Liberals are the ones who have left the nation divided
Letters to the Editor
Published September 18, 2005
Re: United we stood - for a little while, Sept. 11.
Philip Gailey blames the destruction of our national unity after 9/11 on President Bush, saying the president squandered it with "his administration's lies." This assumes and attempts to further the big lie fostered by the liberal media and Democratic leaders that the president did lie. They need to explain how the president, who was acting on the best available intelligence (a slam-dunk according to CIA director George Tenet, a Clinton holdover) did in fact lie.
We lost our national unity because of Democratic partisans like Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Patrick Leahy and Barbara Boxer, who loudly proclaimed, "Bush lied!" They were abetted by the liberal media, which repeated this often enough that part of an undiscerning public came to accept it as truth. We lost our unity because liberals would rather bash the president and regain power than see our country stem the tide of Islamic terrorists.
Philip Gailey is like many of the St. Petersburg Times editors in that he ignores truth in order to advance his anti-Bush, liberal agenda at the expense of our national unity.
-- Mike Lyons, Apollo Beach
An excess of Bush hatred
Re: Perspective, Sept. 11.
You guys in the media just don't get it. Why don't you just change the name of your editorial section from "Perspective" to "We hate George Bush"? It would be a lot more accurate.
In the Sept. 11th section of Perspective:
Martin Dyckman wrote, "Many people are ready to rank George W. Bush among the worst of American presidents."
Adam Smith wrote, "Iraq looks messier and messier. Gasoline prices have soared. The president's controversial plans for overhauling Social Security give Democrats a big cudgel to hammer Republicans among seniors."
Philip Gailey wrote, "President Bush has squandered the national unity that formed around his post-9/11 leadership with his administration's lies."
Did none of your writers see the recent CNN/USA Today survey that showed only 13 percent of Americans blame President Bush for the woes of Katrina? This after a week of steady, high visibility pounding by the media and Democratic Party leadership that Bush was solely responsible for all the bad things Katrina brought with her. It's pretty clear most of America does not share your myopic hatred of President Bush and is unwilling to blame every bad thing on him.
Sure, there are legitimate areas that are open to differences of opinion and constructive criticism, but most of America wants to move forward and focus on the positive instead of wallowing in the past.
-- James Tischler, Tampa
Add sense to energy policy
Re: Oil is a necessity the nation must learn to manage, letter, Sept. 11.
While agreeing with some of what the letter writer said, I do not agree with the following statement: "The unregulated oil industry intentionally chose to limit refinery capacity in order to create higher prices." It is not the oil industry that intentionally limits refinery capacity but a vast number of politicians and regulators that make it extremely difficult and expensive to build new capacity or to expand existing capacity.
The same applies to the nuclear energy facilities in this country. It makes no sense for an energy-short country such as ours to have a policy of no more nuclear power plants when countries like France have most of their electricity coming from safe nuclear plants.
If we continue to leave the construction of these facilities to other countries and to continue to import ever-increasing amounts of our strategically important energy requirements then we should not be surprised if these energy-producing countries to "hold us hostage" and demand political quid pro quos for supplying us with much-needed energy.
-- Desmond Fowles, Palm Harbor
Stirring up the waters
Re: Reality finally bites Bush, Sept. 11.
I was going to respond to Robyn Blumner's Sunday column earlier, but decided it was really not worth it. However, after I read that interesting article by Bill Coats (Here's why storm frenzy may rage for years) regarding AMO (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation), it seems that Blumner was wrong about global warming being the cause of "more powerful hurricanes."
She also asks the question "can you protect America by sending its National Guard to fight in Mesopotamia?" I guess Blumner does not understand the duties of the National Guard. They are not just homeland troops, but a part of our reserve forces and always have been.
Blumner was right about one thing though: After the investigation is completed we will find that the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana will shoulder the blame along with the Bush administration. Every city, county (parish) and state should have an emergency plan that is reviewed every year. If this had been done by local officials, who had three days' warning, much of this tragegy could have been averted.
-- Dan Pennisi, Palm Harbor
Bush needs a dose of reality
One of the and best articles I have read lately is Reality finally bites Bush by Robyn E. Blumner.
She really tells it like it is. I hope it will make everyone who reads it think twice, especially the Bush supporters who blame everyone else but the one they should! We all need to let the president know that he needs to wake up to the real world and lead the country in the right direction.
I think the country is getting carried away with museums and memorials to victims of varied catastrophes. Years ago I read (or heard) that true grief is borne alone and true joy is shared. This I believe, for who is ever going to forget such tragedies? The survivors do not need reminding of what was "the end of their world."
The money spent, as well as the time of planning and erecting such monuments, could be well spent in other, more needy areas that will benefit the living.
-- Barbara Leary, Ruskin
Is it a football thing?
Re: Bucs fans, you'll be searched on Sunday, Sept. 14.
I now see that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to pat down fans at their football games. Having just returned from California and attending an Angels game in Anaheim, a Padres game in San Diego, and a NASCAR event in Fontana without a pat-down, I would question whether the NFL trusts its fans less than Major League Baseball or NASCAR, or is just more paranoid.
-- Charles Kling, Tampa
[Last modified September 17, 2005, 02:30:05]
