Letters for July 31, 2003

War isn’t over
The Bush Administration knowingly misled the nation into war. Ten thousand innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed. The Iraqi environment has been contaminated with depleted uranium and unexploded cluster bombs.

The Administration rained down an unprovoked blitz of more than 14,000 Tomahawk missiles, at a cost of $1 million each, on a country the size of California—one of the poorest per capita countries in the world and with a population that’s 50 percent children.

The administration ignored international law; the voices of 40 Nobel Peace prize winners; the pleas of heads of all the world’s main religions; the leaders of 90 percent of the planet’s countries; tens of millions of world citizens who marched against the war; the United Nations and a roster of prominent international environmental and humanitarian organizations that predicted the quagmire that the United States faces today. The administration bragged, “It’ll be a cakewalk.”

The Administration has bankrupted the U.S. treasury, hijacked the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Bill of Rights and the government “of, for and by the people,” while consolidating the “free press” necessary to democracy under control of a few corporations. The Administration is the ground zero of corruption. It must go.

Suzanne Nonamee
San Francisco

Bush to change economy
Bush economists say the economy is slowly improving, and we will have a healthy economy in a few years—during Bush’s second term if we continue his economic policies.

One simple way to tell if the economy is improving or declining is in your pocket change.

Take out all your quarters from your pocket change. Count the number of “state quarters” each week. If you see more of them, then the economy is in decline. If they aren’t there, then the economy is improving.

People collect state quarters, me included. I do it because they are unusual. When the economy is bad, people like me will spend them, since we see no point in keeping them in a jar. When the economy is good, then we can afford to save them.

Recently, despite what the Bush economists are saying, I am seeing and spending a lot of state quarters.

Dewey Quong
Reno

Vote out the Supreme Court
Re: “Here come the lawsuits” [RN&R Editorial, July 17]:

The Nevada Supreme Court has failed to listen to the will of the people, and we all should rid ourselves of those who insist on allowing political pressure to be the rule of the land.

Those who side with those who would rob us of our freedom have raped Nevada of free will once again. I hope that this outrageous behavior would cause us to band together and toss them out of the robes that they have disgraced. Our so-called governor should follow right behind them, so we send a message that we have had enough of political games.

Those we elect need to understand the reason that they are in office in the first place: to serve the will of the people, not to rule those who have entrusted them to serve with dedication and to protect our laws. How dare the Supreme Court undermine the will of the people? It is time to rid ourselves of those parasites who dare to feed on power for self-gratification rather than justice. Those of you who fail to vote have allowed this behavior to become the norm, as we the many are ruled by the few. Continue to ignore this behavior, and you will soon lose the lifestyle you live in Nevada. Tax and waste will continue to grow, as will regulations that will control your life and that of your children. Personal freedom can’t survive if you are not willing to stand up and demand that our elected officials protect our rights rather than remove them.

Phil Hurbace
via e-mail

Patriot Act isn’t patriotic
The Patriot Act was rushed through a panicked Congress at a time of crisis. It is a 342-page document that could not have been digested by any congressman in the short period of time they were given to vote on it. Since its passage, the mainstream media has given it scant attention, but the truth is, the Patriot Act poses drastic changes to the traditional structure of America. It is a dramatic affront to the Bill of Rights, which is the document that provides for the freedoms that Americans have come to take for granted. As if the Patriot Act were not bitter enough, a stronger version, the Patriot Act II, has been drafted and awaits presentation to Congress.

America is at a crossroads. It could well be that the idea of freedom and justice for all is an idea that has passed its prime.

Taylor Mirich
Reno