Letters to the Editors

Leave Policy Issues Out of Tragic Story
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The obviously accidental death of Louie, a 16-year-old dog who would not have still been in this world but for the loving care of his owners over many years, has become diverted onto totally unworthy issues.

Louie's death is sad for all who knew and loved him, but is not a legitimate matter of public interest. All credible evidence suggests that it resulted from nothing beyond an inadvertent lapse of communication of a kind we have all experienced. And the way Louie died has already inflicted the greatest pain and punishment, if any were needed, on those most deserving it: his owners, who had sustained him for over a decade. Their special grief is, and should have remained, a private matter.

Many of us who have known Robin Starr over the years have seen quite a different person from the one being vilified by bloggers who also claim to be animal lovers. We have seen a remarkably effective woman who inspired the efforts of many to build a benign, but drifting, SPCA into an organization that has not only ended euthanasia as a policy in Richmond but has become a remarkably effective pet shelter and adoption agency. We have seen someone who has taken a direct personal interest in the placement of animals with compatible owners, who has advocated and cajoled as well as admonished, who has grieved with owners after tragic accidents almost identical to the kind she and her family have suffered. Those who suggest otherwise simply do not know this woman.

There will always be internal policy differences in the animal-rights area, as in any area of public discourse. But it is hard to understand the use of this tragic accident and -- as Starr herself has noted -- object lesson for us all, as a platform for airing policy differences or personal grievances.

Let us grieve for Louie, a good dog, and leave the Starrs in peace to deal with their sadness.

Donald Irwin.
Richmond.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

article "Tech, Dominion Propose Carbon-Capture Project" revealed Dominion's outrageous plan to burn through $580 million in a demonstration of bad technology. This price tag demonstrates the staggering expense of giving fossil fuels a facelift.

Efficiency will save consumers money and create jobs in Virginia. The opportunity to do this is here and now -- and is sitting in the hands of the U.S. Senate. Enviroment Virginia urges Senators Warner and Webb to vote YES on the Clean Energy Bill so that tens of thousands of Virginians can get back to work repowering the commonwealth. Sarah Driscoll, Environment Virginia.


Richmond.

Why Can't We Read Obama's Thesis?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: In the editorial, "Thesis Ridiculous," you analyze Bob McDonnell's thesis and mention Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis. Why aren't we analyzing any of the college writings of President Barack Hussein Obama?

I forgot. They have not been released. I guess there is something sinister to hide. I forgot about the promised openness and transparency of this administration. Where is the outrage from the public and the press?

Max Maizels.
Richmond.

Reporter Zachary Reid writes that Obama was to speak about students "taking responsibility for their success in school. But that's not sitting well with some people." That part of his speech in fact probably sits well with everybody. It's the follow-up recommended by the government that infuriates people -- the part that called for children to ask themselves how they can help the president (not the country, but the president) and advised schools to make posters portraying sayings of Obama (Chairman Obama?). The intent of the speech was not to inspire students but, like every totalitarian government, to indoctrinate them in a cult of personality that advances the leader's political agenda.

Eugene Rodgers.
Midlothian.