Letters to the editor

Beware of political amnesia

Mr. Geist and Mr. Garza are completely right (March 15). It is inexcusable for a president to damage U.N. relations by ignoring Security Council wishes and insisting on the right for unilateral action. It is terrible for a senator to go on national TV and accuse Russia and France of having no backbone, and use the show as a platform to insist to the world that the United States has the right to do whatever it wishes in Iraq, regardless of the U.N. Security Council.

Everything I just said has indeed happened. Of course, it happened in 1997. The president was Clinton. The television show was CNN’s “Crossfire.” And—flip-flop alert—the United States Senator on the show was none other than John Kerry.

The United States’ separation from the wishes of the U.N. has been cooking for a long time now—both from the former administration, and Kerry. Pinning the U.N. blame on Bush requires a seriously short memory. If you feel the United States needs to invest more in relations with the U.N., then hold all politicians to that standard. And don’t fall for political flip-flops. Develop a little long-term memory.

— Brendon Rapp

Marriage not sacred anymore

I have a problem with the article “Gay Marriages Issue Not a Matter of Legislation” by Hans Zeiger (March 10). I mean come on! Comparing people’s irrational homophobia with the Civil War, WWII and the Cold War seems just wrong. Those were things people fought and died for to further human rights and make the world a less oppressive place. This marriage thing is just the religious right and social conservatives arguing with gays and people with common sense. Marriage has not been sacred ever since FOX got a hold of it.

Here I thought we had moved past that. I do agree with one part of this article though gay marriage is not an issue that should have anything to do with the legislature. Don’t those monkeys have more important things to do, like figure out how to fund our school systems or how about fixing things in Iraq? I think everyone really needs to find something else to talk about. This whole gay marriage thing is getting old.

— Brandon Hamilton