Letters to the Editor 10/25

Americans want real debate on health care

Just an observation, Eugene Paslov, but based on your comments of Oct. 17, you have become that which you detest. You want those who disagree with your views to "rot in Hades." Then you jump into fear mongering with your statement "they will literally deal death sentences to citizens."

Next you jump on the bash-U.S.A. bandwagon with the well-refuted, "We rank with Third World countries in terms of infant mortality." It's only true as a statistic. Many of the infants who die a short time after being born would have died prior to birth if not for our technology. Remove those from the stats and you have a totally different story.

Our health care system needs some changes, just not what you are trying to shove down our throats. Take a real look at England, Canada or Australia. From an article in the CSMonitor, "We are surprised that given the massive spend on health care, Britain is not faring better," says Kasja Wilhelmsson, director of European affairs at the Health Consumer Powerhouse, a Brussels-based health care research group that conducted the survey. "For waiting times, they are pretty close to the worst in Europe. And outcomes (of treatment) is not high either."

I believe all Americans want a change, but they want a legitimate debate to find the best solutions for us all.

Walt Owens

Carson City

America has long standing history of evil acts

Concerning the label "axis of evil," America isn't and never was any less evil than any other country.

To prove it, I will start with the Indians. Two hundred plus years ago, every tribe east of the Mississippi was slaughtered in the name of progress. Are you familiar with "the ends justify the means?" Our forefathers, along with owning slaves, were responsible for all that. And that gold you love to wear, don't forget it was dripping with the blood of Indians who were wiped out so miners could stake their claims. Please take a moment to think about that.

World War II made our economy work and pulled America out of the Great Depression. But it also made billions for the filthy rich, like the Rockefellers.

I must also mention President Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin. Johnson needed something to win the election against Barry Goldwater. Johnson used the Tonkin issue to exaggerate the threat in Vietnam and provoke fear in the American people. He wanted to appear as a strong wartime candidate, someone Americans felt safe and secure with. And it worked. He was elected president, but the war escalated and raged on. By war's end, 50,000 American lives were lost, as well as the war.

Remember how Bush got re-elected, making Americans feel safe after 9/11? And now the news - more troops are needed, the war continues to escalate. Sound familiar?

Too many Americans don't give much thought to history, or to those killed in war. Do you really believe you're any less evil?

Edward Ken Blair

Carson City

Criticism of Lyon County cases misleading

I found the guest column by the Life, Peace and Justice Committee to be very vague and misleading. Example: "Authorities decided that a young man (Domingo Hernandez) wasn't smart enough to not set himself on fire."

Really? Did that statement come out of Lyon County's Sheriff Department or Justice Department, because if that is the case, I'm sure "60 Minutes" or some such show would appreciate the major scoop.

The second story again assaults Lyon County's (which I have absolutely nothing to do with) and readers' intelligence. There are major injustices to all ethnicities and huge budget problems everywhere.

There are several groups like la Raza (the Race) and in fact our very own ACLU that if they felt merited would be more than happy to look into both stories.

If all else fails, you can always pass the plate for "CSI: Miami"-style investigation. Lyon County I'm sure would welcome your support. Hope you have a very large and wealthy congregation.

William S. Snyder

Carson City

Kudos to Heller for prompt, informative reply

I've come to the conclusion that writing to our representatives in Washington, D.C., is an exercise in futility, with one exception.

Recently, I wrote to Sens. Ensign and Reid as well as Rep. Dean Heller expressing my concerns about the health care reform. Sen. Reid replied with letter that answered none of my concerns, wandered all over the place and ended with his saying what he wanted in the bill.

Sen. Ensign's eventual reply was a real eye-opener. Although my letter asked questions about health care reform, his two-page reply thanked me for my letter regarding "Cash for Clunkers." That was certainly helpful since I could have cared less about that particular government give-away.

However, I received a prompt and helpful answer from Dean Heller. Kudos to him and his staff for actually addressing the matter I was interested in. I find Mr. Heller to be very responsive to questions. Too bad there aren't more like him in Congress.

Marilyn Sturges

Carson City

White House attacks on Fox not reported

One would think White House attacks on Fox News would be front page, headline stuff - unless, of course, you are interested only in your freedom of the press. Good luck with that. Consider Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984): "When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out."

Dave Campbell

Carson City