Todays letters come from around the country and around the world. In Tennessee, fair voting with paper trails is the key to keeping our democracy. In Oklahoma, those “touchy-feely” Democrats might have helped people, rather than created racist fantasies to let them die. Meanwhile, the evolution debate rages from South Carolina to the Czech Republic, and God’s wrath by hurricane is questioned from Louisiana to Trinidad and Tobago. Here, at home, God is perceived as angry at individual sins, such as drunkeness and homosexualtiy, while abroad, he is pissed off at a murderous war based upon lies. If you were God, which would upset you more?
Hendersonville (Tennessee) Star News
Fair voting should be the issue of our lifetime. Not war, not poverty, fair voting. For without it, we lose our democracy. Once that happens, war, poverty, and all the other ills wait on the sidelines, just bursting with excitement, waiting to take the field to add to the riches and disparity of a corporatist oligarchy. One undemocratic “election” of 9 robed judges picked a President in 2000 (whatever the vote count might have been, we know two things. First, it was a statistical tie; and second, it would not have been, but for the “butterfly ballot” screw-up.), and another undemocratic election based upon who had the longest lines at the voting booths picked him again in 2004 (with or without the accusations of computer-voting fraud, Ohio was won when Democrats could not stand in lines for 12 hours, while their Republican counterparts hardly waited 12 minutes). Right now, we only have a democracy of the super-majority, and a dictatorship of close elections. If that does not change, we will lose our country.
Paper ballots are a must to ensure validity
Now’s the time to ensure freedom with fair elections. The election commissions are currently planning to purchase voting equipment. There is now much evidence that electronic voting machines are not dependable, that, in fact (according to the Department of Homeland Security) some systems are easily hacked; yet there is no paper ballot in most of Tennessee. (“Commission to call for changes in voting,” Sept. 19). …
What are citizens to do? Contact elected officials and election commissions. Tell them, first, that all voting equipment should come with a voter-verified paper ballot. This means a voting machine should give a receipt as you vote. You could use it if you agree, start over if not; and put it in a ballot box when you’re satisfied. Random boxes could be hand-counted for accuracy; and all paper ballots could be hand re-counted if needed. Second, there should be no remote or wireless access to voting machines, so local control is kept.
Shannon Williford
Nashville 37212
The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript
Republicans hate Democrats, deriding us as too “touchy feely,” as soft-hearted fools, rather than the hardened realists they believe themselves to be. Well, perhaps a little more empathy might have helped save people in Louisiana. Instead, from those “hardened realists” we got fraudulent fantasies of blacks gone wild, stories of rape, murder, and mayhem that justified letting them die, stories we now know to be false. So, how many weak, elderly, sick, young, or helpless lost their lives as those “hardened realists” recoiled, not from violence, but from the very idea of actually helping people darker than themselves? Too damned many, and may every one of those poor tortured souls haunt the dreams of every heartless racist bastard to sully our TV screens from the studios of Fox and others.
Democrats would have cared, done better
I am constantly haunted by the spectacle of people in the New Orleans Superdome pleading for water and food for five days. I can’ help but know that if Clinton, Gore or any Democrat had been in the White House at the time of Katrina, there would have been water, food, medicine and sanitary facilities there for those American citizens in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana much earlier. Any Democrat would have cared about and known what was happening in our country. …
LORI HILBERT
Norman
Beaufort (South Carolina) Gazette
The whole evolution vs. creationism argument really brings out the anger in some people. This letter is obviously responding to a rant of similar heat, confusing evolution with social Darwinism, and calling anybody who believes in evolution a communist. It is really amazing to me, more than a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, that the right still calls anybody that disagrees with them a communist.
Don’t practice willful ignorance
A recent letter states that in Christian schools “both evolution and creationism will be taught fairly and objectively.” It illustrates such teaching with an ad hominem attack on Justice Black, equates evolution with racism, fascism and Marxism and confuses evolutionary theory with social Darwinism. If the writer is aware of the viciousness of this perverse creed, he should change his voting habits and learn enough about the subject to know that neither Charles Darwin nor evolutionary biology has anything to do with the fantasies of social Darwinism. …
Evolution is Marxist? It is ironic that those who condemn “random” evolution have only praise for it in economics — centralized planning, an attempt at “intelligent economic design” is totally condemned where money is concerned. But when the essence of life is at issue, we must have just such planning. Humans are not capable of this, but God (or the carefully unnamed force — a deified Marx?) certainly is. If you want your Communist parallel, intelligent design is Lysenkoism — an ideology imposed upon us in denial of all evidence. …
Larry Lepionka
Beaufort
The Coffeyville (Kansas) Journal
Sometimes, there is nothing whatsoever the matter with Kansas. This writer hits the Roberts nail on the head- Roberts believes in a constitution protecting those already in power, not a constitution making everybody equal.
…
This man has refused to release key documents; all Americans deserve to receive equal protection under the law, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
John Roberts’ career has been defined by the argument that the constitution requires no such equal protection.
E. Upton
Independence
Hendersonville (Tennessee) Star News
There is a lot more here, and you can follow the link to find it. Racism, it seems, can make hypocrites of anybody.
Bush deserves better than Wickham’s sniping
Apparently columnist DeWayne Wickham finds it perfectly acceptable for rapper Kanye West to make scurrilous remarks about President Bush but takes offense when Mrs. Bush characterizes such remarks as disgusting. (“The president’s problems with blacks run deep,” Sept. 19). …
I also found it interesting that Wickham referred to President Bush’s faith-based initiative as “pandering to black preachers” and then further in his column suggests that he shore up his relationship with the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus, which of course would not be “pandering.” …
Bill Gaskill
Dickson 37055
The Norman (Oklahoma) Transcript
Please follow this link. The writer has done a terrific job of itemizing the slime/spin point, and the responses. We know them when we hear them, but if we see them first, the point have less ability to take hold.
The Republican Slime Machine is up and running after the hurricane recently hit the Gulf Coast. The disaster relief was a fiasco and the Republicans are hopping to get out the spin to absolve themselves and Bush from any blame. Below is a condensed version of the “do” and “don’t” say spin lists that will be provided (or withheld from) the media when the slime begins to ooze. Use these to play a game. See how many you hear in the media and keep a count! The winner will be named the next director of FEMA. …
Hope these talking points help you sort out the spin sure to be flying over the next few months. Good luck in playing the game of “Counting Spin” and if you win, hope you also get a “great job, Brownie” from the president when you mismanage a FEMA response to our next disaster.
LARRY STEELE
Norman
Shreveport (Louisiana) Times
I know devout believers mean well, but warnings about “end times” and sin in light of Hurricane Katrina are not acts of love, they are acts of hate and accusation. As for the whole “end times” absurdity, two thoughts. First, Jesus promised the end times would come in his disciples’ lifetimes, and so much for that. Second, if we are STILL in “end times,” they are dragging a bit, for right now they constitute about a third of all recorded history, and more than a third of all the Bible’s history. It makes my three year old’s promise to stop playing, put away his toys, and go to be seem instantaneous.
We have turned back to Bible’s teachings
I have read with compassion and love of these people evacuated from all the towns devastated by Hurricane Katrina. I can’t help but wonder if anyone reading their Bibles can see God warned us of these things near the end of time. America has turned its back on God and is living in sin as if nothing matters and God has no part in people’s lives. But I can assure you my Bible says he is coming, and I believe it will be soon. …
Betty Lister
Frierson
The Day (Connecticut)
The debate of the Pledge is legitimate. Only the believers in God seem to be unoffended by the addition of God to the Pledge. Well, the Bill of Rights is not about the rights of the majority to do what they wish, it is about the rights of the minority to not be subject to the will of the majority. Every fight in the Bill of Rights is a fight against the majority. That is why the very idea that most people are offended by this fight is so utterly irrelevant. Truth be told, the majority would not be offended by a Jesus in every classroom, and a religious test to hold public office. But we are not a country ruled by the majority (though they forget that in their lust for power), we are a country ruled by law and by rights, including those protecting the rest of us from most of you.
Keep Religion Out Of Pledge And Anthem
I read a New York Times editorial in The Day that I totally disagree with (“One father, indefatigable,” Sept. 20). Remember the story of the little boy putting his finger in the dike? That was the same as Michael Newdow going to court to challenge the addition of “under God” into the pledge of allegiance. That was the start of the invasion of religion into too many aspects of patriotism.
It has been more than 50 years since it became officially part of the pledge and a great many still find it inappropriate and were content with it as it was, because it now violates the separation of the state and religion. …
Leonard Lowy
North Stonington
Tyler (Texas) Morning Telegraph
Suddenly, at the thought of giving money to black people to rebuild their homes and their lives, Republicans are rediscovering fiscal responsibility. They are not giving up their bridges to nowhere, or their Midwestern rain forests, but they sure don’t like the idea of using federal money to rebuild New Orleans. Of course, this misses a pretty basic point- the disaster in New Orleans started with the hurricane, but ended with the collapse of the levees exactly because the federal government failed to maintain them. In other words, this is restitution for incompetence at least as much as it is payment for natural disaster.
NATURAL DISASTERS NOT GOVERNMENT’S PROBLEM
Life is a four-letter word and can be tragic to the limits of one’s imagination. But, we the taxpayers do not owe for losses outside our control.
The citizens of this country, through their states, cities and churches, have donated millions toward the Katrina surviving families’ welfare. Now the federal government has taken the task of reconstruction “for these areas of devastation to be rebuilt better than they were before.” This decision abounds in the lack of common sense.
The federal government owes the millions of taxpayers in this country a sound responsible fiscal policy. For the federal government to set a precedent for taking responsibility for natural disasters is a step into an abyss with no known bottom, all at the expense of taxpayers. …
The surviving families obviously need help and by all reports they are getting it. But what we do not need is for taxpayers to be forced to foot the bill for this pick and choose type of discrimination. The precedent has unfortunately already been set with this same brand of knee-jerk reaction with the monies doled out in the aftermath of 9/11. That in itself is tragic, and reflects poorly as a responsible stance by our government.
Vance Cline
Winona
The Daily Tribune News (Georgia)
I like letters like these, for they remind me the South is not a monolith. There are progressives who understand the value of a life over the value of a dollar, even south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
I wish we had Hillary, right now …
In 1992, we had a President Bush-41 and a Clinton who wanted his job to help our country and take it forward. Now, we have a President Bush-43 and a Clinton who wants his job — to help our country — get out of the biggest mess I’ve ever seen. Hillary is capable and I hope willing in 2008.
Bush-43 has made us, the U.S.A., look like a village of only idiots and no elders. Again, I wish we had Hillary, right now, to deal with some of our very serious problems, i.e., the Katrina disaster, drug war, our sluggish economy and jobs, and actually caring for the poor, etc. …
Accommodating the needs of ALL our U.S. citizens is not only morally right, it’s the smart thing to economically do long-term.
Freddie E. Lewis Sr., Cartersville
And now for a few international entries.
The Korea Times
It seems we are not the only nation with a fundamentalist fight over science. In this letter, from South Korea, a writer responds to an anti-science screed.
I write in response to “Affluenza¡” by Mr. Kim See-bong. I’ve read this piece twice now and have to admit I’m not entirely sure of his exact point. My reply concerns the one thing that is clear: Mr.Kim’s editorial is a perverse anti-science rant.
Mr. Kim begins by summarizing the tale of Adam and Eve. He concludes that “this is the beginning of science.” It is not. The notion that science comes from a Bible story is ridiculous. Science began in the 6th century B.C. on the Greek island of Ionia.
Science teaches that the Earth is our home, our one and only home, and that to pollute it is suicide. If our governments heeded scientists’ warnings about the continued destruction of the Earth’s environment, our laws would be radically different than they are now. Mr. Kim writes “Death is the surefire weapon God wields upon man. The Creator invents increasingly harder-to-cure diseases and man counter-challenges them with science.” Mr. Kim, why do you worship a God that wants to kill you? Does God want to kill us because He loves us? Did God love all the people He killed with His tsunami last December? God invented diseases and hurricanes and terrorist bombings and genocide and poverty, and if He didn’t invent them He does nothing to stop them. What’s the difference? Which is it: God values these things or He is powerless to stop them? These questions, and the fact that religious people ignore them, illustrate the flat-Earth mentality at the heart of religious belief. Sincerely,
Chris Thomsen, Inchon
Trinidad and Tobago Express
I do not believe in divine retribution, for I do not believe in a day-to-day looking over our shoulder sort of God. That said, it is interesting to see that others around the world see Katrina and Rita as retribution, not for homosexuality or licentiousness, but for greed, warfare, and death. It does raise an interesting point- if you were God, which would piss you off more, two men you made to be gay acting out on it, or a powerful country killing hundreds of thousands based upon lies?
US President George Bush unleashed a “sledgehammer” attack on poor Iraq, just to crush a tiny biting ant like Saddam Hussein. He pounced on these poor people with sophisticated bombs and missiles, destroying families and everything in his path. The end result is a divided people living like dogs under the barrel of the US/UK guns, with Marines dying every day for a cause they do not understand or agree with. The alleged weapons of mass destruction never materialised.
Today, through the power of a just creator, Bush has now found some weapons of mass destruction. They lie in Hurricanes Andrew, Frances, Charlie and Ivan of yesteryear. So far for this year he has seen the likes of Katrina which has caused more costly damage to his country than all of his advantageous wars combined. Lurking on the horizon is Hurricane Rita, waiting to exhale its mighty breath on an innocent American people, as if God is seeking expiration for all the suffering meted out to innocent men, women and children in the Middle East. Mr Bush aimed his guns at the oil producing world, not to remedy their problems, but, as we all know to get his hands on their oil. Katrina has devastated the oil producing Gulf region of America and Rita has its “eye” on oil rich Texas. What irony.
Your war now is with Almighty God, Mr Bush. Aim your missiles at the heavens!
S Ali
San Juan
Prague Post
Evolution in Prague. Well, this letter actually comes from Oregon, but it is in response to an article about evolution in the Prague Post. Such an article here in the U.S. would cause a cascade of diatribes about God and blasphemy. Sometimes, I read the foreign papers just to see how much they are laughing at us.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to see an article about human evolution (“Fossils are among oldest in Europe,” News, June 1-7) that states what scientists believe to be true in a straightforward, dispassionate manner. Back here in the States, we have our own set of “Neanderthals” who cannot accept science when it appears to conflict with their religion. While that is their right, unfortunately our current government owes them, and their sad rantings actually influence public policy, something I suspect the Czechs and other Europeans would consider absurd. As our esteemed President George W. Bush says: “The jury is still out on evolution.” Scientists looking for evidence that Neanderthals or other archaic humans still walk among us should look to Washington, D.C., as a good place to start their investigation.
Charles Merriweather Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.