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editor@illinoistimes.com.
THE BUSH AGENDA ON IRAQ A reply to Keith Housewright’s
criticisms of Roland Klose [“Letters,” Dec. 29]: When
President Bill Clinton handed over the reins of office to George W.
Bush, he passed on five world situations that Bush should watch
closely. In descending order, they were al Qaeda, the Palestinians,
Pakistan and India, North Korea, and last, Saddam Hussein. The
sanctions against Iraq appeared to have effectively neutralized any
aggressive ambitions Hussein harbored, which was why he was last on
the list. Clinton’s message was to keep the Iraqis hamstrung.
Several sources cite Bush’s response to this list as a
reversal, that he put Hussein on the top of the list and al Qaeda
at the bottom. For whatever reasons, George W. Bush appears
to have entered office with an agenda that included
“getting” Hussein. A close look at Bush’s
response to 9/11 appears to confirm this. The official prewar chant
was focused on a supposed link between 9/11 and Iraq. When this
link was discovered to be too tenuous for the general public to
swallow, “weapons of mass destruction” became the buzz
words. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, and many others holding the
reins of government worked diligently for almost two years after
9/11 to incite war with Iraq — and succeeded. This mandate,
agenda, and/or campaign is well documented and well understood by
Republican and Democratic politicians alike; unfortunately, the
public is still fairly in the dark. That’s why this format,
reasonable discussion through the editorial pages, is important. When the public begins to understand the policies
behind the politics, true democracy can then emerge. V. Kay Cheney Springfield A REASON TO CELEBRATE Thanks, Martha [Martha Miller, “The
examined life,” Jan. 5]. Having grown up in a small community
7 miles from Decatur, [I thought that] it was nice to read
something in Illinois Times that wasn’t looking down its nose at my
old stomping ground, though I waited 20 years to read it.
Springfield isn’t quite the sophisticated city it pretends to
be, with racist attitudes leading the pack more than homophobia.
I’ve always thought it a little pretentious for a city that
produces nothing but the sound of shuffling papers to badmouth a
city that produces real things. After all, if the Emerald City is
truly all that superior, less effort would be needed to constantly
point that out. Dime-store psychology, perhaps, but after hearing
Decatur belittled all these years by pretentious
“Springfieldites,” allow me this small moment of
celebration. After all, it may be another 20 years. Les Blain Springfield PERFECT: IT THERE, AVON HERE Please convey my thanks to Martha Miller for
her kind comments about my Avon Theatre in the latest edition.
While it is most unfortunate that Springfield does not have an
independent movie theater like the Avon, we in Decatur decry the
lack of investigative, nonflinching local news coverage Illinois Times is so
expert at! In a more perfect world, an independent theater like the
Avon would open in Springfield or a newspaper like Illinois Times would
open in Decatur! Skip Huston Owner, Huston’s Avon Theatre Decatur NOT A FAN OF FEATURED DOCTOR I was disappointed when I read that Dr.
Glennon Paul was not taken out of business [Bruce Rushton,
“Playing for keeps,” Jan. 5]. I feel that his services
to me 10 years ago merited no pay because, under his care, I became
the sickest I had ever been with asthma and I became ill with the
flu after he had given me an $18 flu shot. My respiratory ailments
improved when I divorced him as my doctor and self-medicated with
over-the-counter or alternative medicines. Paul was aware that, at
the time, I did not have a job with insurance or with a high
salary, yet he took me to the credit bureau for the last $50 of my
bill with him and refused a payment plan from my financial advisor
because, as he stated, “It would not even pay the
interest.” Needless to say, I would not recommend him to
anybody. Debbie Quick Springfield QUESTIONS GUILT OF SLOVERS I have always been an admirer of the American
way of life, but I have just watched a documentary on the murder of
Karyn Slover and have now read various articles about it in your
publication [see Dusty Rhodes, “Karyn’s killers?”
Oct. 6]. I live in Glasgow, which sadly has quite a
record for horrible, violent murders of the kind met by poor Karyn.
In this country, the perpetrators of this level of evil are nearly
always acting under the influence of drugs or alcohol and have a
history of violent or psychotic behavior. Usually they have had a
disturbed emotional upbringing or are callous hardened criminals
often with similar baggage. The idea that the Slovers have acted in
unison to carry out this ghastly crime simply beggars belief. Since it seems that ordinary citizens of your
once fair land seem happy to accept that they have, I am now
extremely glad I don’t live in your country. It would seem
that your otherwise law-abiding citizens were able to organize
themselves into groups to commit murderous, inhumane, psychotic
acts whilst fastidiously removing all tangible traces of have done so. And they did this,
apparently, because of their great love of a little boy whom they would have had to
raise whilst looking him in the eye with the knowledge of their
crime on their conscience — a little boy who has suffered
even more trauma by being removed from his “new” mother
whose only crime seems to be sharing the bloodline of the supposed
perpetrators. Now he’s been forced to live with, according to
one of your articles, his fourth choice in life. What happened to
his human rights? Hang your heads in shame, America — a blind
man in a coal cellar could see this just doesn’t add up. All decent Americans should take the time out
to look at all the available evidence and if they’re
satisfied justice has been done, then fine, they can sleep soundly in their beds. If not, then the real
perpetrators are still at large, three innocent people have lost their
liberty for the rest of their lives, a little boy has been
unnecessarily traumatized for a second time, and the memory of Karyn
Slover is besmirched forever. Alex Burke Glasgow, Scotland
ORDER VIOLATES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an
executive order this summer forcing all pharmacists in his state to
prescribe the morning-after pill without delay [see Joan Villa,
“Right of refusal,” June 16, 2005]. Pro-life
pharmacists have been opting out under the state’s conscience
clause because the drug sometimes causes an abortion. Frank Manion
with the American Center for Law and Justice says the order is
making several pharmacists pay a heavy price. The ACLJ is
representing three pharmacists who would like to see the executive
order overturned. Manion says the religious rights of pharmacists
are at stake. It used to be that they would not have to provide the
pill but refer them to a person who would. This is how it should
be. Religious freedom is too precious to hurt. Joseph Grigoletti Springfield OPPOSES GAY RIGHTS LAW With the arrival of 2006, Illinois’ new
law adding “sexual orientation” to the state’s
human-rights code takes effect [see Todd Spivak, “Making
history,” Jan. 13]. While most media pundits laud its
enactment, they ignore the implications of basing civil rights on
changeable, wrong, and unhealthy sexual behavior. Illinois’ new law will be a boon for
homosexual activist lawyers. Across the country, “gay”
advocates place their “orientation” above the freedom
of conscience of others who disagree with homosexuality. Homosexual
lobbyists cry tolerance, but they really don’t respect
peoples’ religious beliefs. If they did, would they demonize
opponents of “gay marriage” as “rank
bigots,” to quote the top homosexual activist in our state? But it’s not just about normalizing
homosexuality. Illinois now becomes one of just seven states that
provide special legal “rights” based on
“transgendered” behavior. Thus the law will also be
used to force businesses and even religious-based groups to
accommodate extreme gender confusion — for example, a male
maitre d’ at a restaurant who informs his employer that
henceforth he will be coming to work dressed as a woman. We need to repeal this bad law or at least
start amending it. Peter J. LaBarbera Executive director Illinois Family Institute Glen Ellyn
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2006.
