Clemency for Libby an insult to jury

7/27/2007

Suppose you spent lots of time on a jury listening to the presentation of evidence. Afterward, you spend more time with other jurors deciding the verdict. Then, that decision was reaffirmed by other courts. After all this, some politician who hadn't spent all that time overturns the verdict because he didn't like it. Would you be upset? I know I sure would be.

Well, that's what this President did when he nixed the Lewis "Scooter" Libby verdict. He "dissed" all those who spent hundreds of hours sorting through facts. Were all of those people wrong?

A few months back, some people claimed The Blade was picking on Tom Noe merely because he was Republican. Well, that same foolish, tit-for-tat mentality showed up again in the Readers' Forum about the Libby verdict.

In my opinion, O. J. Simpson got away with murder. Does that mean we should let the next white murderer go free just to even the score? If Sandy Berger, former President Bill Clinton's national security adviser, does not get sentenced to jail, does that mean the next Republican gets out of jail free? Who's going to keep score?

What crime did Martha Stewart commit? Was it obstruction of justice? Was that what the original investigation was about? She was convicted, sentenced, and served time. What crime did former New York Times reporter Judith Miller commit? She served time.

Perjury is a crime. What was it special prosecutor Ken Starr went after President Clinton for? Sex with an intern. Is that a crime?

By the way, you defenders of Tom Noe still owe us Blade readers an apology.

Matthew Perkins

Heidelberg Road

Bush an accessory in obstructing justice

Before federal prosecutors attempt to prosecute anyone connected to the Bush Administration, they should check with Mr. Bush first to see if the one charged would be pardoned or the sentence commuted.

Knowing this in advance would avoid wasting taxpayer dollars on a trial.

The case of Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a classic example of President Bush being an accessory to obstruction of justice.

Nate Washington

Bricker Avenue

Leaving Iraq would be catastrophic

The United States and Britain enforced a U.N. sanction in Iraq for 14 years. Russia, Germany, France, and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son, who made $20 billion, were getting around them. If Iraq did not have nuclear knowledge, where did North Korea and Iran get it? It sounds to me like war protesters should be telling the rotten four to stand up for what they did.

If we leave Iraq now, it would be catastrophic for the United States. We need to go full strength for a year, then scale back our troops. Any service member who signed on the dotted line knew what he or she was signing for. Look at the countries where sanctions worked. They work if enforced. These militants want to kill us, not live with us. It scares me to wonder who is going head this great nation after Mr. Bush.

Jeff Cole

Walbridge Avenue

Benchmarks not fun on the other foot

I couldn't be more in agreement with President Bush. The fact that politicians want to determine what is and is not success by benchmarks is ridiculous. Progress in this situation is perilous. There are things we can control and things we cannot control. We are dealing with people who have been brought up to believe that we are so very bad, and then political chest-thumpers want us to cure the ills overnight that have happened previously. And then they want to cut funding when we are actually making positive gains.

Who are these people? How can they say they support us in this fight and then hold up funding in relation to these benchmarks. Most of these politicians have never been on the front line in this fight, so what makes them think they really know what goes on there?

Wait a second, I thought the President was talking about our educational system. Funny, now that benchmarks are on the other foot they aren't nearly as fun to talk about for our commander in chief. Now who needs to be accountable to our young people, Mr. President?

Rick Rettig

Perrysburg

Higher fuel-econony standard is needed

A higher fuel-economy standard is what this county needs to strengthen its work force. Enforcing a 35-mile-per-gallon fleet-wide average by 2018 would result in Americans saving billions of dollars on gasoline and create 241,000 jobs. According to a study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Ohio and six other states would gain the most if car manufacturers would improve fuel economy.

Researchers predict that saving billions of dollars at the pump would spur growth in additional sectors like retail, real estate, and dining. Furthermore, as we alter our way of thinking, we'll invest millions in new technologies and businesses and create thousands of jobs.

Traditional manufacturing-based communities such as Toledo cannot afford to ignore these benefits if they are to thrive in the future.

Vicki Sorgenfrei

Holland

Energy bill needs support from Kaptur

For the first time in decades, the Senate has passed a meaningful fuel-efficiency bill to increase mileage standards to 35 mpg by 2020. That legislation, which passed in large part thanks to Ohio's own U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, will soon be before the House in the form of the Markey-Platts Bill. Increasing fuel-efficiency standards will save us all money at the pump, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, create new jobs in the auto sector, and help reduce global warming.

The House will also soon be voting on the Udall-Platts Renewable Energy Standard legislation, which will require the United States to produce 20 percent of its energy through renewable sources by 2020. Now that 22 states have already enacted this law, it's time to make it national. Investing in alternative energy like solar and wind will help curb global warming, and it will also create new industries and jobs in Ohio, something we very much need.

I hope that U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur will support this legislation and make us all proud to be Ohioans.

Debbie Perlmutter

Regents Park Boulevard

Servicemen deserve our appreciation

I recently witnessed a dispute over cell-phone charges for one of our servicemen whose cell-phone services were suspended because of his service in Iraq. One would think that cell-phone companies would have an addendum for our servicemen and women. Although he had his official service-orders letter, the company still held him responsible for his "debt." I believe he already paid his debt, and to show my appreciation I picked up his bill. Please show some compassion and appreciation to those who defend and fight for our freedom.

Jeni Leis

Amanda Circle

Show some respect for fallen soldiers

Two grocery store employees in Jackson, Mich., were recently fired for paying homage to a fallen soldier because they watched his funeral cortege go by. There were no customers in the store, so what did they hurt?

As a June 18 contributor to the Readers' Forum wrote, "Being killed in the line of duty is the job of the American soldier." Is it too much to show some respect for them?

Iva Squire

Addison, Mich.

Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana once said that Bill Clinton was "morally unfit to govern." Now the married senator has been caught using a Washington escort service. Once again, the so called "party of morals and values" leads the way in hypocrisy.

Hal Simon

Maumee