Why Isn’t Israel Supporting U.S. Policy?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Rep. Eric Cantor recently declared to Politico.com that he did not think President Barack Obama was a true friend of Israel. He cited the administration’s “disproportionate focus” on halting the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

It is plain to see that a reform in health care is necessary. More and more people are losing their jobs and, in turn, losing their health benefits. Having to decide if something is serious enough to go to the doctor should not have to be an issue.

Variables Make Savings Unlikely
Editor, Times-Dispatch: One of the most regrettable assumptions made in the squabble over health care arises out of the apparent naIveté about the full spectrum of ill health causation in our world. Far too many critics of our present health care reform proposals presume that if people would change their life style, illness and premature death would mostly disappear.

Schools Program Benefited Communities
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I was pleased to see mention of the Julius Rosenwald Schools in the recent obituary for Christine Waller. The Rosenwald Rural School Building Program, as it was officially known, was truly remarkable in its scope and impact. By 1928, one in every five rural schools for black students in the South was a Rosenwald school.

Can a Businessman Know Earth Systems?
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the news story, “Electric Co-op Leader ‘Sees Through the Glass Clearly’”: Jack Reasor doesn’t see through the glass clearly about the overstressed Earth systems that support his many activities. Note his education: bachelor of arts, law degree. And his experience: law firms, banking, electric supplier.

Afghan People Need Coalition Support
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I am in total agreement with Howard Bartholf [“Win This War or Get Out Now”]. As the father of two sons overseas, one on a combat outpost on the Afghan-Pakistani border, and the other helping to keep the peace in Iraq, I am very concerned that they and their fellow soldiers are not being supported in their mission by this country’s leadership.

I would like to take a quick moment to address the article, “Chesterfield to Monitor Teacher Development.“ As a one-time substitute teacher in inner-city, Title I and non-Title I schools in Missouri and Virginia, I have had the wonderful opportunity to proudly stand in the front lines with our educators.

News about a team coming to The Diamond constitutes an unusual double play: Connecticut 1, “Connecticut” 0. As one Connecticut team takes the field at The Diamond another is caught in a run-down. Unless, in the unlikelihood, the new team takes on a name linked to Native Americans, Paul de Pasquale’s statue of a Native American, “Connecticut,“ will have to take a walk. At a minimum it has two strikes against it, and is destined to be struck out and become a bench-warmer.

No Vietnam Redux With Afghanistan
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Donald Nuechterlein’s Op/Ed column, “It’s Looking Like Vietnam Redux” discussed the supposed dilemma facing President Barack Obama in Afghanistan and how this “resembles one that President Johnson faced on Vietnam in 1965: How high should U.S. troop strength be increased while holding in check public and congressional opposition to the war?“

Slave-like Labor: Just Another Factoid
Editor, Times-Dispatch: In his letter, “Cuba’s BioTech Is World Renowned,“ Correspondent of the Day Tim Loughran takes Commentary columnist Robin Beres to task for “irrelevant historical factoids and cob-webbed Cold War rhetoric” regarding Cuba. His charge: “Cuba and the US are tied for 37th place among all nations for life expectancy, the universal cross border measure of health care quality around the world.“

As Judeo-Christians, We Must Care for Sick
Editor, Times-Dispatch: I attended the Public Square discussion on health care and found it educational in many ways, but unsatisfying in others. It is true that there was no shouting, and we did get a bit of additional information about the health care issues. However, I was disappointed that I was not able to ask my question—and that there was no conversation about the moral and ethical aspects of our health care system.

Paul Greenberg’s Op/Ed column, “Obama’s Playing Appeasement,“ claims that the recent decision by the Obama administration not to deploy a missile defense system in Eastern Europe is analogous to the appeasement of the 1930s. Greenberg has either forgotten history or failed to learn it in the first place.

Studies Have Found Climate Bill Will Work
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The Op/Ed column, “Climate Change Bill Will Crush Recovery for Small Businesses,“ by Karen Kerrigan asserts that the clean energy climate bill before Congress “may harm the economic recovery that millions of entrepreneurs are counting on to help their firms not only survive but grow.“

Sept. 26 through Oct. 3, 2009, is Banned Books Week and this year’s list of banned and challenged books says more about the librarians placing these books on the shelves of school and public libraries than it does about those challenging the selections. More than half the books on the list are challenged because they contain graphic depictions of a full range of sexual activity; dialogue filled with profanity, racial epithets, and demeaning language; excessive violence; and the representation as morally neutral activities that in many world cultures are recognized as wrong.

We Can All Pay For One Another
Editor, Times-Dispatch: To partially explain his opposition to the health care bill HR 3200, Correspondent of the Day Charlie Crowder [“Single-Payer Option Is the Sticking Point”], wrote his full calculation showing how it will take an individual 31,000 years of nonstop work to pay for the $1 trillion price tag.