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PrintThe PG just can't accept defeat regarding Karl Rove
The vehemence with which the PG greeted the news that Karl Rove had been cleared of wrongdoing ("Rove Walks: Nothing Sticks to Him Except the Mud," June 16 editorial) came as a surprise. Perhaps it should not have been, knowing the liberal obsession with bringing him down and thereby damaging President Bush.
The Post-Gazette, not being sure whom to blame, was reduced to criticizing Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, engaging in ad hominem attacks on Mr. Rove and slamming the White House for defending itself against fabrications by Joseph Wilson, husband of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
There is nothing an ambitious prosecutor such as Mr. Fitzgerald likes more than finding enough evidence to indict. This is the same prosecutor who, when he could find no evidence that Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's then-chief of staff, had "outed" Ms. Plame, decided to indict him on charges of perjury.
As pointed out in the editorial, Mr. Rove testified under oath for several hours during five separate appearances before the grand jury. After all of that, is it not possible to conclude that there never was a case against Mr. Rove, and that, from the beginning three years ago, it was all a desperate effort to get rid of the man because he has consistently bested the Democrats in the hard-ball game of politics?
HARRY M. CORBETT
East Liberty
What will be next?
Ban smoking in most public places? What's next?
Ban obese people from fast-food restaurants?
Ban diabetics from bakeries?
Ban beer drinking on Tuesdays?
Ban undisciplined children from airplanes? Or ban their parents from having any more?
Really, there are more important issues in this county than smoking ("Zoo Ban on Smoking Goes Well, But State, County Efforts Stall," June 12).
I would have liked to ban the woman sitting behind me on the bus talking loudly on her cell phone and eating something that smelled horrible from a McDonald's bag the other day.
Let's get a grip here, Pittsburgh.
CINDY KNESS
Edgewood
Misguided 'T' plans
In regard to the approaching decision on the T's North Shore extension ("Deadline Nears on 'T' Decision," June 17), I urge new Port Authority CEO Steve Bland to think about this whole mess and reapply for the government grant, this time more focused on extending the line to more communities rather than using it up mostly for a tunnel.
The east is full of potential, especially considering that the new Greyhound station is on its way (just look how much nicer the temporary one is, despite its inaccessibility).
The North Shore extension is going to be just like what Cleveland's Waterfront Line is like now. It is a mostly empty train, pretty much used only by tourists or Browns fans, and it did nothing to help the Flats district or the void around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's not that big a problem, though, as the Red Line connects Clevelanders to their airport, their central educational institutions and their medical center. Last time I checked, we don't have that.
Isn't it time to turn Oakland into a rail destination? However, in this unfortunate age of scarce transit funding, who knows when Pittsburgh will get another chance at a capital project for rail?
I urge Mr. Bland to reconsider the decisions of yesterday. Why would anybody coming from Downtown continue to ride the T underground and pay extra just to get a few hundred feet closer to the game? Besides, it's not like you're getting a crummy view from the Clemente Bridge.
EZRA PINCUS-ROTH
Oakland
Christ's inclusive love
The Episcopal Church has indeed sent a "seismic message" to the rest of the world, as Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. said ("Episcopalians Send 'A Seismic Message' in Homosexuality Debate," June 21).
The message is this. God is our Creator, and God is Love. God loves each and everyone of us, whatever our ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, all of which are part and parcel of how we are created. It is time to get past the old narrow (and often entrenched) attitudes of racism, sexism and heterosexualism.
This is the 21st century, and God expects us to reflect the love of our creator for all creation. For 30 years the Episcopal Church has been working toward this fulfillment of equality and compassion for all of God's children.
The love of Christ was/is an inclusive love -- a love for absolutely everyone, but most especially for the outcasts, the marginalized, the lepers and the women of His time.
We Episcopalians expressed this love at the General Convention of 2003 when we approved the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. We believe we were responding to the Holy Spirit then and we are saying we will not turn back now.
That's the "seismic message." Period. And personally, I am enormously proud of my church for sending the right message.
SUSAN J. BOULDEN
Oakmont
A laudable choice
I applaud the leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States in electing their first woman as presiding bishop ("Episcopal Church Picks Female Presiding Bishop: First Woman in Post in 500 Years of History," June 19). In so doing, they have been true witnesses of Christ. Their courage allowed them to ignore the prejudices and bigotry of their confreres in the American church, most notably Pittsburgh's own Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr.
Sadly, Mr. Duncan could not reveal Christ's love by being gracious in silence. Instead, he chose to show that his strident homophobia is equaled, if not exceeded, by strident sexism. If this is the lesson of Christ, I must have missed something in my own Christian formation.
I pray for Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and her success. I pray for Bishop Duncan and his redemption. I suspect he needs my prayers more than she does.
THOMAS L. BUTERA
Mt. Lebanon
Family affirming
I especially enjoyed the write-up about actor Chris O'Donnell in the June 16 edition of Life, which is included in the Post-Gazette.
There should be more articles about good families and their successes and happiness. Our country needs to be based on family life. Only in this way do we succeed as a nation.
SARA LEUKHARDT
Monroeville
