Minorities trying to take Christmas

In response to Jules Cooper, who believes that Christmas is being forced upon him:

Last I checked, this is America, and in America we celebrate Christmas! I am sick and tired of having to be “politically correct” all the time to not upset those in the minority.

It is time we brought back the Christmas parade, the Christmas tree and (heaven forbid!) the Christmas concert in the schools again. Maybe it is my middle age kicking in, but when I was in grade school in the 1960s, there was all of this and more. That was 40 years ago, and times have changed, including millions of immigrants from other countries who choose to live in America now.

That should not mean we chop down our values in this country to not upset those from other countries. Do you think if you chose to live in Israel that they should stop celebrating Hanukkah to not offend you? I suggest you take a deep breath and enjoy this Christmas season because it is as American as apple pie and baseball, and I don’t see the minority trying to take that away from us — yet.

Julia Beaumariage, Corvallis

Don’t like Christmas flap? Move away

I would like to comment on Jules Cooper’s Dec. 14 letter, “Forcing Christmas on others wrong”:

I work in the lodging and hospitality field. It is because of people like him that we don’t have Bibles in our rooms.

Our company has gotten so tired of the complainers that they removed them, so they would not get sued for singling out one religion. We get more complaints for not having them than we did for having them.

Don’t get me wrong; forcing religion is not right. Everyone should be able to make up their own mind. I am sick of people coming up to my door and trying to force “The Word” on me. I am also sick of people that do nothing but complain about it.

We should all just keep our faiths private. But Christmas is not about the birth of Christ anymore. It has become an end-of-the-year get-together with presents. If you don’t like it, don’t look.

I know it’s hard, with all the pretty lights and stuff, but I have faith that you can do it, just as I have. It is something that we have to deal with, since our government is so “In God We Trust” and all. You can always just move to a country that only has one religion. Then you wouldn’t get a choice.

Corey Dougherty, Albany

Media complicit in Iraq disaster

Regarding Jeff D. Limon’s Dec. 14 letter, “Violence in Iraq exaggerated”:

Contrary to the fantasies of hold-out supporters of our insane, imperialist-at-the-top; racist-at-the-bottom foreign policy, the mainstream media have been all to rosy in covering Iraq.

How’s this for a little perspective on the violence in Iraq?:

“ ... there is significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq. The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases. ... For example, on one day in July 2006, there were 93 attacks or significant acts of violence reported.

Yet a careful review of the reports for that single day brought to light 1,100 acts of violence” — Iraq Study Group report, pages 94-95.

Coverage of the ISG report is yet another case in point. The plan as a whole quite obviously adds up to “occupation lite”: permanent bases, long term military presence and sweet deals for western oil companies. Yet because of mainstream media concentration on the faux troop reductions that the report includes, the far right has re-branded the committee the “Iraq Surrender Group.”

Smoke for the left; mirrors for the right.

Let’s get this straight once and for all: The mainstream media have been complicit in this disaster from their cheerleading in 2002 to their regurgitation of Pentagon baloney today.

Thank God for the foreign press and the Internet, or President Bush would have had us trading nukes with somebody by now.

Jim Roy, Albany

TV is full of ugly, violent imagery

Is there a conspiracy here? Television these last few years has gone really bad. It’s not entertaining anymore. It’s ugly, with lots of killing. Have the TV people been in cahoots with our government, trying to keep us in a nasty warlike mood?

Jane Sivetz, Corvallis

Iraq strategy? Start with impeachment

Seventy-nine recommendations! More than one hundred pages! Wow! But President Bush and Vice-president Cheney easily can give the impression of taking some of the report seriously while still “staying the curse” (I dropped the “o”).

Even Henry Kissinger told them that victory of the hoped-for type is not possible. But the slaughter must go on until after Bush leaves office, because why should Bush have to say that he lost the war? “Not losing” has to be a big part of his “legacy.”

The only way to stop this madness soon would be a strong move to impeach both Bush and Cheney, for which there are very strong grounds. Bush would find that very distasteful for his precious legacy. But I say “sock ’em in the legacy, and they will squirm.”

Meanwhile, what will the Democrats do? Talk, talk, talk — and not much else. Let the Republicans face the disgust of the American people as we get into 2008. What an absurd non-government!

For my part, I liked the constitutional republic much better than our present military-oriented dictatorship.

Floyd McFarland, Corvallis

How to solve Afghan opium problem

A lot is being made of the huge (90 percent of the world’s supply), amount of opium being produced in Afghanistan, and how many of our troops are dying and how much money is being spent to combat all the warlords and corruption and criminals.

At current wholesale prices, the $2.6 billion dollars represents roughly a third of the gross national product of that country, and we spend much more than that trying to deal with the problems caused.

I propose a simple solution: Why don’t we buy the opium from the warlords, and burn it there in compounds with a few battalions of NATO troops to stop any interference? We could offer the locals a premium over what they are getting now, and it would still cost far fewer in lives and money than we are spending now trying to stop them.

It would also co-opt the warlords, remove a reason for conflict, rid the world of 90 percent of its opium and undermine the criminal networks that thrive on it. And we could then begin a program to redirect the local resources towards producing something else while subsidizing the lost income.

Never mind; it’s too simple, too easy and we need lots more soldiers and addicts to die.

Richard Halter, Corvallis

Kudos to Smith for new Iraq stand

It is heartening to read that an elected official, U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, has the strength and courage to admit publicly to his change of mind on the war and its continuation.

I hope that his example will help others in our government come forward when they have a new clarity of mind on difficult issues. We can find much to respect in people like this, who are our representatives in government.

Carol Bosworth, Corvallis

Some voters knew what M37 would do

The recent letters regarding measure 37 and the apparent deception and sleight-of-hand that cause folks to regret their “yes” vote prompt me to write.

Does it occur to anyone that folks might have voted for M37, knowing precisely what they were doing?

I read the Voters Pamphlet, listened and participated in conversation and weighed the implications and potential outcomes of yes and no votes.

I voted YES, and remain firmly convinced that Measure 37 is a good thing.

David Harvey, Albany