6th CD opponent for Rep. Tom Tancredo
What does a candidate for Congress from District 6 have to do to get his name in the paper? Rob a bank?
Bill Winter has been campaigning for months and has received very little mention in The Denver Post as a viable alternative to Tom Tancredo. Perhaps Winter is to blame. He’s not a career politician. He’s not willing to go to Washington to advance himself or some narrow ideology. He only wants to continue the service to his country that he began when he was a 17-year-old Marine by fighting for a better future for Coloradans and all Americans.
So much for the so-called liberal bias in the media.
Ben Benoit, Castle Rock
The war on terror and U.S. energy issues
It never ceases to amaze me how the Bush administration wages its war on terror. We spend billions of borrowed money on Iraq, and yet when it comes to energy independence, we just can’t seem to afford to do much about it. While countries like Iran finance terrorist attacks against the West, we stand by the gas pump and fill our tanks, not realizing where the money is going and what it’s being used for. Until energy conservation and research becomes a national priority, we will continue to finance the very attacks we are so worried about.
Richard A. Cron, Clifton
Keeping Colorado students in school
Re: “Colo. schools ditch pushy attitudes toward dropouts,” Aug. 20 news story.
Unfortunately, The Post’s article is not really news. Students without personal motivation and family support and expectations to attend and participate appropriately at school have always been a part of the public school system’s dilemma: how to get an incredibly broad variety of children engaged and on track.
Schools need to partner with students, their families and the community to develop viable plans and alternatives for all students to succeed. That being said, it is unusual for a student to suddenly decide to turn off to school. The Post neglected to report on the family and past school attempts to stabilize and correct behaviors or on any interventions that previously were used, successfully or not, with the students mentioned in the article. Being told that a student (after making personal choices) quit school “just weeks” into a new school year and then blamed that decision on school authorities is certainly not the whole story.
Sharon Lindeman, Westminster
Politics, individualism
Contrary to what letter-writer Lee Fairman wrote (Aug. 23 Open Forum), the GOP has no monopoly on individualism. Both the Democratic and Republican parties share a belief in the rights of the individual as an organizing principle. The Republican failure lies in their inability to accept the concept of common good. This leads them to embrace corporatism – bestowing rights to corporations above and beyond those of individuals. Democrats’ belief in the individual is expressed with their support of civil rights and other quality-of-life issues such as Social Security and a livable minimum wage.
Daniel Salazar, Denver
Use of trails in Colorado’s national forests
Re: “Forests placed on road to ruin,” Aug. 22 Outdoor Extremes article.
The Post writes that 1,000 miles of illegal trails have been created by the off-road vehicle (ORV) community in the White River National Forest. However, the article fails to mention the sheer number of illegal trails built by the mountain bike community. This implies that it is OK for one group to build trails to satisfy their needs, while we ignore another valid group.
The “why” for illegal trail construction needs to be addressed. Forest Service travel management plans show that ORV users have significantly fewer trails available for their use, with hardly any dedicated ORV routes, unlike other recreational groups.
As a disabled veteran, I enjoy taking my 6-year-old son to the mountains that I would otherwise be unable to access. I agree that there needs to be areas where ORVs should not be allowed, or limited entry. However, the ORV community has a valid right to have its recreational needs met in a fair and equitable manner, and not just those privileged few.
Jeff Peterson, Aurora
Sex-abuse negotiations
Re: “Money reportedly sinks talks on sex-abuse suits,” Aug. 23 news story.
It appears to me that Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput, like all too many bishops, is continuing a policy of manipulation, secret deals along with a blatant attempt to deny credible victims of sexual abuse by clergy any redress of grievances. From the facts, as reported in this article, I am more inclined to believe, along with attorneys Jeffery Anderson and Jeffery Herman, that Chaput’s attempt at mediation is “more of a public-relations move than a genuine effort to fairly compensate these victims,” quoting Herman.
Furthermore, if the bishops of the United States were primarily interested in the thousands of individuals violated by priests under their authority and responsibility, they would not be spending millions of dollars retaining high-priced law and public-relations firms along with hundreds of highly paid Catholic conference lobbyists across the country to obstruct justice and escape accountability by way of the various states’ statutes of limitation.
M. Immaculata Dunn, Valley Forge, Pa.
Offensive content in hotel rooms
Re: “Conservatives target porn at hotels,” Aug. 23 news story.
The Denver Post reports a group of Christians is pressuring the Justice Department to investigate the hotel industry for obscenity violations in the renting of pornographic movies in guests’ hotel rooms. I would like to point to a more nefarious problem.
Many hotel rooms have a vulgar book openly displayed, even in rooms rented to families with children. And unlike the pornographic videos, one does not have to order or pay for it. Let me quote from a copy that I stole from Super 8: “… hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own d*ng, and drink their own p*ss with you?” (2 Kings 18:27).
Language that is not fit for a family newspaper should not be left where children can see it in a hotel room. And while the pornographic videos portray natural human sexual relations, this book has erotic tales that glorify the unnatural.
Quoting again: “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him” (Song of Solomon 5:4). This book also approvingly tells a story of two daughters who trick their father into drinking himself into a stupor and then raping him, of heroes that have multiple wives and mistresses, of rapes, murders and human sacrifices that no family newspaper would approve of on its editorial page.
I also don’t want my children to believe that God is as crass as the god of this book: “Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread d*ng upon your faces, even the d*ng of your solemn feasts” (Malachi 2:3).
When I take my family into a hotel room, I first have to remove this offensive book. On a recent road trip, I brought home seven copies that are now harmlessly in the sanitary landfill.
Mike Hogan, Lakewood
Of human behavior
I propose a campaign – a national re-education of the following three components of human behavior: integrity (firm adherence to a code or standard of values); critical thinking (the ability to tell fact from fiction); and courtesy (behavior marked by consideration of others, good manners or tact). I believe if we stressed these three components for the next decade, we could change the course of history.
Lynn Eschbach, Greenwood Village
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