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NEWSDAY'S Letters to the Editor Revised
NEWSDAY'S Letters to the Editor March 23, 2004
GROCERY LISTS, MARTHA, AND GAY MARRIAGE
Number of Letters from the LEFT: 8
Number of Letters from the RIGHT: 1
Left Letters:
1) …Ken Lay still out on that sunny golf course? While Martha Stewart is heading for jail? I object. And, to register my disapproval and show support for Stewart, I am heading out to my local Kmart to purchase some of her goods. If a million potholders are sold this month, we can show that the women of this country are sick of the big boys messing with us! -Irene Barrett Huntington Station
Ken Lay is out there but hopefully not for long. Either way his case has nothing to do with her case. Different crimes altogether. With Ms. Barrett’s logic, Martha should be home and acquitted because the heads of the Russian mob are still out there too.
2) …It seems to me that by going to war in Iraq we are making more enemies, not making ourselves safer. Every Iraqi we kill is a mother or father; a daughter or son; a sister or brother; a nephew or aunt. Each death creates at least a dozen more people who have reason to hate us.
Would you ever forget it if a foreign nation invaded the United States and killed a member of your family? Of course not. For every Iraqi death we bring about, we make many present and future (when the children grow up) enemies.
The vicious circle of violence that has been taught to the people of the world has got to stop if the earth has a chance to get to become a peaceful place.
What better country to break this violent circle than the one that touts itself as the moral leader of the world, the United States? -Kenyon Silvey Valley Stream
We presume that Kenyon would’ve been against the overthrow of the Nazis as every dead German would have created a least a “dozen more people who have reason to hate us”. Ok, let’s continue this thought process. Let us say that the US and its allies (including the Iraqis) have killed 10,000 people (just using as a round number). That mean that 120,000 people have reason to hate us. Let’s say we have to kill them all. Then we have 1.44 million people who hate us. That’s about the number of people Saddam killed when Iraq went to war with Iran. At least we won’t gas them to death! If Kenyon’s math equation is correct then Saddam had at least 12 million people who hated him and would have done violence against him and the U.S. liberated them. We think that that’s a good deal.
3) …The current administration's economy is still in the tank. Its economic policies have failed to create the economic atmosphere for job growth. American workers are still losing manufacturing and computer service jobs to overseas markets. The Bush "tax cuts" favor the rich with a mere pittance going to the poor and middle class.
The drug plan will cost most people more money, not less. The deficit spending is exploding at an alarming rate, which has become unsafe to our national interests. This deficit will further hamper the economic growth. The latest thought of reducing Social Security to the people whose blood, sweat and tears built the foundation of this great nation is totally incomprehensible.
The rising cost of fuel for our homes and cars without any attempt by this administration to draft counter measures is unconscionable. This, of course, starts another chain of events that make all goods cost more and our economy to suffer further. -Syl De Fazio Smithtown
The grocery list of grievances continues. Syl, according to Irene Barrett, a few letters down, you’ve got an extreme bias against people of means. We will say this again as we run down the laundry list of cleaning up your letter. Almost all of the ‘poor’ or those below the poverty line should not be paying taxes, unless you’re against them too. You can not receive a tax cut if you do not pay taxes. The cuts would then be considered income. However, those with children should have received $400 for each child. So either way you’re statement is false.
By every indicator the economy is not tanking but is growing, albeit not as fast as either predicted and certainly not as fast as anyone wants (if this is even possible). It is also not the current administration’s economy but the country’s economy. Yes, American workers are losing jobs to overseas markets. That has been happening for decades. Most of our clothes are not made here. The cars a good many of us buy are built overseas, any toy or piece of plastic is made somewhere else. If it’s cheaper to do overseas companies have to do it to compete with other companies that are already established there otherwise they will be out of business completely. What’s your suggestion, Syl?
Cost of fuel rises and then falls. The only way to stop the increase is stop using it. The current administration has drafted counter measures, one of them being to move some caribou and drill in Alaska. But the caribou have to strong of a caribous lobbying group. Syl, your last night signals to us that you are a very negative person. You may need help otherwise you may worry yourself to death. Instead of a grocery list of grievances maybe you can come up with a grocery list of improvements you would like to see. Write us. We would like to help.
4) …In arguing that there is little difference between the positions of President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, Eric Weiner ["We agree more than disagree," Opinion, March 11] finds himself in the illustrious company of Pat Buchanan, George Wallace and Ralph Nader. Does everything short of civil war qualify as petty differences that only "the media magnify"? Bush's policies have brought us to virtual bankruptcy and an international debt that threatens the dollar itself; to declining employment and wages, a devastated environment, infrastructure, health system and social safety net; and to gravely impaired liberties. Weiner says that "neither \ would pull the troops out of Iraq or Afghanistan." However, Bush got us into Iraq under false pretenses that he is now at great pains to hide. Meanwhile, our efforts in Afghanistan, where our worst enemies lurk, are on the back burner, because our military resources are fully committed in Iraq with no end in sight. If a CEO ran a company's finances into the ground by questionable bookkeeping, antagonized both suppliers and customers, misjudged the markets, favored his cronies at the expense of everybody else, let plant and equipment run down, and mistreated the help, the first step for the shareholders is to fire him. -John E. Ullmann Hempstead
HEY ANOTHER GROCERY LIST! GET THEE TO A GROCERY! The US is not in virtual bankruptcy (is this a computer game?). Unemployment is declining, and wages are not declining (that would lead to deflation). The environment is not devastated, the health system is not devastated and the social sec system has been in trouble for the last 30 years. Also what liberties have been gravely impaired? Efforts in Afghanistan are not on the back burner and a great deal of our enemies are not there put in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. Should we invade those nations now? The analogy by Mr. Ullmann at the end sounds like he wants Michael Eisner to be fired!
5) …We still need to learn prejudice hurts us all. The gay marriage controversy seems to me a needless further division of our already split society. I think the best solution is to have all levels of government get out of the marriage business entirely.
If the Constitution truly demands that all citizens be treated equally, then laws granting benefits on the basis of sexual behavior are unfair to the celibate, whether that celibacy is voluntary or the result of a physical condition. The mounting costs of social welfare programs require some economies by government. A great deal of money can be saved and those savings could be applied to the only legitimate interest of government - the care of dependent children. Since modern science has made it possible for any person to have a child through sperm donation, surrogate mothers and, of course, adoption, all adults would have equal access to government benefits if they took on the burden of raising children. Leave marriage up to the various religions and ethical cultural societies. -John J. Brennan Bayport
So Mr. Brennan has the ears and is the mouth of a new cultural group. It’s the celibates! We’re sure all this talk about marriage and sex and children for the last 10000 years must be horrible to the celibates. The Janet Jackson Superbowl fiasco must’ve been the final straw! And now only those that have a specific religion and belong to a cultural society can get married. That’s a real prejudice and it hurts us all. You are a very mean person Mr. Brennan. Good day Sir.
6) …Concerning the lack of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights: We still haven't learned the lessons of prejudice in this country, with all the pain and ugliness that it has brought upon us. It boggles the mind to think that things don't seem to change much when it comes to including different people into the group at large.
This behavior began out in the schoolyard during recess when we were little; there always were some kids who were different for whatever reason. They would be left out until the group was forced to include them. I can still hear my teacher say that "it wasn't kind or fair to leave them out." As children we were taught to include and except everyone, what happened to us on our way to maturity? We need to grow up as a society. Female, male, black, white, gay, straight or in between, we all bleed the same color blood and are part of the same human family What part of that don't we understand ? -Edie Cunningham Malverne
We are born black, white, red, male, female. We are not born gay. It is a sexual preference much as adultery is or making love in the bed instead of the kitchen. You can’t compare blacks and gay situations. They are not the same.
7) …This is the United States of America. According to our Declaration of Independence, "All Men are created equal, that they be endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I reiterate "all men," not just heterosexuals. Homosexuals just want to live in the United States with the same civil rights, equally and peacefully with everyone.
So why are our president, George W. Bush, and others like him trying to take away these civil rights that Thomas Jefferson said so eloquently are for everyone, which we fought many wars to preserve? -Barbara Ormandy Sayville
Ok. No one is saying that homosexuals should be denied life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. But there are limits to everyone’s pursuit of happiness. Plus if you are going to invoke G-d into the subject then G-d says that homosexuality is disgusting perversion (Lev 18:22). Don’t go there Barbara.
8) …I am a 23-year-old Catholic female who grew up in a lesbian household and am extremely upset about the issue of same-sex marriages. I fully believe that a marriage should be a union of two people who love each other unconditionally regardless of gender.
People should have the right to be happy. If the Catholic Church wants to get involved, then it should remember that God put us here to love no matter what and he is the only one who has the right to judge.
I was led to believe that there is a separation of church and state. All people don't have the same beliefs. Therefore, the law cannot depend on what the Catholic Church has to say. I am offended by the statement that homosexuality is a disorder; homosexuality is something a person is born with and certainly not a disorder. -Kristin Collins Selden
Homosexuality is not something a person is born with. All people have homosexual and heterosexual tendencies to differing degrees. We can control our tendencies. We have to control our tendency to suck our thumb, or not fondle oneself in public. These are lifestyle choices. If this person is going to invoke G-d they need to read Lev 18:22. Most people do not want homosexual marriage. If others do they are going to have to vote those politicians in that allow marriage to homosexual, incestuous couples, and polygamists.
Right Letters:
1) …The only thing more disheartening than Martha Stewart's recent conviction is Sheryl McCarthy's venomous column, "Arrogance cooked Martha's goose" [Opinion, March 7]. I can't believe you would print a piece from someone with such an obvious chip on her shoulder and extreme bias against people of means. I felt like I was reading the thoughts of a catty person with an ax to grind, not a responsible journalist. There are some people who see only the worst in others and don't have an ounce of compassion. McCarthy strikes me as such a person. She writes about Stewart as if she's some ruthless businesswoman, not a human being who made a mistake. She also seems to forget Stewart's career was devoted to promoting beauty and loveliness in our homes. She elevated homemaking to an art form and thousands thoroughly enjoyed her television program, magazine and products. We need more TV programs and other media with positive themes like Stewart's, so I think we lose as a culture when someone like her takes a fall. And I think it's disgraceful to practically celebrate it as McCarthy did. McCarthy did much speculating about Stewart's motives and thought processes and stated her opinions as if they were fact. Then she made a ridiculous comparison of Stewart to Leona Helmsley and actually referred to Stewart as a diva. Give me a break. I suggest McCarthy examine her own arrogance before pointing her finger at anyone else. -Kathleen Picarelli Bay Shore
You may not have notice Ms. Picarelli but many letters and articles are written with extreme bias against people of means. Almost Every mention about tax cuts for the wealthy or corporate greed is exudes extreme bias. This is a very big letter. But from all accounts she could be a ruthless businesswoman who made a mistake that she should of known about and then covered it up. That isn’t a positive theme.
GROCERY LISTS, MARTHA, AND GAY MARRIAGE
Number of Letters from the LEFT: 8
Number of Letters from the RIGHT: 1
Left Letters:
1) …Ken Lay still out on that sunny golf course? While Martha Stewart is heading for jail? I object. And, to register my disapproval and show support for Stewart, I am heading out to my local Kmart to purchase some of her goods. If a million potholders are sold this month, we can show that the women of this country are sick of the big boys messing with us! -Irene Barrett Huntington Station
Ken Lay is out there but hopefully not for long. Either way his case has nothing to do with her case. Different crimes altogether. With Ms. Barrett’s logic, Martha should be home and acquitted because the heads of the Russian mob are still out there too.
2) …It seems to me that by going to war in Iraq we are making more enemies, not making ourselves safer. Every Iraqi we kill is a mother or father; a daughter or son; a sister or brother; a nephew or aunt. Each death creates at least a dozen more people who have reason to hate us.
Would you ever forget it if a foreign nation invaded the United States and killed a member of your family? Of course not. For every Iraqi death we bring about, we make many present and future (when the children grow up) enemies.
The vicious circle of violence that has been taught to the people of the world has got to stop if the earth has a chance to get to become a peaceful place.
What better country to break this violent circle than the one that touts itself as the moral leader of the world, the United States? -Kenyon Silvey Valley Stream
We presume that Kenyon would’ve been against the overthrow of the Nazis as every dead German would have created a least a “dozen more people who have reason to hate us”. Ok, let’s continue this thought process. Let us say that the US and its allies (including the Iraqis) have killed 10,000 people (just using as a round number). That mean that 120,000 people have reason to hate us. Let’s say we have to kill them all. Then we have 1.44 million people who hate us. That’s about the number of people Saddam killed when Iraq went to war with Iran. At least we won’t gas them to death! If Kenyon’s math equation is correct then Saddam had at least 12 million people who hated him and would have done violence against him and the U.S. liberated them. We think that that’s a good deal.
3) …The current administration's economy is still in the tank. Its economic policies have failed to create the economic atmosphere for job growth. American workers are still losing manufacturing and computer service jobs to overseas markets. The Bush "tax cuts" favor the rich with a mere pittance going to the poor and middle class.
The drug plan will cost most people more money, not less. The deficit spending is exploding at an alarming rate, which has become unsafe to our national interests. This deficit will further hamper the economic growth. The latest thought of reducing Social Security to the people whose blood, sweat and tears built the foundation of this great nation is totally incomprehensible.
The rising cost of fuel for our homes and cars without any attempt by this administration to draft counter measures is unconscionable. This, of course, starts another chain of events that make all goods cost more and our economy to suffer further. -Syl De Fazio Smithtown
The grocery list of grievances continues. Syl, according to Irene Barrett, a few letters down, you’ve got an extreme bias against people of means. We will say this again as we run down the laundry list of cleaning up your letter. Almost all of the ‘poor’ or those below the poverty line should not be paying taxes, unless you’re against them too. You can not receive a tax cut if you do not pay taxes. The cuts would then be considered income. However, those with children should have received $400 for each child. So either way you’re statement is false.
By every indicator the economy is not tanking but is growing, albeit not as fast as either predicted and certainly not as fast as anyone wants (if this is even possible). It is also not the current administration’s economy but the country’s economy. Yes, American workers are losing jobs to overseas markets. That has been happening for decades. Most of our clothes are not made here. The cars a good many of us buy are built overseas, any toy or piece of plastic is made somewhere else. If it’s cheaper to do overseas companies have to do it to compete with other companies that are already established there otherwise they will be out of business completely. What’s your suggestion, Syl?
Cost of fuel rises and then falls. The only way to stop the increase is stop using it. The current administration has drafted counter measures, one of them being to move some caribou and drill in Alaska. But the caribou have to strong of a caribous lobbying group. Syl, your last night signals to us that you are a very negative person. You may need help otherwise you may worry yourself to death. Instead of a grocery list of grievances maybe you can come up with a grocery list of improvements you would like to see. Write us. We would like to help.
4) …In arguing that there is little difference between the positions of President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, Eric Weiner ["We agree more than disagree," Opinion, March 11] finds himself in the illustrious company of Pat Buchanan, George Wallace and Ralph Nader. Does everything short of civil war qualify as petty differences that only "the media magnify"? Bush's policies have brought us to virtual bankruptcy and an international debt that threatens the dollar itself; to declining employment and wages, a devastated environment, infrastructure, health system and social safety net; and to gravely impaired liberties. Weiner says that "neither \ would pull the troops out of Iraq or Afghanistan." However, Bush got us into Iraq under false pretenses that he is now at great pains to hide. Meanwhile, our efforts in Afghanistan, where our worst enemies lurk, are on the back burner, because our military resources are fully committed in Iraq with no end in sight. If a CEO ran a company's finances into the ground by questionable bookkeeping, antagonized both suppliers and customers, misjudged the markets, favored his cronies at the expense of everybody else, let plant and equipment run down, and mistreated the help, the first step for the shareholders is to fire him. -John E. Ullmann Hempstead
HEY ANOTHER GROCERY LIST! GET THEE TO A GROCERY! The US is not in virtual bankruptcy (is this a computer game?). Unemployment is declining, and wages are not declining (that would lead to deflation). The environment is not devastated, the health system is not devastated and the social sec system has been in trouble for the last 30 years. Also what liberties have been gravely impaired? Efforts in Afghanistan are not on the back burner and a great deal of our enemies are not there put in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. Should we invade those nations now? The analogy by Mr. Ullmann at the end sounds like he wants Michael Eisner to be fired!
5) …We still need to learn prejudice hurts us all. The gay marriage controversy seems to me a needless further division of our already split society. I think the best solution is to have all levels of government get out of the marriage business entirely.
If the Constitution truly demands that all citizens be treated equally, then laws granting benefits on the basis of sexual behavior are unfair to the celibate, whether that celibacy is voluntary or the result of a physical condition. The mounting costs of social welfare programs require some economies by government. A great deal of money can be saved and those savings could be applied to the only legitimate interest of government - the care of dependent children. Since modern science has made it possible for any person to have a child through sperm donation, surrogate mothers and, of course, adoption, all adults would have equal access to government benefits if they took on the burden of raising children. Leave marriage up to the various religions and ethical cultural societies. -John J. Brennan Bayport
So Mr. Brennan has the ears and is the mouth of a new cultural group. It’s the celibates! We’re sure all this talk about marriage and sex and children for the last 10000 years must be horrible to the celibates. The Janet Jackson Superbowl fiasco must’ve been the final straw! And now only those that have a specific religion and belong to a cultural society can get married. That’s a real prejudice and it hurts us all. You are a very mean person Mr. Brennan. Good day Sir.
6) …Concerning the lack of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights: We still haven't learned the lessons of prejudice in this country, with all the pain and ugliness that it has brought upon us. It boggles the mind to think that things don't seem to change much when it comes to including different people into the group at large.
This behavior began out in the schoolyard during recess when we were little; there always were some kids who were different for whatever reason. They would be left out until the group was forced to include them. I can still hear my teacher say that "it wasn't kind or fair to leave them out." As children we were taught to include and except everyone, what happened to us on our way to maturity? We need to grow up as a society. Female, male, black, white, gay, straight or in between, we all bleed the same color blood and are part of the same human family What part of that don't we understand ? -Edie Cunningham Malverne
We are born black, white, red, male, female. We are not born gay. It is a sexual preference much as adultery is or making love in the bed instead of the kitchen. You can’t compare blacks and gay situations. They are not the same.
7) …This is the United States of America. According to our Declaration of Independence, "All Men are created equal, that they be endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I reiterate "all men," not just heterosexuals. Homosexuals just want to live in the United States with the same civil rights, equally and peacefully with everyone.
So why are our president, George W. Bush, and others like him trying to take away these civil rights that Thomas Jefferson said so eloquently are for everyone, which we fought many wars to preserve? -Barbara Ormandy Sayville
Ok. No one is saying that homosexuals should be denied life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. But there are limits to everyone’s pursuit of happiness. Plus if you are going to invoke G-d into the subject then G-d says that homosexuality is disgusting perversion (Lev 18:22). Don’t go there Barbara.
8) …I am a 23-year-old Catholic female who grew up in a lesbian household and am extremely upset about the issue of same-sex marriages. I fully believe that a marriage should be a union of two people who love each other unconditionally regardless of gender.
People should have the right to be happy. If the Catholic Church wants to get involved, then it should remember that God put us here to love no matter what and he is the only one who has the right to judge.
I was led to believe that there is a separation of church and state. All people don't have the same beliefs. Therefore, the law cannot depend on what the Catholic Church has to say. I am offended by the statement that homosexuality is a disorder; homosexuality is something a person is born with and certainly not a disorder. -Kristin Collins Selden
Homosexuality is not something a person is born with. All people have homosexual and heterosexual tendencies to differing degrees. We can control our tendencies. We have to control our tendency to suck our thumb, or not fondle oneself in public. These are lifestyle choices. If this person is going to invoke G-d they need to read Lev 18:22. Most people do not want homosexual marriage. If others do they are going to have to vote those politicians in that allow marriage to homosexual, incestuous couples, and polygamists.
Right Letters:
1) …The only thing more disheartening than Martha Stewart's recent conviction is Sheryl McCarthy's venomous column, "Arrogance cooked Martha's goose" [Opinion, March 7]. I can't believe you would print a piece from someone with such an obvious chip on her shoulder and extreme bias against people of means. I felt like I was reading the thoughts of a catty person with an ax to grind, not a responsible journalist. There are some people who see only the worst in others and don't have an ounce of compassion. McCarthy strikes me as such a person. She writes about Stewart as if she's some ruthless businesswoman, not a human being who made a mistake. She also seems to forget Stewart's career was devoted to promoting beauty and loveliness in our homes. She elevated homemaking to an art form and thousands thoroughly enjoyed her television program, magazine and products. We need more TV programs and other media with positive themes like Stewart's, so I think we lose as a culture when someone like her takes a fall. And I think it's disgraceful to practically celebrate it as McCarthy did. McCarthy did much speculating about Stewart's motives and thought processes and stated her opinions as if they were fact. Then she made a ridiculous comparison of Stewart to Leona Helmsley and actually referred to Stewart as a diva. Give me a break. I suggest McCarthy examine her own arrogance before pointing her finger at anyone else. -Kathleen Picarelli Bay Shore
You may not have notice Ms. Picarelli but many letters and articles are written with extreme bias against people of means. Almost Every mention about tax cuts for the wealthy or corporate greed is exudes extreme bias. This is a very big letter. But from all accounts she could be a ruthless businesswoman who made a mistake that she should of known about and then covered it up. That isn’t a positive theme.
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