Letters for January 7, 2010

Letter of the week
Be honest about draft

Re “The decade in reverse” by R.V. Scheide (SN&R Feature, December 31):

I wish to take issue with R.V. Scheide’s assertion that a draft would have prevented George W. Bush from going to war in Iraq. I think that on this point the question of a draft is irrelevant.

We had a draft at the time of the Gulf of Tonkin “Incident,” but that did not prevent Lyndon Johnson from escalating the war in Vietnam. On the contrary, it simply enabled the government to rapidly increase the size of our military forces. As long as a war is popular, as both the Vietnam and Iraq wars initially were, you will never have the public opposition that Mr. Scheide thinks would have stopped the war, draft or no draft. This is true even if the wars had no real justification.

I have a further problem with the kind of thinking exhibited in his article and in the opinions expressed by some left-of-center war opponents such as U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and professor Noam Chomsky. Both support a draft. They are in effect saying “This war is wrong and should not be fought, but you had better do what I think is wrong, or else.” This logic makes no sense unless they hope to create civil disturbances.

The only people who have any business promoting a draft are those who honestly think that the war is justified and that a draft is necessary to accomplish the mission.

Wayne Luney
Sacramento

Decade of medical cannabis

Re “The decade in reverse” by R.V. Scheide (SN&R Feature, December 31):

Interesting format, to write about the decade in reverse.

At any rate, it seems the medical cannabis movement has made the most newsworthy and popular strides. Perhaps Americans are waking up to the failed drug wars and this is a step out and away from them. The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws; we need to rethink how we’re operating in the drug war. Currently, we are not doing a good job.

Scott Goodman
via e-mail

But it ends in zero!

Re “The decade in reverse” by R.V. Scheide (SN&R Feature, December 31):

I am disappointed in you. “The decade in reverse?” Has anyone clued you into the fact that the decade isn’t over yet?

2000 was not the beginning of the new century, nor of this decade. That honor belongs to 2001. That being said, 2010 is the last year of this decade. In other words, it isn’t over yet! We’ve got one more year, people!

Emilie Voelzow
via e-mail

He’s soooo objective

Re “Tilting at windbags” by Kevin Uhrich (SN&R Frontlines, December 31):

Why is it that people continue to try and place Christians in a box? Just because a person is not a believer in Christ doesn’t mean we cannot share similar ideals in other areas. I am a Christian first, but very much an American patriot second. The beauty of America is that people can have different opinions but still find an accord. It is those of the “tolerant” left that continue to place people in these boxes and draw battle lines between them.

I can trumpet Thomas Paine one minute and Martin Luther King Jr. the next. Guess what? That’s OK. I don’t have to support everything a person believes to agree with something they say or believe.

You should try and read a little bit more about the Founding Fathers and what they stood for. Not everything they did was ideal; however, the beauty of their genius was that they knew they didn’t know everything. They knew the needs of the people of this country would change with the times. George Washington in his will left a large portion of his estate to his servants and slaves. Ben Franklin spoke about a time when slaves didn’t exist. So why must you take shots at Paine’s “white peers”? Everyone in the world who had power owned slaves at that time—everyone!

We all have our shortcomings. We need to look past that and find an accord that is best for all. What can’t you see past some of the differences you have with [Glenn] Beck and others of his ilk and listen to some of their ideas? You might agree with some. I am sure you don’t agree with everything Jon Stewart [says], but you stand by him, and why? Because it is trendy to bash people without yourself having any logical or patriotic bone in your body.

Try being what the media was intended for: Be objective. Maybe then the print media will find a renaissance in their business.

Jacob Cullers
Galt

No cheese, please!

Re “Cheese heaven” by Kel Munger (SN&R Food Stuff, December 31):

In the beginning Western peoples’ culture, while women likely still mainly were satisfied eating plants they either foraged or agriculturally raised themselves, it is men who insisted on brutally hunting and killing animals (or perhaps even other human beings) for food, perhaps under the mistaken myth that they were going stay healthy by eating bloody flesh. In spite of having [the] flat teeth and long colons of beings intended [as] vegans, human men continued to expand their sickened ideas in their food by drinking the milk of other animals as a “comfort food,” because it psychologically made them think of going back to their infancy. Worse yet, in his ignorance, Western man decided to let his milk lay around to ferment and rot, and therefore grow dangerous bacteria that could possibly poison and kill him. People in the Western world continued to ruin their health, along with clogging up their arteries, with their food.

Meanwhile, Eastern cultures, who lived off mainly green vegetables for nutrients, tended to long outlive those whom ate animal products. Even today, people who switch from eating animal products to a vegan diet find their health significantly improved, along with expressing [that] their “allergies” or “asthma” disappeared without the dairy products coating their throats and other breathing passageways.

So even with countries like Italy being known for their cheese, opera singers worldwide still won’t eat it.

Michelle Kunert
Sacramento

Hope they stick around

Re “Staying power” by Jeffrey Ewing and Noel Neuburger (SN&R Feature, December 24):

The feature on local people who have done long-term work to better our community is very well done. These people, each in his/her own way, have made a difference in our community. In spite of opposition, sometimes very heated, they have adhered to their principles, made themselves heard and actually did make a difference in our society. We need many more such courageous folk in our communities.

Hank Kocol
Roseville