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Letters to the Editor Policy

Governor Can Not Attend

This letter is to inform you that the American Legion Post 357, Hallstead has received a letter of regret from Governor Rendell regarding attending the Freedom Memorial dedication ceremony on September 11. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he will not be able to attend the dedication.

However, he thanked the Hallstead–Great Bend American Legion for the opportunity and wants us to keep him informed of any other upcoming events.

He also wished us luck on the Day.

Commander Richard Rood

American Legion Post 357

Call To Stop Delivery

What do you do with all the junk mail, especially the catalogues that you receive? Probably the same thing I did, put them in the garbage. Then I had a thought that something could be done to eliminate this problem, before we fill up our landfills and try to ease the burden of our garbage men and postal workers. My husband, Bob was a former rural carrier, and had to carry all this around.

It would only take a few minutes of your time to call the toll-free 800 number on the back of those catalogues to ask that your name be removed from their mailing list. So far this week, I have called ten numbers. The requests I made were met with pleasant people, who tell me "no problem" and (eventually) it will stop.

Sincerely,

Corrine Robinson

Susquehanna, PA

A Revealing Moment

In a rare moment of candor, President Bush recently let it slip that the War on Terrorism can’t be won – before he returned to the Official Party Line that it will.

He was right the first time. It’s not a real war. It’s like the War on Drugs, or the War on Crime. Drugs will never go away. Crime will always be around. And so will terrorism. The best we can do is prevent as much as possible.

But our chances of doing that are diminished if we over-rely on a military strategy. As Osama demonstrates, it’s easy to evade military pursuit. It makes one wonder whether the War on Terrorism is merely a pretext for a separate, geopolitical agenda. It was in the case of Iraq.

To really combat terrorism, we need a more comprehensive approach. We need "sandals on the ground" – Arabic-fluent infiltrators to find out what malefactors are up to. We need to pay more attention to the risk of old Soviet nukes falling into the wrong hands. Since terrorism is a trans-national problem, it requires a high degree of international coordination. Unfortunately, this won’t be as forthcoming. And we need to do a better job shutting down sources of terrorist funding – something we haven’t quite done since dubious Muslim agencies so often contain partners of prominent, American businessmen.

And there’s one more thing we need to carefully consider: how much are we willing to give up in exchange for merely feeling safe? Are we willing to allow a tidal wave of red ink to drown our economic future (God forbid we make the superrich pay their share)? Are we willing to let the primary fiscal priority of our government be Corporate Welfare? Are we willing to let a 34 year, bipartisan legacy of environmental protections be tossed in the trash? Are we willing to stack the courts with Judicial Activists of the Far Right, who will flatly ignore 60 years of established precedents that protect our rights and freedoms from government excesses? Are we willing to keep marching toward Theocracy ourselves, even as we fight a theocratic adversary?

Because, that’s what we’re doing right now, and for the sake of the War on Terrorism, none of it is necessary.

Sincerely,

Stephen Van Eck

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Letters To The Editor MUST BE SIGNED. They MUST INCLUDE a phone number for "daytime" contact. Letters MUST BE CONFIRMED VERBALLY with the author, before printing. At that time you may request to withhold your name. Letters should be as concise as possible, to keep both Readers' and Editors' interest alike. Your opinions are important to us, but you must follow these guidelines to help assure their publishing.

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