Archive for letters to the editor

“Once again, [the Oklahoma tragedy] will soon be forgotten and our politicians will return to bashing teachers.”

guns cartoon arm teachers

Today’s Los Angeles Times letters to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “Oklahoma twister ‘was a monster,’” May 21

It is heartbreaking to read of homes destroyed, lives upended, children killed and hundreds left homeless. We know that, without effective action to combat climate change, these events will become more frequent.

And yet the political leaders of Oklahoma are right-wing ideologues who either reject the idea of global warming or question its effects on weather catastrophes. What will it take to get them to realize that their inaction will lead to more disasters?

President Obama and the Democrats cannot wage the battle against climate change without support from GOP lawmakers. How many more of these disasters can we clean up before we run out of resources to do it?

Linda Winters

Culver City

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Once again, as in other school tragedies, we learn that teachers at Moore, Okla., put themselves between their students and extreme danger. Once again, parents tearfully thank teachers. And once again, this will soon be forgotten and our politicians will return to bashing teachers.

The tragedy in Oklahoma should become a permanent reminder that we must not allow our teachers to be scapegoated or reduced to numbers on a standardized teacher evaluation form. Teachers who are willing to give up their lives for our children should not be treated so shabbily by a self-serving political establishment.

Dennis M. Clausen

Escondido

“Blame Congress” for IRS procedures. “But don’t look to Congress to fix anything. Its members benefit.”

blame stick figures

Today’s L.A. Times letters to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “Anger widens as IRS details emerge,” May 14

While members of Congress want to know more about the IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) groups, they should look no further than themselves for the blame.

I tried to read the tax code regarding just what a “social welfare” group is, and my head almost exploded. The IRS didn’t write these rules, Congress did. If there isn’t clarity in the IRS procedures, blame Congress. But don’t look to Congress to fix anything. Its members benefit from the spending these tax-exempt organizations do. If anything, this loophole should be closed.

Shirley Conley

Gardena

***

Yes, the IRS and Associated Press scandals smell bad. But I wonder if one reason the members of one political party spend so much time spewing out self-righteous rants about the other party’s possible screw-up of the day — rather than working on vital legislation — has something to do with being in perpetual campaign mode brought on by their refusal to compromise on meaningful campaign finance reform.

Jack Cooper

North Hollywood

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Re “Journalists’ records secretly collected,” May 14

It would be helpful for the AP if Republicans had not filibustered the proposed reporter shield law in 2008. This legislation would have specifically prohibited the kinds of abuses being visited upon the AP.

When the bill was in the House, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), now in high dudgeon over the matter, was one of only 21 representatives to vote against protecting reporters’ sources.

Kevin P. Smith

Newbury Park

“Is it too conspiratorial a thought that the red line might be deliberately crossed by the other side to bring us in?”

 red line syria

Today’s L.A. Times letters to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “Time to act in Syria,” Opinion, May 9

Chuck Freilich speaks of the terrible consequences of not dealing with the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war. He focuses only on Bashar Assad‘s regime as the likely perpetrator.

A prominent member of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria reported “strong, concrete suspicions” that sarin may have been used by rebel forces. The member in question, Carla Del Ponte, is no dilettante in such matters, having served as a prosecutor with the International Criminal Court. And although conspiracy theories remain, is it too fanciful to suggest that, given the unsavory character of some elements of the rebel Syrian National Coalition, such egregious action may have taken place?

The only problem with “red lines” comes when one may have to cross them. In that regard, is it also too conspiratorial a thought that the red line might be deliberately crossed by the other side to bring us in?

This is not to suggest anything other than abhorrence at the use of weapons of mass destruction by any party in the conflict. It is merely to say that President Obama‘s cautious approach is the right one.

David C. Speedie

New York

The writer is the director of the U.S. Global Engagement Program at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

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Re “The struggle for Syria,” Opinion, May 7

Majid Rafizadeh offers compelling reasons for the United States to avoid any military involvement in Syria. After years of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and the installation of new governments, battles and deaths still occur in those countries; Syria risks a similar fate from U.S. intervention.

Surely our best course of action is to do as Rafizadeh suggests: to be one of the countries that “join together to address suffering” and to “address the urgent medical and basic needs of Syrians.” This is a role Americans can do well.

As Rafizadeh concludes, given the complexities and uncertainties about the future in Syria, “The way forward can only be shaped by Syrians.”

Dan Cabrera

Glendale

“Republicans have shown they’re only capable of outrage when a Democratic president is in charge.”

benghazi jon stewart daily show

Today’s L.A. Times letters to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “Lawmakers hear official’s account of Benghazi events,” May 8

After failing to connect President Obama to any real scandals, Republicans have resurrected the 8-month-old attack in Benghazi, Libya. This, while also taking a shot at Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential presidential candidate.

Conservatives claim their outrage stems from the fact that four Americans died in the attack. Yet they cannot muster similar outrage over the nearly 4,500 dead U.S. servicemen and women in Iraq or the 3,000 dead from the 9/11 attacks.

These Republicans have shown they’re only capable of outrage when a Democratic president is in charge.

Ted Stulz

Anaheim Hills

***

It seems politics are driving Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the chairman of the House committee that conducted the Benghazi hearing, and his fellow Republicans over the attack.

Why didn’t House Democrats hold similar hearings when they came to power after the 2006 midterm election? No reason to — we were all Bushed out going into the elections in 2008. Today the GOP appears to be trying to bushwhack Hilary Clinton in 2016.

Ken Johnson

Pinon Hills

Mark Sanford “proved to the world that you can have your cake and eat it too with his undeserved victory.”

mark sanford, fiancee

Today’s L.A. Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “Mark Sanford is back in the game,” May 8

South Carolina proved that it is possible to talk a dog off of a meat wagon with its election of disgraced former Gov. Mark Sanford to his old House seat in Congress.

The Republican candidate proved to the world that you can have your cake and eat it too with his undeserved victory. Bill Clinton has nothing on him. And now the party of family values has a new standard-bearer in South Carolina for ethics, integrity, duty, responsibility and family loyalty.

His campaign should be examined and written about in leadership circles as examples of how to betray everyone except yourself and then record a margin of victory so comfortable that you made it look easy. He gives public service a bad name.

Kimberlyn Hearns

San Bernardino

“How about a red line on chipping away at Social Security to preserve low taxes on the wealthy?”

red line syria

Reminder: In August 2012, V.P. Biden “flat guaranteed” no changes in Social Security, which “effectively takes Social Security off the table.”

Apparently not.

Chained CPI is a benefit cut. Please go to Strengthen Social Security for more. And here’s more about what “chained CPI” would do (scroll).

And with that, here is today’s (very short) L.A. Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “White House wants Syria proof,” April 26

President Obama established a “red line” on Syria’s use of chemical weapons. How about a red line on chipping away at Social Security to preserve low taxes on the wealthy?

Russ Nichols

Los Angeles

“I haven’t noticed liberals stocking up on guns, ammo. Which has more faith in our democracy, the left or the right?”

gun nut 2

Today’s L.A. Times letters to the editor, because our voices matter:

Re “‘Right wing’ doesn’t equal ‘terrorist,’” Opinion, April 23

The American right wing is filled with people who have a visceral reaction to the changes taking place in this country. Many are angry that a black man is president, that immigrants live among them, that gays may be allowed to marry, that their gun ownership may be limited and that “elitist” liberals write laws.

Jonah Goldberg thinks it was outrageous initially to entertain the possibility that the Boston bombing was a right-wing plot. The attack occurred on Patriots’ Day in a city known for its political liberalism. Ignoring the possibility of right-wing involvement would not only have been ignorant but also a disservice to national security.

Thomas Bailey

Long Beach

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Goldberg’s effort to paint the 1920s as a conservative paradise by skewering an FDR speech had the benefit of pointing me to the president’s magnificent 1944 State of the Union address. It shows how thoroughly the “spirit of fascism” that prevailed in the 1920s, in the form of “unregulated free market corporatism,” has returned to America.

As FDR noted, America after the Depression understood that “necessitous men are not free men.”

It was this understanding that for decades gave us the greatest prosperity for the greatest number.

Now, “Reagan revolutionized” Americans seem to believe that “government-regulated, unarmed corporations are not free people.” It is this understanding that has given us the current era of the greatest prosperity for the fewest number — an echo of the 1920s.

Richard S. Marken

Los Angeles

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Goldberg makes some good points about the left’s demonizing of the right, but the examples he lists pale in comparison to the red-baiting of the last 100 years. “Left wing” doesn’t mean “communist.” And I haven’t noticed any liberals stocking up on guns and ammo.

Which has more faith in our democracy, the left or the right?

Frank J. Gruber

Santa Monica