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Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com.
ILLINOIS GOP: NO WORRIES When I read Rich Miller’s column, I thought it
was a humor piece or that he had lost his mind [“Obammered,”
March 20]. The polls that were quoted were taken before Obama’s
campaign imploded and he dropped about 15 points. It seems most people with
a brain did not like to see Obama throw his white granny under the bus. You
know who I mean — the woman who left her home in Kansas and moved
with her husband to Hawaii to raise little Barack when his mother was still
in Jakarta with his stepfather. I thought it was a joke when Obama compared his white
granny to his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in an attempt to
demonstrate that anyone, even his granny, could be racist because she had
once said she was “afraid of black men approaching her on the
sidewalk.” Then Obama, the quick thinker he is, went on to say that
white people are just “that way.” This sure sounds like the
uniter everyone was hoping for. John McCain has now pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton
and Obama in the most recent polls, and I do not think anyone is afraid of
Obama’s candidacy now, not even the Illinois GOP. But I hope Clinton
still offers him the vice presidential slot: Obama has turned out to be
baggage that she really does not need if she has any chance of defeating
McCain. Obama might be needing a job after the next Illinois Senate
election and the Tony Rezko trial. If he loses perhaps, he can look under
the bus and ask his white granny if he can move back in. As for Illinois Republicans, I think after the Rezko
trial the GOP might be OK for this fall’s elections no matter who the
Democrats decide to run against McCain. Even stupid white people from
Illinois take objection to corrupt politicians. In any event it will be fun
to watch and I am looking forward to Rich Miller’s next attempt at
political humor.
Jerald
Jacobs
Springfield
IRAQ’S COST NOT TOO HIGH You stated that we have spent $3 trillion since the
war began, and you went on to say that we have paid a huge penalty in the
number of casualties and respect around the world [“Editor’s
note,” March 20]. I would agree that the loss of one soldier is one to
many, but those losses are not in vain, and I believe you are misleading
your readers. The facts are we spend more annually on illegal
immigration than we have in five years on the war on terror. Illegal
immigration is costing this country nearly $400 billion a year. In
addition, we have lost nearly 15,000 citizens to homicide or involuntary
manslaughter during the past five years at the hands of illegal immigrants.
Yet I never see the liberal media or the Democratic Party address this
issue. As for global respect, we have never had any, and if
we cave on this war on terror that trend will only continue. Paul Edwards Chatham HERE COMES THE TRAIN WRECK Those of us lucky enough to have missed the Great
Depression and to have been born into the post-World War II expansion, the
greatest period of prosperity the world has ever known, may now experience
something even more frightening — a global economic collapse. How did this happen? Part of it has to do with the
dismantling of government regulations and protections put into place during
the Great Depression to prevent another Great Depression from happening.
1973 was a pivotal year. That was the year that the corporate classes
decided to privatize everything and to begin to roll back all the
concessions that the wealthy had grudgingly given to ordinary Americans to
stave off a possible revolt during the Great Depression. The wealthy had
feared that the country might become fascist or, even worse, communist. But
in 1973 there was a clarion call to “save capitalism.”
Ironically, in doing so, it led us straight to where we are today —
in danger of an even greater economic meltdown than the Great Depression
— and of a magnitude never seen in American history. Does the Federal Reserve have the tools to prevent
this train wreck from happening? Monetary policy (lowering interest rates)
and fiscal policy (the modest stimulus package recently passed by Congress)
will not do the trick. Much more is needed. The Glass-Steagall Act, which
was passed in 1933 to prevent commercial banks from dealing in securities,
was repealed in 1999. This has become part of the problem, along with the
creation of exotic financial instruments like derivatives and hedge funds,
which are less subject to regulation. Another key problem is the lack of
transparency or disclosure in the financial markets. This could be
corrected if Congress were to pass laws to better regulate securities. Both
the present administration and Wall Street are against regulation. Nor were
they willing, until recently, to consider using federal agencies like the
FHA to help bail out victims of the subprime-mortgage crisis — the
catalyst for the current situation. The pain is spreading. And,
unfortunately, the great unraveling will continue. Finally, why could this mean a global economic
collapse? Because financial markets are now globally intertwined. And
because U.S. consumption is the engine that drives the global economy. If
we go down, we will pull others down with us. Beni Kitching Springfield
STOP ELECTING THE SAME PEOPLE In response to “Term limits for Congress”
by Bob Ruble [“Letters,” March 13], there already is a term
limit established in the U.S. Constitution, right smack dab at the
beginning. It is called “We the People.”
We the People do
not have to continue electing the same old people with the same old
rhetoric. Let’s start holding them accountable before they step foot
into the halls of Congress. And if they do not want to work for us, then
let them go out and get real jobs. We the People need
to truly set aside our petty differences and come to an agreement on what
is best for our country, children, and future. If we honestly examine the
issues at hand, then and only then will we begin to realize what it is that
we must do. And that, what we thought was our thoughts, are not, but
something embedded in us by someone else’s mean-spirited ignorance
and fear. We the People need to
come to an understanding, that if our fellow Americans knew better, we
would do better. We need to stop letting outside entities dictate to us
what is right and wrong. Ninety-five percent of us learned that by the
first grade. We need to stop letting them prey on our fears, pitting us
against our neighbors. We need to stop letting them steal our natural
birthright, which is to be free. Where would we be if our founding fathers had waited
on jolly olde England to make changes? They were intelligent enough to
leave it up to We the People. Ronnie Booth Springfield
THE RAP ON WAL-MART Two days ago I called one of our two Wal-Marts and
had to be transferred to another department. While I was waiting, the music
I was listening to was so loud, and it was rap. Most of it, of course, was
unintelligible, but what I could understand, the chorus or refrain was
about “gettin’ high.” Another set of lyrics mentioned
“da baby’s daddy.” I called the head office, in
Bentonville, Ark., and complained about it. The manager for that Wal-Mart
also called me. We had a little chat and I told him how this is
unacceptable and not the kind of image that Wal-Mart should project, and
should the home office want to call me and talk to me themselves, feel free
to give them my name and phone number. He was very nice and agreed with me
and thanked me. If you’re not part of the solution, then you
are part of the problem. Change begins one phone call, one letter, one
e-mail at a time. If we are to take back our country and culture from the
various forms of decay that are rotting away at our and our future
descendants’ lives, then we must open up our mouths in the right and
proper way, and keep it up and never give up.
Jean Stables Decatur
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2008.
