Foul-mouthed radio hosts
Young boys like to impress each other by getting together and using bad words and telling dirty jokes. Howard Stern and Don Imus are just two immature men who still say outrageous things to get attention. Since they are paid well to do it, it won’t stop.
As long as that kind of misbehavior attracts listeners, there will be others to take their place.
Norm Jain, Aurora
Tancredo’s candidacy
Re: “Tancredo campaign just more scare tactics,” April 8 Cindy Rodríguez column.
I read with considerable amusement Cindy Rodríguez’s Sunday column (in the Style section, no less) where she attacks Tom Tancredo with all the maturity of a high school girl. She impugns the intelligence of Tancredo’s supporters with her lament that they are aligning themselves with a man who doesn’t address education, employment or health care issues.
The fact is, by addressing illegal immigration, Tancredo is addressing these issues in a more substantive fashion than anyone else in Congress. How can Rodríguez minimize the huge impact illegal immigration has on our public schools, commanding disproportionate resources to educate kids who don’t speak English, or the wages of the middle class that are suppressed by large numbers of immigrants willing to work for less or the burden on our hospitals required to provide medical care for immigrants who don’t have health insurance? Tancredo’s supporters appreciate his thoughtful and well-reasoned positions on these important issues.
Robert M. Webb, Denver
Nancy Pelosi in Syria
Re: “Bush’s battle with Congress,” April 8 editorial.
Gail Schoettler’s column seeks to smooth over the colossal mistake House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made in visiting a terrorist state.
Syria is a terrorist state. It openly supports and supplies groups such as Hezbollah and the PLO. These are the same groups that are helping to kill American soldiers in the Middle East.
The mistake that Democrats like Schoettler make in criticizing this war is that they think the U.S. is the problem. Do Democrats actually think that by pulling out our troops from Iraq, all will be well in the world? No serious candidate for the presidency thinks so, on either side of the aisle.
Clete Landes, Centennial
Overprotective parents
Re: “Protective parents not preparing kids,” April 8 Perspective article.
I very much enjoyed reading the column about overprotective parents. I couldn’t agree more. When my eldest son was 7, he and his dad rode their bikes to Boulder – we live in Denver – and took many other rides together around our neighborhood. The summer he turned 8, my son asked me if he could ride his bike – alone – to day camp 2 miles away. I looked at my husband, who had a much better idea than I about how well our son followed biking rules; he didn’t have any objection. So my son and I drove to the camp location, and he pointed out to me where he would cross the street, where he would stop, where he would wait for traffic, etc. I told him to make sure that, while he was waiting for the traffic light to change, he make eye contact with the drivers who were also waiting so they would know he was there. Well, he rode that 4 miles round-trip every day without incident. However, when I asked other mothers if their sons would like to ride to camp with my son, they unequivocally and unanimously said no. It’s been over 20 years since that summer, and I still can’t figure it out. The only other child who rode his bike to camp with my son was his brother.
Subsequently, we moved to a neighborhood where both the elementary and middle schools were within walking distance. My daughter walked or rode her bike to school almost every day. And all three of my children – my grown-up, secure, successful, confident children – are still around to tell the tale of how they got to school and camp without Mommy.
Geri David, Denver
How about “American”?
Re: “Standing on shaky ground; African-Americans on Tour remain scarce 10 years after Woods’ epic win,” April 8 sports story.
Regarding your article concerning the lack of “African-American” players in golf, you mention that Tiger Woods is the only “African-American” on the PGA tour. I am reasonably certain that even Tiger Woods does not refer to himself by that label, since that completely disregards his mother’s heritage. She is from Thailand. So, in the interests of political correctness, should we refer to Tiger Woods as “Thai-American,” “Thai-African-American,” or, say, how about this novel approach … why don’t we just refer to him as “American”?
Mark Lieberman, Littleton
A heroic struggle
Re: “Line drawn in the park over statue,” April 6 news story.
As a mother and grandmother, a strong opponent of the Iraq war, and an advocate for limiting the ownership of guns to those using them for military, police, hunting and special security needs, it seems to me the mothers who oppose the placement of the sculpture of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz are not only unrealistically overprotecting their children but are misguiding them. I would prefer to visit the sculpture with my child to honor Danny Dietz, who gave his life to protect our freedoms (to protest, etc.), and to give my child an understanding of when the use of weapons may be appropriate. This is especially important considering the proximity of the sculpture to the Columbine High School tragedy. Involved and realistic parents should have a much stronger influence over their child than a sculpted gun.
Liz Hesse, Denver
…
My heart aches for everyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one in Iraq. And while I understand the desire to make a memorial to that loss, a statue of a young man with a killing machine in his hands is not the way. There is nothing heroic about this. It tells the world we are incapable of a peaceable settlement of our differences. Letter-writer Jim Simon (April 6 Open Forum) thinks our “kids deserve to see him in all his military glory.” War should not be glorified. If he really wants to see evil, I suggest he look in our backyard at what we have done to the Iraq prisoners. And this is from a county that has always prided itself on the human treatment of all people. If you must erect a statue, leave the gun off, or better yet, why not honor our teachers?
Cheryl M. Kimberley, Buena Vista
…
Children are not stupid. They hear adults talk. They see the news on the TV. To deny that soldiers die is to hide your head in the sand. Danny Dietz paid the ultimate price for his country. These soldiers can’t be forgotten. Parents would do well to explain to their children about the realities of life.
Charlie Carter, Fort Morgan
…
In Concord, Mass., there’s a statue of a farmer leaving his plow behind and picking up a rifle. Every day, parents and school buses bring hundreds, and often thousands, of children to the sacred site. But doesn’t this armed Minuteman encourage violence in kids? Of course not. The only thing it glorifies is the defense of liberty. There is even a monument there that salutes the Bristish soldiers who died in the confrontation. Isn’t a town whose name means peace and harmony a strange place for a statue glorifying an armed man? Not according to the people of Concord.
Joe McGloin, Sheridan
…
The Post’s front page on April 6 featured an article on Christ’s life and the cross (“Why they carry the cross”) next to another story regarding controversy over the erection of a grisly statue of a soldier with a gun near a school. The next section has a feature on a fallen soldier, shown with his young child wearing camouflage and holding a rifle in her tiny hands.
Being that last Sunday was Easter, it seems like the first question ought to be, “What part of ‘Do not kill’ or ‘Love one another as I have loved you’ do you not understand?”
Clearly what bothers so many (at least unconsciously) about the soldier statue – and explaining it to kids – is the simple fact that killing folks you don’t know for causes you don’t understand in the Middle East doesn’t make a whole lot more sense than acting out rage in a high school at home.
The words of Jonn Prine, penned a few decades ago about yet another pointless war, seem to apply just as strongly today: “‘Cause Jesus don’t like killing, no matter what the reasons for / And your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore.”
Kevin Knox, Louisville
…
Re: “SEAL’s memorial within kids’ view? Perfect spot,” April 9 David Harsanyi column.
David Harsanyi wrote eloquently about placement of the proposed memorial to Navy SEAL Danny Dietz. His memorial can become a teaching tool for the high costs of war. My understanding is that Columbine High School is close by. Why not contrast the Danny Dietz story of heroism with that of the misguided teens who brought so much tragedy to so many innocent victims and their families in April 1999?
Let us no longer hide the high cost of war, especially its costs in human terms. Not only to the fallen and their families but also to the many who have sustained injuries that may never fully heal. Let us make sure that each returning serviceperson receives proper and adequate care immediately and into what may be a distant future. And those being sent into battle now, can we ensure that they have the equipment and training at the optimum level for their protection?
Each person who serves is a hero, and deserves our humble thanks.
Helen McHugh Brauer, Fort Collins
…
David Harsanyi inadvertently made the simple point voiced by those protesting the placement of the machine-gun statue near the playground of three elementary schools. Harsanyi lauds the war memorials at the Colorado Capitol and in Washington, D.C. Those protesting Littleton’s failure to follow basic principles for locating public art have sincerely praised and respected the sacrifice of the Dietz family. The statue would be appropriately placed at Littleton’s municipal building. Harsanyi states his intention to accompany his children when visiting the statue. That is all these parents have asked for the right to do. Public art is placed after a consideration of the intended audience.
Lynn Greene, Larkspur
…
Littleton’s Danny Dietz statute depicts a warrior ready for battle, weapon and ammunition front and center. No doubt the statute glorifies weapons and violence. But we are, after all, a gun nation, and we use our guns every day to kill our enemies and each other. We are also a warlike nation. In the past 100 years, no other nation has charged into battle as often or as in many places as we have – Europe, Asia, central America, the Middle East, even Africa. Danny Dietz is one of hundreds of thousands we have armed and sent off to fight in far-flung corners of the world. His statute reminds us not only of the sacrifice he made, but of who we are. It’s good to be reminded of who we are once in awhile. Our young should know who we are, too. If they don’t like us, perhaps they’ll be better.
Peter F. Munger, Arvada
TO THE POINT
Why did George Bush say, “I pray for peace,” at an Army chapel on Easter? He has it within his power to make peace simply by signing the budget bill that sets a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq.
S. Williams, Lakewood
James Hoffa Jr. offers threats. How about offering solutions, benefits and advantages of using unions? Until he does, Gov. Bill Ritter should stand strong.
Jed Summerton, Englewood
It’s past time to close America’s “torture island” and its kangaroo courts at Guantanamo Bay. Its prisoners should be transferred to federal courts for trial of their crimes. We’re a nation that prides itself in the rule of law, remember?
Jim Muhm, Englewood
To have your comments printed in To the Point, please send letters of no more than 40 words to the address at the bottom of page 6E. Writers are limited to one letter per month.
To send a letter to the editor
E-mail: openforum@denverpost.com (only straight text, not attachments)
Mail: The Open Forum, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, 80202; Fax: 303-954-1502
Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 200 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.
To reach us by phone: 303-954-1331
Online extras: For more letters to the editor, go to
