Todays Letters: Teen must be held accountable

Rapping teen needs guidance, not arrest Feb. 8, column

Andrew Skerritt seems to believe that the 19-year-old unemployed man with no apparent purpose in life other than to disrupt and harass a residential community with vulgar, obscene, and violent hip-hop lyrics should receive guidance rather than arrest. Baloney!

The only guidance that man requires is to exercise some self-discipline, clean himself up, get a haircut, clean up his language, swear off being a vagrant and a loiterer, get an honest job, open a savings account at a bank, show some pride in his work, and avoid drugs and the self-destruction of the hip-hop culture; and the next thing you know he will develop self-esteem and become part of the solution rather than the problem.

At this point, however, this 19-year-old man must be held accountable for his misbehavior. The charge of disorderly conduct by Deputy Scott Reak and the resultant probation order by the Hernando County judge were a rather mild penalty. Perhaps he will now be inspired to get his act together and get on with his life in a meaningful way.

Jack B. McPherson, New Port Richey

Hard work counts more than degree

I am not a resident of the city of New Port Richey nor am I served by its government. I am not a friend of new City Manager Tom O'Neill, nor have I ever met him. However, I find that your editorial remarks directed at his lack of post-secondary education highlight a flawed thinking process of your editorial writer. Your editorial is wrongfully questioning this gentleman's ability to lead based on his lack of formal education.

Many little-known people have succeeded without college, but there are also many famous ones: Jesse Ventura, Malcolm X, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michael Dell, Walter Cronkite, Ted Turner, oil billionaire John D. Rockefeller, astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn, McDonald's restaurants' Ray Kroc, Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, and seven presidents from Washington to Truman. The list goes on and on.

When America's decision-makers close their eyes to the abilities and talents of others based merely on the fact that they have no formal education, then we all lose. Most good business leaders recognize a person's ability to lead and perform well, without giving much care to how many degrees they have hanging on the wall. This recognition provides business leaders the benefit of utilizing the best people in their respective organizations, providing the best chance of success for each organization. Some successful businesses may recruit from colleges for entry-level candidates, but normally promote from within based on a track record of successful leadership and job performance.

I personally attribute my success in the business world to hard work, determination and the ability to learn from real-life experiences. My success came long before the master's degree in business administration hung on my wall.

With narrow-minded comments such as those of this editorial, it appears that all those college graduates who have no vision and drive for success end up writing for newspapers.

Scott Factor, New Port Richey

Mailings abuse taxpayer funding

I received for the second time in the past 30 days a full-color, 11-by-17-inch mailer from my District 5 U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite. It has been my observation that Ginny prefers to save her franking for election years, having received perhaps one or two throughout all of 2007. Ah, but 2008 is an election year, is it not?

The congresswoman, most notable recently for being named the most prolific user/abuser of this federally financed mode of communication with constituents, was cited for spending in excess of $130,000 of the taxpayers' money on franking in the runup to the 2006 elections. This expenditure placed her alone among her peers in Congress engaging in the practice of franking.

Absolutely shameless, Ginny has once again embarked on reinforcing her name recognition for her 2008 re-election campaign and using our dime to pay for it!

The aforementioned mailers, titled sequentiallyLegislative Updateand Guide to Constituent Services, received by District 5 voters over the past 30 days, demonstrate clearly the unmitigated gall of this congresswoman on top of a demonstrated disdain for conservative fiscal principle when it comes to using our tax dollars to finance her re-election campaign.

John Russell, Dade City

Statement shows ignorance, bias

I am a lifetime Republican, a resident of the 5th Congressional District and a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico. I am writing to express how outraged I am by the statements made by our representative, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, regarding the people of Puerto Rico and the economic stimulus package recently approved by the House of Representatives.

I am a social and fiscal conservative, and I completely disagree with the idea of the federal government handing out checks to stimulate the economy, especially when that money will most likely be used to purchase goods manufactured in China and not here in the United States. I agree with congresswoman Brown-Waite that we should not be sending taxpayer funds to those who do not pay income taxes. That is not at issue here. The issue is her statement referring to us who were born in Puerto Rico as foreign citizens.

Congresswoman Brown-Waite apparently needs a refresher history course, so she can understand that the people of Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens and have been since 1917 when the Jones Act granted them citizenship.

Puerto Ricans have proudly and bravely defended this nation in every conflict since World War I and have had the second-highest number of war casualties per capita among jurisdictions of the United States. More than 8,000 Puerto Rican men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice defending this nation, including 59 (so far) in the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. I don't think their citizenship came into question when they gave their lives so she could have the freedom to say such ignorant things.

I am afraid her comments are not just a product of ignorance but rather some sort of underlying prejudice against those whom she does not consider to be "American" enough. As a Republican I am ashamed at her attitude. There should be no place in the GOP for such prejudice. Be advised, congresswoman Brown-Waite, that Puerto Ricans are the fastest-growing segment of population in Central Florida and if you wish to continue representing the 5th District you might want to consider apologizing for your ignorant and insensitive comments.

If not, I know of at least one Puerto Rican Republican who would love a shot at your seat to fairly represent them.

Mike Casillas, Wesley Chapel

[Last modified February 11, 2008, 21:50:48]