Try not to look too far ahead, but keep your eyes on the future.

NEWSDAY'S Letters to the Editor Wed. March 10th, 2004

Number of Letters from the LEFT: 5
Number of Letters from the RIGHT: 8

---

Left Letters:

1) …George W. Bush's ad featuring images of the 9/11 attack is a disgrace - yet another indication that he and his team have no class, no scruples and no clue.
He has spent the last three years piling up photo-ops that he will now weave into a disgusting and hideously expensive series of B-class shorts to promote an image of his administration.
Bush should save his money because we know his administration is nothing but illusion. -M. A. Chiulli Manhattan

Boy this person is neutral, eh? Does it sound like the President can do any right by this um, man, woman. What’s an M.A.? Saving money by not having a first or middle name? Or is it just an illusion!

2) …As the price of gas roars past $2 per gallon, I think longingly back to the Clinton era, when with a strong economy the president proposed a tax of a few cents a gallon. At that time, the trucking and the auto industries predicted disaster. SUV owners complained that they would not be able to afford going to work.
Hardly more than a grumble from any of them now. Looks like Chicken Little has struck again. -Seymour Weinstein Farmingdale

Ms. Weinstein fails to realize that the US people and the US gov’t and the state gov’ts are no longer in charge of pricing except when it comes to taxing. Why are full service NJ prices so much lower than self serve NY pricing. Taxes. OPEC really controls the supply. And when they cut production as they did in March 1999 (during the Clinton administration) it affects almost everything we do. The only thing we can do as consumers is not buy gas which will force the price to come down.

3) …Let's hope Americans will grow tired of George W. Bush's cynical usage of the 9/11 tragedy by the time Election Day comes.
Whether it is his basking in the reflected glory of true heroes in posing with the firefighter atop the rubble at Ground Zero, or using the image of flag-draped coffins, he has shown little regard for the souls of the departed (attending political fund-raisers instead of funerals) or for the families of the victims and the rest of us (stonewalling the Sept. 11 Commission in its requests for records and interviews with administration officials).
Yes, Bush draped his arm around the back of that brave and weary firefighter while cameras recorded the image, but while he did he might as well have held a knife in his hand or at least the pen that he used to cut funding for first responders.
The cynical usage of the 9/11 imagery should outrage us all in view of such hypocrisy.- Peter L. Ruden Manor

Who’s being cynical now, Mr. Ruden?ville


4) …Just as I thought that there was nothing further that the Bush people could do to make me any angrier, along comes the first of the re-election ads.
The cynical and ultimately demeaning use of the 9/11 tragedy as a ploy to garner votes is really beyond bad taste. But I guess that when you stop to think of the other accomplishments of this administration (a frightening loss of jobs, continued daily deaths in Iraq, a complete lack of concern for the average working family), it's really not so strange. -Robert D. Berman Wantagh

Gotsta Love the cynical rhetoric from this writer. Complete lack of concern? Loss of Jobs? Daily deaths?

5) …I am appalled that President George W. Bush is exploiting the tragic events of 9/11 in his campaign ads.
On Jan. 23, 2003, addressing the terrorist attacks, he said, "I have no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue." However, he has been doing precisely that, implying that Democrats are unpatriotic because they dare to be critical of his inept policies on terrorism.
9/11 was not just a Republican event, but one that troubles and saddens us all. -Susanne J. Demuth Port Jefferson

Holy rewriting history, Susanne! Has anyone called a Democrat “unpatriotic”? Are those ads about Democrats? How are these pictures doing wrong and exploiting the loss of life and property? Are these writers for real or are they just political hacks?


Right Letters:

1) …I am a 9/11 family member responding in defense of the president's campaign ads for re-election. After reading "Outrage over ads" [News, March 5], I am appalled that so many people see it as exploitation, especially other 9/11 family members.
Sept. 11 is part of Bush's legacy. He lead us through the events with presence of mind and strength. He vowed to go after terrorists, and has never backed down. Why shouldn't he make reference to it?
I am sick and tired of hearing the blame and fault being put more on the government than where it belongs - the terrorists
I just want to go on record that there are many 9/11 families who support Bush. -Maria Ragonese East Stroudsburg, Penn.

Many of the people that have come out against the President on this issue have noted that they have endorsed the Democratic candidate. I still don’t get the problem. Can someone enlighten me? I am curiously interested what the big deal is.

2) …It was with great sadness we read of the death of Kevin Maldonado, 18 ["Teen Run Over," News, Feb. 22]. This tragedy serves to underscore the devastating effect of underage drinking on young people. All too often, teenagers spend weekend after weekend playing Russian Roulette with their lives.
The need for legislation that holds adults responsible for underage drinking is not unique to any one community. Rather, it has become a nationwide epidemic that requires a multifaceted approach.
In Long Beach, we have been addressing the problem of underage drinking for three years through the Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking. The coalition uses an environmental approach: increasing enforcement, limiting access and raising public awareness about the dangers of underage drinking. We have begun the task, but so very much more must be done.
This is an issue that needs the active support of all facets of this community. -Judi Vining Editor's Note: The writer is project coordinator of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. Long Beach

This seems like a commercial for the NYSOASAS and the CPUD. What legislation is being done? I am all for making adults responsible for children under 18 and the places that provide underage children from obtaining alcohol. But what is the legislation and how do we find out unless we contact her organizations? Poorly written letter.

3) …The editorial "It's LI senators' turn" [Opinion, March 4] has come out in favor of a bill that has passed the State Assembly that would let developers build to a greater density.
This is way off base. What about the novel idea of reducing taxes so that the people who live on Long Island can continue to do so without working two or three jobs?
I hope senators vote against this bill and look more favorably at reducing the burden on the taxpayers of Nassau and Suffolk. -Laura Millard & Stan Millard Massapequa

Any thoughts about reducing property taxes on Long Island would be a unique, rare and holy idea.

4) …I found the headline "Express delivery of a tiny package" [News, March 4] to be in poor taste. I also found that the article and photos depicting the parents - Elizabeth Gomez, 15, and Philip Barnes, 16 - to be a sad reflection of today's society.
What happened to morality?
Stop glorifying these children. We don't need another generation of young mistakes. We need role models, proper parenting, religion and education. -Mel Guadalupe West Babylon

There is little good about teenagers who become parents except the child. There is little good if a Newspaper extols the virtue of having teenage parents. Even if it’s unintentional. Newsday may not have talked glowingly about the event (I haven’t read the article) but the title alone is of a jocular name and is tasteless.

5) …It amazes me how the Democrats are attacking the president for showing a split second of the carnage of 9/11 in his first campaign ad on TV. This event is embedded in each and every one of us.
This administration has thwarted many attempts to repeat an attack on our soil. This is what has defined this president and the country's role in fighting terrorism here and worldwide.
George W. Bush has the right to remind us what we all went through and how we all, including him, have responded. -Joe Grasso Selden

This is a well thought out letter. The President does have a right to use the images. Presidential candidates are always viewed on how well they would handle a crisis or foreign policy. Well for better or worse the President did handle a major crisis. Whether you agree with his response and handling he should be able to state his preparedness and show his records and policy.

6)...Why is it that when Sen. John Kerry jingles his Vietnam medals (the ones he retrieved from the rubbish heap, that is) it's all very noble, but when President George W. Bush alludes to the tremendous leadership he exercised in pulling our country together after the 9/11 attack it's simply "outrageous"? -Catherine N. Dillon Manhasset

This letter assumes most people understood the rubbish heap allusion. I don’t think 70% do. So the letter just sounds mean spirited about a war heroes medals. I agree with the sentiment but not the wording of the message.

7) …President George W. Bush, is being unfairly criticized. No one has been there for the victims of Sept. 11 more than Bush, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki. They have all worked together to support New York.
No political leader was more deeply involved in this tragedy than Giuliani. Along with Pataki, he has supported the president's use of these images. Although unpleasant, the images are a part of American history - just like the American Revolution, the Civil War and the civil rights movement. They are America's images, and something we should all hold with us. They do not belong to any one person. Everything Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton asked of Bush, the president delivered on. He should be applauded for his work. - Nina Petraro East Rockaway Editor's Note: The writer is president of the Nassau County Young Republicans.

Not everything that the senators asked of the President did he give them. They didn’t want to go to war in Iraq among other things. It is true that the images of Sept 11 are all of ours.

8) …President George W. Bush has every right to include 9/11 in his campaign ads. He acted immediately and in a decisive and compassionate manner. It's fact, not fiction.
His response to the attacks also helped comforting us - just what the country needed.
Al Gore would still be thinking about it, and Bob Kerry wouldn't be any better.
Any outcry about the ads is coming from the bleeding-heart liberals who are just running scared.
The party of hate and divisiveness is desperate and will go to any length to bad-mouth an outstanding president. -Jack Malone Commack

Al Gore WOULD still be reading the polls. Kerry would’ve done something. Listen to his 1997 CNN Crossfire tapes. He advocates doing exactly what the President did and exactly the opposite as he said he would do now.