Democracy means we're in this together

You know, I have been told there are people who just will never vote for a black man for president!

Everyone gets to vote their conscience and vote for who they think will be the best president. Isn't that what democracy is all about? We all have our reasons, be they informed, wise and thoughtful or uninformed, ignorant and thoughtless. Some are open, inclusive and hopeful yet others can be closed, exclusive and hopeless. Some look to a better future for all, and others look back to a past that favored the few. Some see only the color of the skin, others see our common humanity. Some radiate goodwill and work for cooperation; others are afflicted by ill will and see only enemies. This is America.

The catch is that we get the president the majority votes for. We suffer together the consequences or reap the benefits. For those who cannot give up the past, they will never have a real future. For those who have the courage to change, to embrace "our better angels" and to work together for "the pursuit of happiness," our future can be bright for all Americans. "We the People" is not an exclusive club.

David Anderer, Albany

Stop the nonsense, listen to candidates

For the past few months, I have read letter after letter arguing that electing John McCain would be tantamount to electing George W. Bush for another four years. Each of these letters has offered the same rationale for that premise - absolutely none. It would seem that the reader is expected to believe this simply because the same thing is repeated over and over.

So let me take a stab at it. Electing Barack Obama would be equivalent to electing Bill Clinton for another four years. We could expect abuse of power and perjury, which led to Clinton's impeachment and disbarment in Arkansas. We could expect the grade-school children of the nation to learn a lot more than they need to know about sex because of the disgraceful behavior of the president. We could expect our teenagers to learn to avoid responsibility by demanding to know the definition of the word "is." All of these things would happen if Barack Obama were elected in November.

Absurd? Absolutely - but no more so than this "four more years of Bush" mantra. In my extensive study of American history, I have never seen an example of a president who wanted nothing more than to emulate his predecessor, same party or not. They all have their own vision and their own agenda and their own times in which to govern. That is as it should be.

I would submit that you would be hearing that "four more years of Bush" stuff if the Republicans had chosen Romney, Huckabee, Giulliani or the guy who runs the White House mailroom. I could then have made my inane argument about anybody the Democrats nominated.

Why don't we all listen to what these men actually have to say?

John Brenan, Corvallis

McCain's VP choice like Bush's judgment

I am disappointed that John McCain is acting more and more like George W. Bush in his behavior, judgment, and actions.

His selection of Gov. Palin to be vice president is similar to Bush's selection of Harriet Miers for the U. S. Supreme Court. Both are presumably fine individuals who have minimal qualifications for the critical positions they are to occupy.

It looks like another clear case of Rove-type politics first, United States second.

Craig B. Leman, Corvallis

'Deceitful' McCain gambles on future

Ross Perot, the original political "maverick," has said of John McCain, "McCain is the classic opportunist. He's always reaching for attention and glory … the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel - even by the standards of modern politics."

Whenever McCain mentions his POW years, I hope people will remember how he dumped his faithful wife Cathy who, disfigured in a horrible car accident, was no longer the beautiful woman he'd married. McCain admits he returned to his premarital practices of carousing and womanizing. During that time, while still married to Cathy, he began an adulterous and opportunistic affair with a much younger and richer heiress who knew he was married. Five weeks after divorcing his wife, he married Cindy. McCain refuses to talk about the divorce, hypocritically calling it "ancient history." Using McCain's own criteria, his POW years are pre-ancient history and therefore equally irrelevant.

Vietnam vet and veterans' rights activist Ted Sampley has said, "I have been following John McCain's career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is - deceit."

Last week, John McCain, admittedly a big fan of craps, threw some political dice and chose a self-described "hockey mom" to replace him as Leader of the Free World. The last thing America needs is a "deceitful, slick, and cruel" gambler with notorious anger-management problems playing craps with America's future on the world stage.

Michael Coolen, Corvallis

Want more taxes? Then vote for Obama

Do you want changes in your taxes? Do you think you pay too much in your federal taxes now? If you want change, please read these comparisons.

Capital gains tax: 0 percent on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples) at this time and McCain proposes no changes. Obama wants 28 percent tax on profit from all home sales.

Dividend tax: McCain 15 percent, which is no change. Obama wants 39.6 percent tax.

Income tax: No changes for McCain. Under Obama taxes will more than double.

Inheritance tax: No change with McCain. President Bush repealed this tax. Obama will restore the inheritance tax.

Obama wants to increase the Social Security tax.

Obama voted against repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax which now hits the middle income bracket, so that would be a tax increase. He voted against repealing the Death Tax, which would be another tax increase.

New taxes proposed by Obama are on homes that are more than 2,400 square feet, new gasoline taxes, new taxes on natural-resource consumption (which would be on heating gas, water and electricity), new taxes on retirement accounts, and new taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as the Third World countries.

Is that the kind of change you want? Do you want to pay more taxes? If so, vote for Obama.

Carolyn Webb, Corvallis