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PrintOur heroes are made to pay for Bush's abuses
Regarding "Bush Calls Lawmakers to Meet on War Funding" (April 11): In defiance of the will of an increasing majority of the American people, President Bush continues to insist on grinding the spirit of freedom and our brave youth into the sands of failure with the country-club-foot of hubris, showing yet again that his allegiance is pledged not to the good of America, humanity or even "the flag" but to an elite and very private constituency.
Once again he is substituting tactics of bullying for real negotiating by calling a meeting of lawmakers to the White House, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said is a case of "You can come and meet with me, but here's what the result's going to be before we meet." At issue is funding for the war -- not funding for "our troops."
Clearly no amount of intelligence is going to budge the "blind-hawks" from their death-grip on the ugly mumpsimus that is this war, or pry ill-gotten billions from buddy-buddy Halliburton's cold, undead hands.
The most direct way to begin bringing our troops home while simultaneously delivering a well-deserved and long-overdue rebuke to this self-styled outlaw president is to cut off the blood money now. The men and women of the armed forces are real heroes who have volunteered to defend this great nation, not this small-minded lackey to his own skewed partisan ambitions.
Pinch the angry flow of funds for this deathscapade now, and bring home the only victory Americans will all unequivocably hail: the smiling faces of loved ones who have survived the ill will of power.
MARK BALOBECK
McKees Rocks
About 'reining in'
Many people believe that the United States should take action against Iran because of its apparent support of Shiite militias in Iraq (see, for example, the April 3 letter "It's Time for Us to Rein in Iran").
Did these same people urge that the Soviet Union take action to rein in the United States in the 1980s when the United States actively supported the insurrection against Soviet troops in Afghanistan?
The United States supplied arms and intelligence to Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war, which he initiated. Should Iran have reined in the United States because of this support for Saddam Hussein?
Perhaps I missed those letters and columns in newspapers, but I have no memory of such suggestions that the United States be "reined in."
KEN LONG
New Wilmington
Selma similarity
Therese J. Stokan had her facts straight ("Protesters Abused," April 3 letters): I was at the anti-war protest on March 17 in Washington, D.C.
We were pushed, shoved and threatened and called "traitors, commies, losers" and, of course, the very clever Coulter-hate-epithet, "fag." We were blocked from proceeding on our preplanned march and were turned away. I appealed to a policeman to help us clear a path, and he ignored me.
I am a 71-year-old grandmother, and one of my sons spent two years in Iraq. The last thing I would think of doing is defacing anything, especially a monument. Sorry that Ray L. Sommer ("There to Protect," April 6 letters) and his gullible friends believed the hysteria that was spread on the Rolling Thunder Web site the week before the march.
I was in Selma 40 years ago and the same hate-filled crowds were there. Not much progress in 40 years.
CECI SOMMERS
Squirrel Hill
Enabling citizens
A community needs every citizen to receive tools to be self-sufficient and live independently in the places they desire instead of where they are forced to reside based on a system of "ignore and institutionalize."
Nobel Prize winner Jane Addams said, "The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life." Pittsburghers understand community, teamwork and the power of working for the common good. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census show that two in every seven American families have at least one member living with a physical or sensory disability. In Pennsylvania there are 2.12 million people with physical, sensory and/or cross-disabilities and of that number 215,000 live in Allegheny County.
Based on data from the National Institute of Mental Health, 40,000 adults suffering from serious mental illness live in Allegheny County.
Gov. Ed Rendell's 2007-08 state budget includes additional funding to increase home and community-based care for people with physical, mental and behavioral disabilities. Each initiative is extremely important for the wholeness of our community. Contact your state elected officials and encourage passage of portions of the budget that enhance the health of persons with disabilities.
The Health Committee for People with Disabilities, a project of the Consumer Health Coalition, is organized to work toward making Pittsburgh a healthy, inclusive and vital community for all.
For more information and to be involved, contact the Consumer Health Coalition at www.consumerhealthcoalition.org or (412) 456-1877.
JAMES KINDLER
Member, Health Committee for People with Disabilities
Ross
Worth covering
On March 24, I spent the day at Brashear High School. Hannah, my granddaughter, was on the Roosevelt Elementary School Think-A-Thon team. The event was for elementary, middle- and high-school thinkers -- the best of the best. The place was full of enthusiastic young folks, proud parents and relatives.
Imagine my disappointment when I read your Sunday paper and could not find one line about this positive, heartwarming event. I guess you want your readers to know only about the nonthinkers who are on the wrong track, not the many fine city schools filled with young people who are definitely on the right road.
BETTY KOHLEY
Overbrook
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