Letters to the Editor
jebldmm
Published Letters: 933 Editor's Choice: 164
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I have to admit I thought it was sick
[Read the article: The breast of times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Then I read the article. This woman doens't sound like she has "issues". She sounds like a pretty typical guilt-ridden working parent who is worried about doing the best for her child. She has limitied the breast-feeding to a time when it won't interfere with other activities. The child is able to function when she isn't there. I don't know how they do long breastfeeding in other countries, but I wonder if it isn't similar - the older children feed less and less on the brest to make way for the younger ones. This is an interesting article, and it makes me think about how people live in other countries, and how harshley people can judge anybody who dares to do something a bit outside of the norm in ours. Relax, critics - I can't recall a singe mass-murderer who claims he did it because he was breastfed until he was 5.
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Could we have some perspective, please
[Read the article: Up against the wall]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The israelis are building a wall to keep terrorists out. That's it. They aren't rounding up Palestinians and turning them into slaves, or standing them in front of walls and shooting them, or killing them en masse in gas chambers. Using Nazi analogies is totally uncalled for. Yes, innocent Palestinians have died - so have innocent Israelis. But, unlike the Hamas terrorists, there is no evidence that Israel has actually targeted the innocents. I'm not trying to say that everything Israel has done was right, or that it's okay to kill innocents, but comparing them to Nazi's is beyond hyperbole - it is cruel, ignorant, and hateful.
I call on anybody who has a better idea than building a wall to step forward. The only limitation is that is has to be an idea that will allow Israel to continue to exist and not have it's citizens in contstant danger of dying at the hands of a terrorist every time they climb onto a bus or go dancing. This isn't a battle between the Palestinians and Israel. It's really a battle between the Arab nations and Israel, and the Palestianians are pawns of the Arab states. There will be no peace until the hatred fades or Israel ceases to exist. A wall is the best possible option at this point.
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He is a genius - like PT Barnum
[Read the article: Bush's brain found lacking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Rove adopted the theme "There is a sucker born every minute" and applied it as few have ever dared. Is he the brightest light ever to shine in the world of political stragegy? Not likely. But his sheer unscrupulousness and audacity certainly make him stand out as a player. He has turned the entire federal government into a machine designed to raise capital for the GOP, and the GOP into a machine designed to turn out votes for candidates espousing the most extreme ideas ever seen in the United State of America. Anybody who can get a candidate like bush elected - twice - in a mediocre economy has to be pretty smart. I'm sure that there are other men behind the scenese weilding as much power, but his job is all the harder because he is in a public position. Heck - just the way he plays the media is brilliant. He has managed to be a major player without being a major news item. He has reporters granting him his every desire for anonymity, even though his salary is paid by the public. He has people so scared that they won't even trash him anonymously. I don't like him, because I think that the way he does business is totally wrong, unethical, and dangerous to democracy - but I have to admire his ability to manipulate, lie, cheat, and possibly even steal elections. Democrats have been losing because we're playing against a stacked deck - and Rove stacked the deck. Let's not undersell him.
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This is about choice
[Read the article: Maine parents kidnap daughter to force abortion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is a perfect example of what happens when the idea gets around that women don't have the right to make choices about their own bodies. Those parents believed, based on what society has taught them, that they had a right to control the actions of their daughter. The laws they were basing their belief on were designed to keep young women from getting abortions by requiring parental involvement, but in this case, the parents took "parental involvement" to an extreme the writer's of the laws never intended. If this girl were 17 instead of 19, and the parents were stopping her from getting an abortion instead of demanding one, they would be heroes to the right, not criminals.
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Roe has to go
[Read the article: Alabama clinics face doctor shortage]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]These people have figured out that they can act with impunity under the umbrella of Roe. They can do whatever they want to restrict abortions, and the majority of pro-choice people will not oppose them, because of the perception that Roe V Wade is protecting a woman's right to have an abortion. Republicans can use Roe to rally their base, telling them about how they need right wing Supreme Court justices and extreme laws to overturn it, but they won't really overturn it - it's too useful to them.
And yes, I know that if Roe is overturned, many states will enact (or activate existing) laws to outlaw abortion. But what is the difference between not being able to get an abortion because it's illegal and not being able to get one in spite of the fact that it's technically legal? A right doesn't mean anything if you can't exercise it. At least people will honestly have to face up to the reality that they are telling women what to do with their bodies, instead of pretending that women have rights that they really don't have.