Letters for October 26, 2006

Heller is a Bush clone
Re “Elect Dean Heller” (Editorial, Oct. 12):

The person who wrote this editorial should be a Republican speech writer. The last two paragraphs make no sense at all. So, if we elect Jill Derby, a Democratic majority will screw the little guy? It seems to me the Republican Congress has been doing a pretty good job of that for the last six years. Boy oh boy, you should check your facts. Abuse of civil liberties—what do you think Bush is trying do with the prisoners at Guantanamo?

This is America, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I have got to tell you, your rationale for wanting to elect Dean Heller because of his moral compass is laughable. He is a Bush clone, pure and simple, and will rubber stamp anything Bush puts in front of him. Heller is especially beholden to Bush now that he came to Reno to stump and collect beaucoup bucks for Heller. The corporate power you speak of already have the Republican Party in their back pocket. So yeah, if you want the same old, same old, then vote for Dean Heller, a Bush clone.

Craig Pointes
Reno

Blame the victims
Re “Democrats at fault” (Letters, Oct. 12):

Joe Wilson nails it in his letter: “If pages were warned 11 years ago, why didn’t they correct the matter then?”

Mr. Wilson has, with astonishing pith, enlightened us all on how to do away with crimes against the young, the weak, the infirm and most other losers clogging up our courts and headlines. I hereby call on all citizens who think they have the potential to become victims of predators (sexual or otherwise) to take it upon themselves at this time to “correct the matter.”

Since reliance upon volunteerism involves some risk, I humbly propose a minimum fine of $500 be levied against any minor who, upon receipt of an unwanted sexual advance, does not with due haste “correct the matter.” I believe this measure would be accepted gladly by law enforcement, as it would certainly reduce future workloads by freeing up police officers to spend more time tracking down terrorists and jaywalkers. Plus, it just makes sense: Victims are more likely to be responsible members of society—I mean, we can’t expect the cretins out there to report their own abhorrent, aberrant behavior (see Rep. Foley, R-Florida).

Failure to “correct the matter” will result in the so-called innocent becoming a de facto scofflaw, subject to punitive action. I predict that, within months of these new regulations appearing on the books, pages and other vulnerable twerps will waste no time correcting matters as they crop up.

What makes this strategy doubly effective is the possibility that both perpetrator and victim could wind up in jail. ("Hey, young fella, are you caught up on the latest prison survival techniques?")

Brilliant, Joe! Like me, you’d make a great judge!

Brad Small
Reno

Statesmen govern
Re “First a jab, then a hook” (Right Hook, Oct. 5):

Finally, Mike Lafferty got something right. The conservatives (at least the pitiful group in power now) do rule … at least they want to rule. They don’t want to govern, and they certainly don’t want to serve. George Bush wasn’t kidding when he said things would be easier if this were a dictatorship and he was the dictator.

Lafferty complains about a decision to build an elementary school in what he imperially deems the wrong place. Why hasn’t he said anything about the Republican majority Congress OK-ing a $2.1 billion bus stop in the middle of Kansas where no buses ever stop? Apparently, only bad decisions made by others are really bad!

Less government encroachment? How more encroaching can something get than the PATRIOT Act or the new bill the House just passed that says it’s just hunky-dory if the government listens in on our private conversations without a warrant? The PATRIOT Act, for those who haven’t read it (and everyone should), gives one man the power to declare who is and isn’t an enemy, who can be arrested and detained indefinitely, without informing that person of charges against them, and that gives one man the power to have a “personal army” at his command to use as he sees fit.

Or what about the conservatives encroaching on our wallets by creating jobs for those 850,000 new government employees that we weren’t supporting 6 years ago?

Oh, by the way, speaking of bad decisions, how about the multi-million-dollar one giving a no-bid contract to Kellogg, Brown & Root (a Halliburton subsidiary) to build internment camps at out-of-the way locations across the country? And I wonder if Lafferty could tell us how many poorly placed new schools that $100,000 a minute we’re spending in Iraq every day for the last three years would build?

Lynda Allan
Reno

A weak defense
Re “Defender of Liberty” (Feature story, Oct. 12):

Jake Highton’s article on the glorious First Amendment is just as one-sided as the sins he complains about. For example, he depicts the New York Times as a cheerleader for the Iraq war, yet this paper and the Washington Post have consistently been a thorn in the side of the Bush administration.

Larry Parr
via e-mail