I suspect their numbers dwindle rapidly.

The Feb. 25 Federal Insider column, “ ‘Archaic’ IRS tech makes life more difficult for taxpaying public,” used 45 abbreviations, some repetitive and understandably universal. Aaarrrggghhh!!! Only one, individual master file (IMF), was clearly identified, but it was used only once.

I’m not a mind reader, nor are any other Post readers. The Post’s job is to communicate clearly, not obfuscate.

Edward J. Pastula, New Carrollton

The Post should go cold Turkey

The United Nations agreed to honor the request of the country formerly known as Turkey to change the spelling to Türkiye. The State Department also agreed to do so in “formal and diplomatic contexts.”

When will The Post recognize the nation’s preferred name?

Vincent Keipper, Concord, N.C.

Thanks for the well-illustrated and informative Feb. 25 news article “An ancient Turkish city rocked to its foundations: Antakya goes dark and empties after the quakes.” The authors rightly refer to the city as “a cradle of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history.” Readers perhaps would have grasped the city’s historical significance more quickly if the authors had only called the city by its well-known ancient name: Antioch. This once-flourishing city was home to many Roman and Byzantine notables. St. Luke the Evangelist lived there. St. John Chrysostom was born there.

Michael Rae, Potomac

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