Perspective: Editorialists, firefighters are not equals

I can't believe that Robyn Blumner can compare the courage of firefighters entering a burning building to that of editorialists "offering a steady rhetorical hand during a maelstrom."

In a country where freedom of speech is an inalienable right, editorialists risk little or nothing in expressing their views, no matter how unpopular. Firefighters, on the other hand, put their lives at risk daily to protect the public. Now, more than ever, the public understands and appreciates that.

As much as I enjoy reading the Times editorial page, I feel capable of forming my own opinions and can live without Blumner and her fellow editorialists leading me "away from an impulse to blindly support everything the government wants to do."
-- Mary Anne Reilly, St. Petersburg

An asinine comparison

Over the years I have read some ludicrous articles in the St. Petersburg Times, but Robyn E. Blumner's column of Oct. 7 (It's no time for editorialists to abandon principle) really takes the cake.

She wrote, "But as firefighters display their courage and duty by entering a burning building, editorialists display theirs by offering a steady rhetorical hand during a maelstrom." Surely, for her to compare the courage of an editorial writer to that of a firefighter is not only ludicrous, but asinine. Editorialists don't even have the courage to sign their names to the editorials that they publish.

She speaks of a columnist fired for implying President Bush is a coward. Why doesn't she say what she feels? If she is among the Bush-haters, she ought to have the guts to say so.

It seems odd that the only persons I know who are calling Bush a coward are members of the press.

I wonder what the reaction of those who criticize Bush today would have been had the president been Gore or Clinton?
-- Carl T. Hartzell, Homosassa

Reason is a must

Re: It's no time for editorialists to abandon principle, Oct. 7.

Cheers for Robyn Blumner. As a former newspaper reporter, I know well whereof she speaks. Unfortunately, in an electorate that often appears to celebrate ignorance, jingoism is often confused with patriotism.

A true patriot consistently queries the motivates and/or actions of the government that represents him or her. All too often patriotism becomes, as Samuel Johnson put it three centuries ago, "the last refuge of a scoundrel." Now, as at no other time in our recent history, reason is a must. We must never forget that the right to dissent was one of the basic principles in our foundation. No, there should never be a time when everything must be colored red, white and blue.
-- Sigmund H. Klaussner, Indian Shores

Seeing in black and white

In Black "duality misguided" (letter, Oct. 7), the letter writer criticized Bill Maxwell for seeing everything in "black and white." Essentially, he criticized Maxwell for having an African-American viewpoint. Maxwell, being black, is only too aware of how disenfranchised many blacks feel. He is, no doubt, acutely aware that the Ku Klux Klan, a secret group of terrorist cells, has not been eradicated in this country.

It is legitimate for him to provide a voice for those African-Americans who question whether they want to go to war against foreign terrorists when they have been the target of home-grown terrorists for decades.

In expressing his opinions, Maxwell did not take the safe route. He took the honest route.

The only way we are ever going to come together as a nation and heal our racial wounds is to learn understanding of and empathy for each other. We do that through honesty. We do that through exposure. We do that through respectful dialogue. We do that through stretching our minds so we can grasp what the other guy has gone through; what he is feeling; what he has endured. We don't do it through condemnation, invalidation or dismissal of each other's experiences.

As far as I am concerned, the letter writer missed the whole point of Maxwell's column. His letter is simply another mindless urge to political conformity. There's no heart behind it; not a shred of understanding -- just rhetoric, fear and anger.

Ironically, since he gives everyone the option of only one "correct" feeling/response to the current crisis -- zealously support military action 100 percent or there is something wrong with you -- it is he who is seeing only in terms of "black and white."

Speak your mind, Mr. Maxwell. We need your perspective if we are ever to understand enough to heal the breach.
-- Clyo Beck, Tarpon Springs

Improving upon humanity

To those of you who did not delight in Bill Maxwell's comments regarding the duality of African-Americans being called upon to be patriots while not being fully accepted into America's mainstream, I say your disapproval makes his point. The fact of the matter is that African-Americans will fight side by side with every other race, creed, ethnicity and nationality that make America diverse. Is there a duality that minorities face in this country? You bet. But to question a writer's patriotism for pointing it out is -- well, un-American.

Maxwell is utilizing our most precious freedom, the freedom of speech, which is supposed to be afforded to all Americans, but because his statements do not fit into your narrow confines, you call him un-American. What you should do is say, "He is my brother and I defend his right to free speech."

His willingness to speak of this truism in America as it relates to the entrenched institutional oppression and racism that still exist is not a question of patriotism. I see it as a call for help and re-examination of our character. It is not comforting to think that your loved ones could fight for a country they love and return to only find that they are not welcomed at certain golf clubs for no other reason than the color of their skin.

We want to know why basic civil rights laws are still only a breath away from being reversed if leadership is propelled to do so; we want to stop racial profiling; we want the same opportunities for our children that others have; and the list goes on. African-Americans should not have to fight that war again, that is what Maxwell is saying. Maxwell speaks to freedom, the very freedom our sons and daughters are fighting for, and I will defend his right to say it. A re-examination of our soul is good for democracy. So, in times of war, let's not stifle our voices nor our ingenuity or creativity. Those things are our greatness as a nation -- our willingness to change what's wrong and improve upon humanity.
-- Michael Dobson, Tallahassee

Newfound wariness

Re: Read, reflect and make a difference, by Bill Maxwell, Oct. 7.

As I read Bill Maxwell's commentary about liberals who now sound like conservatives, I recognize that I am one of these "turncoats" now operating with a heretofore unknown fear factor. Perhaps I am merely deluding myself here, but I feel the need to defend the newfound wariness of "a few of us liberals."

In this country, we lawfully arrest and imprison people who aid and abet murderers, providing their guilt, without reasonable doubt, is proven in our courts of law. Now we have a situation where there are mass murderers who wantonly kill thousands of people and who have as their goal to kill thousands more. It is clear that these mass murderers are fanatical young men from the Middle East. It is also clear that these murderers are aided and abetted by many Muslims who openly sympathize with and fund those terrorist groups seeking to overthrow Israelis and their ilk. Furthermore, it is clear that some Muslims of Middle Eastern descent, living in all parts of our world, are aiding and abetting those who would have us killed. That we Americans, despite our huge worldwide intelligence network, are not likely to locate all Muslims who have aided and abetted the murderers has also been made abundantly clear.

Therefore, given that our government is not going to prosecute the multitudes who have knowingly funded those groups advocating jihad for the overthrow of Israel, I have come to the realization that the hatred for Americans and Israelis will survive. Having already been victimized by such blind hatred, I cannot embrace the young unknown Muslim man sitting next to me on the airplane without some assurance that he has not aided and abetted the enemy. I cannot bury my head in the sand until the world tribunals hunt down and destroy every Muslim who has aided and abetted those who would kill me and all that I hold dear. I can read and understand all there is to know about Middle Eastern culture and religion, and I will undoubtedly come away a smarter and more enlightened human being. But for as long as those who aid and abet the breeding camps for murderers are running rampant throughout our world, I fail to see how enlightenment will affect my newfound wariness and fear.
-- Ellen Rhoades, Oldsmar

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