I was just watching the Senate panel investigating FBI intelligence
failures on international TV makes me believe that we would have had no
trouble preventing 9/11 had we been able to watch "terrorist panel
investigating terrorists' intelligence failures" on national TV prior to
9/11 and over the years.
Don't you get the feeling that our next big terrorist attack may be
based largely upon the information gleaned from this intelligence expose?
Political correctness at work! Duh.
Armond "Si" Simmons
Pell City
Nuclear threat should be focus:
The media have been filled with alarms/warnings of another terrorist
attack. From Warren Buffet to Dick Cheney and Robert Mueller, we are now
being told that it is just a matter of when, not if.
Does it really matter when our current administration knew about this
9/11 threat? Arguments could be made that lay the blame on either the Bush
or Clinton administrations. The issue that should have all Americans
tossing in their beds is that we could not stop them. As horrible as 3,000
dead sounds, it pales to what could be the body count in a small nuclear
blast, or chemical weapon explosion, within one of our large population
centers.
This new weapons system (a suicide bomber) is something that our armed
forces can do nothing against. How long will it be before a terrorist cell
group loose within our borders unleashes a weapon of mass destruction?
That is when we will stop pointing fingers internally, and get off our
collective rears and react.
George V. Meullen
North Shelby County
Campaigns need issues, not rhetoric:
I would like to commend you on a set of excellent articles before the
primary elections for governor. What you did was force the politicians to
address the issues and stop the rhetoric.
You presented the issues important to us, as Alabamians and concerned
voters. You asked each candidate to share his views on these subjects and
allowed your readers to see which candidate had substance and which had
little to offer voters.
I would only ask two things of you as we continue this journey toward
the general election. We are going to see some very good theatrics between
now and November. We are going to see a lot of red herrings, too. I beg of
you, keep the issues in front of the candidates and readers.
By gathering the issues and presenting the information to your readers,
you maintain fair and unbiased reporting.
Alabama is tired of character assassins and/or demigod politicians
striving for office. They have only brought us McCarthyism and
embarrassment.
We need elected officials with a plan to address issues we see as
important. We don't need politicians who want to form committees to study
the issues or reform state government before addressing our concerns. We
are tired of reformists studying the issues; we need reliable politicians
with resolve to act and bring Alabama into economic/agricultural reality.
I say to politicians, address the issues in a concrete way or look at a
career change.
Again, great job.
Russell A. Ray
Hoover
McPhillips insults childless people:
I am disappointed by Julian McPhillips' recent attack on Susan Parker.
To imply that a childless woman cannot be attuned to the interests of
Alabama's children is ridiculous. Watch out, women! For, by this sort of
logic, McPhillips (a male) couldn't represent you effectively in Congress
nor could you represent him. Look out, African-Americans, retirees,
Republicans!
McPhillips attacked Parker despite the knowledge that she had suffered
a miscarriage and had been told it was medically inadvisable to have
children. He commented that if she wanted children, she should have
adopted. It's wonderful that McPhillips and his wife adopted a child.
However, to assume that this choice is appropriate for every family even
every politically active family is absurd.
I am a childless woman who cares deeply about the children in my life.
Is it then, for McPhillips, a "given" that I don't share most Alabamians'
belief that children in our state need stronger schools and healthier
beginnings? Does he believe that my feedback on these issues as a
constituent would be inferior or unrepresentative because I am childless?
Frankly, I'm not interested in a senator who might judge the quality of
my opinions by the performance of my ovaries.
Braden Welborn
Tuscaloosa
McPhillips' view is sexist, illogical:
Julian McPhillips' assertion that he understands children's issues
better than his opponent Susan Parker is both offensive and illogical.
Decisions that concern children for example, whether to have them, whether
to adopt, how to handle infertility are highly sensitive and personal,
especially to women.
I suspect that McPhillips would have approached the issue differently
had his opponent been a man. While he still might have attempted to play a
"child card," the play might simply have been a boast about what a
religious family man he is, rather than an insinuation that there is
something wrong and unnatural about a woman who is childless, for whatever
reason. How dare he imply as much, not only by drawing such an offensive
and immaterial comparison between his opponent and himself, but by further
suggesting that Parker has some moral, maternal obligation to adopt.
McPhillips' position is logically ill-conceived as well. If he has
better insight into children's issues because he has children, by
extension, Parker, as a woman, has better insight into women's issues,
such as female reproductive rights. Query how McPhillips would respond if
Parker were to make such an assertion.
Jessica Stetler
Mountain Brook
VisionLand gets media's bad rap:
I have really been disturbed over all the bad publicity concerning
VisionLand and the comments about Larry Langford.
First off, consider the type of person it takes to have such a vision,
from Col. Sanders to Walt Disney. Do you think all of the great dreams
started out immediate successes? No. But look at what we're doing to
ourselves.
We have one of the nicest parks in our own back yards, with the best
selection of kids' rides.
And the media aren't helping much, either. Help VisionLand. Visit and
support VisionLand. Focus on what we can do to fix it and make it better
instead of concentrating on the past.
Imagine in 10 years when someone buys the park, Bessemer is booming,
and someone else is making all the money off of our dream.
