Political cronies serve themselves

8/4/2005

How stupid does Brian Hicks think the people of Ohio are? First, he states at his court hearing that he thought he was paying fair market value when he paid $500 for a week's stay in Tom Noe's million-dollar mansion in the Florida Keys (which I personally believe was paid for with BWC money).

I don't know about you, but $500 wouldn't cover a week's stay in a Budget Inn these days.

Then he states that he had no idea that his good friend, Mr. Noe, was managing $50 million of the state's money. This man is either a prolific liar or he lives in Margaritaville.

And how dare he call himself a public servant? All he and the other cronies from Governor Taft's office have served is themselves at the public trough of taxpayers' money. We, as taxpayers, can only hope that justice is fully served and soon. I can only wonder, how do these people live with themselves?

Debra Roberts

Sylvania

Why do those in Ohio's Legislature who support Second Amendment rights always get labeled as "doing the NRA's bidding," but those who support gun control are somehow doing it for the people? Why the double standard?

Does The Blade also scapegoat and stereotype NAACP, NOW, or any other liberal groups like it does the NRA?

Would The Blade also accept the argument of restricting voting rights under so-called "local control"? Civil rights need to be protected, and if the local government won't protect them, then good for the state if it does.

The Blade also complains about the disregarding of millions of Ohio citizens who favor restrictive gun laws. Well, why does this paper disregard the millions of Ohio citizens who don't favor restrictive gun laws? There is no legitimate reason to restrict semi-automatic rifles; they are not "assault weapons."

James Mullen

White Hall, Md.

If I were the editor of a newspaper I would lay down a few simple rules.

First: In reporting arrests, I would ban the line "If convicted, Mr. Doe faces up to a maximum of "

That's deceptive, because it gives readers a false sense of security. They think that another threat to their persons and property will be out of circulation for a good, long while.

Not so. Between plea-bargaining, sentencing "guidelines," compromises made within the jury room, so-called "mitigating factors," and the personal philosophies of individual judges, the odds are that Mr. Doe is not going to get the maximum sentence.

The better practice would be to make no mention of possible penalties until Mr. Doe has been convicted and sentenced, and then to conclude the story with, "As originally charged, Mr. Doe could have been sentenced to a maximum term of "

Second: Do away with the expression "execute" when describing the killing of a hostage or kidnap victim by a criminal or terrorist organization. "Execution" means the carrying out of a sentence pronounced by a legitimate court having lawful jurisdiction of the case, after observance of at least minimal rights of the prisoner.

Absent these little niceties, killing a prisoner or hostage is murder. The media should call it that. To label it an "execution" is to give a whiff of legitimacy to an otherwise barbaric act.

Third: Never quote someone as saying, "I could care less " even if that is what was actually said. The correct expression is "I couldn't care less," meaning that "I am completely indifferent to " whatever the subject is.

If "I could care less " appeared in a story on the newswires, I'd tell my copy editors to change it, rather than give space to people who are too illiterate to express their feelings accurately.

ROBERT G. MORRIS

Manchester Boulevard

All hail the morally bankrupt left-wing neo-marxists known as the Jackass Party, a.k.a. Democrats.

Never had an economically viable alternative idea since the New Deal, never conceived a way to fund government socialist programs by any means other than tax hikes.

Still lacking the moral fiber to acknowledge that abortion is infanticide of human beings (not a "choice" to eliminate excess uterine material).

Still dreaming up illegitimate legal perversions to justify preferential treatment of every non-Christian non-white, gay/lesbian or anyone who speaks Spanish and refuses to learn English, under the illicit guise of "affirmative action."

Still the puppets of organized labor, homosexual America, atheists, and American consumer-traitors who buy Japanese cars.

A one-word synonym for the typical Toledo voter-lemming who backs every loser the Jackass Party nominates, slanders President Bush and Republicans, and still doesn't remove the Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker from the rear of his/her foreign car nine months after the 2004 Republican victory in all government branches: imbecile!

Jim Adams

Carleton, Mich.

Ideas I wish we all had known before 9/11:

The West, and the United States in particular, is a victim of three biased cultural emotions in the Near East: fear, resentment, and fanaticism. Each stems from different causes but all three are, to various degrees, relative to the Near East's views of the West. All influence the terrorists' holy war on us.

Near Eastern rulers fear deposition, and worse, if democracy supplants them. As the West shifts its support from these rulers to their publics, they in turn are shifting their support to their internal (Wahabbi) dissidents to avoid civil wars or coups. The primary objective of ruling families is to stay wealthy and in power.

Near Eastern young middle-class cosmopolitans have developed resentment of the West's technological advancements and its resulting air of cultural superiority. Their objective is to make the West acknowledge and respect the older traditional Near Eastern tried-and-true culture as superior to the West's fledgling democracies.

Near Eastern lower-class fanaticism was spawned primarily from militant fundamentalist instruction in Pakistani schools (madrassas) for orphaned boys of Afghan fighters during its past war against Russia. Now grown, these religious warriors have been convinced that they are fighting Satan's followers. Their first objective is to purge their "Holy Land" of unholy intruders and traitors (apostates), then to cleanse the rest of the world of all non-believers to their interpretation of a perfect holy world society.

Curiously, the present militant Islamic missionaries to the developed western world bear an ironic resemblance to the past Christian missionaries to the backward non-western world. All are, or were, religiously retrospective and willing to sacrifice their lives, if necessary, for world peace on their terms.

J.M. Stewart, Jr.

Shoreland Avenue

It was with a slight chuckle that I read about Hillary Clinton's recent comeuppance for referring to our chief executive as Alfred E. Neuman, not once but twice.

It seems to me that with all the depressing news that we are inundated with these days, perhaps a little humor now and then is not a totally bad thing. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen (thank you, Harry).

And while we are on the subject, maybe we've got Howdy Doody running the state, and Fat Albert in charge of the city. Good grief, maybe we should all tune in to the Saturday morning cartoon network to keep up with their latest shenanigans.

I say, "Give 'em hell, Hillary! I always liked Mad magazine, anyway.

Dennis Schafer

Dellwood Drive

I am relieved that the judge only levied a $1,000 fine on Brian Hicks and Cherie Carroll and did not sentence them to six months in prison for their lack of ethics. If we start sending all of the government employees and elected officials to jail for ethics violations, we will have to build a lot more jails.

John Clark

Perrysburg