Obama's incompetence
Those who missed it should go back and read the March 12 column "Obama vs. Israel: Priority No. 1? Stop Israel" by Charles Krauthammer. In addition to President Obama's terrible economic policies, he has now put this country on a path to World War III. Israel won't wait until after the November elections to hit Iran.
As Krauthammer points out, it is absolutely astounding to me that this president thinks he can change his message almost daily to fit any constituency, betting that they are so stupid as to forget what he has said or done previously.
Is there any way we can make a "citizen's arrest" on this president for such narcissistic incompetence?
PETER T. WILSON
Winston-Salem
Reason on birth control
What a crock. This latest kerfuffle over birth control — which those on the Right are dishonestly calling an issue of religious freedom, because that allows them to act like they're claiming the moral high ground — is a great example of hypocrisy.
What I haven't heard anyone say yet about this issue is that if these organizations — not churches, but organizations that serve and hire the general public — want to receive government money, they've got to obey government rules, including laws governing insurance and birth control. If they want to impose their own rules on their employees, they can always reject the money.
Not only that, but if insurance companies offer free birth control, no one with religious objections has to accept it. They have their religious freedom.
But as these objectors try to stop insurance companies from offering free birth control — or any birth control, actually — they're taking freedom away from those who would choose to use it. If they really believe in religious freedom, they're on the wrong side of the fence.
What really motivates them? Is it a desire to impose their will on other people, or is it simply another opportunity to work against a president they despise?
Once again President Obama has made a reasonable decision, meeting his opposition halfway, and, as usual, the Right has reacted in a hysterical fashion.
REBECCA MINOR
Winston-Salem
Imposing their views
Marriage does not need protection, and it is already dead. Observe the large number of single-parent families, the children born out of wedlock and the single-person households or cohabiting households. Will these facts change one iota if Amendment One passes? Will our married lives be any better if it passes? Those who are in terrible married relationships now will still be in terrible relationships if it passes. As Kinky Friedman said when running for office in Texas, "Gay people should have the same opportunity to be miserable as the rest of us."
People expect all the benefits, tax breaks and protections that our governments give to married couples, but none of those more than 1,000 provisions have anything to do with a religious marriage. All are for the benefit of a couple who have signed a contract to live together, or for the protection of the children. If a religious group does not want to marry a gay couple, it will never be required to do so.
Boston's Cardinal Richard Cushing, when discussing the removal of the ban on contraceptives in the 1960s, declared, "Catholics do not need the support of civil law to be faithful to their own religious convictions, and they do not seek to impose by law their moral views on others of society." Too many religious people forget that not everyone believes as they do, and they are trying to impose their religious views on others through state laws.
Vote no on Amendment One.
TAMMIE POLITYKA
Denton
An older liberal
In response to the letter "Seeing the forest" (March 21):
The Journal prints letters with both conservative and liberal views. As a 65-year-old, I prefer the liberal. So the statement about "middle-aged and older people who have more conservative views" doesn't apply to me, unless 65 isn't considered to be "older" anymore.
Hurray!
WANDA BIGELOW
Kernersville
For Motsinger
Of all the coverage of this year's upcoming election, the only campaign that really excites me is Elisabeth Motsinger's run for Congress. North Carolina couldn't ask for a better representative.
Elisabeth has the political experience that other Democratic candidates lack. Having been a member of the Winston Salem/Forsyth County School Board, she has a long record of effecting positive change.
As a North Carolinian, I have been waiting for years for a representative I could believe in — who actually represented me . That person is Elisabeth Motsinger. Get out on May 8 and vote Motsinger in the primary — then do the same in November!
ERIN CARMOLA
Winston-Salem
Can always count on Peter to crank the Obama-hate up to 11.
ReplyDeleteHmm, searching for Ltes about the budget, debt and deficit, hindrances to employment growth...searching...searching. By the weekend I'm betting we will be swamped with letters of outrage over the shooting of a Florida teenager. Anything but what the fall campaign will be all about.
ReplyDeletewhitewall: current events usually move from the news section to the opinion page within a few days from initial coverage. It's what gets people talking. I've had my say at the office cooler.
DeleteRegardless of circumstances, a young man is dead. The one who pulled the trigger is alive, but not going about his life as usual. A gun in one's hand doesn't protect one from present danger, in too many cases it protects us from what we perceive to be dangerous.
Off topic and some shameless campaigning: I've entered my puppy "Sancho" into WXII.COM's "Cutest Pet" contest. The contest ends April 2, that's next Tuesday, and to date Sancho has 140 views. I don't know how those numbers compare to others in the running, but there's no comparison to Sancho. Every view counts as a vote, so view often.
ReplyDeleteEven if I wasn't shamelessly campaigning, he's just too cute not to share anyway.
Little Sancho is cute
DeleteThanks, dotnet.
DeleteI need an office cooler. Heck, I need an office.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of work do you do?
DeleteI have my own office, and it is much cooler than it need to be. Feels like the ac is set to 60 in the building.
DeleteI was in real estate investment until the economy and my health caved in. I am now retired and just manage real estate I still own.
DeleteIt has been traditional among local leaders that when they "retire" they rent a small office and go there every day. Even if it is a stop-off most days before hitting the golf course, it keeps them in touch with what is going on in the community and keeps them involved in life.
DeleteI have a strong "hermit" urge...fortunately, I am forced to be out and about every day...I doubt if I would live very long if I wasn't.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: Mr. Wilson's monthly rant reminding us he hates Pres. Obama. Btw..preventing an Israeli attack on Iran that could quickly escalate out of control and drive oil and gas prices through the roof sounds like the prudent thing to do.
LTE 2: I never did understand why requiring health insurers to cover birth control is seen as the beginning of the downfall of western civilization by some.
LTE 3: I read yesterday that Rep. Tillis predicted the amendment will pass, but be overturned within a generation. I have very little doubt that gay marriage will be permitted across the country by mid-century. Amendment One is equivalent to forbidding mixed race marriages in the '50's. Just a matter of time.
LTE 4: Those who see a certain demographic as always having the same point of view need to get out more.
LTE 5: Endorsement.
LTE #1 - There are clearly many things that Mr. Wilson does not know. One of those things is that intelligence assessments have consistently said that the best that Israel could hope for in a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities is maybe delaying the program by six months. Why?
ReplyDelete1. Many of the facilities have been rebuilt, even deeper underground and using much stronger concrete, so that even the most powerful "bunker buster" bombs would have little or no effect.
2. Many brand new facilities have been built since UN nuclear inspections ceased in 2006. Neither the US nor Israel knows where most of those facilities are.
LTE #2 - The great irony is that the same people who get hysterical over abortion also get hysterical over birth control. Let's reduce access to contraceptives so that we can have more unwanted pregnancies so that we can have more abortions. As one of my Scottish friends says "These laddies are daft!"
LTE #3 - If passed, the amendment won't last a generation. I'd say five years at most...maybe less than a year. We're in the closing phase of the great right wing fascist uprising.
LTE #4 - Most of my "aged" friends are centrist in their politics, probably leaning a bit left. That is because we remain vitally involved in life and our community. Many of us live downtown where we are in daily contact with bright, energetic young people. And many, through community activity and volunteerism, are working more hours than we did when we were "working".
It is the ones who retire and sit home, glued to their TVs and computer keyboards, who become old and crabby and frightened...and yes, conservative.
Age is a state of mind, not body.