Letters to the editor

In response to Belinda and Richard Carlson’s letter and any others who may take issue with my comments that we should be Americans first, I applaud you. This is democracy in action. Rightfully, you have your opinions and issues while rightfully me and a hundred million or so of my fellow American’s have ours. However, for the time being, let me remind you we the people elected George W. Bush our president, not once but twice. In two years, we the people can choose another to be our president. As I previously mentioned, I generally vote Republican. However, on many issues the two prevailing parties are merging and looking more and more like the other. But when it comes to selecting a president, I personally put more emphasis on the person and not necessarily the party. At this very moment, I really like Colin Powell and would vote for him regardless of his party affiliation. The point is I believe we the people, once WE have spoken, should get behind that president and support him as the president out of respect for the office and as the leader of the free world. If WE don’t like the policies of this president, then we have that option of selecting a new leader. In retrospect, I have very little respect for Bill Clinton the man. But as President Bill Clinton, I think he was a brilliant leader and did a lot of good for America. As my president, I supported him. I did not and would not bash him.Somehow, we Americans need to learn how to separate the emotional feelings of how we react to our president the man from our feelings of national pride for the office of the presidency. We wave our American Fflag proudly. We should also wave the president of the United States proudly, regardless of our emotional feeling for the man.To all those who prefer to voice their disrespect for George W. Bush the man, I would like to present how President George Bush, the man is viewed by one of our neighbors to the north. Bush bashers, please take heed!George Bush, the ManBy David Warren, The Ottawa CitizenSunday, September 11, 2005There’s plenty wrong with America, since you asked. I’m tempted to say that the only difference from Canada is that they have a few things right. That would be unfair, of course – I am often pleased to discover things we still get right. But one of them would not be disaster preparation. If something happened up here, on the scale of Katrina, we wouldn’t even have the resources to arrive late. We would be waiting for the Americans to come save us, the same way the government in Louisiana just waved and pointed at Washington, D.C. The theory being that, when you’re in real trouble, that’s where the adults live.And that isn’t an exaggeration. Almost everything that has worked in the recovery operation along the U.S. Gulf Coast has been military and National Guard. Within a few days, under several commands, finally consolidated under the remarkable Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, it was once again the U.S. military efficiently cobbling together a recovery operation on a scale beyond the capacity of any other earthly institution.We hardly have a military up here. We have elected one feckless government after another that has cut corners until there is nothing substantial left. We don’t have the ability even to transport and equip our few soldiers. Should disaster strike at home, on a big scale, we become a Third World country. At which point, our national smugness is of no avail. From Democrats and the American left – the U.S. equivalent to the people who run Canada – we are still hearing that the disaster in New Orleans showed that a heartless, white Republican America had abandoned its underclass. This is garbage! The great majority of those not evacuated lived in assisted housing and receive food stamps, prescription medicine and government support through many other programs. Many have, all their lives, expected someone to lift them to safety, without input from themselves. And the demagogic mayor they elected left, quite literally, hundreds of transit and school buses that could have driven them out of town parked in rows, to be lost in the flood.Yes, that was insensitive. But it is also the truth; and sooner or later we must acknowledge that welfare dependency creates exactly the sort of haplessness and social degeneration we saw on display, as the floodwaters rose.Many suffered terribly, and many died, and one’s heart goes out. But already the survivors are being put up in new accommodations, and their various entitlements have been directed to new locations.The scale of private charity has also been unprecedented. There are yet no statistics, but I’ll wager the most generous state in the union will prove to have been arch-Republican Texas and that, nationally, contributions in cash and kind are coming disproportionately from people who vote Republican. For the world divides into “the mouths” and “the wallets.”The Bush-bashing, both down there and up here, has so far lost touch with reality as to raise questions about the bashers’ state of mind. Consult any authoritative source on how government works in the United States and you will learn that the U.S.federal government’s legal, constitutional, and institutional responsibility for first response to Katrina, as to any natural disaster, was zero.Notwithstanding, President Bush took the prescient step of declaring a disaster, in order to begin deploying FEMA and other federal assets, two full days in advance of the storm fall. In the little time since, he has managed to co-ordinate an immense recovery operation – the largest in human history – without invoking martial powers. He has been sufficiently presidential to respond, not even once, to the extraordinarily mendacious and childish blame-throwing.One thinks of Kipling’s poem IF – which I learned to recite as a lad, and mention now in the full knowledge that it drives postmodern leftoids and gliberals to apoplexy -as does anything that is good, beautiful, or true….Jim AkinGreat fundraiser”Skate Katrina” was a fantastic success, raising $2,200 for the local Salvation Army to assist with relocating people from the disaster area to Eagle County. It was a fun day for all of the participants and spectators who came to support the effort. I would like to say a special thanks to these people and businesses who made it possible. I would especially like to thank Jay and Matt at the BoardRoom.Judge Coordinator- Head Judge: Dan Genditzki. Judges: J.R. Flaherty, Jeremy Hix, Dan Purtell, Sean McHugh and Mark Koelker. MC: Aaron Dunn.Donnie Habercorn w/ High Country Shirt Works; Matt Royer w/ Quicksilver; Chad Everhart w/ Burton; Erik Warble w/ Oakley; Heather Waring; the Feldman family; the Bennett family; the Lange family; Karlie Cummins; Lauren McNeil; Mark Keolker; Aaron McCormick.BoardRoom Team Riders: Ellen Feldman, Tommie Bennett, Tom Nolan, Jay Lavis, Quintin Wicks, Nik Smith, Bill French, Zach Youse, Dan Genditzki, Mark Habercorn, Joe Otremba, John Simpson, Tim Loewer.KZYR, SOS, One Track Mind, Vail Daily, Eves Print Shop, Image Skateboard Shop, Copy Copy, Pazzo’s Avon, Avon Bakery & Deli, Edwards Village Market, Marko’s , Pizza Hut, Dominos, City Market, Wal-Mart, WECMRD, Eagle County, Hoffman-West Real Estate, Radio Shack Avon, The BoardRoomRachel Feldman Avon Avon for C and DThe Avon Town Council voted to support Referenda C and D, two measures on the statewide ballot this November that allow the state a five year “time out” from revenue spending limits and bonding for infrastructure projects.According to the Colorado Municipal League (CML), more than 33 municipalities, including Eagle County, and 400 other organizations, local governments and business have endorsed the measure.CML states that referendum C permits the state to retain excess revenues for 5 years and eliminates the ratchet effect of TABOR following economic downturns without revising TABOR or raising taxes. Referendum D would accelerate construction and other expenditures for highways and bridges, K-12 and higher education facilities and police and fire retirement plans through the issuance of voter approved bonds.The multi-year financial obligations spelled out in Referendum D can only be undertaken if the voters approve both C and D. If Ref C passes and Ref D does not, the bonds cannot be issued. Similarly, if Ref D passes, but Ref C does not, the bonds cannot be issued.The TABOR Amendment was enacted in 1992. TABOR’s stated purpose is to “restrain most the growth of government.” “Growth of government” is defined as growth in government tax revenue. It is determined through a formula, which uses a baseline of government revenue received in 1992. “We encourage everyone to research the issue and make an informed decision when voting on any issue on November 1st,” said Avon Town Manager Larry Brooks.More information is available on the Vote Yes on C&D campaign Web site: http://www.voteyesonc-d.com The opponent’s Web site is http://www.taxincrease.orgAvon Town CouncilStick togetherWhile all of the major TV stations were at Minturn Middle School on Saturday to cover the state’s largest search and rescue mission for Michelle Vanek, not one of the reports I heard or read seized the opportunity to make the key point: STAY TOGETHER.Michelle’s disappearance is tragic. I cannot imagine the pain and loss her four children (ages 2-16), husband, family and friends are dealing with. I cannot imagine how her hiking friend can reconcile the irreparable loss this one bad decision led to. So I write this letter in hopes that we can all learn from this tragedy and commit to not let it happen again.It’s really quite a simple lesson to learn: Safety first. Only go as far as the weakest person can safely travel. STAY TOGETHER.We do not read about search and rescue missions for multiple hikers. No, it’s always about one person who took off alone, left the group to go back alone, or chose to go on when the rest of the group turned around. The point is simple: STAY TOGETHER.Please help give meaning to the tragic outcome of Michelle’s hike by following these simple rules and encouraging your loved ones, friends, hiking companions and others who may listen to you, to follow these simple rules as well. Nancy Adam Vail Vail, Colorado