Tom Tancredo’s speech in South Carolina
Re: “Tancredo sings Dixie with bigots,” Sept. 18 Jim Spencer column.
Calling someone who disagrees with you a bigot is a pretty serious charge, but that is the allegation Denver Post columnist Jim Spencer aimed at me (and other supporters of Congressman Tom Tancredo) in his column. Now that the smoke has cleared from the election, I’d like to answer Mr. Spencer.
Congressman Tancredo came to my home state, South Carolina, last fall to speak out against the immigration amnesty bill sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy and John McCain. There was not an unfavorable word about Congressman Tancredo’s visit in the South Carolina press. His speeches were attended by our governor, and in Columbia our lieutenant governor and several other successful Republican candidates for statewide office, in addition to the Democratic candidate for Congress in that district. That’s hardly a collection of bigots. But to read Mr. Spencer’s portrayal of Congressman Tancredo’s speech at the official South Carolina State Museum and Confederate Relic Room, you’d think it was a Ku Klux Klan rally.
Mr. Spencer attacked me personally by saying years ago I opposed placing a statue honoring tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Richmond. Arthur Ashe was a decent man who overcame great adversity with grace. I did not oppose honoring him. It did seem incongruous to me to put a statue of Mr. Ashe holding his tennis racket alongside a row of equestrian statues of Confederate generals and I did speak out against that. But the issue wasn’t whether to honor Mr. Ashe; it was where to put his statue. I would have also opposed placing a statue of President Reagan – whom I greatly admired – in the same place for the same reason.
Unfortunately, narrow-minded people have always misused symbols – flags, crosses and Bibles – to promote their agendas. But to equate South Carolinians using the Confederate flag in a state museum honoring our heritage with an assembly of bigots is equally wrong and fundamentally unfair.
Richard T. Hines, Mayesville, S.C.
The writer is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Support for building solar-based power plants
Re: “Light brigade; Scientists rally around solar-thermal plants, which collect and store heat,” Dec. 6 business news story.
Thank you for running this story. I sometimes wonder why the public does not get it. Renewables offer so much promise for a better future. The current model of burning fossil fuels is a financial, environmental and security nightmare.
It’s unfortunate no figures exist that measure the whole cost of burning fossil fuel that would include costs to our health and environment. It’s unfortunate the subsidies for renewables aren’t equal to or greater than those of the mature industries burning fossil fuels.
It’s unfortunate that our leaders are more interested in waging war in countries we support with our oil purchases than seeking domestic energy alternatives. It’s unfortunate we continue to build large, centralized production plants that are subject to sabotage and harder to defend than localized site-generated electricity that completely avoids the costs and problems of distribution over a fragile, outdated grid. It’s unfortunate we can’t see the blight we are passing on to future generations rather than a clean, cheap and sustainable energy supply. It’s unfortunate we can’t control our appetites that drive this insane increasing hunger for energy that may be jeopardizing all of humanity.
Neil Preister, Castle Rock
…
Stan Lewandowski of the Intermountain Rural Electric Association stated that his utility prefers coal over solar because “the big deal is cost.” The advocates of concentrating solar power would like all the planners at the rural electric associations (REAs) to make a careful analysis of the true life-cycle cost of coal when they do their work.
If the Tri-State Transmission and Generation Association gets its way, the Colorado REAs will soon be saddled with about $5 billion in debt to pay for what is billed as cheap power from coal. What may appear to be cheap power today will become very expensive power when controls on carbon emissions are enacted – laws that all utility executives know are inevitable.
At that point, Mr. Lewandowski and his colleagues will regret the day that they signed on to coal as “cheap power.”
Susan L. Perkins, Greenwood VillageIt is a shame that our leaders are playing politics with our children’s education. It is long past time for real solutions to our education problems.
Steve Laudeman, Denver
Health and insurance
Re: “Working out at work,” Dec. 11 Fitness story.
I’m very impressed at the way Anthem takes care of its employees. As a subscriber of Anthem insurance, I wish they were providing me with a personal trainer and free fitness classes. Instead, my monthly premium increased from $651 to $772 (with $2,000 deductible) for my spouse and me. This leaves little room in the budget for a yearly physical, much less the luxury of a health club membership.
Pamela Pappas, Denver
How about a study group for the drug war?
The Iraq Study Group gave us a reality check on our ineffectiveness in Iraq and insisted we must alter our approach. When can we have a similar study group do a reality check on the drug war? One thing I’d like to know is which one costs us more money on a daily basis when you look honestly at all the costs involved. And in which one do more Americans die each day. I don’t think the answers are obvious.
I hate seeing lives lost and ruined in hopeless endeavors that we have unrealistically pursued. These wars are bankrupting us as a country while feeding violence in the world. I want my money spent on health care and education and security at home, not on trying to change the world. Let’s be real, our efforts have resulted in significantly increased violence in the Middle East, and drug lords and other criminals are the real beneficiaries of our drug war efforts. In both instances, we are the losers.
I want us to get real, to quit spending ourselves into oblivion over hopeless circumstances, and to quit sacrificing lives to pursue ideology.
Audrey Brodt, Littleton
Swearing-in ceremonies
It’s time America stopped pandering to the religious right. For starters, I suggest that, from now on, all elected or appointed government officials at any level, from the president to the local mayor, be made to take their oath of office on the U.S. Constitution – not on any form of religious document. And, by the way, somebody tell U.S. Congressman-elect Keith Ellison to leave his Koran at home.
Bill Howell, Wetmore
School report cards
Re: “Go figure: School scores are
toothless,” Dec. 7 David Harsanyi
column.
David Harsanyi speaks for many
public school parents when he
shares his frustration with the
school report cards.
The school report cards tell us
that schools in poorer neighborhoods
with largely immigrant populations
perform worse than schools in well-to-do neighborhoods.
This is not surprising to anyone
and does not need to be stated
again and again. What we need are
solutions.
Ranking schools as failing and
turning them into charters is not
the solution. When crime increases
in a neighborhood, the police department
does not restructure the
local precinct office. They hire
more officers and put them on the
streets. When there are potholes
in the roads, we do not try to reinvent
the public works department.
We increase their funding so they
can get things fixed. The same
goes for every service provided by
the public and private sectors. So
why are we beating up on the
teachers who have the hardest
jobs in the education system?
Schools that do not perform well
need our help, not our condemnation.
Bottom line: Hire more teachers
and pay them better.
It is a shame that our leaders are
playing politics with our children s
education. It is long past time for
real solutions to our education
problems.
Steve Laudeman, Denver
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