Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100016
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Before we micromanage the rights of the least powerful in society, let's ask ourselves if we support the same philosophy for all.
Should student-loan recipients be told which college to attend?
Should mortgage deducters be told where to live?
Should corporate travelers be told which airline to fly or to take the train?
Should parents be told which day-care provider to use?
All of the above and more receive tax breaks or other government benefits from my hard-earned money.
We all know that it's part of our nature to want to control the actions of others, even as we seek fewer controls on our own lives. The answer isn't in slogans and compassion fatigue, but rather in a realization that we all have a stake in government that should be directed by an informed, compassionate electorate.
You can find just as many abusers of government handouts in places like Penn Forest as in the inner city or transitional neighborhoods.
PHILLIP E. BROWN
ROANOKE
Is the view worth $1 million?
REGARDING David Christensen's July 28 letter to the editor, ``In no position to grab land'':
Maybe the Park Service is being targeted due to reckless spending, such as was done in the Daleville area. This isn't about battlefields and such that have historic value. This is about a foot trail and spending taxpayers' money at the rate of $36,400 an acre, or more than $1.1 million to ``protect a view'' for the Appalachian Trail. If the Park Service spends money like that, it's time to target it for cuts, and start slashing.
RALPH and JEAN BRADLEY
NEW CASTLE
A mid-summer's dream about Waco
THE WACO hearings are behind us now. Politicians completed their task of desecrating the ideology of democracy. I'm taking a nap after the hours of rhetoric, and I fall into a dream.
``Ms. Reno, are you aware that in Philadelphia 10 years ago government officials dropped a bomb on the radical cult group called Move?'' ``No, I'm not.'' ``Resulting in the death of 11 citizens, including five children, and destroying 60 homes in the process?'' ``I do remember the televised reports, now that you mention it.''
``Do you also recall that seven years prior to this disaster, then Mayor Frank Rizzo handled the Move group with an entirely different strategy?'' ``I'm vaguely familiar.'' ``Then you do know that Rizzo had the group's compound under siege for five months before storming it with more than 300 police and firefighters.'' ``I wasn't informed.''
``Ms. Reno, then you're not aware that this tactical strategy by Rizzo resulted in only one loss of life, a Philadelphia police officer?'' ``No, I'm sorry, but my intelligence didn't share this or think it was relevant.'' ``Ms. Reno, do you know who Birdie Africa is?'' ``No, I'm sorry, I don't.'' ``He is the 13-year-old survivor of the Move bombing. Do you think an interview with this young man may have made you rethink the tactical plans for the Waco attack?'' ``Well, I just don't know.''
``Ms. Reno, this young man suffered multiple burns over his entire body as a result of the attack. He knew nothing but the Move philosophy from birth, but now is a productive young citizen.'' ``That's wonderful.'' ``Ms. Reno, that's something the dead Waco children will never be!'' ``But, sir!'' ``You still say you just don't know if a conversation with this young man would possibly enlighten you?'' ``Well, maybe.''
Suddenly, I awake to the sound of screams and laughter mixed with ooh, ooh, oohs. I open my eyes. It's the Ricky Lake Show! Welcome back to reality. Welcome back to the good old United States of America.
GEORGE M. MARUNICH SR.
RADFORD
States have not waived their rights
IN YOUR view, were the original states ever sovereign? If so, at what point did they voluntarily give up any claims of sovereign rights? If you agree that the states that created the compact of government we call the Constitution never gave up any claims to sovereignty, then do they not retain those rights today?
Indeed, if we really believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence that ultimate authority in government reform rests with the people in each sovereign community, then could we the people exercise our rights, withdraw from the current compact and reform our government? Under what authority does the Constitution allow for the coercion of any state?
How long will this question be veiled in secrecy? Is there a gag rule in effect? Does our government stand by the principle of self-determination for all peoples except our own?
WAYNE DAVID CARLSON
DUBLIN
Shedding no tears for the Japanese
I SEE the crybaby liberals are at it again. This time, wringing tears from the American public about the big, bad U.S. military dropping atomic bombs on Japan. However, I don't see any tears shed for the thousands of Americans who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Okinawa and countless other islands that dot the wide Pacific.
Cody Lowe bemoans the fact that ``A lot of Japanese reunions were canceled'' due to the atomic bomb blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Aug. 6 column, ``A lot of Japanese reunions were canceled in advance 50 years ago''). I would like to remind him that thousands of American, Australian, British and Dutch reunions were also canceled - not to mention that 3 million Chinese were raped, beaten, tortured and bayoneted. Their reunions were also nullified.
American prisoners of war in the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia felt the rage of the bloodthirsty Japanese. More than 12,000 heroes of Bataan and Corregidor suffered the fate of starving to death and beheading. Their reunions were also canceled.
There are no two sides to the argument as to whether we should have dropped the bomb. There's only one side. We fought a total war, and we won it with the weapons at hand. If we had lost the war, Lowe wouldn't have the freedom to write such garbage.
BUD FEUER
ROANOKE
Even teens can posture politically
A JULY 23 editorial (``Road-testing, no-pass, no-drive'') expresses surprise that some teen-agers would support Gov. Allen's idea to withhold driving licenses from students who fail the new standardized education tests. I see nothing surprising.
Even high-school students have ideas about how to wield government power. Like adults, they want to use it to force their self-imposed standards on others who aren't as responsible, intelligent or civic-minded as themselves.
The editorial staff has no difficulty assuming the role of wiser parent where others are concerned. ``Kids,'' it agrees, ought to take the standardized tests seriously. If they don't, they ought to be punished. This isn't an adults-only position; replace ``kids'' with any term that suggests a group prejudged to be morally or mentally inferior, and thus in need of some heavy-handed guidance (for its own good, of course).
The only problem, says the editorial, is that the goal isn't objective enough for government involvement. A current policy encouraging good-attendance records is cited as an example of a proper application. Teen-agers who pride themselves on good attendance might agree.
As the editorial staff is fond of reminding us, driving is a privilege. Given this tool and objective goals, there would seem to be no limit to the behavior modifications possible with young people. What will a wise and caring society do next?
As for teaching them anything, from the students' words, it appears they have already learned it. Political posturing has its own rewards.
ANDREW AKERS
SALEM
by CNB