"Oh, God. Oh, God. This is bad. This is really bad."

With those words, 16-year-old Jeremy O'Sullivan died of a gunshot to the chest in an Albany backyard at about 3 a.m. on July 1, another victim of the Second Amendment.

Jeremy and his buddies had done some really bad stuff that nigh: drinking, stealing from open cars, stealing a car, hit-and-run with another car. Probably running away from the stolen car as police arrived, Jeremy jumped a fence into a patio - just when the homeowner came into an adjacent room with a gun. The homeowner was afraid. Jeremy is dead.

The Linn County District Attorney recently found that the shooting met the state's standards of an act of self-defense.

Did Jeremy deserve to die after all those bad things he did? That decision belongs to the courts and a jury, not a bleary-eyed and frightened man at 3 in the morning.

As bad as his deeds that night may have been and as checkered as his background apparently was, it is impossible for me to view Jeremy's death as justifiable in such a chance and bizarre encounter. I can only ask: How many times do we have to go through these tragedies before we get some control on guns and the gun-toting mentality of our society?

Darius Adams

Corvallis

Chavez wasn't that far off mark

The Sept. 21 article, "Chavez calls Bush 'the devil himself,'" characterizes Mr. Chavez' remarks as an "anti-American tirade."

In fact, Chavez' speech at the United Nations was not anti-American' it was anti-Bush. There is a huge difference between the two. (Note that I am just as anti-Bush as Mr. Chavez, and I'm still an American).

And if you read Mr. Chavez' remarks carefully, all that he said is obviously true, except perhaps for the "God is with us" statement. I very much doubt that any of the responsible gods have taken a stand on the US-vs.-the World issue).

If I were to give Mr. Chavez advice, it would be to buy lots of life insurance. History teaches us that American-style democracy doesn't take kindly to honest opposition, especially when the opposition comes from countries we can easily and painlessly bomb into oblivion. Heads up, Mr. Chavez.

Kirk S. Nevin

Corvallis

Compromise left us torture option

Our president, with the aid of Senators Lindsay Graham, John McCain and John Warner, has taken out an insurance policy against the possibility of a trial for war crimes. The law would cover only non-military individuals, so the underlings of Abu Ghraib would remain in jail.

The president and his civilian underlings would be the sole judges of what could be done to prisoners to force them to talk. This law would be retroactive to 1997, so it would cover everything that has already been done by contractors or civilian officials (including the president). This looks like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

If I was of a cynical nature, I might think that it was set-up from the beginning to make Sen. McCain look like he actually cares about prisoners. Graham and Warner made big talk about the danger to our own troops if captured but left the loophole of "contractors" or non-uniformed individuals free to torture.

Yes, it almost looks like it was a set up from the beginning. We now are a nation that can do anything to anybody at anytime and not answer to the law. How far we come in such a short time.

George Novak

Corvallis

Keep Modrell on Benton board

Benton County residents are fortunate to have the opportunity to re-elect Linda Modrell as our Benton County Commissioner.

Linda has made so many contributions to our county. She has been a strong advocate for keeping the county fair and the fairgrounds an economic asset for our many agriculture and forestry businesses, as well an important community center.

Linda encourages and supports youth and emerging leaders to develop their skills and knowledge about our county. Her tireless work on behalf of our county's residents recently were recognized by Linn-Benton Community College when she was given the "Distinguished Alumnus" award.

Linda truly cares about all of the residents of the county.

Please join me in voting for Linda Modrell as Benton County Commissioner.

Penny York

Corvallis

Propaganda and punditry mislead

Ken Real couldn't be more mistaken when he claims in his Sept. 25 letter, "9/11 miniseries wasn't a priority," that "few people watched" the ABC minisieries about 9/11.

In fact, 13 million people watched it in the U.S. and millions more watched it in Europe.

This was a sordid piece of propaganda designed by "ultra conservatives" to help blame "9/11" on Bill Clinton just before a major election.

I would also like to say that, contrary to the U.S. punditry class, millions of people worldwide agreed with Hugo Chavez' characterization of George Bush as "the devil."

Jo-Ann Taylor

Corvallis

Dems didn't back voter photo ID plan

Will some kind-hearted person please explain to me why not one Democrat from Oregon in the United States House of Representatives voted to require photo identification to vote?

Rep. Charles Rangle of New York said he is opposed to the proposal because it's too hard for folks to obtain picture ID.

Surely, someone from Corvallis can conjure up a better explanation than that. Or maybe it would be too difficult for the average legal citizen in Oregon to get photo ID, too. It is shameless that most politicians consider partisan politics and personal ambition more important than the welfare of this country.

Ken Donaldson

Corvallis

U.S. cannot condone torture

Never never could have dreamed that America would allow torture under any circumstance.

Unless our senators and representatives find their backbone and fight any use of torture under any circumstances, history will not forgive them.

"Torture" equals "terror." Are we terrorists or are we fighting for freedom and democracy? Choose your position, and let it ring.

Jean Wood

Corvallis