Change of Command
If, as you say, Obama must withdraw the troops, “declare a victory and leave,” fine (see “the Fall of Stanley McChrystal,” July 1, 2010). But do it now. General McChrystal understands something you do not, namely, that every day soldiers under his command are being killed.
A soldier fights to win. Period. Not to make political points for his boss. Asking him, or General Petraeus, or any commander, to go on putting on a show so you can falsify “victory” is playing politics with the lives of our best. And no soldier—indeed, no decent person—feels anything but contempt for that.
Obama would be better off to begin immediate withdrawal and let the political chips fall as they may. Better he falls on his sword than more young Americans fall on IEDs.
Dana L. Charboneau
via Online Comments
Don’t Blame Obama
As a native of the Northampton area, I cannot believe that people are blaming Obama for the financial crisis, among other things. This man has only been in office a little over a year. He is trying to fix the horrible mess that Bush left not only this country but the world.
As far as health insurance goes, I think it is funny that the U.S. is the only well-capitalized democratic nation that does not have socialized health care. Thus our health care system serves not to help the people but to line the pockets of insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
Obama can only do so much; there are many idiots in Congress who only care about money, greed, power and whether the people that gave money to their campaigns (like Big Oil) are happy. Even if it was McCain in office, and God help us if that happened, he could not fix in one year what Bush took eight to destroy.
BP should be banned from drilling in the U.S. ever again. They have no respect for our country, our environment or our people.
Deborah Fuller
via Online Comments
Not Republicans Who Hold Unemployed Hostage
By putting the issue of joblessness—and the needs of tens of millions of people in economic trouble—last on their docket, the Democratic Party has pretty much assured itself of destruction.
Instead, they saved the banks, Wall Street, the auto industry, the health insurance industry (not that it needed saving), the war industry and their bankrupting and unwinnable wars.
While Arno Duncan carves out new territories in public education to capitalize and cannibalize, our teachers are getting their pink slips. While [Defense Secretary] Robert Gates shuffles generals, we go bankrupt on their insane and unwinnable wars. While [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner and [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke try to puff up that gambling casino we call Wall Street, their endless propaganda—and phony numbers—only mask the growing problem of joblessness.
Democrats have defeated their own causes by turning every social issue into an opportunity for corporate welfare, tax cuts, credits and giveaways. I guess that’s what [White House Chief of Staff] Rahm Emmanuel means by taking advantage of a crisis. But it bankrupted their credibility among those who elected them, particularly the poor, the working class, the unemployed and people of color (not the centrists).
And nobody in political power is addressing the 30 years of downsizing, outsourcing, automation, privatization and the shift to contingent labor that has destroyed living-wage work in this country. All our politicians can do is give away our taxes to the corporations who have destroyed our lives with their greed and violence. What a surprise they can’t muster 15 billion for unemployment insurance. They spent trillions on the banks, tax cuts and wars: the cupboard is empty.
And so will the voting booth be come November.
Tom Taaffe
via Online Comments
Most State Pensions Not Exorbitant
As a retired state employee, I would like to state that the vast majority of retired state employees do not have exorbitant pensions by any means. Their pensions are supported by uncomplicated math and a spreadsheet on a computer.
Much is being made of the idea that the state is going broke with these pensions. The truth of the matter is, it is not. The pensions for the overwhelming majority of employees are largely self-funded. The payments that the state is currently making to the pension fund to insure proper funding are a result of many years of grossly improper management of the fund. That is not the fault of state employeees.
If state employees were only covered by Social Security, the state’s contribution to Social Security would exceed the state’s current yearly contribution to the pension fund. While there are examples of egregious excess, this is a result of people gaming the system and taking advantage of loopholes that have recently been closed. Many of the retirees with very, very large pensions were previously elected officials who who took advantage of loopholes.
Herbert Meyers
via Online Comments
Inhumanity to Chickens
What is sadly missing from the debate [about raising chickens in Valley towns] is the well-being of chickens themselves.
What most people do not know (or care about) is that these chickens are bred in hatcheries that treat them like inanimate objects, doing such things as mailing them as babies through the U.S. Postal Service. Hatcheries also send baby roosters as “packing material,” which leads to other grave problems, such as what happens to the grown-up roosters (always a bad thing, since municipalities that allow hens almost never allow roosters). So roosters are generally killed or thrown into the streets. It’s not at all unthinkable that some would be used for cockfights. And then what happens with the adult hens who are no longer laying eggs? They are usually murdered, which is, of course, the typical way humans reward animals who have unwillingly provided them with food. All that to say: the ultimate bigotry is that which humans perpetuate upon all creatures who are not born human.
Charlotte Monroe
via Online Comments
