Letters to the Editor Policy

Tea, For You And Me!

Wow, what a speech. It is so obvious that the term "on the table" means it is up to the spiteful republicans. They have so much to hold against the democrats. Now they can pick bones (their own).

The republicans have to spend their money. They have the power, which they gloat about. Now it is on them to stop smirking and prove to the laid off Americans.

Now is the time to release the flow of money so small business can grow (who they say they speak for) and put jobs back into the grassroots folks who they speak for. The grand old party is now happier than the 3 little pigs. Now I feel the democrats can't stop them. (Give a fool enough rope). It is time for them to spend the money that they have been holding back for spite. Now it rests on their shoulders.

You do know they are watching, so stop smirkin, get the grin off your face and just pray for two things - that it is not too late to educate American children and that it is not too late to recapture the free market for American businessmen who are scrambling in the muck.

Two years of making the president look bad and two years of allowing the laid off workers to blame Obama has cost America. Just pray it is not too late. I am glad I am not a member of your party. You have put our country on the verge of a point of no return. Water boarding America needs to stop!

The ball has been in your court all the time and all the Americans who don't have jobs will be watching you. Tea for you, and tea for me!

Sincerely,
Peter A. Seman
Thompson, PA

State Of The Union

I watched the President’s speech last Tuesday night and felt that I was watching a lackluster football pep rally led by the battered quarterback. His team had been hammered at the end of the second quarter and he was trying to rally the team to hold on to the lead of the first quarter. Even though his team was substantially diminished by the November election, in listening to the rally, it was evident that the quarterback intended to play the third and fourth quarters using exactly the same game plan and plays as the first half. Specifically, he calls for substantial additional spending on failed programs and no reversal of direction with the exception of redefining spending as investment. A rose by any other name smells the same, except this is no rose. The quarterback is and has made no effort to correct the failed plays of the first half. With respect to his observation on the achievements of our students, or lack thereof, a blitz on the NEA might be more effective. With respect to our bloated Federal government, not a peep. With respect to any meaningful debt reduction measures, complete silence. It is going to be an ugly second half, with the greatest pain suffered by the spectators (Americans).

For me, I fully expect that the president is going to continue as best he can to solidify his (not our) Progressive gains and to posture for re-election by mimicking the Cheshire Cat. To do so, he will attempt to portray himself as a born again moderate rather than the Progressive that he is. I know that we must evaluate every utterance out of his mouth against his words and actions of the last two years. The man is 100% the same man. A man we need to get rid of as soon as possible (by the ballot box, this is America). In the meantime, expect wails of “Do nothing Congress!”, punctuated with weeping and wailing about starving and dying children along with teacher, police and firefighter furloughs (but few if any bureaucrats) brought about by heartless Tea Party radicals. God forbid that we scale back the pay and benefits of federal, state and county bureaucrats as the rest of us deal with 9%+ unemployment. To the contrary, the aims of the Tea Party, with your support, will bring about prosperity over time using self-reliance, responsibility, smaller federal government and a balanced budget. Keep your eye on the ball.

Sincerely,
Joe McCann
Elk Lake, PA

Winds Of Change

It happened once before in Europe about 100 years ago. And, as history is want to repeat itself, might be happening once again, this time in North Africa.

Gavrilo Princip was a young, unemployed and improvised political discontent in the Austria-Hungary Empire. He might have lived and died in obscurity had it not been for two shots he fired in 1914. Each found its mark; one at the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne and the other at his wife. Both were mortally wounded.

Only two bullets, yet they triggered WWI, a conflagration that engulfed the entire world, lasted four years, left 37 million dead in its wake, and tore down three European royal dynasties: the Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary, the Hohenzollerns of Prussia/Germany, and the Romanovs of Russia.

The names, places, and dates, have changed, but the storyline of 2011 is a replay of 1914.

Mohammed Bouazizi was a young, unemployed and improvised political discontent in Tunisia. Unable to find work, he sold fruits and vegetables from a cart. But when his produce was confiscated by the police because he lacked a vending license, it was more than he could bear.

Bouazizi doused himself with gasoline and torched himself in front of a government building. He was rushed to a hospital where he was visited by the very man he protested against, the tyrannical president of Tunisia, Ben Ali.

Bouazizi died January 4. His death ignited a revolution in Tunisia. The 23-year reign of Ben Ali came to a violent and ignominious end. The deposed autocrat fled for his life to Saudi Arabia with 1,000 pounds of stolen gold bullion.

Satellite TV and the Internet spread the Tunisian uprising in real-time throughout Arab lands. In a world that does not lack oppressive dictators, out-of-touch kings, and zealous emirs, it is a time of foreboding. Could the winds of change be blowing over the Arab world as they did in pre-WW I Europe?

Tunisia is a small nation of 10 million, but it is strategically sandwiched in the middle of five nations that border North Africa: Algeria and Morocco are on its West, and Libya and Egypt are on its East. All are ripe for revolution.

Look at the aging oligarchs of these five nations.

Algeria is ruled by a president-for-life who has been supported by the military since 1999. Morocco’s king has wielded almost total power for 11 years as a secular leader and as a descendant of Mohammed he is also “Commander of the Faithful.”

Tunisia is in political and social turmoil. Ongoing riots have claimed 100 lives. What kind of government will eventually be installed, whether democratic or Islamic, depends upon how much the Tunisian people hold the United States responsible for supporting the police state of Ben Ali.

Libya's quirky strongman, Mummar Gaddafi, has been in power for the last 41 years. And Egypt's dictator, Mohammed Mubarak, had held the reigns of government for the past 30 years.

The five nations are plagued by the same problems that inspired the Tunisian uprising: rising prices, rampant corruption, and unemployment. To know how the aging despots will respond to these problems is to know the future. Lacking clairvoyancy, informed speculation offers the best glimpse of the future.

The overarching concern is Islamic extremism. Each of the five nations has a Muslim population in excess of 97 percent with the exception of Egypt with 94 percent. However, analysts estimate the proportion of extremists at only 20 percent. But they are a vocal and passionate minority. The United States' Revolutionary War was started by just such a dedicated minority.

The extremists are opposed by secular liberals who fear that if Islamists take power it will be “one man, one vote, one time.” For now the two forces are in a delicate balance. But Tunisia shows just how easily this balance can be upset.

The world wonders: What will be the “Tunisia effect” in North Africa and throughout the Arab world? Could it be the catalysis for other revolutions even in Arab nations that the West depends upon for oil? It seems unlikely; perhaps as improbable as a fruit peddler’s death sparking a revolution or two shots starting a world war.

Sincerely,
Bob Scroggins
New Milford, PA

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