Todays Letters: Be honest about real threats to marriage

Crist takes "live and let live" approach to marriage Dec. 14, story

Wow, here we go again. So now there will "almost certainly" be a vote on a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in November 2008. According to John Stemberger, who heads a coalition of groups sponsoring the amendment, this is needed "to protect this institution literally for centuries to come in Florida."

I think it is time for people like Stemberger to offer solutions to the real issues harming the institution of marriage - and it isn't two men or two women in love.

How many times can someone get married and divorced before they are banned from getting married? Twice, three times? What about the person who gets married Saturday night and gets divorced Sunday morning? How about banning them from getting married for life? They certainly don't care about the sanctity of marriage. And last but not least, for the religious people who feel marriage is for procreation, how many years do we give a couple to have a child before they must get that marriage annulled?

Why aren't these issues being put to a constitutional amendment? Oh yeah, straight people would never, ever, let that one see the light of day.

Gary Davison, Tampa

The real Mike Huckabee Dec. 16, editorial

An inspiring candidate

Mike Huckabee is for real to millions of Americans. Your anti-Christian opinion shows extreme bias toward the right-to-life for the unborn, the natural and traditional definition of marriage and the belief in God as the creator. And what is wrong with teaching that millions don't entirely buy the theory of evolution, the big bang, etc.? God could have taken millions of years, rather than starting 6,000 years ago, if he so chose.

Further, if you were really fair about the national sales tax, you would acknowledge that safeguards are included to prevent it being a burden on the poor just as it would eliminate billions of dollars of waste and the IRS confusion borne by all of us.

Huckabee also has major experience compared to most of his opponents, particularly the Democrats. Are you slamming him because he just might be the biggest threat to Godless, liberal dreamers on the horizon? His experience, compassion, intelligence and heart are just what this country needs to bring it together.

Edward Jackson, Tarpon Springs

Swayed by celebrity

Question: How many people would have come to Barack Obama's campaign stops if Oprah Winfrey hadn't been there?

Answer: Nowhere near the amount her name brought. Most came to see Oprah. Some might have been hoping she would be giving free cars or other goodies the way she does on her other show.

I'm a longtime viewer and admirer of this one-of- a-kind woman, but I don't allow anyone to pick my candidate and neither should you.

If he wins, Obama will be the one in the Oval Office as an employee of the people. Oprah will be just a visitor.

Marie F. Hoke-Singer, Largo

Act now on school plan Dec. 17, editorial

Time to decide

Your advice to the Pinellas School Board to act now is sound. There's an old Army saying, "Do something, even if it's wrong." Delay will only continue consternation, distraction and confusion. Of course, I am not suggesting the board do something in haste, but after all, the subject has been vetted for some time. And your editorial points out that any decision can and will be tweaked.

We live in a sound-bite society and so any board decision will be questioned. It goes with the territory. They live with that every day. Great leadership requires doing the right thing and doing so timely.

It's not an easy decision but I, for one, have great faith in the board. Full steam ahead.

Norm Bungard, St. Petersburg

Assignment plan may be delayed one yearDec. 12, story

Fundamental difference

I take exception to Pinellas County School Board member Janet Clark's insinuation that fundamental school parents are prejudiced to African-Americans. The parents of Bay Vista Fundamental where my two children attend are some of the most tolerant, diverse and pro-American families I have ever met. What Clark does not understand is that fundamental school families are committed to a successful system. The center of gravity of the system is reading, writing, arithmetic, parental involvement, discipline, dress code, countywide enrollment and no busing.

Moreover, throughout my four years of involvement with Bay Vista Fundamental I have discovered the students and families do not consider themselves as African-American, Asian or white, but instead we view each other as Bay Vista Fundamental families who are all committed to perpetuating a good system of education. Please do not allow ill-advised tampering with Pinellas County's most successful school program.

Let the Pinellas County School Board members know your thoughts.

David L. Prior, Bay Vista Fundamental parent, St. Petersburg

School assignment delay

Give neighborhood priority

We only have one human race. In the Pinellas County public school system, we need to start acting like it. Magnets and fundamentals, to be in any way equitable, need a proximity preference - across the board - of 15 to 20 percent for grades K, 6 and 9. But are they equitable? Fundamentals may chuck "problem" children or kids whose parents can't get to PTA meetings because mom's now in jail and grandma is too old. Nonfundamental schools teach those children. It makes me wonder how fundamentals are even legal.

Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox says there might not be time to make this change, that it's a complex problem. Not only should a proximity preference be accomplished, it must be. Make the time. If that means Wilcox has to sit down at the computers in Largo during his entire Christmas vacation, then so be it. We have a public school system, not private.

The School Board needs to stick to their guns, not protect special interests, and do what's right for all our children.

Beth Lindenberg, St. Petersburg

Learning to conquer the sting of rejection Dec. 15, Susan Estrich column

Many schools are good

Susan Estrich oozes elitism when she laments being rejected by Radcliffe. But she's right that life will not end if a "good" school doesn't call. Today many articles lead youngsters to believe attending a "lesser" school is a disaster, particularly if it's a dreaded state school.

Quit whining. Since World War II millions of Americans have been educated at state and less "elite" private schools, giving us chances almost unknown elsewhere and providing us with scholars and professionals of all kinds. Any colleges with libraries and qualified teachers and capable and determined students can do that. Unless being educated isn't the main point.

What does Harvard know about accounting that UCF doesn't? And even USF medical school could train its doctors to operate on the wrong side of the brain, as the Ivy League's Brown University teaching hospital doctors did three times in the last year. Isn't George W. Bush a Yale man?

Promoting this wild competition to get into a few schools besmirches thousands of schools where students can be educated if they desire. And is it really necessary?

Bob Womack, Crystal River

[Last modified December 17, 2007, 22:09:00]