Letters to the Editors

Manufacturing deserves help from tariffs

Re: How President Bush stumbled on steel, by David Ignatius, May 20.

I don't think Bush stumbled on steel. Free trade is good for most things, but not for manufactured items. To preserve our way of life, we must protect our mills and factories, and this means we must apply tariffs to manufactured imports. We had effective tariffs like these until about 50 years ago.

Why does the United States (and every other country) need to protect its manufacturing? An economy cannot grow without manufacturing to create new products for sale.

Manufacturing is an unmatchable source of well-paid jobs. With the decline of our manufacturing during the last few decades, real wages of most Americans fell disastrously. In recent years, even with both spouses working, many families have had to cut back their spending. Thus, low wages are beginning to hurt business owners also.

We need manufacturing to build military supplies. If we relied on imports, what would we do if we went to war against the supplier of those imports? We were the world's leading manufacturer when World War II began, and without that capability, we probably would have lost the war.
-- Jack Gregg, Largo

Questioning is not unpatriotic

Why is it unpatriotic to question this president? Bush scolded those in Washington -- Republicans and Democrats -- whose "second nature is to second guess."

Bush -- who believes in moral absolutes -- was quick to point out that if he knew of the terrorist attacks ahead of time he would have tried to stop it.

No kidding.

Excuse me, but apparently those weren't exactly "surprise attacks." In August, Zacarias Moussaoui, who wanted to learn how to fly (but not land) a 747 commercial airliner, was arrested in Minnesota. The FBI agent who interviewed him concluded that he was "the type of person that could fly something into the World Trade Center."

About the same time, we also learned that an FBI agent in Phoenix was concerned with suspicious Middle Eastern men who were taking flight training.

Bush received an intelligence briefing in August warning that al-Qaida operatives were planning a U.S. commercial airline hijacking.

Up until now, we were led to believe that airport security was lax in September because the hijackings were a complete surprise.

So, because Bush believes that if you aren't with him you're against him, we are suppose to shut up and never mention it again. We are suppose to blindly believe he will always do the right thing and will always tell us everything we need to know. Unfortunately, this is the same guy who is still stonewalling Congress as to exactly which oil executives helped Dick Cheney dream up America's new energy policy.

We may be at war, but this is still a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. A well-informed public is still crucial to a democracy's survival, but obviously, in times of war, we can't expect the usual free flow of information.

Republicans and Democrats agree that there was a major communications breakdown between the FBI, CIA and the White House.

Fine. Someone made a horrible mistake. So let's make damn sure it never happens again. How can it be unpatriotic to question this president?
-- David Lawrence, Tampa

See, hear, speak no evil

Please let me know when it will be alright to question the wisdom and actions of my government. Then I will take off my blindfold, unplug my ears, remove the tape from my mouth and untie my hands . . . and live as an American again.
-- Jim Santamour, St. Petersburg

Major changes are necessary

It is clear that nearly nine months after Sept. 11 that we still need a rebirth of the FBI and CIA in order to protect us from the threat of terrorism. The Bush post-9/11 solution to praise the FBI and CIA to enhance their morale while giving them an opportunity to quietly reorganize, has apparently been an abysmal failure. Only now, as questions mount, has the FBI director offered specific organizational changes. These changes seem designed to pretend the problems have been solved rather than to enhance our capabilities of fighting terrorism. As pointed out in the Rowley memo, the ineptitude at high levels of the FBI pre-9/11 continue, and the proposed superficial changes may further worsen our ability to respond to terrorist threats in the future.

Major changes are necessary in the operation of the FBI and CIA. These agencies seem more interested now in covering up their past failures than in focusing on our future needs. Only a national commission and an informed public can require the improvements to our security that will protect the world's greatest democracy.
-- Martin D. Peters, Jr., Tarpon Springs

Wrong place, wrong time

Re: 10 protesters arrested at rally in front of MacDill, May 27.

Having served for more than 22 years in the military, helping to defend the rights of American citizens to protest and other forms of free speech, I cannot find fault with the right of people to protest the current "war on terrorism." However, I do find fault with the time they chose to make their protest and the place they chose to make it.

Memorial Day weekend is the time that we should spend honoring our military personnel, current and past, and especially those who have given their lives to protect these rights. It is in extremely poor taste, if not bordering on treason, to choose this weekend and this location to protest an action of our government which they disagree with. I think they should all be very ashamed of their actions.
-- Archie H. Anderson, USAF Retired, Plant City

Present-day patriotism

As a Marine combat veteran, it makes me heartsick the way the Bush administration, the people of New York and the military-industrial complex are milking the attack of Sept. 11 for every bit of political and financial gain they can get from it. These three groups should be ashamed of themselves.

As for all the police and firefighting heroes, they did nothing more than millions of veterans did who kept their mouths shut about it after they returned to civilian life. So much for our present-day version of patriotism.
-- Charles Ackley, Seminole

They'll never put partisanship aside

Re: Too serious for posturing, editorial, May 21.

I do not think that either party's leadership can put aside partisanship for any reason, even one as important as the nation's security. I am reminded of a statement made on an unrelated manner in the Washington Post Magazine some years ago: Washington is a city where problems aren't solved; they are manipulated for political gain.
-- William Carroll, Gulfport

Random security is no security

Re: Color our government fatalistic, by Maureen Dowd, May 24.

Maureen Dowd tells it like it really is. Maybe one could come up with better colors for this current administration, but her suggestions should be poignant enough to get her message across. Let there be no misunderstanding: Everyone wants more "security" at airports since Sept. 11, and certainly no one should be discriminated against simply by ethnicity.

Recently relatives of mine, who are in their late 70s, had their bodies scanned, shoes removed and luggage opened at the airport. No one should find anything wrong with this, except this so-called "security" is done randomly. Give us a break! Unless everyone is searched appropriately, this procedure is like playing Russian Roulette.

If one really wants "security," make no exception for anyone who chooses to fly today, inconvenience notwithstanding; otherwise, this is just another government pretense with no productive purpose.
-- Russell Lee Johnson, St. Petersburg

The security charade

I am a frequent flyer departing Tampa weekly. The abject stupidity going on at security checks is breathtaking. In an effort to enforce political correctness above all else, airport security is a joke. The latest moron move by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to ban handguns from the pilots is beyond the pale. Anyone who flies that thinks the current system is of any value is truly clueless. The ridiculous shoe removal and searching of 80-year-olds in wheelchairs, pilots and FBI agents is mind-boggling, while people who fit the profile of a terrorist are free to board without scrutiny so that we don't racially profile.

Mineta needs to be fired immediately, to be replaced with someone who has the interest of this country first, and an eye for actual security. The current charade of security now being carried out at airports all over the country is a stupid, useless waste of time and money.
-- Thomas H. McSunas, Palm Harbor

Let the pilots decide

Re: No guns for pilots, Bush aide advises, May 22.

After qualification, why not let the pilot choose whether or not he/she is armed on any particular flight? The less terrorists know, the more it disrupts their plans. Furthermore, if during a terrorist hijacking I had a choice of the pilot firing his/her weapon or being shot down by a military aircraft I would opt for the former. The foregoing sounds like when the FDA tells a patient on his/her death bed that you cannot have a particular drug because they do not know its long-term effects. We certainly know the short-term effect of withholding.

In any event, I firmly believe that as a result of the tragic happenings of Sept. 11 and particularly the "let's roll" situation, air travel has changed forever. No longer will passengers react to terrorists' promises that remaining calm will result in everyone's safety. That is no longer an option.
-- Robert E. Britton, Palm Harbor

No sense of security

This past week, I had to go to Tampa Airport several times. Once it was to leave my car in long-term parking for a brief trip. There was no security at the entrance to the long-term parking garage. Why not?

On the other occasion, my husband and I went to the airport to pick up my mother-in-law. Yes, there were men in red shirts with latex gloves looking in the trunks of cars. I watched as the young man in the red shirt asked the woman in front of us to open her trunk. He looked in it for approximately three seconds. There was a large cardboard box in the trunk. I did not see him take anything out of the box or even move it. He did not look within the car or look under the body of the car.

What kind of idiotic system is this? I don't want to take away jobs from the personnel who are doing this work, but I want them to be trained adequately, so they will make a difference in airport security. The way security is set up at long or short term parking now is laughable. I have no sense of security at these areas right now. What can the higher-ups of security at Tampa Airport do to improve these areas?
-- Marilyn Satinoff, Palm Harbor

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