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Roberts is fully qualified to serve on the Supreme Court

Re: Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.

President Bush has tapped a qualified man of solid character to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. John Roberts has the intellect and experience required to fill such an important position in our government.

Judge Roberts has succeeded in both the public and private sectors - from his time as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, to a brilliant career as a private-practice attorney, to his current position as a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Most impressively, as deputy U.S. solicitor general, he argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court.

Still, Judge Roberts isn't likely to sail through the confirmation process. He already is being bashed by those on the political left as out of touch with mainstream America, a baseless charge designed to direct attention away from the real issue: Liberals want a judge who will legislate from the bench rather than strictly interpret the Constitution.

Judge Roberts deserves better than to have his nomination derailed by these politically motivated attacks. More to the point, he is entitled to better under our Constitution.

Focus on Roberts' record

Re: John Roberts.

What a man has done is a better indicator of who he is than what he says he will do. Senators questioning Roberts for confirmation to the Supreme Court would do well to demand and examine his previous writings and decisions rather than depend upon speculative future issues.

Ask him about "advice and consent'

Re: It is not unreasonable to ask John Roberts' views on past cases, July 29.

It depends on which side of the aisle one sits in the Senate chambers for one to agree or disagree with Walter Dellinger's column headline.

One should expect the usual evasive responses to the committee members' questions as to the nominee's views on past cases. But it seems the first question to any prospective Supreme Court justice should be how the nominee interprets the "advice and consent" clause of the Constitution. And no evasive response should be acceptable.

The nominee's answer to that question alone would indeed give the committee members a clue how the nominee will respond to further questioning on his views.

Educational quality, the Enron way

Re: Bush's school reforms pay off, by Debra Saunders, Aug. 1.

Although not an "educrat," I still have to take exception to Debra Saunders' assertions about the effectiveness of President Bush's No Child Left Behind educational policy, both in Texas and nationally.

According to Molly Ivins, an astute columnist and bestselling author, as well as a student of Texas politics, her state is the "National Laboratory for Bad Policy." She uses a corporate metaphor when talking about this education reform: Enron's method of measuring performance using stock prices (which were inflated and manipulated).

According to Ivins, "Just as Enrons' focus on stock price corrupted the company, by encouraging every employee to do everything possible to keep the stock price climbing, school administrators were pressured to use "any means necessary' to pump up test scores. Everything from replacing good curriculum with text practice drills to dumping weak students likely to be a liability to the school's ratings."

Florida teachers repeatedly lament the time they have to spend preparing their students for these tests, limiting the time spent on the required curriculum. Unlike Saunders, I am more likely to take stock in these "educrats" than in a politician seeking to look good at children's expense.

No school aid for drug offenders

Re: Antidrug overkill, editorial, July 26.

It sickens me that illicit drug-using college students somehow believe that they are entitled to federal student aid after they have been found guilty of a drug offense. Nowhere does the law in question state that students must leave their institutions of higher education due to a drug offense. All it states is that the federal government will suspend, for a defined period of time, their ability to have the taxpayers pay for their education.

It stands to reason that students who can afford to support a drug habit could surely afford to pay their tuition for a little while. If anything, having their funds go to paying their own tuition might serve to decrease their drug budget, thereby assisting them with said "rehabilitation."

Let's not enable drug-offending students by continuing to subsidize their drug habits with free taxpayer dollars.

Breaking the chain of social ills

Re: Father absence is bane of black community, July 25.

What a thought-provoking article about fatherless youths in the black community. With two-thirds of black children born out of wedlock, this is a monumental problem that will not get better by itself, especially when coupled with poor reading and math scores in grade school and high school. This group of black youths (and other groups with the same characteristics) has condemned itself to the lower end of the economic chain unless something drastic is done to obtain skills and motivation. The economic disenfranchisement from the mainstream is frightening.

But what to do? It would seem to me that a start toward improvement would be to establish a mentoring program with successful black persons showing the needs and skills for success. Then, another program on birth control should help. Match this with "being a father out of wedlock is not cool" - that if fathers are found, they will have to pay support for their children. And perhaps another remedy might be used: If a mother repeatedly has children out of wedlock and will not name the father, future children would not be covered by welfare.

This chain of events that you described must be broken. Perhaps an idea or two from this concerned citizen might be helpful.

Exhibit of bodies was fascinating

Re: "Bodies, the Exhibition."

Last month my husband and I had the privilege of viewing the "Body Worlds" exhibit in Chicago. We found it to be one of the most fascinating and informative exhibits that we have ever seen.

It is exciting that "Bodies, the Exhibition" will be showing in Tampa at the Museum of Science and Industry, opening Aug. 20. It is a chance to view the human body in a new way and to understand our physiology.

We came away from the Chicago exhibit with a new respect for our magnificent bodies, and feel that anyone viewing the Tampa exhibit will benefit by having a better understanding of how our body works. We have recommended this to all of our family and friends.

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 00:36:17]