Graphic images of war
Re: Sept. 20 front-page photo.
For heaven’s sake, why did you put such a disturbing photo on the front page of The Post? At a glance, the British soldier scrambling out of a burning tank in Iraq appears to be burning to death, or at least suffering serious burns over most of his body.
I was so distraught at seeing this image that it took a while before I was able to focus on the last sentence of the caption: “The BBC reported that the soldier suffered only minor injuries.”
Please spare us such graphic images of war and senseless violence. We don’t need them to remind us of man’s inhumanity to man.
Loretta Martin, Denver
Katrina and the media
One of the reasons the corruption and ineptness of Louisiana government was not known about for many years was that the liberal press simply didn’t report it. Certainly that non-reportage has now contributed to the number of deaths in Katrina’s aftermath, because the lack of reportage ensured that the proper precautions were never taken by a media-shielded state and local government.
So what does the media do when a Democrat-controlled state drops the ball? It shifts the blame to a Republican administration, thus helping to ensure deaths from the state’s ineptness next time. It’s a self-perpetuating malfeasance.
Louisiana is a good example of what happens when liberal Democrats run governments; New Orleans is a good example of political correctness killing people through the election of inept officials. Distortions contributing to deaths are what happens when liberals think misreporting is somehow good because truth is trumped by partisanship. The Post needs to be asking questions about the role of the press and the truth in its own reportage, not once again pretending the media is an “outside observer” to these situations.
Mike Sigman, Durango
Immigration policy
As has been made painfully obvious in the last few weeks, pockets of extreme poverty still remain in America. Until such conditions are eliminated to every possible degree, we cannot and should not attempt to solve the poverty of other nations by accepting their citizens who come here by ignoring all of this nation’s immigration laws.
America’s heart is great, but our resources are limited. Especially in the rebuilding of the hurricane-affected parts of the Gulf Coast and in dealing with those displaced by the storm, we cannot continue to permit those illegally in this country to take the jobs our own people can fill.
Solving domestic poverty is primarily the responsibility of the poor themselves, working with non-governmental individuals and organizations. Local, state and federal agencies must step in only where other efforts have failed. Tax dollars must be strictly administered with an eye toward giving the recipients thereof hope of a future without need.
Above all else, we must get our priorities in order: Responsibly fix what is broken in America before trying to do the same for people who flout our laws.
Mary Anne Little, Denver
Wages for inmates
Re: “Wages unfair in prisons,” Sept. 23 Reggie Rivers column.
I think Reggie Rivers may have found the answer to homelessness in America. The answer is: commit a crime! Rob, beat up or kill and you will not only get three square meals and a roof over your head, we will pay you decent money, too.
Maybe we should also provide 401(k) options so that prisoners will have a nice little nest egg when they get out.
Mark Reuter, Littleton
