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Lying is becoming part of the way we do things in America

Who's the bigger hypocrite, the Democrat screaming for the Republican politico's head for lying under oath after steadfastly defending President Clinton's lying under oath, or the Republican steadfastly defending his politico, accused of lying under oath, after calling for President Clinton's head when he lied under oath?

Unfortunately what can probably be accurately drawn from all of this is that we have become a nation of liars who will say whatever is necessary to get what we want. And we have all learned from TV and the movies that it's not telling the lie that is bad, but getting caught.

Nobody should be surprised by perjury. Go to the courthouse, to a trial. The best is a divorce and next best is a criminal trial. You have to look very hard to find a husband or wife who isn't lying in the divorce trial to get what he or she believes he or she is entitled to. Jailhouse snitches lie every day to curry favor with prosecutors in order to get their sentences reduced, and co-defendants do the same, or simply lie to deflect blame from themselves. Nobody is searching for the truth anymore. We just want to win . . . at any cost.

The fact is, until we start charging and punishing perjury, our judicial system will continue to decline in both credibility and effectiveness. Then what?

Democrats launch unfounded attacks

Re: Senate's Iraq war, editorial, Nov. 3.

The Democrats did yield something from their political stunt on Tuesday. They once again showed the American public that they are still not ready to lead our nation in the war in terror. Their constant focus on President Bush instead of the terrorists who are the real danger to me and my family is not only purely political but shameful.

In July 2004, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan 500-page report documenting the numerous intelligence failures in respect to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In that report it concluded not one Bush administration official attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts.

In March 2005 the Robb-Silberman report on weapons of mass destruction intelligence also found no evidence of political pressure from the Bush administration toward the analysts and their judgments.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the Lewis Libby indictment, said "This indictment's not about the propriety of the war, and people who believe fervently in the war effort, people who oppose it, people who have mixed feelings about it, should not look at this indictment for any resolution of how they feel or any vindication for how they feel." In short Fitzgerald said this indictment has nothing to do with the war or any coverup.

The Democrats are aware of all these facts and have been for a long time. But instead of trying to work with Republicans on how to fix the problems with our intelligence departments, they find it more necessary to launch unfounded attacks against President Bush and his administration.

Don't limit an investigation

Re: Senate's Iraq war, Nov. 3.

The recent editorial calling for an investigation of how the Bush administration handled intelligence is patently biased. No mention is made of calling for an investigation of how the Clinton administration handled the same intelligence. President Clinton, members of his Cabinet, advisers and Democratic senators were all extolling the dangers Saddam Hussein and Iraq posed for the world and us, when they were in office.

If we need an investigation, fine, but why limit the scope? Might those who want this investigation cringe at the fact that they now have drastically done an about-face on their position? Shake all the trees and see what comes down.

The people deserve the truth

The Democrats are finally taking a stand for the party and the American people. By invoking Rule 21 of the Senate, the party forced a closed session to insist on pushing for phase two of the investigation on prewar intelligence. It's about time there is an investigation on how the administration used the WMD intelligence and their exaggeration and overhype of the situation.

President Bush got support from Congress for the war after promising that war would be the last resort. He knew then he would invade Iraq, because of his vendetta against Saddam Hussein. The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee delayed phase two until after the election. He then continued this delay until forced in closed session to address the investigation. The American people deserve to know the truth on why we are in this unnecessary, unjust war in Iraq that has claimed more than 2,000 American lives and 30,000 innocent Iraqi civilian lives.

Both parties should want to know

Re: Democrats pull off power play on Iraq inquiry, Nov. 2.

The soldiers in Iraq are both Democrat and Republican. Both sides of the Senate should be demanding the results of the investigation into prewar intelligence.

Danger on the job

Re: Clearing the way, photo, Nov. 3.

The photo caption said that a Transportation Department employee "dashes in and out of traffic" to clear debris. No employee should be asked (or allowed) to risk his life on the job. I don't care if it is I-275 or if it is rush hour. Stop the traffic. His supervisor should be reprimanded. Kudos to the St. Petersburg Times for exposing this danger.

Questionable work environment

Re: Clearing the way, photo.

This photo prompts the following questions:

1) What is the shovel for?

2) How does moving a concrete chunk from the path of one car into the path of another improve the situation?

3) How high up the totem pole does Kenneth White rank in the Transportation Department?

4) Is his life insurance policy fully paid up?

5) Was his wife aware of what her husband was doing on Wednesday?

6) Does he have any dependent children?

7) What kind of relationship exists between White and his immediate superior?

8) Why didn't the police close down the northbound lanes of I-275 for 10 minutes, thus enabling White to clear the road, while improving his chances of one day collecting his pension?

Put cleanup before PR

Re: Progress Energy advertising.

Progress Energy needs to advertise because the company has some serious PR problems. Progress has the 12th dirtiest power plant in America at Crystal River and the plant is the second largest polluter in Florida. The Crystal River plant pumps around 500 pounds of toxic mercury into our air annually. The company hasn't lifted a finger to clean up even though other utilities, notably Tampa Electric, have cleaned up.

Florida Consumer Action Network is calling on Progress to be a good neighbor and clean up Crystal River. FCAN has gathered over 100 letters from Progress customers and sent them to company CEO Bob McGehee. However McGehee lives in North Carolina so he and his family are not exposed to pollution here.

Besides polluting, Progress does not offer its customers an option of choosing renewable or "green" energy sources. Other utilities, including TECO and FP&L have successful renewable programs. Come on, Progress. Don't spend money on ads. Spend money cleaning up your act.

Cut Saturday mail delivery

Re: Postal rate hike, Nov. 2.

Instead of raising the cost of postage, how about reducing cost? One good way to do this would be to cut out Saturday delivery. With the advent of direct deposit, electronic bill payment and e-mail, the importance of mail delivery is rapidly diminishing.

When I was a kid, mail was delivered twice a day. If people could adjust to once a day delivery, we surely could adapt to a five-day-a-week schedule.

Also, think of all the gas that would be saved!

The long-distance letter

I just read that the U.S. Postal Service was going to report a deficit and would have to increase postal rates again in order to balance its budget.

Since we all mail packages occasionally, we know that we pay more as the distance increases between cities and states. So why not apply the same logic to letters?

If a letter is mailed to another state, then there should be a 5-cent additional "OUT OF STATE" stamp on the envelope. This stamp should be designed just for this purpose.

The system is for envelope mail only and not for packages and should raise the postal service revenues considerably and be logically accepted by all citizens.

"Bodies' exhibit was a great experience

Dozens of rooms filled with dead bodies on display? The "Bodies" exhibit at MOSI sounds revolting and demoralizing at first. But the real thing is nothing of the sort.

The bodies used in the exhibit were maintained with polymer preservation, so they looked more like plastic than real human organisms. Still, we all knew we were staring at someone who had recently been breathing just like us.

The rooms of the exhibit continued on like a maze, but each was more interesting than the last. Some of the bodies had been reduced to their nerves and others to their muscles. It was a completely unique perspective of the body.

One room was filled with glowing, crimson blood vessels that floated in their displays. The blood vessels seemed more like pieces of art than channels through which the blood circulates. This sense of the spectacular visual qualities of the human body answered the question that had been on my mind: Why was a museum rather than a classroom the right place to show this?

The displays appeared to intrigue the other viewers as much as me. Every piece in each room was surrounded by a mass of people studying every inch of the display. The "Bodies" exhibit, being held until Feb. 26, was not grotesque, but educational and intriguing, an experience of learning about the human body from a source more personal than a textbook.

The great Skitch Henderson

Re: A pops pioneer, Nov. 3.

John Fleming's article on the passing of Skitch Henderson is an excellent tribute to a wonderful man who will be missed by many. Your great newspaper always gets it right with its insight and understanding of what the public wants to know.

Skitch was part of the bay area community for 20-plus years, performing with talent such as Marvin Hamlisch, Rosemary Clooney, Doc Severinson, Judy Collins, Bobby Short, Robin Leach and many more. He resided in my Tampa home while here, and thanks to Skitch we got to know, up close and personal, all of the folks he brought to the area. But the best kept secret was if he "really" liked the person he would invite him or her for Sunday brunch at "his" Tampa home. Not everyone got the invite.

Skitch was part of our family. He attended soccer and baseball games of our children, weddings. He loved antiques and he could be seen on any given visit at local flea markets and shows looking for pocket watches and collectibles. He was so much more than "just" a famous conductor. He was a real person who showed love and understanding.

He loved to cook and was as good in the kitchen as he was with the baton; he even did the dishes. He was a huge supporter of our nation's military and spent many an hour at MacDill Air Force Base telling our troops what a wonderful job they do for us everyday. He was an avid pilot, owned his own plane and flew into his 80s.

Skitch always had a story to tell either about the Hopes, the Crosbys, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, the Clintons, the Bushes; he spanned the generations and knew everybody. For 25 years our family listened and cherished every moment, every word. And he shared his wealth of information with many bay area residents who were lucky enough to know him. He is the last of an era that will never be again.

Thank you, St. Petersburg Times, for having John Fleming on your staff and for his timely "tribute" to this wonderful human being.

[Last modified November 5, 2005, 01:22:18]