LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

President shouldn’t be a comedian

3/19/2014

President Obama’s appearance on the Internet comedy series Between Two Ferns was embarrassing (“Obama tapes ‘Funny or Die’ interview,” March 12).

He did pretty well delivering lines from a script aimed at young people. He was ostensibly trying to encourage them to join his health-care plan.

But presidents are not elected to deliver funny monologues and entertain their constituents. With the serious challenges facing America, it was distressing that this President willingly performed on this show, seen on a Web site called “Funny or Die.”

Providing governance in this dangerous world is serious business that calls for strong leaders and statesmen, not comedians.

FRANK MILLER
Monclova Township

Columnist’s focus misdirected
Op-ed columnist Eugene Robinson needs to put his outrage where it belongs (“I’m black, don’t shoot,” Feb. 26). He should check out the U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted page in The Blade on Feb. 25.

Of the 26 suspects shown, 17 are black. Three are wanted for homicide. I don’t know whether their victims were white or black, or what they did to provoke such a violent reaction.

When a black kills a black or a white, it rarely makes news. But let a white with a concealed-carry permit senselessly shoot a black, and cries of racism are all over the news.

Mr. Robinson should advocate cleaning up his own house before he tells others to clean theirs.

KARL PETERSEN
Clover Lane

 

Kaptur challenger motive chided
In response to your March 2 article “2 hopefuls for Kaptur’s post clash on GOP values; Tea Party supporter, gay Republican battle”: Richard May has thrown his hat in the ring for the the 9th U.S. House District’s GOP nomination, but did he do it for good reasons? No. He has done so because an openly gay man, Robert Horrocks, Jr., has decided to run as a Republican to challenge Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo).

Mr. May’s move infuriates me, because his platform seems to be only that Mr. Horrocks is gay, not stating what he will do for his constituents.

Mr. May is quoted as saying: “I’m running for the sake of the party. The Republican Party will not accept a gay candidate. If I did lose the primary to Robert Horrocks, within the Republican Party, that’s not going to be good.”

Since when is anyone running “for the party”? I thought candidates were supposed to run for the people.

Religion has no place in politics and vice versa. All candidates should be running as a voice for the people, not the party. Can we find our way back to this, or are we going to allow special and/​or religious interests to run our country?

MARCIA HARDIN
Harvest Lane

 

Let’s have more Christian articles
I am aware that we Christians are to be loving, tolerant of all religions, and above all quiet. But could The Blade’s Saturday religion pages include a few more articles featuring Toledo’s Christian community? We are here too.

DIANN NOVAK
Dearborn Avenue