We welcome letters, but please include your
full name, address, and daytime telephone number. We edit all
letters for libel, length, and clarity. Send letters to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box
5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. REMEMBERING A GENTLE MAN Fletcher Farrar wrote the most delightfully
nostalgic column in awhile [“Corruption comes in many
colors,” April 20]. Perhaps I am a bit soft-hearted where the
senior Adlai Stevenson is concerned. At a presidential rally, he
was so laid-back, so knowledgeable, and seemingly so out of his
element in politics. When others on the podium would wave fists,
shout with spittle, “We’re gonna get the job done, yes
sir!” and nothings of this sort, Gov. Stevenson would almost
placidly take to the microphone and softly, talk so intelligently
that he was way over everyone’s head! One had to listen! He was so gentle
I felt like he would get slaughtered in politics! It was the early ’50s: Here at Christmas
he would greet people at the mansion. I went one year and we
chatted briefly, whereupon he wanted me to meet his son Adlai III.
But the young man’s back was turned and with his brothers was
“cutting up and guffawing.” The governor was unhappy
with this breach in etiquette. I said, “They are happy to
have time together,” but this did not pacify their father. I
nodded, saying, “It is fine,” and passed along but
catching his self-retort, “Phooey!” Later on, I visited his open-office day and
told him about driving in the rain and how easy it was to see
vehicles that had their lights on. (There were more two-lane
highways then.) He thought this would be a good thing and tried to
get it legislated. So I completely enjoyed reading his well-expressed words. How nice to remember an
educated gentleman. Dr. Mary L.W. Midden Springfield OUR NATION HAS GONE BESERK Bush and the warmongering, profiteering thugs
in this administration should be locked up now, before they start
yet another war. They, along with their collaborators and
apologists in the military, should stand trial for war crimes and
crimes against humanity. Furthermore, they should be held
responsible for the escalating bloodshed among Iraqis, fomented by
our invasion and occupation of their country. Those who have been killed and maimed, and
those yet to be killed and maimed, owe their fates to this cabal of
dishonorable, disingenuous men and women who have disgraced our
nation before the entire world. Concerning starting another war, Israel should
be closely scrutinized and sternly rebuked for the attack it is
surely preparing to launch against Iran. Israel has nukes —
why shouldn’t Iran have them? What’s good for the goose
is good for the gander! In all fairness, the international community
should focus more attention on the U.S. and its own unfulfilled
treaty obligations, as it continues nuclear weapons research and
development. It is as if our nation, under the present
administration, has gone berserk. Robert Waldmire Portal, Ariz., and Rochester IN BED WITH WAR PROFITEERS Can we find a solution to the Iraq quagmire? I
believe we can. Gareth Porter, a contributor to the Web site
Foreign Policy in Focus, suggests that a negotiated settlement can
be reached if we include, in the bargaining process, the principal
Arab countries plus Iran, Egypt, and Turkey. These countries are increasingly concerned about
the threat of civil war in Iraq, and it is in their self-interest to
work with us to find a peaceful solution. Mr. Porter has also said that
the Sunnis in Iraq have been trying to strike a deal with us for over a
year, but the U.S. refuses to speak to them. The policy of the present administration is to
push for military rather than political solutions. Using bullying
tactics, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and other so-called neocons believe that
they can get away with using force to get whatever they want, even
if it violates international law. And the reason that they will not
seek a peaceful solution is because they are afraid that, if they
did, they might not get everything they want. So, in Iraq, this administration picked on a
defenseless country and simply made a “power grab” to
seize the oil they wanted and thus to gain strategic advantage in
the Middle East. Because they didn’t think the American
people would go for this war, and, because what they wanted to do
was illegal under international law, they lied to Congress and the
American people about WMDs and a connection between Saddam and
al-Qaeda. They also put forward the questionable thesis that
preemptive war was justified in the case of Iraq. In fact, it never
is justified. Then they told us that they were
“bringing” democracy to the Middle East, which is a
dubious foreign-policy objective at best. This administration will also never come to
the negotiating table and choose peace over war, because it is in
bed with war profiteers. We need new leadership in this country,
and, unfortunately, we will have to wait three years to get it. Beni Kitching Springfield REWARDING “SUNDOWN TOWNS” In response to the article “IDOC’s
white elephant” [Jamie Murnane, April 13], about the prison
built but not open in Thomson, Ill., I would like to add a few
comments. The prison, when it opens, will provide the
600 residents of Thomson with opportunities for better jobs, and
the town will experience an economic boom. They will rest assured
knowing that the inmate population will be overwhelmingly
African-American. Why do I believe that? Statistically, more African-Americans will be
inside the walls of this prison when it opens than in the town
itself. A recent search of the 2000 Census indicated that there
were no African-Americans residing in Thomson. The term for towns such as Anna, Dwight,
Pinckneyville, Vandalia, and Vienna is “sundown towns,”
as James W. Loewen has documented in his book Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (New Press, New York, 2005). Loewen reveals more
of Anna’s racist history (A-N-N-A, which, at that time, stood
for “Ain’t no niggers allowed”). Other towns had signs posted which read,
“Do not let the sun go down on you” or other creative
phrases such as “Read and run, and if you can’t read, run
anyway.” [These signs] clearly told African-American citizens not
to stay in the town after sundown. I remember my father, who was born
in 1895, telling me about places like these. In any event, federal and state governments
continue to reward “sundown towns” by staying white. Ron S. Carter Springfield I DROPPED OUT AND DID OK I read with interest the column
“Bush’s education law may not be so bad”
[Fletcher Farrar, April 6]. Much of it I agree with. Something I
may disagree with has to do with a statement about high-school
dropouts’ not being “credible critics.” My
brother became a dropout in 1949; I followed in 1954. This was in
another era than the one you are writing about. My brother and I
may have been “credible critics.” Our father was a
high-school teacher and coach. Both my brother and I served a tour
in the U.S. Marine Corps after leaving high school, and both of us
have B.S. and M.S. degrees after passing the GED. My brother has worked in the space program
with a business degree. I’m a retired speech therapist after
teaching for 31 years. My brother has taught classes in business at
Pepperdine and other universities in California. Edwin Akers Taylorville LEAVE IT TO BEAVER In light of the increasing number of Illinois
landowners who find themselves dealing with beavers, readers should
remember that that humane solutions are not only kinder but cheaper
and more effective than trapping these industrious animals. Trapped beavers may suffer for hours before
succumbing to suffocation, blood loss, or exposure. Beavers caught
in underwater traps can struggle for up to nine agonizing minutes
before drowning. Not only is trapping cruel, it does nothing to
prevent more beavers from damming an area, so trapping becomes an
endless cycle — and an expensive one for property owners,
with fees in the vicinity of $200 per beaver. Humane deterrents such as pipes that
distribute water in ponds and lakes and “beaver
deceivers” — fence systems that prevent beavers from
damming culverts — permanently and humanely prevent problems
caused by beaver dams at a fraction of the price of exterminating
these sensitive animals. For more ways to live in harmony with
wildlife, visit HelpingWildlife.com. Stephanie L. Boyles Wildlife biologist People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Norfolk, Va.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 3, 2006.
