ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 9, 1996 TAG: 9611110003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
THE REPUBLICANS have demonstrated once again that they are not ready for prime time. In a misguided attempt to get back at President Clinton in 1994, the people elected football players, actors, housewives, etc., to Congress. Most of them were nice people, but knew nothing about making laws or running a government. Electing to Congress Sonny Bono, the California entertainer, and Enid Waldholz, the teary-eyed housewife from Utah, is comparable to putting Beavis and Butthead in charge of the space program.
It isn't nice to gloat, but after four years of the most egregious attacks on President Clinton and the first lady by right-wing extremists, I feel entitled. The fact that these attacks have backfired is poetic justice indeed.
For the second presidential election in a row, superpatriots Oliver North, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Gov. George Allen, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson and others of their ilk ensured Clinton's election.
I especially thank Falwell, the porcine purveyor of Christian morality, who closes his Sunday sermons by hawking tapes that accuse Clinton of every crime from drug running to murder. This same person sued porno king Larry Flynt unsuccessfully for saying bad things about him. Free speech is a wonderful thing.
I doubt that we'll see another Republican president as long as people such as Falwell, Ralph Reed (director of the Christian Coalition) and bomb-thrower Pat Buchanan have so much influence in the Republican party. That's just fine with me. And if nothing else comes of this election, it will have been worthwhile just to see the smirk disappear from the faces of the above-mentioned gentlemen - if only for a brief, shining moment.
JOHN W. SLAYTON
ROANOKE
Give tricksters more daylight
REGARDING daylight-saving time:
Every year we go off daylight-saving time on the last Sunday in October. Then it's back to slow time. I have nothing against the slow time. But why don't they change the changeover date to the first Sunday in November?
That would be after Halloween, and it would mean the children would have a little more time to go trick-or-treating before dark. It would be a benefit to the parents and children.
ANNE N. STEWART
BASSETT
Cover also upbeat news about bands
AS A BAND staff member and parent of band students, I was dismayed to learn about the poor behavior of Thomas Jefferson High School's band directors at a recent band competition (Oct. 20 news article, "Top-notch school has bottom-rung manners"). Reading about their inexcusable actions, however, wasn't as upsetting as seeing a high-school band's "dirty laundry" displayed on the front page. It's a shame that because of their leaders' actions, these fine band students must suffer negative publicity as well.
Would you have been so quick to place on your front page the news of this or any other high-school marching band's most recent competitive accomplishments? When was the last time you even checked out the competition schedules of local school bands? Why is it that anyone in Timesland can tell you the names of all the Blue Ridge District competitors in high-school sports, yet no one knows what local schools placed at the huge Parade of Champions band competition held at James Madison University recently? (By the way, Lord Botetourt placed first in Class Double-A, outscoring 22 other bands from the mid-Atlantic states.)
If you're going to report the bad news on bands, you must also report the good news. There is plenty out there that your newspaper is regularly missing. In addition to the sports you cover, it would be great to see in print weekly regional band-competition results, and pictures and feature articles that follow each band's competitive season.
A marching band is one of the most satisfying and memorable high-school sports in which a qualified student may participate. It's also one of the most demanding - requiring long hours, tremendous discipline, and dedication to teamwork. Let's bring it into the limelight where it belongs!
SHERRIE N. ANDREWS
DALEVILLE
It's up to parents to correct kids
I THINK it's a real pity that when a child does something wrong, a parent cannot even punish that child. I am not saying that you should beat the daylights out of the child, but administer some type of correction to let the child know that he or she cannot get away with everything.
Nowadays you can't spank a child without the government getting involved. What is a parent to do? Just let the child run wild and stay in trouble? Unless the government wants to raise the child, then it should keep its political nose out of it, and stick its nose in only if the child is being abused in some way.
If parents aren't able to have some kind of control as to how their children are punished, then this country is going to be in more trouble with an increase in crime. Then, what is government going to do, aside from blaming the parents? Not only will politicians blame the parents, but they will just keep talking about decreasing the crime rate. Lot of good that's going to do.
APRIL M. McPEAK
DUBLIN
LENGTH: Medium: 98 linesby CNB