Letters for January 29, 2009

Find friends in agreement
Re “Obama, you owe me” (Letters to the editor, Jan. 15):

All people are different. We are individuals. You have coined yourself as, “Great Unwashed Liberal Masses.” (By the way, what does unwashed imply?)

Your letter is scored with vitriolic quips that I’m sure you consider witty. Do you not see that with this far left viewpoint that you are Limbaugh and Hannity? You are on the opposite side, yes, but you put out your political views in the same manner as them. They spew their rhetoric, just as you did!

If you could for a moment step back and consider this:

If everyone who you consider to be right wing or Republican was exiled to the moon, would the world be better? It might make you feel better for a while, I’m sure, but what would happen is the remaining group would find their differences and splinter into a new right and left. If you repeated the process over and over, the same thing would happen till it came down to two people, you and your mother perhaps, and even then, you would still have your differences. All people are different. We, you, need to learn to accept all points of view for what they are, just someone else’s point of view. Let’s not start a civil war. We are all Americans and for the majority of us, our ideals are not that far apart.

Obama is all about ending this divisiveness you are perpetuating. I did not vote for Obama due to his foreign policy opinions, but I am fortunate in that I feel very good about this president. It really was the first time I felt I was not voting for the lesser of two evils. Please try to find the good, and you may gain your friends back and have a better Christmas in ‘09. But, then, I am one of those, as you so eloquently put it, “hopelessly dumbed-down Fox News’ brain-dead audience,” so what do I know? I have been voting since ‘76, I watch Fox news and O’Reilly, and I consider myself a secular progressive agnostic.

Richard Evans
Sparks

What a guy
Re “Guy Rocha: Off the Records” (Feature story, Jan. 15):

Another good in-depth piece by Dennis Myers on Guy Rocha, the man behind the records of the Silver State’s history. Most state officials, probably every reporter, and many Nevada taxpayers have benefited from the warehousing of documents that are our history. As a former reporter, I was the recipient of more than one phone call from Guy reminding me to check my facts before going with a story. Unfortunately, institutional memory belongs to not only “institutions” like the State Library and Archives, but in the “memory” of individuals like Guy Rocha who have helped us not to overlook our past. Guy’s service will be missed. Hopefully, his legacy will not.

Pat Hickey
former Nevada Assemblyman,

1996-1998

Makes ya think
Just an observation. Chief Justice Roberts was nominated by Bush and conducted the last act to be carried out by an official placed in office by the Bush administration. Roberts’ stumble at the inauguration was typical of the entire eight years of the Bush administration. Roberts came forth believing he was fully prepared to carry out his task, he was so confident believing he knew his role that he didn’t bring any notes. When he stumbled, he didn’t realize he had stumbled until informed of his error and was lost until rescued by a Democrat.

Dewey Quong
Reno

Take the money, Jim
Re “Some more taxes” (Editorial, Jan. 22):

While the Reno News & Review’s editorial speaks about “legalizing the growth and sale of cannabis (marijuana),” one important point must be mentioned: Except for those who profit, nearly every person who uses cannabis would prefer to acquire it from regulated sources but all will purchase it in the black market if necessary. It’s just a matter of who consumers give their money to. Right now consumers are ready, willing and eager to give it to regulated sources along with its share of taxes to government. If government doesn’t want it, the money is changing hands either way.

Stan White
Dillon, Colo.

Marriage is no right
Re “Choose your illusion” (Feature story, Dec. 31):

R.V. Scheide’s comments on homosexuality in the Dec. 31 issue need comment. First, while of course everyone has civil rights, it does not follow that homosexuals have a civil right to have their “marriages” recognized. Rights like freedom of speech and religion were put into the Constitution by the people. It’s not the same thing when judges legislate from the bench and create new “rights” out of whole cloth.

Also, if their “marriages” are recognized, it will probably cost the taxpayers money. In that case, it’s absurd to say that these unions are not the public’s business.

But most important, 5,000 years of human experience have shown that the two-parent family is the best way to preserve and continue civilization. We also know that kids without fathers are several times as likely as kids with fathers to run away, drop out of school, do drugs, and commit crimes. There’s probably not enough data yet to know what will happen to kids adopted by homosexuals, but what reason is there for thinking that it will be any better?

Bill Hamma
Reno

Goodbye, W.
Mr. President,

Nice speech, too bad your entire eight years can be summed up in a remark you made during your first campaign: “He can kiss my ass.” That appears to be the only underlying principle you have. Like Nixon, however, perhaps you can make amends. The following report is about children who are being tortured … in this country! How much of this is due to your administration’s contempt for civil liberties? (I know, you have a million excuses and evasions.)

It’s called, “State policies concerning the use of seclusion timeout in schools,” and it was published in Education & Treatment of Children on Nov. 1, 2007 and written by Joseph B. Ryan, Reece L. Peterson, and Michael Rozalski

Are you up to the task? Or do you still believe the only reason the people of this country and the rest of the world exist is to kiss the asses of rich and powerful people—just like the far left wing.

Bob Bennett
Reno

Correction
Re “Craft work” (Arts&Culture, Jan. 22):In this story, we incorrectly identified handbag designer Pamela Robinson’s website. The correct website is uniquehandbags.etsy.com. We regret the error.