Candidates dodge on tough issues
With several weeks before party nominations, the aspirants are spending as much time as possible attacking each other’s views on petroleum, religion and health care. For example, John McCain’s attempt to humiliate Barack Obama because of his suggestion that we check the pressure of our tires to make them more efficient has become political theatrics.
Neither candidate offers a program to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, a consideration ignored in 1973. Mumbling about alternative fuel sources evokes little campaign interest because they have been subsumed by the oil industry. Our European and Asian counterparts have developed methods of using cheaper, non-polluting sources of energy; how this would help our foreign debt has not even been mentioned. The interests and needs of those who suffer from pollution, such as asthmatics, don’t count.
Obama proposed something less than universal health care and has waffled on the issue. McCain, at least, is more honest here; he would do little or nothing despite universal proof that systems throughout the world work for the betterment of their national populations. We should congratulate both potential future leaders in satisfying the health industries, while ignoring the needs of our population.
Our potential leaders refuse to take responsibility for the environment. They refuse to cap plant discharges, support the EPA, mandate a speed limit reduction on federal roads or take affirmative action by requiring all government vehicles to immediately convert to alternative fuels. These steps are not profitable for groups supporting the candidates. We lose.
Both pander to the religious right despite historic evidence of what happens to progressive societies when the wall of separation is breached. Bush’s faith-based initiatives have breached the wall and given fundamentalism a tool with which to threaten any attempts to continue the founders’ historic experiences. They read world history and feared the results.
ó Arthur Steinberg
Salisbury
Dear kitten dumper
This letter is directed to the person from Cleveland who left a box of kittens at the carwash beside the Food Lion in Salisbury. Shame on you for not driving an extra 10 minutes to the animal shelter. Those poor kittens were scared to death, all boxed up and left alone with no food or water. Just wanted to let you know that they will be taken care of by responsible people who don’t look at cats or dogs as just a novelty. Next time you dump off unwanted pets you might not want to use a box that has your name and address on it. Shame on you!
ó Michael Day
Woodleaf