Speak Out 11/2/09

Protecting the unborn

MY wife is also seven months pregnant. If someone killed her and our unborn child, I would want the killer to pay for both people he stole from me.

Try peace surge

REGARDING the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Is it possible to obtain a credible and stable government when shots are being fired and blood is being shed? They need leaders who are receptive to peace. More hostile offensives and surges can only cause more bloodshed. A peace offensive would be more successful.

War blame

THE deaths of our soldiers in Afghanistan due to poor leadership in Washington have made headlines recently. Our president continues to blame former president George Bush whenever it suits his political needs. As Charles Krauthammer has recently pointed out, Obama was elected nearly a year ago, then announced in March, with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State by his side, his comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Soldiers are dying in Afghanistan due to Obama's failed policy, not Bush's. Obama should listen to his own general and send the reinforcements he has requested. Stop blaming Bush.

Good information

IN response to the story "Parents try to understand special needs trusts": I am father of a 22-year-old Down syndrome daughter. The article had good information. I and other parents would like to have more information on guardianship, procedures to file in court and a list of reasonable attorneys who specialize in such matters.

Need new voices

GOT to love the Opinion page. In one column, Mona Charen gets the situation in Honduras totally wrong, toeing the Fox News line that the people of Honduras got rid of a dictator. Someone tell her that the people actually protested the coup by that country's business elites. What was President Manuel Zelaya's crime? Trying to amend the Honduran constitution to give its people more power. Charen's errors and assessment would be laughable if you didn't have influence over those who don't have access to real news. But even better, David Limbaugh sobs about a perceived liberal conspiracy to change our country. It's one thing for him to defend the remarks of his brother that cannot be defended. It's another thing for him to claim that Obama's administration wants to "shut down talk radio" if its programming is too conservative. This paper needs some actual liberal voices. The conservative voices just don't get it.