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
THE FACTS OF COMPETITION
In a recent column, Jim Hightower deplored the
very large benefits that some deposed CEOs get, as opposed to far
lesser benefits given to line employees when they are let go
[“Corporate ethics lesson,” Aug. 18]. However, I do not
believe the companies have much choice because of the contracts
these CEOs have. One could argue that the contracts themselves are
too lucrative, yet there is competition in hiring CEOs, and likely
these contracts are what market forces require.
Sports teams often have to go along with
long-term contracts with star athletes, which they are obliged to
honor no matter how poorly the athlete may end up playing. The only
way to control these large benefits would be either for all
companies to agree that they will not sign such contracts with CEOs
or for Congress to establish some kind of a limit on such
contracts, neither of which is likely to happen. So, as unfair as
these CEO benefits may be, I’m afraid they are a fact of
life.
Dick McLane
Springfield
PRESIDENTS ON OIL AND WAR
This is in regard to David Magee’s
comment that “when Americans elect oil people to the White
House, they always bring us wars” [“Letters,”
Aug. 18]. Come on now, David. Was Woodrow Wilson in oil when he got
us into World War I? Was Franklin D. Roosevelt in oil when he got
us into World War II? Was Harry S Truman in oil when he got us into Korea? Was
Lyndon Johnson in oil when he got us [deeper] into Vietnam? Was Bill
Clinton in oil when he got us into Bosnia? Was Ronald Reagan into oil
when he got us into Grenada?
David Magee is just another liberal bashing
President George W. Bush.
Jack Suter
Springfield
PUBLIC-ACCESS BILL SIGNED
The subhead of your Aug. 4 story about HR 2455
asked, “Is more ‘sunshine’ in the forecast for
Illinois?” [R.L. Nave, “Let it flow”]. The answer
is yes, more sunshine is in the forecast for Illinois, thanks to
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s having signed the bill into law on
Aug. 16.
HB 2455 removes restrictions on public access
to financial-disclosure information that must be filed with the
county clerk by local officials. Before Aug. 16, if you wanted to
look at such information, the law required you to fill out a form
stating your name, address, occupation, and reason for looking. The
county clerk was then required to send a copy of the form, with all
this information, to the official whose financial information you
inspected. Since Aug. 16, if you want to look at such information,
all you have to do is go to the county clerk’s office and ask
for it, and the public official will never know.
In the article you also stated that my fellow
County Board members were less than enthusiastic when I introduced
an ordinance last year to tighten up laws to protect would-be
whistleblowers. That’s true, but the good news is that my
fellow board members later warmed up to the idea and
enthusiastically passed my whistleblower ordinance unanimously.
Sam Cahnman
Springfield
SO WHAT DID LOUISIANA DO?
I was fascinated by the recent letter stating
that the increase in natural disasters in the United States was a
direct punishment from God for our country’s worsening morals
[George Culley, “The end is still coming,” July 28].
I’d like to take that train of thought a bit further.
There’s been a dramatic increase in the number of hurricanes
since 2000, and most of these inflict the bulk of their punishment
on Florida. Why would God subject the Sunshine State to repeated
Biblical floods? Well, as I recall, Florida was the state involved
in the 2000 Presidential election. More recently, Florida was the
location of the sadly infamous Schiavo controversy. Perhaps God is
trying to tell Florida something, and they are not listening. P.S.
I have friends in Florida. The above is sarcasm, evidently bestowed
upon me by intelligent design. Or growing up in a large family.
Jim Stapleton
Albuquerque, N.M.
(Springfield, 1961-1991)
A GOLD STAR MOM’S MESSAGE
I would like to publicly thank the Rochester
Lions Club and Daniel Brogdon for creating the Messenger
Scholarship at the University of Illinois at Springfield in memory
of my son, Christian Porter, a lance corporal killed in the first
Gulf War.
This scholarship will go to a student pursuing
an advanced degree in the graduate program of political studies,
history, or environmental studies but with an emphasis on
international studies. The recipient, it is hoped, will go on to
help promote peace and harmony in the world through the sharing of
knowledge and understanding. It was Lions Club spokesperson Daniel
Brogdon’s vision that “if we promote peace and are
successful at promoting a world community view, and if the world
community could get together, maybe some of the conflicts that our
soldiers end up giving their lives for can be averted.”
I could not agree more. Some 14 years have
passed since my Chris’ death in combat, and we are, again,
sadly, a country at war. As mothers, fathers, spouses, sisters,
brothers, children, aunts, uncles, and friends of someone who has
or will be sent to do the fighting and the dying, we have a vested
interest and responsibility in their fate. They are our hometown
warriors, and we owe it to them to become an informed citizenry
that strives to learn — yes, is driven to know the truth
about the critical issues and events that put our loved ones in
harm’s way. When I see signs in our community and across the
country exhorting us to “Support the Troops,” the
message is clear that we are this nation’s citizen stewards.
It is our job to question authority so that those who govern are
not given carte blanche to dictate their will. If we fail to do so within our country as citizens, how can
we hope to communicate in the international community of nations?
We must be mindful of, arguably,
history’s greatest tenet: “Those who do not remember
the past are condemned to repeat it.” This quote is timeless
and should be a wakeup call to us all. Particularly it should be
instilled in our high school and college students, for they are our
future citizens, soldiers, and leaders.
We must emphasize the value of international
diplomacy. We must be sure that the mission we send our military to
prosecute is a righteous and necessary one that could not be
averted by peaceful means. Therefore we must elect leaders who
believe and demonstrate that there is nobility in peace and will
fight as hard for it as they will for going to war.
Let this scholarship be a small step toward
peace. For information on how to make a donation, you may contact
the UIS Development Office at 217-206-6058.
Phillipa Porter
Springfield
Editor’s note: Daniel Brogdon says the
scholarship donation was funded with money raised at a
Veteran’s Day program sponsored by the Rochester Lions Club.
Brogdon hopes to expand this effort throughout the international
Lions Club organizations. For more information, call 217-498-7508.
SEARCHING FOR FRIENDLY LIBERALS
My husband and I had read the article in the
June 30 edition of Illinois Times [R.L. Nave, “Land of drinkin’
”] about the newly-formed Drinking Liberally group, and
we finally found a Thursday evening open to check it out.
It was not more than five minutes after we
found the group in the beer garden at Boone’s that we began
to feel like we were total intruders. Only one of the group
introduced himself and spoke to us at all. Needless to say, we were
uncomfortable and very quickly finished our drink and left. Most,
if not all, of the group works for the House of Representatives,
and regularly meets on Thursdays to blow off steam. While we have
no issue with this, we don’t understand why they have
connected themselves to the national affiliation of DL, or why they
went through the effort of promotion and took
your writer’s time and publication’s space if they
do not want the group to expand beyond their clique.
Perhaps the IT could research and provide information about any
other liberal groups who meet and are welcoming to others
looking to share their liberal perspectives.
Vera Mount
Springfield
This article appears in Sep 1-7, 2005.
