ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607080011
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
JUDGING FROM reports by your newspaper, Virginia is becoming a lucrative haven for carpetbaggers, reminiscent of the Civil War period. Hardly a day goes by that our governor isn't reportedly acting as bagman as he distributes our taxes to some company, characterized herein as a carpetbagger, on the presumption that the company is so marginal that it couldn't get financing except at the public trough.
Those of us who feel government should be a service tending to roads, police and fire protection, etc., rather than conducting ``investment opportunities,'' wish the governor would divert some of this largesse to the state's highway department for maintenance of our roads.
WILLIAM N. GILES
TROUTVILLE
Better to find out now than later
YOUR ACCUSTOMED lean toward the liberal Democrats showed in your June 20 editorial (``Looking into the FBI files'') when, in writing about the latest White House fiasco, you state that the FBI file scandal is "sure to feature, as Whitewater hearings did, an unfair and unseemly pursuit of partisan points."
You conveniently forgot that a similar pursuit by the Democrats uncovered the misdeeds of the Watergaters and disclosed the character defects of Nixon & Co. And the Iran-Contra probe opened a can of worms for Bush & Co. These, too, were characterized as unfair and politically partisan at the onset.
Had Lyndon Johnson's many questionable political misdeeds as president been probed and come to light during his administration, he would have been impeached, and many thousand servicemen wouldn't have come home in body bags.
The Whitewater probes have already resulted in some criminal convictions and others may be forthcoming. Perhaps Clinton is innocent of criminal misadventures. Perhaps he's only guilty by association and his inept political hacks generate all the snafus. But in his wisdom, or lack thereof, he chose them. And like the top admirals he crucified after Tailhook, he is, as he charged them, guilty by association.
We're gullible and easily hoodwinked by charlatans. And the more we learn about Clinton & Co. and its total ineptness to lead, govern and inspire, the more we should be concerned about what could happen if our country or the unstable world comes further apart and begins to self-destruct. I want a proven leader, not some shallow boob who feels my pain.
If Clinton or any future president is as unprincipled, inept and misleading as Clinton appears to be, it's a helluva lot better to find out before the primrose path becomes the road of no return. Your slanted allegation at the beginning is unwarranted and unsubstantiated.
RICHARD K. CULBERTSON
BLACKSBURG
VMI ruling can help change attitudes
I SUPPORT the Supreme Court ruling (June 27 article, ``VMI must admit women, Supreme Court rules 7-1'') that the all-male Virginia Military Institute is unconstitutional and its demand that this unfair treatment cease. It's very narrow-minded to base any argument on the phrase, "tradition dictates'' without regard for any possible repercussions.
Having lived in Lexington, I cannot comprehend why females would want to attend VMI, other than to physically or intellectually challenge their male counterparts. However, such a change will (it's to be hoped) force male keydets to perceive women as equals. These students often view women in rather limited ways.
Unfortunately, VMI was forced by the Supreme Court to admit women. But let's keep our fingers crossed that VMI doesn't grudgingly accept this ruling and proceed to treat women with resentment and animosity rather than with respect.
JENNIFER OWINGS
RADFORD
Roanoke League can rise again
SINCERE THANKS for the excellent editorial (June 26, ``Roanoke is out of the League'') concerning the disbandment of the Roanoke chapter of the League of Women Voters and the necessity for citizen participation in government. The information was factual, realistic and positively presented.
You left me feeling optimistic about the future of civic and volunteer organizations in general. I look forward to a renewed League in the Roanoke Valley.
MARY SWIGER
President
League of Women
Voters of Montgomery County
BLACKSBURG
LENGTH: Medium: 88 linesby CNB