Letters To The Editor

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007

Editor, The Observer:
In October 2004, a well-established British medical journal, The Lancet, published a study claiming that nearly 100,000 civilians had died in Iraq since the invasion began. Researchers undertook a national survey of Iraq to estimate mortality rates before the invasion and then after the invasion. Research results showed that, after the invasion in early 2003, the leading cause of death for Iraqi civilians was military violence. The military in Iraq is primarily the armed forces of the United States and it bears the
responsibility for these deaths. The Lancet results have been widely accepted throughout Europe.
There have been no other surveys done in Iraq to measure an up-to-date civilian death toll; the U.S. military has so little regard for Iraqi life that it keeps no count. Without a doubt, at this date there have been more than 100,000 civilians killed in Iraq.
At the time of its publication, the Lancet figure was already low for two reasons. First, in order not to skew the survey, the researchers erred on the conservative side. They omitted areas of major combat operations, like Fallujah and Najaf, eliminating thousands of deaths. Second, the baseline for the survey [to which new figures are compared] was the last two years of the sanctions, when the death rate was already much higher than normal.
One would have to double the Lancet’s initial figure to even approach an accurate estimate of the post-invasion civilian toll. The Bush administration has a great deal of blood on its hands.
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
If the voters in this country think that our political representatives' indulgence on the issue of immigration indicates that they give a darn about security or our ability as individuals to provide a decent lifestyle for our families, let them think again.
We are being made to think that illegal immigration is a real concern and that it is a cause for concern because the job market is being diluted due to the influx of cheap labor.
This is the biggest bunch of crud and is just the new divisive issue being introduced to have us going at each other’s throats. Can you say, "Divide and conquer?”
And even as we despair over our jobs going to the Mexicans, the corporate aficionados of these very politicians are busy exporting our jobs in search of slave level salaries overseas.
But nothing so far has surpassed the news out of Colorado where harsh laws were recently passed to restrict the employment of undocumented workers. The new laws, seemingly, have caused the disappearance of agricultural laborers in Colorado and so there is no one left to reap the produce of the Colorado farmers.
Without hesitation, the state officials have offered the service of their incarcerated citizens who now will provide an even better deal for the growers. Prisoners will now do the job for a mere 30 cents a day.
It seems slavery is back and the new slaves will be garnered from the almost limitless supply of prison inmates around the country. What a deal!
This is shameless and exploitive and, at this present time, very American! We need another Wilberforce.
Colin T. Bent
Tulsa

Editor, The Observer:
Last Sunday on the CBS News Program, Face The Nation, there was an extraordinary moment. Much discussion was devoted to Bush's war, the numerous strategies that have failed, and if the Iraqi government can ever actually function so we can leave. Bob Schieffer interviewed one guest, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ. Sen. Kyl still supports Bush's war and although all of the claims used to justify starting it proved false, still considers it a good idea.
He was speaking on the need for our troops to stay in Iraq and keep the war going. To help make his argument, Sen. Kyl quoted Gen. Colin Powell. That was an interesting choice. As George W. Bush was beating the drums of war, anxious to become "the war president" as he later labeled himself, Colin Powell was his Secretary of State. As a
highly decorated combat veteran, and former Chairman of The Joint Chiefs, this four-star general knew about war. He was the lone voice of reason in Bush's cabinet and understood "war is not an option, it's what you do when there are no other options." However, the Commander in Chief, knew nothing about combat, waging war, military strategies and the consequences of committing our nation on that path.  Further, Colin Powell realized that our president was a man of simple thoughts.
So the one member of Bush's cabinet that didn't think Bush had such a hot idea, spoke against it, turned out to be the individual Sen. Kyl chose to quote in trying to sell America on continuing Bush's war indefinitely.  According to Sen. Kyl, Secretary Powell told George W. Bush, "If you buy it, you own it." That's pure fiction. It's not what Colin Powell said. Sen. Kyl undoubtedly knew that, but made that false claim nonetheless.
What actually was said is quite different. Gen. Powell was trying to help the president understand what the consequences would be if he launched his pre-emptive war. He knew he had to try to explain it in very simple terms that could be understood by his boss, so he
explained that an invasion of Iraq would be like the Pottery Barn policy... "If you break it, you own it."
There is no doubt that Bush's policies have broken Iraq. It's a mess. It's a disaster on all fronts from non-working sewage systems, lack of drinkable water, non-functioning electricity, security, civil war, suicide bombers, a dysfunctional government, death squads, militias, waste, corruption, roadside bombings, beheadings, ethnic cleansing,
and more. Iraq is a vast pit filled with about every describable nightmare one can imagine, and they're all attributable to the incompetence of "the war president" trying to figure out a way to play his grand game. We broke it, all right.
The top-tier Republican presidential candidates all want us to stay in Iraq indefinitely. Other elected Republicans are still trying to convince America that this is a good war and we should keep it going. They must be getting desperate if they have to quote the one member of Bush's team that knew better, that spoke against it, and then intentionally alter what he said.  By know you would think that Republicans would have come to the realization that continuing to intentionally mislead America isn't working anymore. But I guess Sen. Kyl didn't get the memo.
Kenny Belford
Tulsa, OK

Editor, The Observer:
I love Mother Teresa, the late “Saint of the Gutters” who was a great teaching missionary to the sick, the dying, beggars and street children in Calcutta, India.
In her secret letters, revealed in a new book, “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” she details her doubts and struggles with her faith.
Her faith struggles and doubts give me hope because I, also, struggle with doubts about God and heaven.
In spite of her doubts, Mother Teresa continued to long for God and love people.
So, too, does my preacher, the Rev. Randy Mitchell, of the First United Methodist Church of Wagoner.
“Some days I struggle to maintain a façade of faith,” says Mitchell.
“Through these moments I choose to believe God has more than I have experienced. God is working all around me even when I wear blinders because God loves me and desires a relationship with me.”
Amen, preacher, amen.
I live by Mother Teresa’s philosophy which she imparted to Muskogee teacher Cindy Ball, “The reason for my success is found in my five fingers. At the end of the day, if I can look at these five fingers and feel good about myself then I have spent my day well and worth living.”
So, warts and all, I consider Mother Teresa worthy of sainthood. Remember Saint Peter denied Jesus three times and Saint Thomas had doubts, too.
Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner
Wagoner, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Documents of the Defense Intelligence Agency have recently been discovered which prove beyond a doubt that, contrary to the Geneva Conventions [1979 protocol, Article 54], the U.S. government intentionally used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country's water supply after the Gulf War. The United States knew the cost that civilian Iraqis, mostly children, would pay, and it went ahead anyway.
The primary document spells out how sanctions will prevent Iraq from supplying clean water to its citizens. The document notes that “unless the water is purified with chlorine, epidemics of such diseases as cholera, hepatitis, and typhoid could occur." The document further notes that the importation of chlorine "has been embargoed" by sanctions. "Recent reports indicate the chlorine supply is critically low."
For more than 10 years, the United States has deliberately pursued a policy of destroying the water treatment system of Iraq, knowing full well the cost in Iraqi lives. The United Nations has estimated that more than 500,000 Iraqi children have died as a result of sanctions, and that 5,000 Iraqi children continue to die every month for this reason.
No one can say that the United States didn't know what it was doing. It should hang its head in shame.
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
On Wednesday, September 26th, testifying before a congressional committee, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey gave a sobering assessment of the state of our Army. He said, "The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply." He didn't state that as a possibility. He stated it as a fact. That simply means we're at the
end of the trail on having enough troops to keep Bush's surge plan in operation. It's simple math and the numbers just aren't there. Gen. Casey also issued a warning that should be sobering to all of us. He added, "The Army might have difficulty providing the necessary forces for other potential contingencies."
George W. Bush has already stated that he intends to keep his surge going through the remainder of his term and hand off the problem to someone else to fix. Consider the fact that the president has no useful military experience or credentials and Gen. Casey clearly
has a grasp on troop levels available. Since they're at opposites on the feasibility of Bush's plan, one is right and the other wrong. The general's warning about any other potential threats and our inability to meet them, undeniably indicates that continuing Bush's plan for a war with no end is making America more vulnerable and significantly
less safe.
As we approach the presidential elections the comparisons couldn't be more stark. Every single top tier Republican candidate has repeatedly stated they will continue Bush's war. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. They all want the Iraq war to keep going. Every single Democrat has repeatedly stated they will end the war. No ifs, ands, buts or maybes. They all have said they will end it.
This presidential election rises above political parties. It's a simple choice. If you want to keep Bush's war going indefinitely, then you should vote for a Republican. If you want to keep spending $2 billion a week on Bush's war, while cutting funding for our own social programs and infrastructure, then you should vote for a Republican. If you think it's a good idea for America to be more vulnerable in a dangerous world, then you should vote for a Republican. Every single one of the top Republican candidates is committed to that path and their positions have been publicly stated repeatedly.
On the other side, if you think continuing a war that was started from false claims makes no sense, then you should vote for a Democrat. If you think saving $2 billion a week and spending that money on Americans, restoring the budget cuts to programs that benefit
Americans is a wiser move, then you should vote for a Democrat. If you think it's a fool's policy to intentionally make America more vulnerable and less safe in order to keep Bush's needless war going indefinitely, then you should vote for a Democrat. Every single one of the Democrat candidates is committed to ending Bush's war and their positions have been publicly stated repeatedly.
There is a third possibility, however. If you've kept yourself intentionally uninformed, and intend to remain that way, you'll probably vote for the Republican candidate. They're counting on you to stay clueless or they won't have a chance.
Kenny Belford
Tulsa, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Conservative state House leaders want merit pay for trophy teachers, pets of the principal, and robots who teach to the test.
If these Republican hot dogs do this foolish thing, then they should also sponsor merit pay for rightwing legislators who pass these tests:
1. Attend church Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday night.
2. Treat editorials in the Tulsa World, the Oklahoman and the Wall Street Journal as orders from on high.
3. Say nothing good about the enemies, the state of Texas, “Hot for Hillary,” and “Don’t Tell Mama I Voted for Obama.”
4. Never miss a vote for big money and big business.
5. Bash at least a dozen lawyers and lock the small fry out of the courthouse with tort reform.
6. Follow the commands of “The Godfather,” Rush Limbaugh, and his clones, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.
7. Attend all home football games of the Sooners and be paged over the public address.
8. Never go out without an American flag pin in your lapel or on your blouse.
9. Never miss a party given by lobbyists.
10. Never be caught cheating on your spouse or girl friend or boy friend.
11. Never be spotted drinking anything stronger than Budweiser.
12. Never be recorded by the FBI asking “The Prince of Darkness,” former state Sen. Gene Stipe, how to treat the rich and poor just the same.
Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner
Wagoner, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Buyers beware. The farm bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives is dangerous to your health. It includes a provision that may, literally, make you sick to your stomach.
The provision certainly increases your risk of contracting food-borne illness from contaminated meat or poultry because it ends the requirement that meat or poultry cannot be sold across state lines unless a federal inspector, sworn to protect public health, has determined the product is safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. Forty years of uniform federal safety standards are thrown out in favor of allowing meat and poultry
inspected by state governments to be sold anywhere in the U.S. or abroad.
A 2006 Office of Inspector General audit, rife with stomach-churning details of filthy state-inspected plants, reports that when USDA found state programs didn't meet federal standards, the state did not shut them down. Eighty percent of all federally inspected plants will be eligible to escape uniform mandatory federal inspection in favor of oversight by their home state. Thousands of meat packers will be free to shop around for the friendliest inspection and free to switch back and forth between federal and state inspection every few years.
The farm bill should be marked the same way USDA designates bad meat – “Inspected and Rejected."
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
Given a choice, our “Dumb Okies” in Congress always vote to give “Big Bucks Tobacco” and “Big Bucks Insurance” The gold mine and we, poor working stiffs, get the shaft.
Take expanding government-funded health care for children with a tax hike on cigarettes. Both houses of Congress approved it but our lovable rogues in Congress voted “No, thank you!” because the bill was opposed by tobacco and insurance companies.
Muskogee Rep. Dan Boren said the tax would place an “undue burden” on poor folks.
Pish posh. Horsefeathers. Hogwash.
The “undue burden” would come in less profits for “Big Tobacco” and “Big Insurance.” The Senate voted to raise the 39-cent-per-pack tax to $1. The House voted a raise to 84 cents per pack.
Every rise in the cost of cigarettes produces less smoking and that means less lung cancer, less emphysema, less heart disease and less complications in pregnancy.
Tobacco’s biggest critic, our late, great Rep. Mike Synar, must be spinning in his grave.
Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner
Wagoner, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Do you remember George Bush saying Iraq would be a long war? I do. And now I know why. There is a book entitled "Corporate Warriors" by P.W. Singer. In it he details that the so-called contractors we've been hearing about are actually mercenary corporate private armies. After the war was on its way, G. Bush and company made 10-year contracts with these corporations. They get paid cash in advance, and this will get you, if the war does not last 10 years, they get paid THREE TIMES the remainder in cash as penalty.
This is exactly in character with G. Bush. Remember, he turned his back on you for the corporations in prescription drugs; he turned his back on you in the outsourcing of American jobs for the corporations; one third of the jobs in America now pay less than $11.11 an hour; he turned his back on you for the corporations in over 400 pieces of past legislation on clean air and clean water; and on and on.
The 28% that still approve of G. Bush are either the large corporates or 28% of Americans that need to wake up. G. Bush doesn't care about you or our treasury.
Jim Stodola
Corinth, TX

Editor, The Observer:
Karl Rove’s plans for future neo-con dominance are safe and secure – in the hands of Democrats unwilling or incapable of challenging his dirtiest deeds. Elected to end a lunatic war, the Democratic Congress has prolonged it, earning approval ratings even lower than those of George W. Bush. The Democrats have also signed off on the GOP’s all-out assault on the Constitution, meekly certifying a “unitary executive” with totalitarian demands for a blanket suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detention, official torture and more.
Once again voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves – why vote for Democrats who won’t challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?
That question must now be asked again about the illegal destruction of 1.5 million ballots from Ohio’s stolen 2004 election which includes the wrongful disposal of these federally-protected records by 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties. By all rights, the staff and election boards of all the 56 counties should be subject to investigation and possible federal and state felony charges. The Democratic Party is making no movement in that direction.
Unless the Democrats confront this horrendous war and stop the obliteration of the American Constitution, including the stolen 2004 election in Ohio, they’ll give voters little reason to bother coming out for them in 2008.
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
The role of Vice President Dick Cheney has evolved: In the middle of the loop to way outside the loop. P-l-e-a-s-e.
The lonesome dove – hawk in this case – has never been a “Happy Hunter” of votes; i.e. a natural politician with firm handshakes for big ‘uns and tender kisses for little ‘uns.
In one of the least populated states in the nation where everyone is acquainted, “Sure, I know that Sheepherder,” Cheney usually won by a 2-1 margin.
Cheney didn’t like or need to schmooze with big-givers – so, he didn’t.
Thus, the Lonely Hawk was always removed from the political process started by Machiavelli – and the people. Cheney just is not a people-person; thus, he was a “fur piece” from the sensors which tell the mood of the times – never had his ‘ear to the ground.’
This situation, almost like a TV sit-com, deepened when Cheney became vice president. He was in the loop, but it was the very definition of a “loop” – closed.
Cheney didn’t need the analytical skills and judgment of his staff – only information. The VP would make the decisions.
So, the Lonely Hawk remains on the outside – unwanted and useless in solving the nation’s mess.
Why don’t the voters of 2007 try something different than a RWM [rich white male]?
Cecil Acuff
Perkins, OK

Editor, The Observer:
According to a recent survey of 804 Iowa likely caucus-goers conducted for the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], likely Iowa caucus-goers express a strong desire to elect a president who will do more to protect civil liberties and the Constitution.
Iowa caucus-goers want the next president to:
1. End torture: 94% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans;
2. Define "enemy combatant:" 88% of Democrats, 59% of Republicans;
3. Restore habeas corpus: 88% of Democrats, 42% of Republicans;
4. End warrantless wiretapping: 84% of Democrats, 46% of Republicans;
5. Close Guantanamo: 80% of Democrats, 33% of Republicans.
One wonders what kind of people those Republicans are when 58% of them don’t want habeas corpus restored, 54% don’t want to end warrantless wiretapping, and 63% don’t want to close Guantanamo?
This is frightening.
Frank P. Belcastro  
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
Courage is connected with taking risks. Jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorbike, coming over Niagara Falls in a barrel, walking on a tightrope between the towers of New York’s World Trade Center, or crossing the ocean in a rowboat are called courageous acts because people risk their lives by doing these things. But none of these daredevil acts comes from the center of our being. They all come from the desire to test our physical limits and to become famous and popular.
Spiritual courage is something completely different. It is following the deepest desires of our hearts at the risk of losing fame and popularity. It asks of us the willingness to lose our temporal lives in order to gain eternal life.
Allison Lynn Weaver

Editor, The Observer:
In an act of indifference to the health of humans, the EPA took power plants off the list of sources of toxic pollutants. A resolution challenging the EPA’s cutback of Clean Air Act requirements to reduce mercury emissions failed in the Senate because six Senate Democrats voted to retain the Bush mercury rule. For such action, these six should be replaced.
This cutback leaves an estimated one in six women at risk of passing mercury poisoning on to their newborn children. Despite the Senate vote against the resolution, many states continue to lead the way with plans to crack down on mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants.
Frank P. Belcastro  
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
Free help by a military service organization is a phone call away for Veterans of all America's wars. Service Reps [representatives] inform Vets of procedures to file a claim for benefits with the Veterans Administration [VA]. They order records, explain the process and help the vet with paperwork to apply for compensation for disabilities related to their service.
To find a rep, vets should check the Yellow pages for “Veterans and Military Organizations" listed in their area. Veterans do NOT have to belong to an organization to request free help.
Veterans who served in Vietnam in 1962 thru 1975 should enroll in the Agent Orange registry. There may be residual effects of the herbicide spray. Vietnam Vets may be entitled to benefits and should check with a Rep for information. A long list of diseases, including prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes, have been identified as a result of the exposure to Agent Orange.
Military Service Organization Reps – vets themselves – realize the importance of informing, honoring and supporting our veterans.
Nadine Jewell
Norman, OK

Editor, The Observer:
On July 26, Lt. Col. Stephen E. Abraham testified on Capitol Hill that the Bush Administration’s legal system at Guantanamo – used to determine which detainees should be held indefinitely as enemy combatants – relied on shaky evidence and pressured officers to rush hundreds of hearings. You do not have to be a lawyer to see Guantanamo for what it is: An evasion of U.S. and international law.
No wonder Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said trials at Guantanamo would lack legitimacy in the eyes of the world and former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he would close Guantanamo “not tomorrow, but this afternoon.”
Make no mistake: We must track down, prosecute and punish terrorists. But we must never forget we are a nation of laws. This makes us strong, not weak. The Bush Administration’s failed legal experiment at Guantanamo hurts the United States around the world every day as it does its prisoners and their families. The time has come to close it down.
Frank P. Belcastro  
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
Only China can halt the Darfur genocide now. Yet, ordinarily, the Chinese dictators are impervious to international human rights condemnation. Look, for example, at how they continue to brutalize Tibet, the Uighurs, the Falun Gong and trade unionists in their own country. But the Beijing Olympics next year provide us with a crucial pressure point, where we can inflict real pain on the Chinese Communist Party. They are desperate for their post-Tianenmen coming-out party to go without a hitch. But unless China stops the flow of petrodollars to the Sudanese government that is committing genocide, Save Darfur campaigners are determined to brand the games the Genocide Olympics.
The U.S boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; isn’t a genocide even worse? Shouldn’t we and all countries be refusing to turn up unless China changes its support for race-slaughter?
Frank P. Belcastro  
Dubuque, IA

JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2007

Editor, The Observer:
Today brought forth some really good news for all of us. We can all put our minds at ease on one issue that affects each and every one of us, at least those of us that are still eating solid food.
The issue of the poison in pet food on our store's shelves was thoroughly investigated and traced back to its origin in China. Our government has a new, firm, unwavering policy of not checking the safety or accuracy of labeled ingredients of items coming out of Red China. We just trust 'em! That's the plan. Only a few days later it was revealed that the same poison that was killing our pets was also being used here at home in feed for animals we eat. It also came from Red China, uninspected, but we just trust 'em.
Now I know many of you quite possibly have an opinion on that subject. There are probably a number of you that, given a choice, would prefer to not have toxins being fed to farm animals we're likely to consume. There are also probably a few radicals that actually think the Food and Drug Administration should go back to the archaic concept of making a little effort to keep our food and pharmaceuticals safe for us. You've just got to come to enlightenment on this subject. After six consecutive years of budget cuts to the FDA, they've come to the clear understanding that the "honor system" works best. We can just trust Red China to do what's right. We can just trust big business to do what's right. It seemed to work so well with Enron.
However, the Bush administration realized that some of you radical types that don't want rat droppings in your Wheaties, prefer to nurture your pets rather than poison them, and don't want toxins in food you're planning to eat are becoming vocal on this subject, so they needed to do something, and do it quick. We're not going to require Red China to remove the toxic fillers. Nope that's not gonna happen. We're not gonna actually inspect imported food – well, maybe we'll do a token inspection of 1%, but that's all. There's a better solution, one that doesn't actually require companies to follow the federal regulations about food safety. It was such a simple solution, the Bush administration already implemented it.
The Bush administration found a "scientist" working for them to announce today that farm animals that have been fed contaminated industrial chemicals aren't any risk to us. That's great news. We can now consume contaminated industrial chemicals with complete peace of mind. We all know how much trust we can place with statements from those Bush folks. The Agriculture Department joined with the Food and Drug Administration in announcing their joint recommendation that contaminated animals may now be slaughtered and enter our food supply.
Is this a great country or what?
Kenny Belford
Tulsa

Editor, The Observer:
The U.S. is far removed from 9/11, the sympathy of the world soon after that tragedy, Mission Accomplished on the aircraft carrier, and applause of the nation.
Vanity Fair [August, 2007] features David Halberstam’s "The History Boys" ­headlined, "In the twilight of his presidency, George W. Bush and his inner circle have been feeding the press with historical parallels: Bush is as Harry S. Truman – unpopular, besieged, yet ultimately to be vindicated.
Halberstam says, Bush's "history" is based on wishful thinking, arrogance, and a total disdain for the facts.”
Truman inherited, and was forced into, the Korean war of 1950 when the Chinese authorized North Korea to cross the 38th parallel to attack South Korea. The talented Gen. Douglas McArthur did not accept Truman's "limited war," arguing for a larger one with China.
Truman, though not a college graduate, was well read in history – he quoted Napoleon, "I beat them in every battle, but it does not get me anywhere."
Truman fired McArthur, which led to the "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away" speech before Congress.
Halberstam: "It was the President, not the military or the public, who wanted the Iraq war ... the key operative in all this was V-P Cheney, supremely arrogant, skilled, the toughest guy of all, but eventually revealed as a man who knew nothing of the country he wanted to invade, and what that invasion might provoke."
Halberstam says, "Our military superiority, neutralized by political vulnerabilities, has open borders; we operate on marginal military intelligence. The adversary knows our location exactly, we do not know their's. Their weaponry fits an asymmetrical war – they have the capacity to blend with the daily flow of Iraqi life, we cannot."
"President Bush lives in 1945; the Allies defeated the Axis – a world where other nations admire America, or damned well should, and America is always right, on the side of good, in a world of evil – just a matter of getting the rest of the world to understand this."
"The non-western world does not think of the West as a citadel of pacifism and generosity, fighting the forces of history in Iraq; religious, cultural, social, and political, created over centuries of conflict and oppressive rule."
A sad note: David Halberstam died in a California car crash, April 2007. He authored some 20 books, wrote in several magazines. The History Boys was his last dispatch.
Cecil Acuff
Perkins, OK

Editor, The Observer:
According to a news report, the percentage of Americans living in poverty has reached a 32-year high. While millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line, the gulf between the rich and the poor continues to widen.
An analysis of the 2005 census found that about 16 million Americans were living in deep or severe poverty. The indication is that although production has increased, wages and job growth has lagged behind.
Under this Republican administration, corporate profits and income have increased, while income for the working families has fallen for five straight years.
This White House has continually told us how good our economy is, but as usual this appears to be another falsehood.
The Financial Times editorial states, "To the rich the purpose of money is to make as much as you can so you can live with ever-escalating degrees of extravagance."
It has also been reported that this administration has reversed a seven-year-old agreement that will now allow Mexican trucks to travel anywhere into the country. With sub-standard maintained trucks and low paid drivers, it is anticipated that more highway accidents could take the lives of Americans. With minimal inspections, one has to wonder how much illegal drugs and how many illegal immigrants will be transported into our country.
In any case, this is certainly not going to help create jobs, nor will it provide assistance for the poor in this country
G.M. Kesselring
Van Buren, AR

Editor, The Observer:
It is somewhat dazzling when a perspective view is taken. The media is only one example. From Walter Cronkite, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Gorgeous George wrasslin', locally Cy Tuma, Kookla, Fran and Ollie, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Captain Midnight and a million others.
Now we have Katie Couric, the nightly Police Blotter and everything once private is now public: sex, beliefs, passive acceptance of "talk television" with a junior high format and subject matter consistent with tabloids and poop-a-rotsy.
The worst of it is resulting attitudes. When a question is asked, likely as not, the response is "Whatever" and automatons chirping "Have A Nice Day." Ask someone how they are doing and invariably they say "Great" as eyes stare back from an empty space.
Denial is the operative condition. Work is something that someone else does. Life sentences are not for Life. National officials found guilty have their sentences commuted by "Dubya." The Republican Congress spent us into unprecedented national debt while lowering taxes on the wealthy and perhaps most shamefully Democrats have become Republican-lite. And all the "think tank" geniuses didn't tell Bush that culture is more powerful than war.
A dose of reality therapy is unheard of, it might even "unhinge" the "have a nice day crowd." Today there are excuses for everything and everyone: ADD, ADHD, ­not rude childish behavior that needs a summary motivator to straighten up. It is as if some citizens are on "outpatient" status from the hospital for the terminally lied to or the ward of the over-promised and never-earned. But most of all, I love the role reversal.
Role reversal is self-evident. I remember going to … [department stores in] downtown Tulsa. The clerks were well dressed, knew their stock and focused on the customers. Service and civility was palpable. Those days are gone. Today, minimally dressed
"stockers" in store boleros walk right past customers oblivious to those looking for an item and then, ringing up what you've finally found yourself, continuing to engage another store bolero type in continuing conversation and positively cannot count your change back to you [handing it to you in a wad]. Half of the dazed customers I've observed actually thank the store employee instead of the other way round.
Kids used to imitate adults, now childhood apparently stretches into mid-30s and beyond. In the prophetic words of Sir Winston Churchill: "American parents mind their children."
Larry D. Dobie
Claremore, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Bill Moyers Journal on OETA [Friday, July 13] advanced the idea that Cheney and Bush should be impeached on Constitutional grounds. An informative show and one that indicates how widespread this call to action has become.
Whether or not one agrees or not it presents food for thought and is well worth listening to.
Virginia Reynolds
Cheyenne, OK

Editor, The Observer:
"Bush has spent more than a year of his presidency" at his ranch in Crawford, TX. On August 19, 2005, "he broke Ronald Reagan's record of 335 days for America's most vacationed president and went on to take the longest presidential vacation in 36 years," Dale McFeatters wrote Aug. 8, 2006, in a Scripps News editorial.
Bush spent more time on vacation in his first three years than Clinton did in seven and he is telling people not to go on vacation. Our Congress takes August off and they aren't being shot at and none of their relatives have been blown to bits.
I think Bush needs to stay on the job until the war is over. He needs a vacation from what? Telling people how he is never wrong and to be patient even if your kids are fighting and his are un-patriotic do nothings.
Karen Webb
Moore, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR announced in 2006 that it had been awarded a $385 million contingency contract by the Department of Homeland Security to build detention camps in the United States. Back in 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced his desire to see camps for U.S. citizens deemed to be enemy combatants and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke of the harm being done to the country’s security, not just by the enemy, but also what he called news informers.
What type of programs might require a major expansion of detention centers? There was speculation that detention centers could be used to detain American citizens if the Bush administration were to declare martial law. It is speculation no longer because verifiable information found in declassified and leaked documents prove that, in addition to drawing up contingency plans for martial law, the government has conducted military readiness exercises designed to round up and detain both illegal aliens and U.S. citizens.
Concern over an all-powerful federal government is not paranoia but active citizenship given the mind-set of the Bush administration. One need only recall FDRs internment of Japanese Americans in the land of the free to be wary of detention camps.
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
Who appointed or anointed Karen Webb as spokesperson to speak for the Democratic Party or any member thereof? Who selected her to attack, police, judge and convict those Democrats who do not agree with her?
In the latest issue of the Yellow Dog Dispatch, Democratic Chair Ivan Holmes wants every Democrat to get involved in the fight to win legislative seats. He asks all Democrats to quit running down those in our party because we disagree on one of two issues and unite to defeat our real enemy, the Republican Party. His message and mine are the same.
Obviously Ms. Webb doesn't like the Republicans and any Democrats who are too moderate or conservative to suit her. Who gave her a measuring device and a set of rules as to who is a good or bad Democrat? Most folks are able to make up their own minds. We don't need Ms. Webb directing us or dictating to us from the Observer or anywhere else.
I deplore Ms. Webb's attack of Sen. Debbe Leftwich, one of our finest Democrats. She has fought for Democratic programs, values and social issues year after year, following in the footsteps of her late great husband, Sen. Keith Leftwich. The way Ms. Webb thinks, it is possible she will get some satisfaction when and if the Republicans gain control of the state Senate in 2008. Then she can feel superior and blame most everyone in both parties for the sad state of affairs.
Many Democratic friends mourned the passing of Molly Ivins who most always made her point with humor. Maybe if Ms. Webb used a lot more wit and humor in her articles and lightened up we might learn to appreciate her more. Molly Ivins she's not!
Ralph Jackson
Marlow, OK

Editor, The Observer:
As I sit here at home shortly after dusk near South 81st Street, a couple of miles east of Oral Roberts University, on the evening of July 4th, I'm hearing fireworks erupting close-by in every direction. I'm certain that this blatant disregard for the law must be due to all those illegal immigrants.
I thought a while ago about calling the police, but I'm sure they are already aware of it if they are on the streets and have ears. Further, if they have not heard the noise, I'm sure it's been reported by my law-abiding neighbors. But maybe, it wouldn't matter anyway. From what I've read in the paper and heard on the local radio talk shows, local police don't bother to arrest illegal immigrants anyway.
That's the only thing I can think of to explain all the noise and booming in my neighborhood this evening. I know it couldn't be law-abiding American born citizens.
Larry Hicks
Tulsa

Editor, The Observer:
It’s hard for us old dogs to learn new tricks.
The “old dog” in this case is former President Bill Clinton, a 61-year-old heart bypass patient.
For more than 40 years he had been the drum major giving orders to the rest of the band. Today, with his loyal wife, Hillary, running for president, he has to settle for second fiddle.
For prima donnas like Bill Clinton, their first gag order is the pits.
So, where should our best leading actor go for a short course on playing a supporting role? I suggest he chat with England’s Prince Philip, who has been happily married to Queen Elizabeth II for 60 years.
Asked how to deal with being married to a powerful woman, the Prince replied, “Remain two steps back and keep your mouth shut.”
Bill Clinton’s second act is using his new power of philanthropy to work on solving four very tough problems: HIV/AIDS, global warming, urban unemployment and childhood obesity.
Virginia Blue Jeans Jenner
Wagoner, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Sorry! I couldn't sit by like the silent majority and just take it any longer. SB 139 is not a pro-life bill, let's call it what it really is, a pro-rich woman's medical freedom bill.
Rep. Dr. Doug Cox, R-Grove – who is a practicing emergency room physician and who has delivered countless babies and who never has and never will perform an abortion – stated in his debate against this bill on the House floor that SB139 is NOT a pro-life bill. He further stated that this bill restricts physicians from making emergency medical decisions that are accepted ethical medical standards. So much for government controlling our lives and our rights.
Now we have right-wing religious groups telling Oklahomans that just because our speaker and his party have labeled SB139 a pro-life bill, we should all jump off the cliff too. I don't think Thomas Jefferson and our other founding fathers of our nation and constitution would be too proud of us today!
This bill will not stop abortions in the state of Oklahoma. If you are a rich woman and can afford to go to a private hospital or clinic, then SB139 has no affect on you.
During Dr. Cox's debate, he stated that during his tenure as a state representative, the Oklahoma State Medical Association has never been involved on either side of an abortion issue, but they came out against this bill.
In this bill if a poor woman has a problem pregnancy that threatens her future health, she has no recourse. If a pregnant woman, say, loses her baby – that is, it dies inside her – she has to carry the corpse until her body expels it naturally. The only way it could be induced is if her vital signs started to decline.
Just think of what carrying a corpse around in one's body would do to a woman's mental health. Talk about compassion. There is no compassion in Senate Bill 139 except for rich women.
This bill is no more a pro-life bill than charter schools are for the "inner city kids."
James Nimmo
Oklahoma City

Editor, The Observer:
Our "power leaders" seem to have a completely different agenda for our area than the leaders of places like Dallas/Ft Worth, Denver, Salt Lake City, and many other metro areas around our country. Rather than supporting alternate transportation modes to wean our citizens from the polluting gasoline engines, these neanderthals believe we should cripple the Amtrak service currently operating between OKC and Fort Worth by non-appropriations and building four miles of unnecessary highway costing upwards to a billion dollars????? Way to go guys! This is a brilliant strategy to line your pockets but it doesn't do a darn thing to help a working man or woman get to their jobs when the cost of their fuel takes their grocery money!!!
Reminds me of that out-sized dome on our state capitol building that we were told would be paid by private donations and when the bill came due the donors [?] skipped out along with one ex-governor and we taxpayers got stiffed again. Did we Okies really fall off a turnip truck? We must have. No other explanations for the graft in this state makes any sense. Remember the beautiful highway built with our tax dollars many years ago? .... The one, located in southeastern Oklahoma, that was paved to the entrance of an ex-governor's ranch gate? It just keeps on this continual shafting of the taxpayers of Oklahoma!
The exodus of some tax-payers who seek a better bang for their bucks and better modes of transport to and fro have cost Oklahomans by reduced representations in Congress. Guess those ex-Okies found fast transit rail service in other Metropolitan cities in other states a better bang.
Terrorist funding with our oil addiction dollars may create some bangs that won't distinguish between the corrupted and the innocent.
Darla Sparks
Yukon

Editor, The Observer:
To keep doing the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result is a form of insanity. Take a look at the war results thus far under Bush's leadership. April 2007 was the bloodiest month of the war. A civil war is accelerating. It has been proven several times this war was based on a pack of lies to satisfy Bush's lust for this war. Yet George Bush insists on "staying the course" – although started under false pretenses and the war is deteriorating.
Bush's veto of the Iraq war funding bill indicates he has no feeling for our troops and their loved ones, our wounded and veterans, but is loyal only to the war profiteers. This bill would have provided for readiness of troops [training and equipment] and proper medical treatment for our wounded and veterans along with financial care for disabled veterans and their families. George W. Bush uses and discards our military as though they are expendable when no longer of any value. He acts like an egomaniac and a small spoiled child devoid of any feelings.
Over 3,000 of our troops killed, each one leaving loved ones behind. Over 26,000 have been wounded. Treatment for our wounded under this administration is a disgrace to this nation. Veterans with permanent disabilities have been cheated out of their pensions and medical care. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been squandered on no-bid contracts with no oversight. That money has purchased very little or nothing.
GW Bush's war, based on lies, has created three significant groups – our group of mourners, our group of homeless cripples, and Bush's group of thieves.
Joe Forgy
Oklahoma City

Editor, The Observer:
I have known Howard Hendrick for about 20 years. I believe he is the finest public servant in state or national government and the ONLY one to whom I would give my wholehearted support. Therefore, I am extremely upset to read on the front page of the Daily Oklahoman of some anonymous person making ridiculous assertions that he was negligent in seeking medical treatment for his son. I have been impressed with his devotion to his children. He has done a very commendable job of balancing time with his family, his church, and with his very demanding position as Director of the Department of Human Services.
During his tenure with DHS, he has made outstanding accomplishments in all divisions within this agency. Anyone who has the fortitude to deal
with all the problems inherent within DHS while facing personnel and funding shortages, not to mention special interest groups within and
without the state Legislature needs to be commended. I, therefore, urge the Attorney General to conclude his investigation quickly. Since
the allegation against my friend, Howard Hendrick, was front page
news, I believe the Attorney General's findings should also be front
page news! Because Howard followed treatment prescribed by medical authorities, his son, Hudson is making a speedy recovery.
Joan Dozier
Oklahoma City

APRIL/MAY 2007

Editor, The Observer:
Seems the solons of the sooner state [lower case – maybe none will notice] are following in the footsteps of the feds. Can't pay for whatever, so lower taxes, 'cause … blah, blah, blah – on completion of the act … rah, rah, rah.
The schools of The Sooner State have no funds to meet the mandates of state solons. So long to any educa­tor elation.
The rationale behind or beneath cutting taxes to raise money [spend less money to add more money] are as foggy, incredible, and beyond comprehension as this sentence: "Know what I'm sayin’?" No!
Avoid all pain, no pain – much gain. Remember the Basic Taxpayer's Creed For Greed, "Don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax that poor soul behind the tree."
Sorry to bother; as Gunsmoke's Festus would say, "It won’t make no matter no-how." Just make many mut­ter, Hell Fire and damnation!
Cecil Acuff
Perkins

Editor, The Observer:
A letter to the editor titled "A Status Quo War" published in the Oklahoman is thought-provoking and worthy of sharing with every fel­low member of our First Unitarian congregation as well as everyone else on my e-mail address list who is not a member of our congregation.
Your letter deserves contempla­tion on issues of what constitutes ''victory'' in a guerrilla war, what the costs are and who shares in the sacrifice.
I would add questions of: Who are we fighting in Iraq? Are we fighting Sunni insurgents who are supported by our allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Are we fighting al Qaeda op­eratives filtering in from Syria, Jordan and Afghanistan? Are we fighting Shia militia led by Muqtada al-Sadr who is backed by Iran?
Are they all fighting each other and have we indeed started a civil war that has no end? Are we fighting all of them and the Kurds as themselves at our expense?
That was the case in Vietnam then and that's the case in Iraq today. The insurgents aren't able to defeat our forces, but that hardly means we are winning.
Is the cost worth whatever bene­fits might result from winning? If so, then we should do what President Bush failed to do – listen to the mili­tary professionals who said 400,000 men would be needed.
We should re-institute the draft and eliminate the Bush tax cuts to pay for the war. We certainly can't win with the effort currently being expended.
Robert E. Hurst
Oklahoma City

Editor, The Observer:
What a sorry lot the Republican Party has become. Once they stood for a well-defined set of issues and policies and it was those that gave them definition from the Democrats.
Now they've been taken over by the neo-cons and seem permanently encamped in the sewer.
Daily the hate mongers that popu­late AM radio spew out hypocritical rants as they issue "here's how to think orders" on all issues.
They make up positions, assign them to the opposition, then rail away about the evils of that position.
The American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference invited a number of neo-con Republicans to address the meeting, including Vice President Dick Cheney.
One of the other speakers was national columnist Ann Coulter. During her speech she decided to attack the presidential campaign of John Edwards.
She didn't speak against posi­tions, policy or his record. Instead she claimed the main job of his campaign manager was "fronting for Arab terrorists."
Then she called John Edwards "a faggot." After her remarks became public, creating criticism across the spectrum, she issued a statement in which she said in part, "I can't stop laughing."
After the takeover of the their party by the hate spewing neo-cons there's certainly nothing "grand" about the Grand Old Party.
Kenny Belford
Tulsa

Editor, The Observer:
In January of 2003, when giving his State of the Union address, Bush claimed that Iraq possessed 2,600 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of bo­tulism toxin, 500 tons of sarin, and about 30,000 munitions with which to deliver these weapons of mass destruction. This was his final case for his illegal invasion of Iraq, which took place two month later.
From the beginning of his "war on terror," Bush has lied to the American people. It has been propaganda that has continued through his 2007 state of the union address.
If he had told the truth, stating that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction, had no connection with the 9/11 attack, and was no threat to the United States, none of the following would have happened.
We wouldn't be involved in the Iraqi civil war, which has caused the death of over 3,000 of our brave troops, an estimated death of over 600,000 Iraqis, all at the cost of the estimated $200 million per day.
Also many other things taking place should not be happening. Such as, the packing of courts with ultra­conservative judges by firing those already in office; the loss of freedoms; and the easing of the environmental controls, at the expense of the health of Americans.
As one author said, "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion; the stage where govern­ment is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission, which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history; the stages of rule by brute force." [Published in "The Nature of Government"]
It still amazes me that about one-third of the American population still supports this Republican presidency.
G. M. Kesselring
Van Buren, AR

Editor, The Observer:
We couldn't afford G. Bush's Iraqi war of lies when it was $2 billion a week. Now Bush wants $170 billion [so far] for 2007.
That's $3.5 billion a week. Look at it this way: If you have $100,000 in the bank today, Bush is making your dollar devalue such that you'll have $50,000 worth tomorrow.
In terms of lives lost, torture, rip-offs, don't put up with this Southern Old Boy.
Jim Stodola
Corinth, TX

JANUARY/FEBRUARY/MARCH 2007

Editor, The Observer:
The Bush Administration is leading the charge on a renewed effort to cut and/or privatize Social Security, because of the power of the constituencies behind the gutting of Social Security – the financial indus­try and the very rich.
Bush is likely to find allies among leading Democrats in Congress. Remember, when President Bush was spinning his scare stories about Saddam's WMDs, he also had plenty of assistance from top Congressional Democrats.
Similarly, the media can be counted on to help sell the Social Security scare stories, including so­-called "liberal" outlets like the New York Times, CBS, National Public Radio, and Jim Lehrer's "News Hour."
In the lead-up to Bush's invasion of Iraq, these outlets gave ample time to the administration and its allies to promulgate their tales of WMDs, while almost completely excluding the experts who tried to point out the flaws in their arguments.
There is no reason to believe that the media has become more responsible in the last four years. In short, it is entirely possible that we will see the same kind of massive attack on Social Security as the "shock and awe" campaign that President Bush launched on Iraq four years ago.
Frank P. Belcastro
Dubuque, IA

Editor, The Observer:
I am not going to stand for the Commander in Chief telling wounded soldiers not to talk to the press or anyone else. So, you plan to do to them what you have done to the Katrina trailer camps. Make them off limits so you can abuse them all in peace.
Anyone who mentions compassion in the same sentence with any mem­ber of the Bush Administration, I will laugh in their face. If I wasn't such a peacenik I would spit or slap their faces.
Get this right, when you say you support the troops that means giving them 100% of anything promised for them signing up. Do not under any circumstances send them a bill for the remainder of their signing bonus if they get injured or can't finish their tour in that hell-hole you created with lies and deceit.
Now you will go from having secret torture camps to secret outpatient camps. No, not in America. The people have a right to know what secret disgrace you are creating this week to force our guys to suffer through.
Give the soldiers everything they need and everything promised and take back those disgusting tax cuts to people whose children are too cowardly to fight for their own bottom line, like all the Bushes.
You are not permitted to threaten, neglect or do any other disgusting thing to people who speak up. These are other people's kids. None of yours will ever have the courage to fight for anything other than tax cuts for peo­ple who need no money.
Karen Webb
Moore, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Traveling on our interstates is becoming more and more lethal. Drivers already have been exposed to leaky uranium cargo being hauled from the Gore facility.
They also are faced with the possibility of ruptured cargo when one of these trucks crashes on the highway. It is a harrowing experience to tangle with the truck congestion and, now, it's becoming more and more deadly!
Under such conditions, do you wish to drive in Oklahoma? Swim in lakes or eat fish caught from water­ways? [Gore facility stored this stuff in unlined ground storage to leak into our waterways!]
Why doesn't our state have much stronger laws regarding this stuff? Our citizens deserve better safety monitoring, safety precautions and security than they are getting from this Legislature.
Meanwhile, this bunch of yahoos at the Capitol want to give back taxes? To whom? We have one of the lowest state taxes of any state in the union. We don't collect enough taxes to properly secure our lives in this place. If we did, we would have laws against contaminating our beautiful water­ways and allowing trucks to haul poisons through our land.
We would have alternate and safer rail transportation for handling cargo thus relieving our congested road­ways with far too much truck traffic. Don't forget that these trucks that haul this deadly cargo are traveling over condemned bridges! We citizens deserve better but we won't get better until we throw out the bums who have fomented this mess.
Vote these incompetents out of our Legislature. Vote in fresh, honest and competent replacements. Then demand a total investigation of ODOT!
The Oklahoma citizens are being shortchanged by both!
Darla Sparks
Yukon, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Gals, the pretty people of the population, are capturing command. What's a guy gonna do? Or maybe he's done went and done it; seems that ain't a question, but a statement of fact.
Archie Bunker must be revolving at high speed. Such embarrassment [chagrin must be the better word – it means a blow to the ego].
Now, add to Pelosi, Hillary, the Chancellor of Germany, and other global gurus, the appointment of Drew [gee, even a perceived male name?] Gilpin Faust.
Incidentally and historically, Faust is the legendary guy of the 16th Cen­tury who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. A "Faustian" is one who is willing to make extreme sacrifices for power or knowledge without considering the ultimate cost.
Historian Faust will be replacing Lawrence Summers, he who fed his­ foot-to-mouth by commenting that genetic differences betwixt sexes might explain the dearth of women in top science jobs.
Drew Gilpin Faust is the first Harvard president who did not receive an undergraduate or graduate degree from the 371-year-old university, the 5th consecutive non-scientist president.
Pretty person [look at her picture], Faust manages 11 schools and colleges, 24,000 employees, a budget of $3 billion, and an endowment of $30 bil­lion!
The gals now got the primate on their postern; they bear the responsibility. To repeat – what’s a guy gonna do with the gals?
Wait for the next cycle of scepters?
Cecil Acuff
Perkins, OK

Editor, The Observer:
In our era of abundant, scurrilous political "attack ads" – and the twin demoralizing acceptance that "they often work" and "most everybody does them" – are some inspiring exceptions that could help lay the groundwork for healthier campaigns that stick to the issues.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if slimy, racist tricks like the "call me, Harold" ad – run late in the Tennessee Senate campaign against African-American Harold Ford – would regularly be rejected by candidates when offered to them by their advisers?
Read about Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Leach's stellar behavior in our most recent election campaign as related by TIME magazine's Joe Klein in the Jan. 1 issue [page 37]:
"Congressman Jim Leach, the Iowa Republican, was a terrific public servant for 30 years. He was always independent, always scrupulously hon­est. He lost this year, and the manner of his losing is instructive. He refused to allow the Republican National Committee to distribute a negative mailing about his opponent. He called Ken Mehlman, then the RNC chair, and threatened to caucus with the Democrats if such negative mailings did not stop. They stopped, but the congressman lost narrowly to an academic named Dave Loebsack, who had similarly refused to attack him. A former foreign service officer, Leach would make a terrific U.S. ambassador to the U.N, but I doubt that Bush would appoint an anti-lraq-war-internationalist. "
Please pass this story around and send me any of your own that speak to heroic stands on principles. There ARE reasons to hope for positive change in all parts of our common lives. Let's inspire others with our own behavior and also share stories that elevate our hopes.
Frank Silovsky
Oklahoma City

Editor, the Observer:
Reporters should press National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Nicole Nason to address hard ques­tions suggested by a predecessor in a Jan. 28 New York Times Op-Ed.
The reason for asking the questions couldn't be plainer: They bear heavily on whether many of us will be needlessly killed or injured every year. Joan Claybrook asked why NHTSA doesn't test:
To evaluate survivability in rollovers?
To measure the effects of size differential when a passenger car collides with, say, a light truck?
Vehicle structure in frontal, off­-center crashes?
Fuel tank vulnerability in rear-end collisions?
How badly pedestrians are injured when hit by vehicles, particularly in view of the fact that most such consumer information tests are being performed, or are being developed, in Europe, Australia and Japan?
Cars at the higher speeds they're driven by millions every day?
Sport utility vehicles against in­substantial barriers?
Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, was NHTSA administrator from 1977 to 1981. In her time, heads of agencies responsible for protecting the lives, safety and health of Americans were questioned now and then on Sunday morning talk shows.
For example, while covering the Food and Drug Administration for the Washington Post, I was invited to appear with new FDA Commissioner James L. Goddard on "Face the Nation."
One of my questions was whether the testing of the first birth-control pill – which I detailed – had been adequate to establish its safety. A nationwide TV audience heard his an­swer: No.
Today, by contrast, "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation," "This Week" and the rest seem content mostly to recycle a small cast of senators, particularly those who are declared or probable presidential candidates.
Rarely do Tim Russert, Bob Schieffer or George Stephanopolous bring on an agency head, say, Nicole Nason, to face informed, tough challenges on clear issues of life and death.
Progress this is not.
Morton Mintz
Washington, DC

Editor, The Observer:
UAE is on the Gulf Coast. Stunning numbers. They are within close range of Iraq. Diabetes is contracted within two months of radiation poisoning, according to Dr. Earnest Sternglass.
He was the person President Kennedy asked to “talk to" the U.S. Senate to get them to pass the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
Dr Sternglasss told me in an inter­view that "40 years ago everybody knew it." He was speaking of the increase in diabetes over the historical occurrence rate of diabetes. That knowledge has "disappeared."
It has been cynically replaced by more of a "personal responsibility" concept of disease that sees CDC ac­tually funding research to see if underarm deodorant causes cancer, rather than funding research to see if radiation causes cancer.
Mueller, a scientist, found in 1927 that one shot of radiation was 10 to 100 million times more likely to cause cancerous and or genetic changes to egg and sperm cells of a colony of flies. He tracked the same radiation-caused diseases and mutations through 40,000 generations.
It has only been taken humans 80 generations to cover the past 2000 years.
Bob Nichols
Oklahoma City

Editor. The Observer:
I recently read three newspaper headlines that caught my attention. One read, "Job growth slows down under Bush." Another read, “New study estimates that 744,700 people are homeless in the United States.” And the third read, "Fat CEO pay seen a wider society concern."
The first story indicates that the job growth under the Bush Administration was 3.7 million, compared to 17.6 million under the Bill Clinton presidency.
The second story compares the homelessness in 1996 as being somewhere in the vicinity of 444,000 to the 744,000 of today.
The third story tells that the CEO pay phenomenon is growing more extreme. It tells, more than anything else, just how out of touch corporate America is with the rest of society, and it "offends most people's sense of fairness.”
The story gives, as an illustration, the firing of the Home Depot chief ex­ecutive Robert Nardell, who received a $210 million exit package.
This package included deferred awards and stock options that will equal what 10,000 store clerks make who average $21,000 per year.
The information also indicated that in 2005, the CEO pay contrasted to the worker was 411 to 1. That is in comparison to that of 1980, when the ratio was 42 to 1.
At the end of WWII, when we occupied Japan, we dictated that the CEO could collect only 17 times that of the lowest paid worker.
Obviously we don't believe that now. We need a fair wage for CEO and worker, and a fair profit for the corporation, with a fair price for the public. OOPs, I forgot! Greed is rampant!
G. M. Kesselring
Van Buren, AR

Editor, The Observer:
Finally, U.S. Congressmen [excluding Oklahoma's] voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in nine years. However, they attached an amendment to allow more tax cuts for the business community.
John Q. Public seems oblivious that America's economic system is no longer capitalistic free enterprise! Businesses have gained through their Chamber of Commerce Union access to our city, county, state and federal treasuries.
Our economic system in America has eroded into a "Public Funding Private Business Partnership." Why is it that the public dole to business is never labeled "socialism?” It would take an entire separate article to tell all the benefits subsidizing businesses in America.
It is time to dissolve this partnership that bankrolls the already rich corporations and companies, so they can become super markets for the world.
The working majority contributes more than their labor for economic development. Those who disdain profit sharing have not credited the taxation and fees they pay as investments.
Carol L. Seim
Owasso, OK

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

Editor, The Observer:
We can learn much from the hor­rible tragedy that happened to the Amish community in Pennsylvania during the first week of October.
The Amish community responded by showing Christianity in its purest form. The most common response to a crime of this nature is extreme anger, and self-righteous outrage. Instead the Amish people reached out to the family of the man who committed the crime and offered for­giveness and aid.
This is the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Recon­ciliation is the best way to overcome the effects of such a travesty.
-- Tom Gallagher, Oklahoma City, OK

Editor, The Observer:
After initially denying the circum­stances of both his homosexual, ex­tra-marital trysts and illicit drug use, televangelist Ted Haggard had the courage to publicly admit: "The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar."
Now we need George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to each make a similar confession about Iraq, WMD, and connections between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin laden.
All those three need to do is drop the word "sexual" from Haggard's con­fession before adding their own de­ceptions regarding the need for the US to make war on Iraq.
What do you mean by “fat chance?”
-- Frank Silovsky, Oklahoma City, OK

Editor, The Observer:
James South's article ("Music Educators Need To Speak Up") in the October 25th Oklahoma ObselVer is instructive of the ignorance and disre­gard of music in the education pro­cess by Oklahoma legislators, who seem to regard music as some sort of artsy-fartsy educational frivolity.
Nothing could be further from the truth, according to the author of a new book: This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, (Daniel J. Levitin, Penguin Group 2006).
It is a fact that music is innate in all humans, just as is language-- the reason being that both speech and music are "hard wired" into the brain and coexist along with memory in the same loci.
The author's exhaustive studies of the psychology and physiology of music in the brain, and related pathologies, make a persuasive case that indeed there is a significant in­terrelationship among speech, music, learning, and rhythmic movement. It is not just that music enhances other areas of learning: it is critical to full realization of the human potential for learning.
Levitin's definitive work on music should be required reading for all edu­cators, all legislators, and all others interested in human development.
Then, rather than treating music as an inessential adjunct to formal education, it would more properly be recognized as an equal partner with the traditional three R's.
-- Floyd W. Sharrock, Bristow, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Today, it is exactly like it was in Vietnam for poor people. George W. Bush along with millions of others couldn't get a scholarship to college because of his grades, but George didn't need a scholarship because he had a legacy and money at Yale.
He didn't even have to make good grades to stay at Yale because he had money.
Other people who didn't make the right grades or have enough money ended up getting drafted or joining the Guard to pay for college, unlike George who joined the Guard to stay out of Vietnam.
Unlike what George W. Bush says, the economy for those who aren't in the market sucks and in order to sup­port your family or even to get them health care the military is one of the few options.
Just like Vietnam, if you aren't rich you go to fight and I think that is what John Keny meant to say.
Tony Snow should be apologizing to the troops because his boss keeps lowering the bar and benefits for the troops in order to finance tax cuts for the wealthy during war.
Wait until they all get home from Iraq without enough health care.
-- Karen Webb, Moore, OK

Editor, The Observer:
Since Republicans have controlled all three branches of government per­haps they should read James Madison's famous Federalist 47: "The accumulation of all powers, legisla­tive, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
The very definition of the Bush crowd!
-- Greg Scroggins, Tulsa, OK

Editor, The Observer:
We will NEVER do very well with a better balance in the Oklahoma State legislature until we get competitive daily newspapers and other media with some semblance of balance and reporting of facts.
The bias in this state seems to in­crease with each passing decade rather than decreasing. It appears that the loss in our population could be that the more rational among us want to advance to the 21st century rather than regressing to the 19th. They are forced to move to obtain Jobs and a better quality of life.
How much longer will Oklahoma remain at the bottom or near bottom of every imaginable list? I had great hopes that the Internet's appearance on the scene would open up the native minds to a broader take on life's qual­ity and greater ideas for improving that quality. It seems to not be hap­pening.
Could it have something to do with the lower income earned in this state? One must have a little cash to purchase a used computer and pay for an ISP. With the loss of decent wage jobs and minimum wages in the cellar, many do not have enough for food or needed medicines ... much less luxuries like computers!
We must raise the wages if Okla­homa has any chance to become what it could become. If this doesn't happen I fear we will become the dregs in these 50 states.
This is my home, the land of my birth and my forefathers and moth­ers. I want to see us become all we can become. I don't want my grand­children to seek their futures and their fortunes elsewhere. It has al­ready started as my firstborn grand­son found employment out-of-state immediately upon graduation from the university!
I have four more grandchildren and one great nephew who will be gradu­ating from college within the next few years and if they have no future here you may have to color all of family gone! What about yours?
-- Karen Webb, Moore, OK

Editor, The Observer:
The state of Indiana sold a 50­-year-old Indiana East-West Toll Road to a private Australian-Spanish con­sortium. The privatization of public-funded roads, and highways in America should never be permitted by the citizenship of any state.
The reasons for selling were to fill budget holes and cover the expense of fixing other crumbling roads. Typical jargons for state officials, who won't buck the commerce control of gov­ernment, and risk losing their jobs.
All states need to end the subsi­dization of business ventures through incentive lures, and the State Quality Job Programs. Divert the “piratization” of funds back to road and bridge maintenance where they belong.
After all, it is business that gains the most profits utilizing public funded roads and highways to trans­port their products. You can bet business will be charged higher fees by privateers; and business will then pass the cost onto those already at the bottom of the “economic develop­ment” ladder.
-- Carol Seim, Owasso, OK