Do what they want
The writer of the letter "Justice Kagan" (Feb. 7) is out of line — but that's the rule for conservatives these days, rather than the exception.
"If this great nation is to remain a nation of laws for all people," he writes, "Elena Kagan should be impeached …" But wait — has she broken the law? Has she been convicted of a crime? No, the writer only has his belief that she has lied, though there's not a shred of evidence to support his imagination. He apparently doesn't even know what "a nation of laws" means — he's ready to punish her before she's even been tried.
I wonder if he would feel so strongly about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was also accused of lying to Congress — or U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who is alleged to have presided over cases in which he has a personal interest.
Of course not, though — they can do what they want — they're not "liberal."
MARK B. HOWARD
Winston-Salem
Making a choice
On this "birth control" discussion, more attention should be given to those who choose to use contraception. These are the people who will ultimately be affected by this issue, and Catholics are a part of this group.
A recent pole revealed that 98 percent of Catholic women say they have used or are using birth control. They choose to use it. Nobody in government forces them to. They clearly have chosen to reject the church's teaching on this particular subject.
I don't question the sincerity of the Catholic clergy, but there is no way they can show that they know the mind of God on this matter. Furthermore, the official Catholic position on various things has sometimes been proven wrong. (Remember Galileo?)
Now, the Catholic church has done many good things in the world, and it is not my intention to criticize. However, history has shown that the church is not always right on everything, and in our free country we are free to decide for ourselves what may or may not be God's intentions.
It will seem ironic to some conservatives, but when you rationally look at the facts, it is President Obama who is standing up for the personal liberty and religious freedom of all those who choose to use contraceptives, and for all of those who choose not to.
DAVID BARNES
Winston-Salem
Well-done
Last week I went to Washington to meet with some of North Carolina's members of Congress. I'm not a political guy. I run a construction business in Winston-Salem called Sharp Interiors.
I went to Washington to tell my story. Two years ago we almost went out of business because our community bank called our loan. A credit union stepped in, took the time to learn about my business, and made the loans I needed. Our revenue grew by 30 percent last year, and we still employ 70 people in North Carolina.
I wasn't alone — other business owners from North Carolina shared the same story. Credit unions provide important access to capital and help us sustain and create jobs.
Credit unions have money to lend, but soon many will hit a lending cap that will stop them from being able to help businesses. Congress can fix this problem, and it won't cost the taxpayers a dime. The only group that opposes this legislation is the banks — the folks that took TARP.
Our members of Congress don't want to choose between banks and credit unions. My 70 employees would like the choice to be for business. Leave the bickering to something important like human growth hormone in Major League Baseball.
Ben Franklin once stated, "Well-done beats well-said." It's time we stop talking about creating jobs and let's get to the business at hand.
JIM DOBBINS
Winston-Salem
Unsupported assertion
I may not like what people write in letters, but I am prepared to defend their right to do so.
However, at a time when ad hominem attack and defamation have displaced reason and civility in political discourse, the media needs to exercise a degree of discretion when considering letters that may be little other than unsupported assertion and partisan bias.
This seemed to be the basis of the Feb. 7 letter "Justice Kagan," regarding U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, which made sweeping accusations of perjury and lack of integrity without a shred of evidence.
Censorship is an ugly word and I am not suggesting it; but surely it is incumbent on a publisher, at a minimum, to check facts before disseminating what may be no more than misinformed gossip and rumor.
JOHN HARRISON
Winston-Salem
Acceptance
I read with great interest the Feb. 4 article "Same-sex ballot strategy forming" and what followers of approving the ban on same-sex
marriages believe.
One of those interviewed said, "We love the homosexual. We don't approve of the lifestyle.
I get very offended when all we hear in the media is that we are hate-filled and bigoted."
Yes, those who support the ban are in fact hate-filled and bigoted. They say they love the people the ballot will affect, but don't approve of their lifestyle — why is that their business to begin with?
Everyone needs to accept people for what they are. And for those who may be confused, the definition of a bigot from Webster's is as follows: "Intolerant person … somebody with strong opinions who refuses to accept different views."
I guess many really don't have any idea what they are, do they? Love and accept people for what they are — nothing more, nothing less.
DONALD WITTE
Advance
Well, it seems some themes will continue, like prayer, abortion, marriage, contraception etc. It looks like we are a nation in denial of our fiscal future. A change of subject may be the governing class's diversion from the past half century of "give away politics" to an unpleasant future of "take away politics". This change requires guts and leadership which are non existant. Maybe it will take events beyond our control to sober us up and realize that that which can not continue, will not.
ReplyDeleteYes. Let's punish people some more...that'll show em.
Deletehttp://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/clearly-its-time-for-more-austerity/
A thought occured to me about GM car sales and its low stock price and the ongoing orchestrated blather about contraception and who pays. What if GM included contraception inside the glove box of each car and made a customer's insurance pay for the car at the Government's insistance? Keep driving, keep f------, keep mandating. Good government all around.
ReplyDeleteBuy a Caddie, get a condom. I like it!
DeleteI'm not sure whitewall's post is quite that simplistic, dotnet.
DeleteI had pictured the glove box crammed full of condoms, not just one.
DeleteHank Williams once said that he bought a new Caddie convertible and drove it until the ashtray was full, then traded it in on a new one.
We could do the same...when the last condom is used, it's trade-in time.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1&4: Interesting contrast in responses to a TB rant. TB rants often result in return fire such as from Mr. Howard, but there is the occasional reasoned response such as from Mr. Harrison. Blanket statements regarding "liberals" or "conservatives" make me disregard anything the writer has to say because they reveal an inability to discern the strengths or weaknesses of the arguments other than they do not conform to the ideological purity of the writer. I have suggested some sort of fact check be included in the LTE section for those LTE's that include false info.
LTE 2:"A recent pole revealed" - say what? A "pole" may have enabled whomever was asking the questions to get over a wall to ask the questions, but the questions themselves make up a "poll". I personally do not understand why someone who's strongly opposed to abortion would also be opposed to a way to prevent the abortion from ever taking place, but I acknowledge there are some who feel parents should have as many children as biologically possible. The church/state question regarding providing contraceptives is a tricky one, but Obama's revised proposal seems to be a decent compromise.
LTE 3: I'm not familiar with the reasonoing behind the lending restriction, unless it's for some sort of safety factor, but raising this level at this time could aid in the recovery provided it doesn't place CU's in a position to default.
LTE 5: "Love the sinner, hate the sin" - AHHH, that drives me up the wall. It's "Love your neighbor". Period. The only sins to be concerned about are your own. Once you have completely rid yourself of sin, which is never going to happen, then you are free to "throw stones". That's the message of Jesus, not the LTSHTS distortion that so many use to justify their bigotry.
LTE #1 & #4 - We have here wasted space in a newspaper that is very tight on space to print two letters responding to a third letter that was written by a hysterical fool. As pointed out by WW above, any distraction in a storm.
ReplyDeleteLTE #2 - It is true that the Catholic church has done much good...our local Catholic social services is a fine example.
However, this birth control nonsense has done more harm than all the good combined. Birth control is never mentioned in the bible. It's just something that Catholic theologians cooked up on their own.
LTE #3 - It's always a pleasure to read an LTE written by a sane person who knows what he is talking about.
The banks have fought credit unions every step of the way, from their inception to now. The lending cap needs to go.
LTE #5 - Yet another convenient distraction from the real problems. And a monumental waste of time and money. Sooner or later the USSC will strike down all such laws, because they directly conflict with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
How does an insane person know if a person is sane or not? That's my question.
ReplyDelete