Bush’s Boy Scout talk
Re: “Bush bashers lose out,” Aug. 3 Al Knight column.
I laughed out loud when I read that President Bush made reference to the Boy Scout Oath when he addressed the National Scout Jamboree in Virginia.
The oath states that a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. When you compare the Bush administration to this standard, it’s hard to not at least snicker.
As a critic of the president’s policies, I’ll never be allowed close enough during one of his taxpayer-funded events to know if he’s “clean,” but “trustworthy” is certainly not a word I’d use to describe him. Polls show that the president has a growing credibility problem, as more people clue in to the fact that we were misled into the Iraq war. And “thrifty”? Please.
Lawrence Jones, Conifer
Employment of illegals
When there is a discussion about illegal immigration, it is always the immigrants who are targeted as the problem, when the fact is they come here because there are jobs, lots of jobs, and they all find them.
So why aren’t the people who employ undocumented workers mentioned in these discussions? If they didn’t hire them, they wouldn’t come.
The discussion is all about the poor and powerless people who cross the border, rather than about the people who hire them – people who, I might add, hire them at wages much less than what they would be paying legal immigrants or, more importantly, Americans, keeping wages for Americans down.
Rollie Bradford, Denver
Tancredo’s comments
Rep. Tom Tancredo announced on a radio talk show that if we are attacked by terrorists, we could retaliate by bombing their holy places, including Mecca. A responsible person like Tancredo should not come up with such a statement, which will inflame Muslims around the world and will produce more terrorists.
All of us, when confronted with a problem in life, should ask ourselves why we have the problem, analyze it and act to correct it.
To help Tancredo, I would remind him of the claims of terrorists. They act in response to 1) the presence of foreign troops on Arab and Muslim land, 2) the embargo and the wars against Iraq, and 3) the Israeli occupation of Palestine and inhumane treatment of the Palestinians.
Tancredo should work with the administration to solve the why.
H.A. Fadhli, Loveland
Lightning safety
In recent weeks, three separate incidents claimed lives of Boy Scouts when lightning came to visit. Contained in these tragedies are lessons for the rest of us.
No place outside is safe from lightning. Going under tarps, into tents or small shelters provides zero protection. In the high country, small degrees of safety can be had by avoiding areas above timberline, isolated tall trees, water and metallic objects. In urban areas, getting into an enclosed metal vehicle or a large permanent building is advised.
There is no defense from a “first strike” event – lightning has been known to travel 40 miles from a cloud source. But when you hear thunder or see lightning, take evasive action immediately.
Richard Kithil Jr., Louisville
The writer is founder and CEO of the National Lightning Safety Institute.
