Feb. 26

The Feb. 26 article in the Herald, “Health care spending to nearly double,” has to be an eye-opener to anyone who is living under the illusion that universal health care can be a given for every American. Anyone who reads that article must recognize that Democrats, trumpeting universal health care, are parading nothing more than pie in the sky. If Medicare is unsustainable on its present course, how can we possibly afford universal health care? It just isn’t there to be had, folks. People who believe otherwise need a reality check. Democrats need to stop playing the role of demagogue with universal health care and work in a bipartisan way to preserve Medicare and Medicaid before both shortly go bankrupt.

 

I have to reply to the disgruntled “military spouse’s” letter of complaint about our city. I am glad she has never had to deal with the real world, but Sierra Vista is part of the real world. I am sure all of us who bought property here believe that this is a very nice place live. I have failed to find the “endless acres of trailer parks where there are constant drug deals going down, night after night of cops being called” and on and on as you stated. Yes, this is not a perfect city, because it is a city of people. Many fine people. Good, clean, drug-free people. Since most of the residents of Sierra Vista are just average Americans, we will have the same problems as any other city. Most of all, we are a city that is a military community. A fine military community. We do have a few who don’t like it here, which is normal in any assignment, but it is not anything like you state. I hope your PCS orders come soon. Most of us who live here can’t wait for the likes of you to leave here, either. Trust me.

 

I was reading the editorial today, “Don’t cut drug war funding”, where you are basically blaming the Bush administration for cutting the fund. I would like to remind you that it is Congress that does the funding for drug wars and so forth. The Congress can either cut or restore any of the drug war funding that it wishes to. Instead of bashing the Bush administration you should be talking to your congressmen and congresswoman about restoring that funding.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We don’t disagree that Congress plays a role in funding agencies. There is a difference in position between the Bush administration and Congress. The Bush administration has proposed ending the Byrnes Justice Assistance Grant altogether, while Congress made a two-thirds cut — from $520 million to $170 million — in the funding, and word is that some in Congress were arguing for more funding.

 

Everyone should look closely at Diana West’s commentary in today’s Herald, the closing comments in particular. By the time the extremists take over, it’s too late to do anything. It is the gradual creep, the silent change that matters most. She must think like Edmund Burke, noted English scholar and observer when George Washington was president. Burke said in 1795, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” That’s the trouble with us today. George Washington said in 1796, “If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which may prove the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is no good to us. Freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent, we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.” It’s time for Americans to pay attention to the gradual creep.

Again I see a caller questioning the validity of climate change. Yes, some places are having a hard winter, but each year the average temperature rises and more ice melts. We are seeing a tremendous reduction in glaciers and the melting permafrost. As permafrost melts methane is released which will greatly accelerate global warming. As ocean temperatures rise we see more and stronger hurricanes. According to recent scientific studies, we experience 100,000-year weather cycles. At this point in the cycle we should be cooling. The fact that we are warming shows the extent of human impact on climate change. Also, look at the fact that the energy industry is the largest source of information that contradicts the climate change. They do not want to see their enormous profits reduced by a movement to clean up the environment and therefore reduce global warming. We have a small window of opportunity to reduce the effects of global warming. We must make a commitment to leave a cleaner world for future generations.

 

Feb. 27

I see that Nader is running for president again. Please ignore this man. At age 74 he would be the oldest man ever elected even if he could find a way to win. I can see the attraction to some voters. He claims to represent the anti-politician. He’s the ultimate outsider, but what he doesn’t say is that he has absolutely no chance of winning. In 2000 he siphoned enough votes from the Democrats to give us eight disastrous years of the Bush/Cheney administration. He took 92,000 votes in Florida that would have changed the entire election. The man is a crackpot who deserves to be ignored. Please don’t send him contributions and don’t vote for him.

 

Why do some in this town who work in doctors’ offices act like twits when addressing senior citizens over the phone? I may be retired, but I’m not retarded. Get it? Doctors, these people represent you. Do these people reflect your attitude toward us? If so, you can be replaced like a flat tire.

 

To the caller in today’s OYM who talks about the usual mantra of the Democrats, Hillary and Barack, how about the usual mantra of Huckabee and McCain? It’s all just politics. A mantra is a mantra. And, by the way, the Republican regime for the past two terms has really gotten us a long way.

The person who submitted the OYM inferring the Bush administration lied when it announced it had administered waterboarding only three times should provide proof it actually did lie. Otherwise the OYM offers only conjecture, not to mention, a gross unproven accusation. The OYM stated torture never works, inferring waterboarding doesn’t work. Another conjecture. Tell that to our military pilots and special operations troops who have undergone waterboarding in their training. Tell that to the three high level captured al-Qaida terrorists to whom it was administered. The OYM also inferred that the administration lied when it announced that many American lives were saved from the intelligence obtained from these three terrorists. The OYM offers no proof. The OYM precludes any possibility of using waterboarding as a last resort, even if it could be the only way to gain crucial intelligence to prevent a massive terrorist attack that could kill many Americans (perhaps including even the OYM writer, spouse, and children). Unlikely, the OYM implies. Sadly, the OYM leaves the impression that 9/11 never happened — at least for the person who submitted it. Putting politics aside. To deny a commander-in-chief, Democrat or Republican, the option of using waterboarding as a last resort intelligence-gathering tool can be disastrous for our nation in a time of war.

 

What a surprise it was to read The Herald would not publish a letter from the Fort Huachuca school employees until you investigated and a report was published in the Herald. I did not know letters that have been signed and sent to the editor had to be investigated before being published. Is this your normal practice? The Herald not knowing what is going on has nothing to do with publishing a letter to the editor. But even if that is something you have to do, why did you publish Trudy Berry’s letter before the investigation was finished? That was unfair. Were you playing favorites? In my opinion, you should have published the school employees letter before you published Berry’s reply to the letter. Trudy Berry has not done a good job since day one.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We have investigated circumstances from letters to the editor before they were published. In fact, a couple haven’t been published because of this. Second, we were allowing Berry, the Cochise County school superintendent, to respond to an On Your Mind comment that had run earlier that week. It was not our intention to slight other letter writers.

Mr. Vega, Mozart did not compose a single symphony. Beethoven composed nine. Even when funny stories come out they should be correct and a bit educational.

EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the mozartproject.org, Mozart composed more than 50 symphonies or symphonic movements.

 

I see where the president of Venezuela wants all of the people to “say it in Spanish and be proud.” What do all the illegals and some legals in the U.S. think about “say it in English and be proud”?