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Letters to the editor

Jeff Hopp

I wish to challenge the ridiculous notion of John Kerry as a “flip-flop.”President Bush has had the political luxury of only holding a national office for three years. In that short time, he cut funding for job training programs and community college aid and now says he will increase them; cut or froze Pell Grants and now says he will increase them; he opposed the creation of a Homeland Security department and then was for it; was opposed to the creation of the 9-11 commission and then was for it; disagreed with outgoing President Clinton’s warning that Osama Bin Ladin was the greatest threat to our national security, then said Osama Bin Ladin and al Qaida were the greatest threat to our national security; then Osama Bin Ladin only got mentioned once at the Republican Convention.”Wait, 9-11 changed all that.” Well, so did the end of the Cold War. In those relatively peaceful years, John Kerry wanted to cut defense spending. So did Bush Sr. and then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. In Senate testimony in 1990, Dick Cheney recommended termination of the B-2, F-14 and F-15 Eagle airplanes, the Apache and the Army helicopter improvement program, the M-1 tank – need I go on? John Kerry has voted for all those weapons systems at other times, along with $4.4 trillion in defense spending when he felt it was warranted and not filled with political pork.”Well, he voted against $87 billion for our troops.” He voted for the initial measure to fund the troops using available money coffers and the repeal of the tax cuts for the wealthy. He voted against the second measure, knowing it would pass, that used deficit spending which has greatly contributed to our deficit and passed the bill to our children. The deficit also did not get one mention at the Republican Convention.”He was for the Patriot Act, and then was against it.” He voted for the initial act, with all its flaws, because of the urgent need for intelligence gathering reforms in response to the new threat. He later voted to repeal the nasty parts of the act that include allowing the CIA and FBI to query library records at their own discretion.The president says, “You know where I stand.” Well sir, I know where both you and Sen. Kerry stand. Sen. Kerry will support what he knows is best for the country at that moment in time and in the foreseeable future. You, on the other hand, will proceed with your agenda at all costs without any consideration of the warnings from the populations of your so-called “allies” and the world at large, continue your exclusionary policies such as not allowing people into your campaign rallies without signing a loyalty oath, all the while smearing the good name of someone who has the gall to oppose you. Is this really the action of a “uniter, not a divider”?There’s a saying I learned as a boy in my home state of Iowa. “When you point a finger, you have three fingers pointing right back at you.” It seems the Bush-Cheney camp and those accusing John Kerry of flip-flopping should heed this advice.Jeff HoppEagleSympathy for BryantI, again, would like to commend you on an exceptionally well-written editorial. I visit Court TV’s message board regarding the Kobe case and your editorial was posted there. I disagree on one small issue. Kobe Bryant cheated on his wife. Most evidence points toward this woman as having filed a false accusation. Who is the real victim here if that is the case? Mr. Bryant has to answer to his wife for the rest of his life for cheating (and possibly his daughter at a later age), but if he has been falsely accused why shouldn’t people have sympathy for him? We don’t have to like Mr. Bryant for being a cheater, but if he has been wrongly accused why should he NOT have the public’s outcry and to imagine that this woman may walk away with more money than she could ever hope to make in a lifetime for (allegedly) telling a lie at Eagle County taxpayers’ expense. It just isn’t right. I believe the people of Eagle County should be outraged, at the very least. Your column summed this case so well. It appears to have been about money and fame, not about justice. Your DA made a fool of your county in front of the whole nation and world. I believe, as you, that most citizens living in Eagle County are far better educated than what your DA showed to the rest of us. For the sake of Eagle County and its citizens, I pray Mr. Hurlbert will NOT be re-elected come NovemberJennifer Horovitz Ruining forestsWhy, when there is an excellent effort to protect the last strongholds of the pristine American forest with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule adopted in 2001, does the Bush administration push to repeal existing protection for Colorado’s forests and throughout the nation? To support commercial timber harvesters, that’s why. I enjoy hiking the trails that we have nearby, such as the Gore Creek and Deluge Lake trails. It is good that they are pretty steep so we will not likely see any roads in that area. Of course, the Gore Range and the Gore Creek Drainage in the White River National Forest was fortunately spared the ravages of I-70, which was diverted over Vail Pass. But there are other areas in these great forests around us that will be open to the ravages that roads create: soil disturbance, erosion, air and water pollution, and disruption of the habitat of animal communities and plant species.Haven’t we done enough damage to our area already? Let’s push to stop this Bush administration repeal of existing protections for Colorado’s forests and appeal to the USFS to continue to respect the roadless rule.Fletcher MacNeill VailThis and thatI would just like to thank David Miller for his informative letter from Saturday, Sept. 4. Too many people pass judgment on the Middle East without any knowledge of the history of that area. Also, thanks to Don Rogers for publishing it. On another note, I would just like to ask a question. Has anyone in this valley ever heard anyone say anything remotely positive about the Avon Post Office employees? They really know how to ruin a person’s day. Daniel DeVineAn odeAn Ode to Lindholm the Beneficent:”While considering Magnus’ magnanimity, About cheap gas north of I-70 vicinity, While enthusiasm he’s trying to exude, His emperor’s clothing leaves him quite nude, And the town of Avon will lose its virginity.”(With apologies to Ogden Nash for his original Limerick rhyme. Magnus is Latin for “great.”)Steve ZorichakVail


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