Urging patience as Iraqis write constitution
Our beloved Constitution was not born full-blown into the form we now find it. As we watch the leaders of Iraq struggle with their constitution, the rights of the people, the balancing of ethnic groups, the division of the natural resources, we can recall the agony with which our own nation considered and rejected idea after idea in a process which took us 12 years.
The first draft of the Articles of Confederation was dated 1776, only to be quietly forgotten in the heat of battles for the very life of the new nation in being. It was a work of compromise, with the best arrangement possible at the time. Mind you, this was the work of men with a tradition of self-government and centuries of history as free men, men who understood fairness, justice and the good of the whole people. And they got it wrong! The Articles were a failure, plain and simple.
I often think of the quote attributed to George Washington at the Constitutional Convention, which inevitably followed the initial experiment: “If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how shall we afterward defend our work? Rather, let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hands of God.” And so it came to be, and to remain with precious few amendments in more than two centuries. Remarkable, to say the least.
So I urge a bit of patience with Iraq. It took us 12 years, and Europe still hasn’t gotten it done. Self-governance is not easy – but it is worth it.
John R. McElderry, Littleton
The implications of Hurricane Katrina
With the devastation that television news reporters are showing us in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it is an appropriate time to tell our federal government that Federal Emergency Management Agency money should include deterring homeowners from rebuilding in areas repeatedly devastated by hurricanes.
Flood insurance is paid for by American citizens, not State Farm or Allstate. Some of the areas destroyed just now were rebuilt after Hurricane Camille on federal dollars. Being destroyed twice in 40 years is a good reason that private companies refuse to insure: the mathematical equation won’t work.
When homes are built below sea level, then flooded with the levees bursting, it seems ridiculous to build back in the same area.
Our government should purchase the land under those homes destroyed by flood, and declare it all a park. But it is ridiculous to allow those homeowners to build back in the same risky spot. They will have to rebuild again within 40 years.
Paula Rhoads Hook, Denver
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Remember the Asian tsunami back in December? Remember all of the aid that the foreign countries gave? Remember how they criticized our president for his response? Remember how they criticized Americans? Now see if these same countries will even lift a finger to help us out. See if these foreign countries will donate to relief efforts for American victims.
Catherine French, Los Alamos, N.M.
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The implications of the effects of the Katrina disaster will have many facets – payment for health care, for example. Masses of people are suddenly destitute. Very few of those hit will have had flood insurance. The affected states are not the most wealthy in the country. The direct injuries will be bad enough, but who will pick up the tab for the ordinary health problems? Many will have lost their jobs and related health insurance. Will the hospitals be forced to close, the doctors move away? If we had universal health insurance, there would be little, if any, effect.
Frederick C. Sage, Boulder
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With the significant damage to the energy infrastructure in the Gulf area, it is time to implement gasoline rationing. Rationing can be done in a sensible, organized manner, or it will be done by the marketplace, where the highest bidder wins, provided that your local filling station has any to bid on. We need to self-ration gasoline now. Cutting back your driving 20 percent a week will help avert a crisis. Once we run out of current stocks of fuel, gasoline will get expensive and hard to find. Do you really want to spend four hours in line to buy gasoline?
Paul Everitt, Louisville
Education funding and Referendums C and D
Re: “‘Simplistic’ budget tack worth a look,” Aug. 29 David Harsanyi column; and “Higher ed weighs more cuts,” Aug. 29 news story.
David Harsanyi’s column sets up the straw man that the anti-tax, anti-government people use, pointing to a $7.5 million parking garage and claiming that advocates of state Referendums C and D are “offended” by the concept of a balanced budget. He goes on to defend the views of the Independence Institute, which opposes C and D.
An adjacent story described some of the serious cuts that could be required at the University of Colorado if C and D fail. One interesting possibility is that “some state schools will go private.” This probably warms the hearts of Harsanyi and the folks out at the Independence Institute. They seem to think that all colleges should be private – as, for that matter, should all highways – with associated price tags, be they tuition or tolls. (Highway maintenance will also face cuts if C and D fail.)
Other states, and nations, have long since figured out that investing wisely in “public goods” like education and roads pays dividends to the entire society. These dividends result in economic growth. Businesses choose where to locate based on several factors. Access to a well-educated work force is certainly one of them. A well-maintained system of roads is as well.
Scott Lorditch, Conifer
Gov. candidate Ritter
Re: “Democrats’ lone candidate for Colo. governor,” Aug. 31 Open Forum.
Letter-writer Janet Brazill asks, “How in the world is a Catholic, anti-abortion Democratic candidate for governor any better than the Catholic, anti-abortion Republican governor we already have?” She speaks for an intolerant minority of the Democratic Party with high anti-Catholic invective. My Democratic Party has always included a diversity of opinions and creeds. This non-Catholic, pro- choice Democrat supports Bill Ritter for governor. He is sharp, dedicated, ethical and inclusive, and has tolerated and supported us pro-choicers as long as I’ve known him.
Linda B. Drake, Denver
Duck, duck … goat?
Re: “Chewing through the weed problem,” Aug. 30 Scene story.
Thank you for the story on using goats to restore native vegetation. Your article reminded me of an experience we had with the Goats in the Parks program. Several years ago, I took my 3-year-old niece to see the goats at Mayfair Park. That evening, upon informing her uncle that she had seen goats at the park, he began to question her: “You went to the zoo?”
“No, Uncle, we were at the park down the street.”
“Oh, you mean you saw geese at the park.”
“No, we saw goats at the park.”
“Aren’t you confused? I think you mean geese.”
This went on for a while, when finally in frustration she replied, “Well, you may call them geese, we call them goats.”
A bit later, I came in and announced that we had seen goats at the park and her uncle doubled over laughing.
Who says kids aren’t smart?
Kim Alire Epley, Denver
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