Give Barack a ba-rake

(Editor’s note: The following was addressed to Raymond Germeroth in response to recent letters to the editor.)

Let me begin this by saying that I have voted for the Republican ticket in every presidential election since Nixon (save one). This was the first time in nearly 40 years that I was really waffling over who to vote for. I like Sarah Palin … I like John McCain … and, I like Barack Obama.

Joe Biden first impressed me when in 1972 he rode the Metro to his new job as a freshman senator every day. That gesture spoke well of how he saw himself … “non-elitist.” That’s the main problem now … when Jimmy Stewart played a similar role in the 1939 movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” he was the quintessential new guy in town to change the elitist view that all politicians have of themselves.

With one single exception, I voted for John Kerry in 2004 because of all the issues I had learned (as an active duty officer at the onset of 9/11) about the truth. Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld have both been in the White House since 1981. Either directly or indirectly, they have both been involved at the very core of national/global issues that I cannot comment on … by law. Dubbya was only a puppet … a personal favor for “41.” Only know here that Mr. Obama pales in comparison … believe it (as in Ripley)!

If you would give me the benefit of the doubt, I will tell you that all Mr. Obama has done for the past several months is attempt to clean up the mess left by 30-plus years of Cheney/Rumsfeld power-mongering. I’ll illustrate but only in one or two sentences (remember I can’t say but so much).

Never before in the history of this great country, has there ever been “war-profiteering” at the levels condoned during the 8 years “43” was in office. If the bad guys that perpetrated 9/11 were Saudi and they ran away to Afghanistan, why did the US go directly into Iraq … to test and utilize advanced and as of yet, untested weapons systems to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars! Over $10 billion was spent in just that particular theater every month! That’s all I have to say about of that … just give me the benefit of the doubt.

Sir, I don’t know where to begin with you but I’ll certainly try and do so in a manner that would glorify Jesus Christ because that’s what I try to do on a day-to-day basis. I usually mess that up too. You should read Romans Chapter 12. I think it would do you good. I will not be drawn into a written rhetorical battle over polly-ticks (multiple insects) or over whose daddy can beat up the others. I am only appalled at your obvious personal hatred of the President of the United States. You really should read Romans Chapter 12.

I will also say that you are way off the beaten path relative to many issues. I’ll start with global warming. Remember the rainbow that God gave to Noah as a covenant sign that He would never again destroy the world with either water or floods? I personally believe the earth will be destroyed with fire this time. To me at least (only an opinion) global warming is only the beginning of what may become extreme temperature increases over the next century or two. Who knows?I have watched for years now as the astronomers, astrophysicists, meteorologists and geophysicists clamor over the reasons for tectonic planetary instability.

Remember also that in the final book of the Bible (as in many other books there as well) the end times would be accompanied by “birth pains.” What do you think is happening right now?

If you read the Bible and try to interpret everything therein, you may be able to make parallel distinctions between what was then biblical and what is now geophysical.

Remember also that on a cosmic scale, this planet is only a speck in an infinite black vacuum. You’ve got to think like the Hummel can see to even start to understand how small we really are and how infinite God really is.

The earth has for centuries been without the influence of fossil fuel emissions. The internal combustion engine is only about 140 years old. The coal-fired industry is only about 50 or 60 years older. This ultra thin layer of the biosphere we all live in is only capable of handling so much of these types of discharge.

If you take into account the exponential growth of the population and tie it to the explosive growth of “western ideology,” there is no communism. China is as western as we are in their demand for goods and services … so is India … and they only want more.

This will all only lead to global pollution that is at a level you can’t fathom (me neither). Maybe these are the biblical “birth pains” we’ve read about. There has been more seismic activity in the last decade than in the past 100-plus years.

One of the reasons scientists have given for all these tremendous global tragedies re: storms, earthquakes and hurricanes is “atmospheric instability.” This comes from there being too much energy (in the form of heat) in the atmosphere. For you to blame Obama for this “global warming hoax”, you are taking a risk that you look ignorant.

As for the racial issues in the beginnings of your editorial ranting, I will not grace this rebuttal with anything that uses racism as a catalyst. I really do not think God cares what color anyone is. I will not make excuses for any race because we all have the right to watch our children grow older more able to face life then we could.

I think your problem may be that you are pointing too much dislike towards Mr. Obama and not giving him a chance to do anything except clean up the trash left by the last administration.

Before your next editorial, please do your homework. Do not pull The Lord God into your own beliefs about how you see the world. Remember, He gave us all the ability to choose. He also gave us free will.

I have not seen anything yet to prove that Mr. Obama is anything else but someone trying to do just what Mr. Smith did in that 1939 movie. There are many people that think they know everything about this here-to-fore, unknown gentleman. Abe Lincoln was relatively unknown when he took over at the onset of our country’s civil war. People hated him too.
Also, do not blame Obama for all the Muslim extremism going on in the world. We may be in the middle of another great crusade … who knows.

This country has always been open to the less fortunate. Remember “give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free” that was seen by thousands on Ellis Island for decades and decades at the foot of Lady Liberty.

Don’t you think there are Muslims in the world that see us as the “guiding light” towards their own freedom? Don’t you think those people want to escape trolls like the Taliban?

What about how those same trolls treat their women? It looks like “Women’s Suffrage” all over again in many Muslim countries and they want the same freedom you and I take for granted.

Also, didn’t Father Abraham have two sons … Ishmael and Isaac?

This Christian will take your advice and speak up …

Give Barack a bar-rake!!

Richard Ryder
Mechanicsville

Praying for our president

I am writing this letter in response to Raymond Germeroth’s Feb. 24 letter responding to a racism charge.

Mr. Germeroth, nowhere in my letter did I call you a racist. My words were, “I wonder if your opinion of President Obama was based on his decision or the fact that he is the first African-American President” and “that I sensed the roots of bitterness and prejudice.” You have just confirmed what one of my teachers once told me, which is, if you throw a rock in a crowd of dogs, the one you hit will come out limping.

About prejudice: If one defines racism as racial prejudices, the answer is yes. People of color can and do have racial prejudices. However, if one defines racism as a system of advantage based on race, the answer is no. People of color are not racist because they do not systematically benefit from racism. Equally important, there is no systematic cultural and institutional support or sanction for the racial bigotry of people of color.

In your Feb. 24 letter you called me a racist and a liberal. What I am is a born-again, spirit-filled, child of God. I stand on Philippians 2:25—Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Also, Raymond, you indicated that Sarah Palin had far more experience, common sense and knowledge to be president. Her “Russia is in my backyard” statement once again confirms my feelings.

You stated that President Obama’s coddling of terrorists has put every American citizen at great risk. What has put every American citizen at great risk: a turning away from God.

Rudolph Davis
Mechanicsville

AG praised for challenging EPA

I applaud Attorney General Cuccinelli for challenging the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to reconsider the claim that carbon dioxide is a pollutant.

Mr. Cuccinelli argued that not only would this policy damage the economy, it’s bad environmental policy. Why? Because the EPA used flawed data as the basis for their decision. And, they did.

In response, EPA director Lisa Jackson is now distancing herself from earlier statements that cited the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Annual Report as the primary source for its endangerment finding. She now claims that the decision was based on data from American climate scientists. Unfortunately for the EPA, the integrity of both sources has been seriously damaged in recent months.

The IPCC report has major flaws including scientific errors, unreviewed and non-scientific sources, and improper analysis.

The IPCC credibility was also damaged by its affiliation with the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at Britain’s East Anglia University, which maintains data on climate change. 

CRU was exposed for its fraudulent scientific methods, suppression of controversial climate data, and for preventing opposing scientific viewpoints from being published in scientific journals. 

In a shocking revelation, CRU’s former director, Phil Jones, recently reversed the agency’s position by admitting that no statistically significant warming has occurred since 1995. He also admits to having “lost” the original datasets for the key evidence that the IPCC used to conclude that there was significant global warming in the last 50 years of the 20th century and that this was most likely anthropogenic. These data, also presented as the “Hockey Stick” graph, have since been discredited multiple times. How does an organization charged with maintaining global temperature datasets lose them?

U.S. climate science is closely linked to the IPCC and CRU, and now it appears Climategate is coming to America. An evaluation of the research from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have raised suspicions that these organizations are guilty of the kind of data suppression and manipulation uncovered at CRU.

AG Cuccinelli was right to challenge the EPA since these revelations severely undermine the validity of the EPA’s finding.

To retain its own relevance and integrity, the EPA needs to reconsider its decision. A re-examination of the science is required before any reasonable policy can be implemented.  

Deborah Wetlaufer
Mechanicsville
Member
Scientists & Engineers for Environment & Energy
(SEEE-VA)

PETA: don’t buy into confinement

SeaWorld’s damage control team is in overdrive following the tragic death of a trainer who was killed by one of the theme park’s captive orcas. But if SeaWorld held press conferences every time an animal died at their facilities, people would be staying away in droves.

SeaWorld, which owns most of the captive orcas and bottlenose dolphins in the United States, has one of the worst histories of animal care.

Marine mammals are literally dying to entertain you. Twenty-one orcas died in U.S. SeaWorld facilities between 1986 and 2008 — an average of nearly one a year for 22 years. Dozens of bottlenose dolphins have also perished at SeaWorld.

Animals of the sea inhabit vast and complex worlds. Orcas are intelligent predators who work cooperatively, share intricate relationships and swim for up to 100 miles every day. At SeaWorld, orcas perform circus tricks for food, swim endless circles in small, barren concrete tanks.

 These animals will continue to live and die in misery as long as the public continues to buy tickets.

The next time your family is considering a trip to SeaWorld, take a moment and ask yourself: Is it fair or ethical to demand the lifelong confinement of intelligent and sentient animals for a few hours of fleeting distraction? Please say no.

Debbie Leahy
Director
Captive Animals Rescue and Enforcement
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Norfolk

Director: find some funding

(Editor’s note: The following was addressed to Hanover County delegation to the General Assembly: Sen. Ryan T. McDougle, Del. Christopher K. Peace and John A. Cox.)

I’m not sure where to even begin. I started working at Walnut Grove Children’s Learning Center back in 2001 when its name was still Walnut Grove Child Care. And it was just that, basic care. It was not the center it should or could be. But I never gave up. We made some improvements but needed help to become the quality program we had truly dreamed of. 
And then Smart Beginnings and the STAR Quality Initiative came along. They gave us the ability to make those changes through mentoring and accountability. We received 4 Stars, but more importantly we also have a fully inclusive preschool program allowing children with special needs to interact with typical peers.

 So many directors and teachers want to make changes but need direction and accountability. If you cut these programs you are directly affecting children, parents and staff. I fully realize everyone has to sacrifice during these tough times.

But one specific group should not have to be cut out completely. Particularly when you are talking about Early Childhood Education. There has been discussion about charter schools. Will they not be more successful if more children have the opportunity to attend quality preschool.

And will it not be easier to increase classroom size if children are better prepared for school at an early age. I just cannot understand how cutting funding to programs that are successfully improving the quality of early childhood education will financially help. It will ultimately cost more in elementary, middle and high school.

I sincerely urge you to find some funding for the Early Childhood Foundation and Smart Beginnings. This goes way beyond politics.

I am personally a Republican and I voted for Gov. McDonnell. But we are at a critical time. The decisions you make in the next few weeks will have lasting effects for years to come.
Michele Moore
Director
Walnut Grove Children’s Learning Center
Mechanicsville

In support of doctors

I never thought I would write a letter in defense of doctors, but here goes.

I do not agree with the comments from Mr. Anthony of Iowa regarding greedy doctors.

Evidently he had a financial situation that left him angry and so has grouped all doctors in that category.

Certainly there are doctors who should be banned from the profession, but to group all of them in the “greedy” category is unfair.

There are many dedicated doctors who spent time and money learning their profession and who want to heal.

Unfortunately, many of them are under the dictates of insurance companies, government requirements and the corporations for whom they work; some have even left the profession they love, and for which they heavily invested their future, due to the cost of liability insurance. It does not appear that all is rosy in that profession.

In September 2009, doctors and health care professionals marched on Washington, D.C., because they knew what the proposed social insurance policies would do to their profession and their patients. I appreciated that. Go, doctors!

I am sorry for whatever situation has caused Mr. Anthony’s anger and hope he can get it resolved.

Diane Petree
Mechanicsville