Letters, 5/30: Expect same freedoms

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Political ideals that form the core of any government speak of high and mighty things. Justice. Freedom. Equality. These are ideals that every American holds dear.

Last week, our state senators collectively refuted these ideals. A bill proposing an extension on a ban that covers discrimination in the workplace would have provided protection based on sexual orientation. As the law stands now, a Nebraska citizen can be fired from their job just because they are gay.

Why did senators believe that a ban was not needed for such a basic right?  Sen. John Harms from Scottsbluff rejected the bill because he believed that homosexuality was a choice.  I believe that each person is entitled to their own decision, but I am 100 percent sure that my orientation was not a choice. 

Also, the current ban covers religious affiliation. Since when was religious affiliation not a choice? Either some of our senators are missing the finer points in this matter, or they are purposely choosing to be discriminatory against the citizens they have been elected to represent.

The rejection of this bill makes me feel unwelcome in a state I consider to be my home. From people with jobs to those soon to be seeking them, many of us have no desire to be intimidated or to live in fear of losing our jobs for who we are. I don’t expect anyone to accept me for being gay. What I expect is for the law to provide the same level of justice, freedom and equality that every other citizen in our fair state is given.

Brian Gardner, Lincoln

Rapper’s dance degrades

Misogynist rapper coming to town! Rapper Akon will be joining Gwen Stefani at the Qwest Center in Omaha on June 4, known as the Sweet Escapes tour. Akon is a well-known rapper at the top of the charts. You cannot listen to pop radio stations without hearing his voice at least once every half hour.

However, a month ago Akon simulated sex with a 14-year-old girl on stage at a concert in Trinidad. The incident has been downplayed as him only dancing with a 14-year-old girl. Trinidad is not the only show Akon has done this at; he invites women on stage without ID to participate in a fake dance contest to dance in a way that simulates sex, then deems himself as the winner.

This practice, whether the women are of age or not, is humiliating, degrading and disgusting. I hope that if you have children attending this concert to consider these factors before sending them off on June 4.

I myself am a woman who enjoys hip-hop and rap, and I am saddened by this continued approval of misogyny. I did buy tickets to this concert for my husband and I, fourth row might I add, before I heard about this. I am disappointed that I spent money on a show I refuse to watch because I was not informed.

Isau J. Metes, Lincoln

Oil: Share the cash flow

Given the ongoing gasoline price spikes, and oil company profits increases soaring into the 40 percent-50 percent range, I think it would be appropriate for Texaco/Shell to reinstitute their sponsorship of the Saturday matinee radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera and for Exxon/Mobil to again underwrite “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS television.

I’m sure the cost of either endeavor would be no more than the annual salary of one of their mid-level executives. It would be a small outlay for these rapacious industrial gluttons while providing an enormous PR benefit for them in turn benefiting grateful listeners and viewers.

Jim Hejduk, Lincoln

Where’s anti-trust law?

Big Oil has such a stranglehold monopoly in the United States, apparently with full support from the White House, that they are able to control the supply; therefore they can demand whatever price they want from the American public.

Most Americans can’t quit their jobs to reduce gasoline consumption, and Big Oil would demand ever-increasing profits regardless of our consumption.

Conservative politicians and news reporters should realize that Big Oil is taking money out of all their constituents’ pockets, now.  Do we need to wait until 2008 to push anti-trust regulations?

Mike Stoakes, Lincoln

Opinions v. facts in class

John Gruhl (letter, May 23) writes that he tells his students that “everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but no one is entitled to his own facts.” What Gruhl was referring to was the letter from the student whose argument that there were or may have been WMDs in Iraq led to his paper being downgraded by the history teacher Michael Baker.

John Gruhl is saying the teacher was correct in downgrading the student because the student was questioning the “fact” that there were no WMDs in Iraq at the time of our attack (liberation?). Gruhl is arguing that it is a “fact” that there were no WMDs, not an “opinion.”

What Gruhl is doing is diametrically opposed to what he is espousing. He is calling his “opinion” a “fact,” and hence no one can disagree with it. That is a sad testimony to the teaching profession. But it is not surprising that he has been bred in the liberal or secular progressive mode, as so many of our teachers have been trained, especially at major universities.

So what are the facts? The liberal might say that it is a “fact” that there were no WMDs at the time of our invasion according to the weight of evidence that is substantial. The conservative might say that there are too many unknowns to establish that as a fact.

For example we know there were WMDs, so what happened to them? They could have been hidden or transferred to another nearby despotic regime. Until all the “facts” are established regarding this matter, it can only be said that to say there were no WMDs is a matter of “opinion,” not “fact.”

Unfortunately, what too many liberals (and all secular progressives) see as “facts” are really just their “opinions.” Teachers should understand that there is a multiplicity of views in this country, and to bear down on a student who is raising questions about what are questionable “facts” goes against the fair and balanced training of inquiring minds.

Wayne Simpson, Lincoln