LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Snowden should be praised
6/25/2013In his June 12 op-ed column “Data leader wrongly thinks he did right,” David L. Brooks said that Edward Snowden “betrayed the Constitution … [and] self-indulgently short-circuited the democratic structures of accountability.” What is Mr. Brooks talking about?
Mr. Snowden exposed a surveillance state built on secret courts, secret executive orders, and secret interpretations of law — a system that circumvents any accountability to the people and one that runs contrary to the principles of our Constitution.
Mr. Snowden deserves praise for his faithfulness to the Constitution and his bravery.
FRANK McELHANNON
Sylvania Township
2 traitors need to be punished
First it was Bradley Manning and now Edward Snowden offering excuses for their sanctimonious acts of leaking classified information. This is nothing less than treason and espionage.
In the case of Private Manning, he betrayed and endangered his fellow soldiers.
Mr. Snowden has managed to warn terrorists that they need to find a more secure way to plan their attacks on our citizens.
While the death penalty does not seem to do much to deter murderers, perhaps executing these two traitors will give pause to others contemplating similar treachery.
CHARLES TRAUGOTT
Sylvania Township
New citizens must enter by the rules
Your June 11 article “Ceremony is game-changer for 28 new citizens; Immigrants embark on shared future” brings to mind the current debate on immigration. I applaud those who followed the rules and earned their citizenship.
The immigrants I know and am aware of are decent, hard-working people. And they are welcome here.
I have the naturalization papers in which my great-great-grandfather renounced the Kaiser of Germany.
But I can’t abide the granting of a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally. Permanent residency is fine, but not the right to vote. That is really not that much of a slap on the wrist.
Large companies want cheap and compliant labor. Politicians want to curry favor with some groups for votes. This issue is political.
THOMAS HERN
Perrysburg Township
Enforcing of laws seems haphazard
What frightens me more than anything with current immigration policy and the Internal Revenue Service issue is government’s ability to decide which laws it will enforce and against whom it will enforce these laws.
President Obama took an oath to uphold the Constitution. If he cannot do his sworn duty, he needs to step down.
Likewise, members of Congress must make our laws enforceable and equally applicable. If a law does not meet those standards it is the Supreme Court’s duty to strike it down.
Unless all branches of government work in harmony to this end, we will never be equal under the law — which is the point of our form of government.
WILLIAM POZNANSKI
Melvin Drive