Letters for May 17, 2007

Can he bunk with Bush and Cheney?

Re “Will Doolittle do time?” by Ralph Brave and Kel Munger (SN&R Feature Story, May 3):

Of course not! The Bush administration will simply fire the U.S. Attorney prosecuting him, just as they protected Randy “Duke” Cunningham by firing Carole Lam. Then Karl Rove will “lose” the e-mails directing the firing. Placer County fought hard for its right to be represented by one of the slimiest people to slither the halls of Congress, preferring a Republican worm over a retired U.S. military officer who happens to be a Democrat.

Will Doolittle do time? Only in a country that would bunk him with Bush, Cheney and Rove. Unfortunately, we don’t live there yet.

L.C. Bennett
Fair Oaks

He’ll do little time …

Re “Will Doolittle do time?” by Ralph Brave and Kel Munger (SN&R Feature Story, May 3):

I caught your update on the saga of Representative Doolittle. May I suggest the problem isn’t so much a matter, as your headline put it, of “Will Doolittle do time?” as it is of “How little time will Doolittle do?”

Gary Zatzman
via e-mail

… but maybe he’ll be breaking rocks

Re “Will Doolittle do time?” by Ralph Brave and Kel Munger (SN&R Feature Story, May 3):

I first met Mr. Doolittle 15 years ago at a service club in Rocklin, where he gave a disturbing speech. The thrust of it was to pick on incarcerated people. In a voice of sanctimony and self-righteousness, he said, “Take away their color TVs and make them break-up rocks.”

If the congressman is convicted and does do time, wouldn’t it be ironic if he did time without a color TV and was forced to break-up rocks? His words may come back to haunt him.

I hope Mr. Brave and Ms. Munger will do another well-written and researched article (good job, guys) on the “Doolittle Machine” here in Placer County and the connections John Doolittle has with most of our elected officials.

Jim Carlson
via e-mail

Did he tithe on that dough?

Re “Will Doolittle do time?” by Ralph Brave and Kel Munger (SN&R Feature Story, May 3):

I loved your piece on Doolittle. I wish you had asked whether he paid his 10 percent tithe on all that “extra” income, as his church, the Mormon Church, demands.

Curt Cardwell, Assistant Professor
Department of History,

Drake University

Uh, the Auburn Dam isn’t much

Re “Some Dems should do time, too …” (SN&R Letters, May 10):

Gregg Wardrip, like most Republicans who find themselves on the losing side of an argument, suddenly tries to come off nonpartisan, declaring that all politicians are crooked so you shouldn’t only pick on one side. Often, they make a feeble attempt to show their reasonable side by stating that there is, after all, something that irks them about their own party. Gregg shows he’s not just any “Bushie” with the confession that Doolittle pinches his environmental nerve by promoting an issue that is certainly on the collective minds of people around the world: the Auburn Dam.

While Doolittle has been and is in lockstep with Bush on WMD and Iraq, Abu Ghraib, the “Surge,” “support” for the troops by propagandizing Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman, defending Bush on Katrina and Walter Reed, and seeing nothing sinister about the outing of Valerie Plame, the worst Gregg can say about Doolittle has to do with the Auburn Dam? Then, in keeping with the lone talking head talking point, Gregg brings up the lone Democrat under investigation, William Jefferson, without, of course, mentioning ethically challenged Republicans Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, Bob Ney, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Tom DeLay and David Safavian.

You’re right, Gregg: There is a lot of house cleaning to do. And, in November of 2008, we Democrats will finish what we started in November of 2006.

Ron Waggoner
Sacramento

Vote for that maverick

Re “The real maverick” (SN&R Bites, May 10):

Thanks for covering Ron Paul, the only presidential candidate who has consistently voted against the war and against the Patriot Act and who is purposely being ignored by the mainstream media despite debate host MSNBC’s own polls showing him as the clear winner. He is the only candidate whom our Founding Fathers would endorse.

More importantly, he is the only candidate who has proven himself worthy to uphold the oath of office to protect our constitution. As a longtime reader, I think he is the one candidate who is in line with the views of your readers and staff as well.

Keith C. Kimber II
via e-mail

Don’t ban her bulbs

Re “A ‘light bulb moment’” (SN&R Guest Comment, May 10):

Thomas Goff’s Guest Comment raises a point that is very important to many people.

I have friends who complain that fluorescent lights bring on migraines. For one, it is so severe that the only way she can work in an office is to bring her own incandescent task lighting to “drown out” the effect of the fluorescents. There is evidence that people with neurological problems, including epilepsy and [multiple sclerosis], have similar ill effects from fluorescent lighting.

Lloyd Levine’s bill sentences these people to a lifetime of pain, perhaps even spending the rest of their lives lying down in a dark room instead of being productive taxpaying citizens.

Educating people to the savings available from compact fluorescents is a good idea. Telling people who cannot tolerate fluorescent lighting that they no longer have the choice to stay healthy and productive with incandescent bulbs is not beneficial to anyone. If incandescents are banned, I will buy several cases before the ban takes effect and continue to use them. I conserve electricity in other ways, but saving a few watts is not worth ruining my health.

Karen M. Campbell
founder, www.cfsfacts.org

Nose for sexism

Re “Complete this sentence: All men are created …” (SN&R Streetalk, May 3):

I suggest you reconsider your promotion of anti-male sexist humor in choosing to print the response to your question: “… with an inability to take their fingers out of their noses.” Had you asked people to complete “All women are created … ” or “All blacks are created … ” or “All homosexuals are created … ” or singled out any other group, you would certainly not have printed responses that insult an entire group like that.

I know what you’re thinking: Men are supposed to take it like a man. That is, we are supposed to get in touch with our feelings, but only express those feelings that feed the female ego. Still, you should consider whether it helps society to raise boys in an environment where the media denigrates them so pervasively. As the single father of a young son, I assure you that these negative messages are indeed quite harmful and irresponsible.

Fred Hayward
Sacramento

Hitting bottom in Iraq

Re “George, are you listening?” (SN&R Editorial, May 3) and “Stop paying for war” (SN&R Guest Comment, May 3):

We must demand that Congress vote against further war appropriations and intervene to stop the president’s war. It’s a huge mistake, and it’s time to support our troops by bringing them home.

Our “enemy” in Iraq (and Afghanistan) is not Sunnis, Shiites or the dozens of local tribal militias. The “enemy” is the faceless Al Qaeda franchise—a parent organization to similar civil strife in Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere. It is irrelevant that we are trying to fight the invisible Al Qaeda in Iraq because we could be fighting Al Qaeda anywhere, yet our presence there has cost some 100,000 civilian lives and inspired thousands of grieving Iraqi youth to take up arms against us regardless of our mission.

We do not have enough resources to settle the Iraqi civil war—a war that was not even caused by our “enemy,” Al Qaeda. So who are we fighting, and why? The facts are: We provoked civil war in two sovereign nations hoping to find Al Qaeda. We haven’t found them. We were wrong. Let’s all come home.

David Merritt
Sacramento

Idol speculation

Re “Idol chatter” by Joel Davis (SN&R Essay, May 3):

Like Joel Davis, I have never seen American Idol and I also hate it with an utter and inexplicable vengeance. I agreed with everything he had to say about it, except for two things:

First, I have never had green olive and mushroom soup, but I would like that disgusting-sounding concoction much more than I like American Idol.

Second, The Gong Show was a lot better than American Idol must be, which is just another indicator of how much American Idol sucks in my own “Never Been There, Never Gonna Do That” book.

Melissa Lobach
Placerville

That last mile’s rough

Re “What is so unsustainable about purchasing your average food product from the grocery store?” (SN&R Ask A Treehugger, May 3):

According to research on the subject, the single most costly (in terms of energy) portion of the voyage of food from the field to our table is the trip we take to the grocery store in our automobile.

Thus, taking public transit, walking or riding a bike to get to the farmers’ market or grocery store is hugely important.

Bernadette Balics
Davis