Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
STATE’S INDIFFERENCE SHOCKING
We were shocked and outraged to read of Lisa
Weisser’s difficult journey toward justice [Bruce Rushton,
“Victim of the state,” Oct. 13]. Back in the
’80s, it appeared that we were, as a nation, finally growing
beyond the practices of protecting the offender and blaming the
victim, particularly in the area of sexual assault. Ms.
Weisser’s case would seem to be proof-positive that we are in
fact carefully working our way backward while occasionally
brandishing a few progressive catch phrases. We cannot believe that a known sex offender,
with multiple priors, would be allowed to roam so freely from room
to room of female in-patients. These women and their families had
placed their trust in the state agency and health care
professionals who were responsible for their safety and care. The
state’s lack of compassion and interest in delaying justice
is almost as appalling as their lack of responsibility in the first
place. We’re reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King’s
observation, in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”
that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
Sexual assault, like racial prejudice, has been around for
thousands of years. Unless we as a society consistently reject
these behaviors through our responses to them, they can reestablish
themselves as norms and not exceptions. The state’s
indifference to the sexual assault that occurred literally under
its own roof is in striking conflict with one of the state’s
primary responsibilities, to see to the safety of its citizens. Is there a legal fund for Ms. Weisser where we
could direct contributions? Chris and Debbie Smith Springfield
CRITICISM OF WASHINGTON WRONG
Fletcher Farrar is mistaken in several aspects
of his criticism of “Washington Crossing the Delaware”
[“Is this war really necessary?” Oct. 20]: First,
the painting was rendered in Düsseldorf, Germany around 1851
by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, not Charles Wilson Peale. It is in fact
Leutze’s conception of Washington crossing the Delaware on
the night he attacked Trenton. While it is true that Peale was with
Washington around this time, he did not render this famous
painting. (James Madison, James Monroe, John Marshall, Aaron
Burr, and Alexander Hamilton were also with Washington that night.)
The crossing took the Hessians completely by surprise the next
morning as they slept off their Christmas Eve hangovers. Washington captured a force that outnumbered
his by more than 2-1, with the loss of only two men. He also
captured stores of supplies and many cannons. The painting rendered
by Leutze, while not as perfect as a photograph, is, in fact a
depiction of Washington the morning preceding the battle. Trenton
is regarded by most military historians as one of the
history’s greatest feat of arms. Washington later described
it as his Christmas present to the nation. For Mr. Farrar to write
that this painting depicts Washington in retreat is incorrect. Neither is it a painting of “Washington
triumphant.” It is a painting of how Leutze imagined
Washington to be on the cusp of one of his greatest victories. As
to the matter of Washington’s being in “full
retreat,” Washington disengaged his force from Brooklyn and
managed to ferry the men across the East River in the dead of night
by deceiving the British into thinking he was about to attack the next morning. Next he
withdrew his outmanned and outgunned force from Morningside Heights and
once again gave the British the slip by crossing the Hudson to the
Jersey shore. He denied the British the pitched battle that they
desired and that would have meant the end of the Revolution. The
British soon found themselves in control of cities, while
Washington’s army, along with the forces in the south, waged a
war of attrition against them. Mr. Farrar would be well advised to
learn the difference between a withdrawal and a retreat. By avoiding
the British and engaging them only at times and places of his own
choosing, Washington pioneered what is today regarded as the art of
guerrilla warfare. One must conclude that Mr. Farrar is either woefully
ignorant of the history of this period or deliberately chooses to
denigrate the accomplishments of Washington in that first miserable
year. While he is derided for requesting others to
address him as “His Excellency,” it must be
remembered that he was the first military leader in history to
voluntarily lay down his sword and hand power back to the civilian
authority. He refused to become George I of America. And it was
Washington who accepted the ordinary “Mr. President” as
the proper title of address for his next office. As to Mr.
Farrar’s assertion that American generals were “elected
by their men,” generals were either appointed by
Washington or commissioned by Congress, sometimes without his
approval. Regimental commanders (colonels) and company
commanders (captains) were usually chosen by election. Darryl E. Fox
Springfield
Editor’s note: We regret attributing
“Washington Crossing the Delaware” to the wrong painter
and providing an incorrect description.
SOMETHING FROM NOTHING
The debate regarding creation vs. evolution
is never-ending. Neither side will concede the slightest
possibility of an iota of validity in the other’s position.
What is interesting is the distinct possibility that both positions
are valid. Evolutionists believe all life evolved from a single
organism. Creationists believe all life was created by a supreme
being. One question begs for an answer: Where did the single
organism come from? No one can deny, on the basis of human
intellect at this time, that something cannot be made out of
nothing. If it can be held, seen, heard, smelled, or measured, it
exists — and it came from somewhere. It did not suddenly appear out of nowhere. So
from where did the single organism come? Consider for a moment that a single organism
did give birth to all life. Is it not feasible a supreme being
created the organism and as part of the intelligent-design
evolution brought life to its present state? Something to think
about.
John D. Kolaz
Springfield
TIME FOR HUMILITY ABOUT IRAQ
At a certain point it seems to me that people
have to choose between winning and acting tough. Clearly we are
losing the war in Iraq. We are losing because there are and will be
more deranged, young, true believing, hate-America men and women
than the eye can see or the mind can imagine. Finally, now we must
know that we cannot win militarily because they outnumber us, they
have the tactical advantage with car and suicide bombs, and most
importantly they have the staying power because it is their land
and it will never be ours. Whatever excuses or rationales or distortions
the Bush administration wants to provide or silly and irrelevant
references to “typical insurgencies,” or even all the
king’s horses and all the king’s men, the facts cannot
be changed. We are not engaged in a war for land and treasure, we
are engaged in a war for the hearts and minds of the world’s
people. What would be helpful in such a war for hearts
and minds? Credibility would be very helpful but Mr. Bush took that
sword of truth and broke it in half when he sent poor old Colin
Powell to the United Nations to “prove” that Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction. A good human rights record would be helpful
but Mr. Bush destroyed our human rights record with the horrors in
Abu Ghraib prison that he either initiated or allowed to happen.
Some humility and outreach would be helpful, but he refused even to
consult his own father regarding the Iraq invasion, refused to
accept the support of other countries except on his terms, and to
this day, like a modern day captain of the Titanic, refuses to
consider any solution other than “stay the course.”
The American president should now go before
the world, admit the terrible mistakes we have made and present the
world with another great truth: The mess in Iraq is not just
America’s problem. It is the world’s problem. The
American president should humbly ask the world community for advice
and admit that our presence is like waving a red flag in front of
the bull of Arab nationalism. Humility always triumphs over
arrogance and now it is the only solution. Frank Ross Springfield
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2005.
