Letters for September 27, 2001

Who needs Gandhi?
As a reader who buys products advertised in your publication, I was disappointed by a lot of the comments printed in last week’s edition—George Wright [“Down the wrong path,” Essay, Sept. 20] and David Guzzetti [“Let us pray,” Letters, Sept 20].

Osama bin Laden, a wealthy anti-capitalist, helped to orchestrate a bigoted hate crime against America. People of all colors and creed were killed in the attack. Still the self-anointed liberals try to capitalize on America’s pain with more lies and anti-capitalist rhetoric.

There are too many in our communities willing to cower down and blame ourselves for such mindless destruction. There are too many young people right here at Chico State who believe that peace is not worth fighting for. They quote Gandhi, but if Gandhi would stand by and let innocent people be slaughtered just to be pious, what the hell good is he? If we do not act, are we not responsible for what the terrorists do next?

This nation’s greatest generation once knew that peace was worth fighting for, and they achieved peace through strength. I ask those of my generation, will you stand up and answer the call to fight for peace, or will you hide behind the music and cheap slogans of the spoiled ‘60s?

Steve Thompson
Biggs

New heroes
Like many who felt the need to contribute in any small way, I donated blood yesterday. I arrived at 8 a.m. to avoid the anticipated rush. There was a wait even at that early hour. Unexpectedly (or maybe not), others I know were there to do their part.

I returned home to learn of the news of the Danville man, Thomas Burnett, who was on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. He informed his wife by cell phone that his plane was being highjacked. She told him of the planes intentionally crashed into the two World Trade Center towers. He explained that he and some others were now going to take action. It appears they did, and forfeited their lives in the process. Many people likely owe their lives to Mr. Burnett and the others on that flight. We have some new heroes in our lives.

Terrorists take note: You are not the only ones willing to die. The actions of Mr. Burnett are an example of our willingness to give up our lives to save those lives you seek to extinguish. You have made heroes of Mr. Burnett and the others on that flight. You have reawakened a sense of honor, duty and pride in many, many Americans.

Michael P. Candela
Vice President
Butte County Deputy District Attorneys Association

Karma?
America under attack. Who is to blame? Who is responsible for this terrible carnage? In the inner temple of my soul, God spoke to me of His Law, “What you sow, you reap. Do not do to others what you would not have others do to you.” It seems to be, if you want war, then sow war. If you want peace, sow peace.

Has our Middle East policy had anything to do with America under attack?

Dick Credit
Chico

Cost of illusion
We live under the illusion that our government can protect us. Because we pay good money, often a quarter of our earnings, we expect our government to maintain this illusion. So it is not unlikely that, to meet our expectations, the military will be used to prove that, at least for the present, we are still bigger and mightier. And if this power is used against large numbers of innocent civilians, we will have polished the mirror of illusions in which we will be seen as the perpetrators of retaliation, thus effectively creating our own prison of fear.

Those who masterminded and facilitated these devastating acts of terror need to be hunted down, captured and brought to justice. Such action may be swift but it also needs to be specific, directed toward those who had any part in the planning or execution of the attack, those who would be considered the war criminals.

Meanwhile, each of us has a part to play, not only to remain calm, but also in personally making an effort to expand our capacity to be caring and compassionate. Because in the end our true safety lies in recognizing our global interdependence, in sharing who we are and what we have.

Karinna Fields
Chico

Big Daddy Poop
Re: Chris Baldwin’s so-called “review” of Loretta Lynn [“Red-blooded country,” Sept. 20]. To begin with, why would the CN&R send someone who obviously doesn’t care one whit for country/Western music or its benefactors to see a well-known country music legend like Loretta Lynn? He should stick to reviewing his own kind, whether it be Jennifer Lopez wearing see-through clothing, Britney Spears, the teenage wannabe streetwalker, or some eager-beaver hip-hop/rap artist (a question mark here) grabbing his private parts in a vague endeavor to bring his audience closer to his personal fantasy.

Leave us LORs (little ol’ rednecks) to enjoy our style of music, which happens to be country/Western, in peace and tranquility.

Loretta’s audience thought Ernie (Loretta’s son, by the way) was a good entertainer and made us forget for a little while that outside that casino and in another part of our world, terrorists had reigned supreme for a few short hours. And I don’t know of any artist, with maybe the exception of Willie Nelson, who doesn’t wear some sort of make-up on stage.

In short, Chris Baldwin, if you will stay out of our entertainment, I promise you with all my heart I will stay away from yours. I have a suspicion your spurious diatribe against Loretta Lynn occurred because of your sheltered upbringing in front of a TV set watching the likes of Spears, Lopez, and Big Daddy Poop or whatever.

Pat Mullanix
Orland

This is art?
I was driving down Park Avenue recently when there suddenly appeared a strangely grotesque and surreal piece of concrete and steel jutting up from the landscape. At first I thought some kind of demolition project was going on; maybe an old bridge was being demolished.

Then I was told that this apparent pile of rubble was being constructed, not torn down. It was an “art project.”

OK, let’s call it art, just for the sake of argument. The city had just recently beautified the median with plantings of trees and shrubbery. It was looking pretty good. But then, along came the Chico Arts Commission: Let’s spend $60,000 to display an abstract piece of art depicting what it considered to be a mule pulling a plow. Oh yeah, that would have been my second guess.

This is a gateway to the city; image means everything. Most people driving past the site would think, “When are they going to clean up that crap?” Call me unsophisticated when it comes to esthetics, but I could also have a great image for $60,000. Any reasonably intelligent politician could probably figure a way to hire a talking mule, with or without a plow, that would at least have a more socially redeeming value, like maybe keeping the weeds under control while re-fertilizing the area. Come to think of it, a real mule might have been a more appropriate symbol for the city’s image.

Steve Miller
Chico