Letters To The Editor
Professor Obama Has Hoodwinked Us All
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Maxine Fitzgerald's letter to the editor, "Obama University Gets Failing Grades," cited the role the academic community has played and the background responsible for the emergence of two very controversial subjects:
- The constant and over-the-top exposure of the president by the media;
- His unprecedented appointments of czars.
There is little the average citizen can do about the media except to cancel subscriptions and turn the dial to off. Regarding the czars, we should be able to reach our congressmen and senators about our anger at their allowing the president to usurp their powers and come between them and their president.
We no longer have three divisions of government but instead have a president, his handpicked henchmen, and his all-powerful czars. We are being hoodwinked so skillfully we don't even recognize it. What will it take to wake us up? When I was younger than the 89 I approach in less than two months, I not only would have known what to do, but I would have had the energy and the old friends left to call upon for assistance in this mammoth task. Frankly, I feel helpless and discouraged. My children and grandchildren deserve better.
Victor Davis Hanson's original Op/Ed column, "Obama Must Think He Heads University of America," had it so right: "Many of the former Professor Obama's problems so far hinge on his administration's inability to judge public opinion, its own self-righteous sense of self, its non-stop sermonizing, and its suspicion of sincere dissent."
Jean Dickinson.
Richmond.
Gibbs Should Apply Morals Here at Home
Editor, Times-Dispatch: How synchronistic that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had two opportunities to righteously decry fraudulence in the past several weeks.
First, regarding the unacceptable behavior of ACORN employees offering advice on how to cheat the IRS in the recently publicized video, Gibbs said: "The administration takes accountability extremely seriously."
Second, in response to the U.N.-backed fraud investigation into Afghanistan's August election, Gibbs said: "It's going to be incredibly important for the world to see that Afghan leaders are willing to make this process legitimate." As an independent voter who tries desperately to connect the dots among many issues, I am hoping that Gibbs applies his new moral compass here at home and connects the dots between Afghani voter fraud and U.S. voter fraud facilitated by ACORN.
When the U.N. investigators wrap up their job overseas, perhaps we should invite them over here to do the same intensive work. That would be taxpayer money well worth spending.
Cecilia Thomas.
Mechanicsville.
Plant Upgrade Isn't As Easy as Chu Thinks
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding Correspondent of the Day Terri Cuthriell's letter, "Can a Businessman Know Earth Systems?": Wishing does not make it so, and comments by politicians require elaboration to be meaningful. The comment by Energy Secretary Steven Chu that upgrading existing plants could be more cost-effective than building new ones is not self-explanatory.
Upgrading an existing power plant would include replacing motors, fans, mills, and pumps with more efficient units, and possibly increasing the output of the boiler, turbine, and generator. At best, these changes would increase the output of a plant on an order of magnitude of 5 percent.
Working against this increase would be the requirement to add pollution control equipment to bring the plant up to modern specifications -- and this equipment requires some of the plant output for its operation. Therefore, all of the increase in output would not be available.
It is nice to think and talk green, but the base load provided by coal, gas, oil, and nuclear cannot be served by solar, wind, or other widely discussed green alternatives.
Brad Peaseley.
Richmond.
If Cuba's So Great, Why Do People Flee?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the letter, "Cubans Live Better Than We Do":
I have never heard of a single person trying to swim or take a leaky boat to Cuba to escape from an oppressive American regime.
James Hemingway.
Richmond.
How Come the Governor Gets to Moonlight?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Has anyone noticed the hypocrisy of candidate for lieutenant governor Jody Wagner's campaign ads that blast Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for having two jobs? Has she forgotten that our esteemed governor, Tim Kaine also has two jobs?
Suzanne Murray.
Mechanicsville.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
Dear thetruth, you can’t handle yourself. While I “seek the answer” you should seek some help.
Dear R,
I agree with you on the need for the US to supplement another policy tact to the embargo…but let’s be realistic, the current administration is unable to come up with a policy tact in another more serious issue, the war in Afghanistan…How do we expect them to come up with a better policy tact with the embargo? well, maybe if some special interest groups linked to the current administration will profit somehow from lifting the embargo…maybe they will give priority to the embargo over the Afganistan war…??
I do think it’s a difficult balance as you point out: Cuba will not improve as long as the embargo is in place, but likewise, it will not improve as long as the regime is in place and unfortunately, they’ve both been in place for some time.
I would argue that we at least have the power to lift the embargo, which would create a baseline of economic activity and give non-governmental organizations leverage in Cuba. The wealth will still be far from the populace, benefiting private corporations (this is inherent in competitive US trade relations), but unless the US intends to supplement another policy tact to the embargo, I don’t think there is any continued benefit to the Cuban people in maintaining it. Without it, I think we can create an economic situation that lends influence to other groups outside of the regime and this could lead to reforms.
Posted by R on October 28, 2009 at 11:50 am
Granted, the embargo is not the only source of deprivation, but are you opposed to ending the embargo? Why wouldn’t we benefit from bolstering the Cuban middle-class with trade? Doesn’t opportunity force a point between the people and their government?
You asked/I answer:
VMArgarita: When it comes to the issue of the embargo I am caught in the middle. One part of me feels that the embargo should be lifted so that the regime can not blame the US for the suffering of the Cuban people but, the embargo does not prohibits the US from selling foods to Cuba. Most U.S. exports to Cuba are agricultural products, which are permitted under an exemption to the embargo. Among the many restrictions of the embargo, it is against free-trade between private companies in the US doing business with Cuba and also it restricts tourism from US to Cuba, because all this $$$ spent by the tourists goes to the regime not the people…
The other part of me does not think lifting the embargo will help the Cuban people just the US companies doing business with the regime and the regime.
The Cuban people already know that the US embargo is not the problem… they know is the Regime…
Granted, the embargo is not the only source of deprivation, but are you opposed to ending the embargo? Why wouldn’t we benefit from bolstering the Cuban middle-class with trade? Doesn’t opportunity force a point between the people and their government?
Posted by R on October 28, 2009 at 10:33 am
We should normalize trade and give the Cubans access to the largest supply market in the hemisphere.
DEAR R. CUBA PURCHASES AND RECEIVES SUPPLIES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. THE CUBAN REGIME CHOOSES TO RESTRICT MEDICATION AND FOOD TO THE MASSES SO THAT PEOPLE CAN BE KEPT OPPRESSED. THE MEDICATION AND FOOD PURCHASED BY THE REGIME IS GIVEN TO THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR FAMILY AND FOR THE TOURIST….
THE EMBARGO IS NOT THE REASON THE CUBAN PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING….DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?
Virginia Margarita-
A Cuban-American…W/THE FACTS…
I advise you learn the facts…
We should normalize trade and give the Cubans access to the largest supply market in the hemisphere.
Times-Dispatch: Regarding the letter, “Cubans Live Better Than We Do”:
Here’s another recent posting from Yoani Sánchez (for more search her name + generation y to find her blog)
August 25th, 2009
Speculation grows about the possible disappearance of the food rationing system. Amid fear and hope, some assure us that by the beginning of 2010 the quota for salt and sugar will already be past history and that the liberalization of these as well as other foods is upon us. Those who are frightened by this possibility can’t imagine a life without the benefit from the State, without the crutch of subsidization. I myself was born written into a ration book where every gram of what I had to put in my mouth was written. Had I grown up with only what was regulated, I would have a body more rickety than I now exhibit. Fortunately, life has a greater number of options than the grids where, every month, the shopkeeper marks the minimal rations we get.
A simple calculation leads me to believe that if the 66 million pounds of rice they distribute every month, through the ration, were available to the free market, prices in the latter would go down. You could then decide if in place of the repetitive cereal you would buy potatoes or vegetables and no one would exclaim, “I will take everything they give me home, before I’d leave it in the shop.” In addition, there wouldn’t be the feeling that they are giving us something, and especially the sense of guilt that keeps us from protesting or criticizing those who guarantee these tiny portions. The ration market should remain for those who are suffer a physical or psychological impediment or who are unemployed. In short, it must go to those who need social security to survive.
Although the idea seems simple to say, the bottleneck of its implementation is that wages continue to be adjusted for the subsidized food from the “book” and don’t relate to free prices. To say to a Cuban family that starting tomorrow they would not get the limited quantities and doubtful quality they receive from the ration store, would be to saw off the branch they’re standing on. The birdseed, in addition to being restricted, is difficult to eliminate because you can only get rid of it once you open the doors of the cage. Thus, the news that we are actually waiting for is not the end of rationing, but rather the cessation of the economic handicap that obligates us to him, the expiration of a paternalistic relationship that keeps us like pigeons, dependent and… hungry.
RE: Times-Dispatch: Regarding the letter, “Cubans Live Better Than We Do”:
The following info was written by someone that lives in Cuba and is able get her word out to Americans. Her name is Yoani Sánchez.
I search, without success, for a bottle of detergent to wash the glasses smeared with grease and fingerprints, which don’t yield to water and the dishcloth. Looking for the soapy liquid, I have walked part of Havana today, as the television announcers call on us to strengthen our hygiene before the advance of H1N1. The alert occasioned by the epidemic, however, has not caused the shops to lower the price of cleaning products, not even the cost of simple soap which is the equivalent of the wages for a full day’s work. Instead, the opposite has happened. The collapse in imports has been most notable in those that are used to bathe and disinfect.
The voice of the announcer calls on us to wash our hands often, use handkerchiefs when we sneeze and maintain good personal hygiene, but the reality forces us into filth. We lack face masks, running water in many houses, the simple possession of vitamin C to strengthen the organism, and cleanliness in public places. Thus, the so-called “swine flu” has fertile ground to reproduce. While it advances through our neighborhoods, the official media maintain their reserve and don’t mention the closed schools, the quarantined sites and the full hospitals.
This illusion of paradise is killing us. This wanting it to appear that we live better and that our statistics put us at the world average, cannot manage to hide the fragility of our society in the face of an epidemic that requires material resources in the hands of citizens. If soaping the body and having a bit of alcohol to sterilize the hands become luxuries, how can we stop the pandemic that is already upon us? If the September ration of soap never even reached the rationed market, how is it possible that on TV they call for hygiene without referring to the material resources to accomplish it. Is it that they haven’t noticed before that we are sinking into the dirt? They have to face the ravages of conjunctivitis, diarrhea, and the viruses to figure out that sanitation is not only a white coat and a stethoscope, but starts in the streets, with collecting the garbage, with showers in the houses and with a mother who cannot wash the plate her child will eat off.
“Kool-Aid”....what a childish out-of-date piece of slang. Then there is use of “dude”, as in “hey, dude”. Some kid trying to stay so in adulthood.
But, as long as forever living in a mental adolescence world makes one happy, silly little things.
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement