Winston-Salem Journal LTE SU 06/03/12

Popularity

Columnist John Hood got away with labeling Gov. Bev Perdue "the most unpopular governor in the nation" ("Is North Carolina back on track?" May 26). Whom did he poll? His Locke Foundation? Perhaps only himself?

Did he happen to count Scott Walker, the union-busting governor of Wisconsin, or Jan Brewer, the Mexican-abusing governor of Arizona?

Perdue could well be the most popular for championing public education, North Carolina industry and social justice, against outnumbering throwbacks.

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CYCLONE COVEY

Winston-Salem

An adult age

I read the May 17 guest column by Teresa Shirley, "A mother's appeal to Raise the Age." Another embarrassing strike about archaic North Carolina laws.

Sixteen- or 17-year-olds cannot vote, cannot join the military, cannot buy alcohol, cannot get married without parental consent. Yet they can be prosecuted as adults for minor infractions such as shoplifting, fighting on school grounds and other things that silly teenagers do while their bodies are reacting to raging hormones, peer pressure, etc.; the list goes on. They are arrested, handcuffed, booked and thrown into holding jail cells with seasoned criminals. What is wrong with this picture?

I know this issue is in subcommittees in our N.C. legislature. We should all write to our representatives and urge them to raise the adult prosecution law to 18 years of age. After all, an 18-year-old can join the military, vote in elections and get married without parental consent. By the way, when I turned 18, I could legally buy beer and wine in N.C.

I know there has to be an established "adult age." Make it 18 for non-felonious minor infractions.

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PATRICIA STOCKMEISTER

Winston-Salem

Bias and special treatment

I am glad to see the green-eyed monster of class envy is still alive in Jim Hightower's world ("The way the cookie crumbles ..." May 19). Imagine the nerve of the banks to go after big customers with special perks and not share them with the rest of us rabble.

Well, maybe we need to look into this bias and special treatment in the rest of our society. Neiman Marcus' Christmas catalog has too many exclusive things we can't afford; it must be banned. First-class air travel, forget about it. Multimillion-dollar homes, no way, Hollywood stars should live in doublewides like everybody else. Forty-five-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners with George Clooney and President Obama, outlawed unless the price is the same as a Quarter Pounder without cheese.

The election will be about class envy, but to all my friends who support President Obama because Romney is the rich guy, please remember President Obama is worth $10 million, and that will only grow after he leaves office. That is more money than 99.9 percent of the people who vote for him will ever earn in their lives.

If you don't have the material things you want; work for them. Nobody owes them to you, but then, no one has the right to stop you from earning them, either.

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KEN HOGLUND

Clemmons

Sum It Up

Should the government retry John Edwards?

Letters: Standing at Normandy

Standing at Normandy

I recently stood on the beaches of Normandy and listened as our guide recounted the stories of heroism on D-Day, June 6, 1944. I looked at pictures of the young men who stormed the beaches to begin the final march to victory over the darkest forces our world has ever known. Our guide told us of her grandfather, who emerged from the rubble of his home in the bombed-out city of Caen to greet the liberating forces with shouts of "It was worth it! We are free!"

Do we still remember what they did and the price they paid? Do we value liberty with the same passion to defend it at any cost, even to the death? I fear not, and it frightens me for our country's future.

This June 6 let's reflect on what these young heroes did on those beaches. Let's tell our children about it. Talk to a veteran about it and, more importantly, thank him. Gaze upon our flag and contemplate the price paid in Normandy so that it can still fly today. We must earn, every day, the liberty we have been given by those who gave their collective futures to ensure ours. In our own way we must oppose those who try to purchase our liberty with promises of easy choices and no need for sacrifice. We must value the gift we have been given so that we, too, can say it was worth it, for we are free!

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ROBERT ESLEECK