Reader Mail
The Vietnam “Era”
Blumenthal. Kagan and the Ivy Leaguers. C02 and more.
NO MARINE
Re: George Neumayr’s
Richard Blumenthal’s Recovered Memory:
Having proudly served in peace and war with the U.S. Marines (as
a sailor in the Fleet Marine Force), I can safely say Marines are
not prone to bragging. They let their actions and integrity speak
for themselves. So, Mr. Blumenthal, I will say to you, I served
with marines, I knew marines, marines were friends of mine. Dick,
you’re no Marine.
— I.M. Kessel
Your article brought to mind Admiral Jeremy Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations during the Clinton Administration. It is widely believed that he committed suicide because he had been accused of wearing a “V” device (V for Valor in Combat) that he was not entitled to wear on two of his medals. By all measures it was an honest mistake, but so strong was his sense of honor that he killed himself to atone for his error.
This past Tuesday I had an in-person meeting with the income beneficiary of a trust account that I manage. I noticed that he had difficulty with his left hand. I asked him why, and he explained that he was in the invasion force on Iwo Jima in 1945. One Japanese bullet grazed his right arm, another one his legs, but a third one went through the two bones in his left forearm, severing the nerve. During our conversation he asked about my time in the Air Force, after which he expressed his deep disappointment with one of his sons who is close to my age and had fled to Canada during the Vietnam war.
Who would have thought 35 years ago that serving in Vietnam would
be so deservedly hailed the way it is today?
— Paul M. DeSisto
QUESTION TIME
Re: Aaron Goldstein’s Miss
PC-USA:
A more appropriate question for the Muslim girl might have been
if she, unlike members of Obama’s cabinet, can call those who
brought down the Trade Towers in an ultimate act of hatred
“radical muslims”??
— R. Mandraccia
TOO COZY TO FAIL
Re: Peter Ferrara’s Liberals
Gone Wild:
There are 3 types of U.S banks: (1) too big to fail; (2) too cozy
with the White House to fail; and (3) all others. It’s clear the
Chicago thugs who run everything in our country forced Goldman,
Citi, GE Capital, et al to put up this money or else.
— Jim
Mr. Ferrara states that the amount of man-caused CO2 in the atmosphere is .12 percent. However, my understanding is that .038 percent is the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and that human activity accounts for only about 3 percent of all CO2 released annually. If so, .12 percent considerably overstates human impact.
Very good article.
— Steve
JUNK AND STORAGE SPACE
Re: Eric Peters’s
Democrat Double Taxers:
While I have mixed emotions on converting highways to toll roads (it’s similar to a home equity loan — better be careful or you will blow it on something useless) with either a public or private partner, I get exercised about the effectiveness of HOV/HOT lanes.
After you deduct the extra costs to segregate these lanes, the annual electronics and patrolling costs, and account for the safety in those lanes “semi-segregated”, the value begins to seriously wane. Also, if those lanes were open to all traffic, the average speed on the entire roadway section would rise. [and lots of fuel saved!]
This is just a typical use of public infrastructure to obtain social engineering to get folks out of their cars, not energy efficiency. Usually, the marketplace will handle the commute misery. With the exception of the emergency services, driving is a privilege, not a right. In Texas, we the citizens made an enormous error by allowing the Transportation Department to stand separate from legislative control — it sounded like a good idea to get politics out of the road industry, but now we have no leverage over the Department, and they are dropping billions.
TJ from Texas | 5.21.10 @ 7:35AM
Bev, I am so glad to see you back at the dance. Been too long, hand.
Kessel, you are a sumbitch, but at least you ain't a lying sumbitch like Blumenthal.
Throw 'em all out and lets start again.
IMKessel| 5.21.10 @ 1:01PM
Ms. Gunn,
I have long admired your hard scrapple wisdom. I enjoy reading your posts as much as I enjoy any other contributor to TAS (long may her banner wave). You are one of the main reasons I would enjoy seeing a return of daily Reader Mail column.
As for today’s post, you write, “Their [the teachers’ union] reason was their desire for collective bargaining to be a part of any decision concerning wage increases.” As a dear old friend and rabbi used to council me, the congregation loves the rabbi until it’s time to negotiate salary. Teachers often have to fight to receive competitive salaries; most of us are required to have master’s degrees, but we are not consistently monetarily rewarded. Negotiating for salaries that are commensurate for our degrees is not avarice.
I am not unsympathetic regarding the strain paying for education. As a tax payer, I am not fond of the government taking my hard earned dollar and paying for inferior services. Generally, most teachers deliver a valuable service for a reasonable salary. I am not unaware that some teachers are incompetent, but nearly as often as the media makes out. We are all responsible for making sure incompetent teachers are discharged and not protected, but too many people are willing to allow over zealous administrators to scapegoat perfectly capable educators. A balance is needed. To achieve that balance, eyes must be opened.
In regards to the outside agitators, you wrote, “The entire idea was to encumber local taxes with the national union's desire to impose whatever they wanted upon local taxpayers, or in other terms ... taxation without representation.” I have never been a union booster, but they have a place and function at the local table. Does the NEA have a place in local disputes? That is questionable. School boards don’t have national representation. Further, the farther the power moves from its point of origin (the people, or in the case of unions, the rank and file members) the less the power represents local interests and the more likely power is to be abused. The lack of representation you speak of is the lack of representation of the people of Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. It is equally feasible that the NEA’s concerns did not well represent the local teachers’ interests.
I cannot express any intelligent insight in your experiences with the union, though what you report is ugly and does not represent the integrity of the teachers I have known (either as a student or as a teacher).
Are you being fair when you lump the NEA’s (national) representatives who abused the legal and principled right to picket with the teachers? I have never needed to strike; in fact, the union that represents me has a no strike clause in its contract, but sometimes people need to work in unison to best represent individual needs.
I will not mourn the passing of unions but their demise can be brought about through cooperation and ethical bargaining or through vile and reprehensible oppression. When the public is willing to acknowledge our worth (which is considerable – you are trusting us with our nations most valuable resources, our children), teachers unions will not be needed. When parents are held responsible for their children, teachers unions will quickly go the way of the steam engine. When administrators are held equally responsible for their duties as are the teachers, I will gladly burn my union card.
I proudly stood by my brothers in arm in the military. I stand teachers with equal pride with my fellow teachers.
Respectfully,
Ira M. Kessel.
Alan Brooks| 5.21.10 @ 11:46PM
"Generally, most teachers deliver a valuable service for a reasonable salary."
It is a service, but it being a valuable service is open to question.