Hypocrisy and Sen. Craig
Re: “Double standard in Craig case,” Aug. 31 Linda Chavez column.
Linda Chavez did a great job showing off her hypocrisy and head-in- the-sand Republican attitude when she said she “just can’t imagine a Democratic member of Congress being subjected to the same treatment if the facts, as we know them so far, were identical,” referring to the scandal with Sen. Larry Craig.
Has it been so long that she can’t remember what the Republicans did to a Democratic president for having consensual sex with a person he already knew?
Most people wouldn’t care nearly so much about this if our representatives like Craig weren’t looking down their “holier than thou” noses quite so far.
Jere DeBacker, Denver
…
It is comforting to know that there are highly trained and brave police officers lurking in the public bathroom stalls to protect me from solicitation of sex, but I think this protection should be extended. My knowledgeable friends tell me that this evil behavior also occurs in bars and even hardware stores. And I remember, as a young fellow, being told that if you are alone in a strange town, church is the best place to meet girls. Let’s get our priorities straight and put more of our police to work on protecting our precious morals.
Robert B. Blizard, Littleton
Western Civilization at CU
Re: “Who killed Western Civ?” Aug. 19 John Andrews column.
John Andrews questions an unsuccessful effort to form a Department of Western Civilization at the University of Colorado. It’s an important question.
Western civilization is alive and well at CU. Its traditions are the basis for much of what we teach, from history to art, from engineering to medicine. Western civilization is inextricably woven throughout our curriculum.
CU-Boulder is the only university in the region with a classics department, which focuses on the Greeks and Romans, seminal cultures in Western civilization. Our Center for Western Civilization hosts speakers and conferences on the topic. In addition, we hope to win approval this fall for a certificate program in Western civilization that brings together coursework from a variety of disciplines under a single focus.
Earlier this year, the Board of Regents unanimously approved my recommendation to allocate an endowment to the Center for Western Civilization to enhance its offerings. With this breadth of topics available to our students, we hope CU will be recognized as a home for a wide range of intellectual thought and strong Western civilization offerings.
Hank Brown, President, University of Colorado, Denver
AG Gonzales’ resignation
Re: “Alberto Gonzales: faithful servant and loyal friend,” Aug. 30 letter to the editor.
Letter-writer Brian Stuckey complained about your editorial about Alberto Gonzales. Stuckey was right when he said the attorney general was a “faithful servant and loyal friend of the president.” What he forgets is the AG is supposed to be loyal to the people of the United States. Instead, Gonzales chose to ignore the people, twist the law to favor his president, and avoid being accountable for his actions. Stock answer to questions? “I don’t recall” or “I can’t remember.” What a disgrace he is to our justice system.
Gayle Nance, Westminster
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My, my, what can the matter be? Karen Hughes, Harriet Miers, Colin Powell, Paul Bremer, Richard Pearl, Paul Wolfowiitz, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Andrew Card, Karl Rove, and now Alberto Gonzales, all gone. Probably those who voted for Bush didn’t realize what his poor personnel acumen would thrust upon the nation.
Norman Kautsky, Centennial
Death of 7-year-old
Re: “3 counties failed boy, report says,” Aug. 29 news story.
Was it cracks in the system, or was it something more accountable that sealed Chandler Grafner’s fate? His case was handled by social workers in three different counties, but it seems the problem wasn’t so much the confusion that this created, as the profound incompetence that they shared. Chandler’s own pleas for help were ignored.
I am so tired of this same old story.
How many times have you been in a public place, witnessed child abuse and done nothing? The most common thing that you see is mothers exercising power over their crying children, either by ignoring them or screaming at them, until they sometimes become hysterical. They parade them through store aisles past uncomfortable passersby, oblivious to their child’s discomfort and exhaustion.
Do we care, Colorado? Who will be the next poster child to “fall through the cracks,” which is just another lame excuse for incompetence? Will we finally get involved as a community and try to come up with some answers, or will we just keep walking by?
Beverly Bennett, Aurora
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