Letters, 11/26: The price of arrogance

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Roger Conrad’s partisan screed (Column, Nov. 18) is just another predictable bleat in the Bush administration’s deceptive and tedious chorus of “us and them,” “for us or against us.”

The midterm elections were not a paean to Democrats.They were an overdue rebuke of this administration’s sanctimony. Voters rebuffed being preached to by those who persist in their narrow view of history and who demonstrate the intellectual depth of a Petri dish.

A book I read recently recounted how the administration’s myopia led to the invasion of Iraq:

* We misjudged and exaggerated the dangers to the U.S.

* Our misjudgments reflected our profound ignorance of the history of the people in the area.

* We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image.

* We failed to retain support because we did not explain fully what was happening and why we were doing what we did.

* We failed the task of winning hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.

* We failed to analyze and debate our actions … and the necessity of changing course when failure was clear.

These quotes are from Robert McNamara, secretary of defense under Kennedy and Johnson, in his book, “In Retrospect — the Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam.”

The voters took Bush and his lock step marionettes to the metaphorical woodshed for their deadly arrogance, inexcusable ignorance and provocative hectoring.

Larry McClung, Lincoln

Put raceway elsewhere

Greg Sanford already had a raceway. It was in Scribner. The Motorplex closed after he couldn’t obtain full funding for a paved road to the strip. In Scribner, the county agreed to pay half the cost of paving, but Sanford wanted almost full funding, then refused to make necessary improvements to his facility mandated by the National Hot Rod Association, and he abandoned the project. (The current area proposed for his facility is on an unpaved road.)

Judging from Sanford’s past business acumen, one has to wonder at a proposed facility of only 602 parking spaces and seating for 5,000 spectators. That’s 8.3 people per vehicle.

I admit, my hobby is not racing. My hobby happens to be enjoying country life in our beautiful rural setting mostly free from air and noise pollution. And raising my sons with the same quality of life that I experienced growing up here, as well as my father and my grandfather before that. The proposed facility is near Game and Parks land, which includes the Jack Sinn Memorial Wildlife Preserve. Bald eagles and other wildlife are home to this area. Why should our quality of life be compromised by a polluting, here-today-gone-tomorrow venture?

People supporting the drag strip say, “just move if you don’t like it.” This area is not just a few old farms — we are a thriving community of hundreds wanting to preserve our way of life; many of us have had this land in our families for nearly a century. This strip would be far worse for us than it would be for racers to drive a couple of hours to an existing strip.

There can be a compromise, but it needs to be on commercial land not already slated for agriculture, near paved roads, and with sound business backing.

Theresa Tvrdy, Ceresco

War is hell for all

The last time we heard the term, post-traumatic stress disorder, it was the 1970s and the Vietnam vets were suffering from it. The military is doing a good job this time taking care of the soldiers, sailors and Marines coming back from the sand box. They have a good system in place.

The problem is that there are hundreds of civilians in this war that have no system in place to deal with their problems. The contractors are forced to try to get treatment through insurance companies that fight them at every turn.

If you think that the contractors should just suffer, listen to this: “They see the same things our soldiers do: same trauma, same carnage, same wreckage. They face the same risk as our soldiers,” said Col. Kathy Platoni, a clinical psychologist who has traveled extensively throughout Iraq as the leader of a combat stress-control unit working on the battlefield.

I was one of these contractors; I wrote a letter previously to the Journal Star about recognition of the contractors’ contributions. This is another type of recognition. These people need help. They are government employees while in Iraq, they should not have to beg for their sanity when they come home.

Wallace McNabb, Lincoln  

Nebraska’s ugly side

Have to agree with Rosanne M. Peterson’s letter of Nov. 19. We have traveled a great deal in the last 10 years. We always know when we are back in Nebraska, no matter which road we bring into the state. It’s littered, weeds growing, dirty.

We have lived here our whole life, it is a shame that Nebraska does not take some pride in themselves. Even the home owners could do a lot to improve their homes along the roads, highways. What a shame.

Roberta Felker, McCook

Marine dishonored

The editorial staff of the Lincoln Journal Star should be ashamed of its representation Nov. 21 of the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Scholl. Not only do they dishonor his branch of service by referring to him as a “soldier,” but they ignore the human interest story of those that came to honor him, referring to the Patriot Guard Riders as “a few dozen supporters.”

There were more than 85 members of that organization present for more than five hours, standing a vigil to honor this fallen hero. They came from as far away as Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and South Dakota, even though some had never met or even heard the name of this Marine before. They did not need to know how beloved his parents are in their communities; they did not need any information other than the fact that he had paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country and was deserving of recognition, honor, and respect.

Other members of the group were personal friends of the family and would have preferred to be participating in the memorial service inside, yet saw their mission in participating in a show of support for the family, the flag and their country in defiance of the protesters across the street. The irony of this Marine’s death to uphold their ability to protest was ignored in the reports provided by the “news” paper.

The blatant inaccuracy and lack of respect in the paper’s reporting of the day’s events is a telling indictment of the Lincoln Journal Star’s lack of professionalism, disregard of the facts and inability to accurately report the news.

Herb Anderson, Lincoln