Letters to the Editor
Portlander
Published Letters: 303 Editor's Choice: 13
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Ironcrat
[Read the article: Holy Constitution!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been doing my part for my entire life. I've been sent to jail by this great country for my religious and political beliefs, and I have no intention of submitting to that risk again. I haven't bailed yet, and I have no plans to do so, but I should have left in 1969 before I got sent to jail. At my age and with my wife just 4 weeks dead, I simply no longer have the energy for the fight.
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judyinnm
[Read the article: Holy Constitution!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Creative internet use. It's not unfair just unexpected.
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Garry Owen
[Read the article: John McCain works his military magic in South Carolina]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was raised as a pacifist, and I remain one today. In 1969, I refused to serve when drafted, but I was denied CO status because my pacifism was not based on religion - I was also raised as an atheist. I spent 10 months in maximum security prison until the Supremem Court ruled that CO status could not be dependent upon religion. I have no idea what real combat is like, but I do know that waiting in the dark knowing that the enemy is coming (Aryan Brotherhood in my case)can be monumentally terrifying. I have 7 knife wound scars and 37 cigarette burn scars - my private combat.
All of that said, I was also taught that war is not a military problem in terms of deciding to go to war but, rather, a civilian leadership problem. The average soldier simply is not consulted in the decision to go to war. So, I volunteer at the Portland VA Medical Center. There are many very dedicated people working there, but we are creating injured soldiers at too rapid a pace to keep up. The lack of money is appalling. Simple things like latex/synthetic gloves, saline flushes, even Tylenol are in very short supply. How can we send our people to fight and then not take care of them when they are injured? I do not understand this.
I respect your service even though I cannot and will not serve myself. I'm not sure why I even posted here, except that many of us, even far lefties like me, respect and honor the soldiers who have accepted the call even when the call was criminal.
Best regards
DZ
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Wow
[Read the article: McCain: Clinton would "surrender" in Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First, John McCain was not a war hero. He was heroic in captivity, but as a pilot, he was a run of the mill napalmer of villages full of civilians. War criminal, yes, war hero, no. If left to McCain, we would still be napalming villages in Viet Nam today.
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Exercising Control
[Read the article: Minding our health]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Five weeks ago today, my wife of 30 years died from ovarian cancer. She was Stage 4 at diagnosis, but she made it almost 3 years. After the initial horribleness and the final horribleness, she had about 27 months of pretty good life. We are hard core believers in the medical model, and there are Toyotas out there that are more spiritual than she was, but she found a way to cope mentally with the cancer.
She tried to exercise maximum control over her life. Even before she got sick, she was a fashionista, but, after she got out of the hospital and got strong enough to move around, she dressed to the nines every single day. She said that it was a choice that she could exercise so she did. She came on all my business trips, so we traveled to Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Paris, Milan and places in the U.S. even though traveling was hard on her. Even though she was in constant pain, she kept reducing her pain meds so she could be as mentally sharp as possible. We got married again.
We received tremendous support from family and friends, and the whole thing brought us closer than we ever had been, and our marriage had been great before. The day before she died she told me that the previous 2 1/2 years had been the best years of her life in spite of the cancer. I had to agree. Now, however, I can barely get from day to day.
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AncientAssyrian
[Read the article: Minding our health]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for your post. It was much appreciated. Yes, I am hurting big time right now. I do have an excellent support network of family and friends, and I will do better as time passes. Right now, however, life is impossibly lonely even when people are here with me. Rambling around my empty house where everything reminds me of her is a minute by minute exercise in trying to maintain control.
I also have a very intense, high pressure job which helps distract me for a good part of each day. We were both very successful, so I have lots of money, lots of stuff, lots of memories but no wife. I would have given it all up for just a little more time with my wife.
Sorry for wearing my heart on my sleeve in a public forum.
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BenSen
[Read the article: Minding our health]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thank you for that. Thank you so much for that. Made me laugh and cry at the same time, a combination that I feel certain you have experienced.
Best regards
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Russ Allbery
[Read the article: The C.S. Lewis take on Gates and Wal-Mart]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]John D. Rockefeller, Sr, the one who generated the fortune, was a bigoted, nasty piece of garbage. He gave nothing to anyone. His son, John D, Jr was the philanthropist.
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raj
[Read the article: Republicans make Fox News sick]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Are you the same raj who used to post regularly at IntellectualCapital.com?