Obama showed he was ready

4/17/2009

In Jack Kelly's April 11 column, he provided readers with some history about the Marines and their participation from "the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli." In reference to the pirate hostage incident with Capt. Richard Phillips, he concluded, with his usual right-foot-in-the-mouth diatribe, that the Marines were ready to take action and asked if President Obama was ready as well.

In the 24 hours after that article appeared and with a successful rescue accomplished, we learned that President Obama was indeed ready. The President's authorization to proceed, along with the Navy's outstanding skills, have been proudly reported in all earth's corners.

Now I pose this question to the soon-to-be irrelevant Mr. Kelly: Are you ready to issue an apology to the President for your thinly disguised stance that he is a wimp and only you and your right-wing ilk can defend our country? You indicated - in code, of course - that Mr. Obama lacked the cojones to take action. Mr. Kelly, show us your cojones, if you have any left.

Anthony Thiros

Lambertville

A recent article about the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler pointed out that the unions are being asked to make concessions.

Unions are made up of hard-working people, most of whom make less than $100,000. Everyone says we can't let the financial institutions (i.e., AIG) and the other idiots who brought about a lot of the problem go under. However everyone is willing to force unions to make concessions.

Again, the middle class is being punished while the ones who make the big bucks are allowed to continue because they have contracts. Excuse me, but union members also have contracts. Why is it OK to break those and not the others?

Joan Cook

Ottawa Lake

I must be missing something. The financial industry received billions in taxpayer bailouts with seemingly no strings attached. As a result, the big financial institutions have thanked those same taxpayers by refusing to make loans, increasing interest rates and fees on credit cards, eliminating credit card accounts (with negative effects on credit scores), and giving their top executives huge bonuses.

At the same time, the American car industry was given billions of dollars of taxpayer money but with very restrictive and short strings attached. These companies are being micromanaged by the administration and may be forced to shut down.

The car companies are an industry that actually produces something, an industry that actually pays its employees a wage decent enough to allow them to purchase things in the marketplace, and they are providing great deals for consumers who can possibly get a loan to buy a vehicle.

What a concept - something to help the taxpayers who just bailed them out.

Dayle Pugh

Sylvania

On Dec. 12, 1799, George Washington went out to inspect his farm. Snow came. Later it changed to hail and cold rain. The next day, Washington had a sore throat. During the night he grew worse. His three physicians decided to bleed him. It was a standard treatment then. Now it seems silly to think you get healthier by losing blood.

On Dec. 14, George Washington died. It is just a legend that his doctors said, "Hey, don't blame us. He was sick when we got here. We inherited this problem."

Today, Washington (D.C., not George) has decided that America needs more fiscal bleeding in the name of economic health. But, if government spending created prosperity, Haiti and Zimbabwe could just spend themselves rich.

In medicine, the rule is first do no harm. In Washington, you have to look like you are doing something even if it makes things worse.

LeMoyne Mercer

Shortford Drive

The recent guest editorial from the San Jose Mercury News missed several key points. The petition protesting the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement is about principles before prestige.

Identifying itself as a Catholic university carries certain responsibilities for the leaders of that institution. The protest revolves around giving honor and a platform to an individual who has shown by word and action direct contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic church. The editorial listed a few of President Obama's acts that coincide with Catholic principles. The problem is that we are a church, not a cafeteria. If anyone wants to follow some of the teachings of Catholicism, be my guest; but to call oneself a Catholic, let alone a Catholic institution, bears the responsibility to support and defend the principles that the Catholic church stands on.

The editorial mentioned stem-cell research, but failed to mention that the Catholic church specifically opposes research that requires the destruction of human embryos, yet fully supports research involving adult tissue and umbilical cord blood to obtain stem cells.

Notre Dame's invitation is in direct conflict with guidance put forth by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It stated, "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

I strongly support open discussion and respect for differing opinions in search of the truth. The mission statement for Notre Dame also supports these concepts. I just wish they would invite President Obama to hold a town hall meeting on campus instead.

Joe Riehl

1985 Notre Dame graduate

Pemberton Drive

I feel compelled to respond to a recent letter from a "practicing Christian" who suggested that Jesus would be considered a left-wing liberal in today's society for performing His "socialist" work.

I am also a practicing Christian and agree that if Jesus were alive today he would be feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, and healing the sick. These acts, however, are not socialist, as the writer inferred, but charitable by definition.

A socialist society is based on the philosophy that government knows better how to take care of its citizens than they do. Does government know how to care for you better than you do? Look at any venture that the government has had a hand in and you'll see just how successful government has been.

If you had the choice to care for your dying loved one yourself or hand it over to the government to do, would you really prefer the latter? And if you did, what kind of society are we becoming?

Tracey S. Elmore

Maumee

I hope the hard-working people of Toledo took note that the Take Back Toledo members delivered their petitions to Government Center in a Toyota sport utility vehicle.

What a slap in the face to our city, our unions, and people connected to the auto industry. Our auto industry accounts for a lot of tax dollars and money spent in our city. Their actions sound anti-Toledo, not pro-Toledo.

Sharon L. Heath

Edgebrook Drive