Letters to the Editor

President Bush is not one of our enemies

I was astonished to open your Jan. 19 Focus section and read something other than your usual and unending Bush-bashing. Hawai'i resident Darryl Johnston wrote a piece challenging the media's ceaseless criticism of President Bush. It was a welcome relief.

Contrary to what your paper and so many other media outlets would have us believe, George Bush is not the enemy. We are facing real threats on many fronts, and I thank God every day that we have a president and an administration willing to face up to these serious challenges.

I know I speak for many Americans when I say that I resent partisan politicking in the face of such grave dangers, and I think your editorial staff is engaging in this daily. Our enemies are real and they mean us harm, but let's be clear: President Bush is not one of them.

Cynthia Waters

Did Bush misspeak on 'persecuting' Iraqis?

I heard President Bush on television recently saying that Iraqi soldiers who follow orders and use weapons of mass destruction will be tried in a court of law and "persecuted."

I assume he meant "prosecuted," but what if the tables were turned? What if Saddam Hussein said that American soldiers who follow Bush's orders will be tried as war criminals?

Was that a Bush misspeak from someone who is so used to persecuting minorities that it just sort of slipped out, à la Trent Lott? Or did the president just choose the wrong word?

In any case, it is a hypothetical situation since we don't know if they have such weapons, much less whether or not they have been, or will be, given such orders.

Watching our president in his daily reports reminds me of the mother watching the troops march by and observing: "Look, my son is the only one in step."

Ken Kiura

Long road to peace

On Iraq: It is easier to start a war than to win peace.

Dieter Thate
Kailua

Wake up, America, we're under siege

The Bush administration is about to invade its second country in less than two years, the Energy Department is extending the shelf-life of our nuclear weapons another 100 years, multinational corporations want to tamper with and control our food supply, but we know America's real problems are the welfare bums, petty drug dealers and Middle Eastern men.

Go back to sleep, America. Be good little sheep and let Rush Limbaugh and other corporate media talking heads tell you what to think. Martin Luther King Jr. is dead, and America's soul is, too — unless her children wake up.

Jeffree Pike
Lawa'i, Kaua'i

Much was learned during nurses' strike

This Christmas vacation, I did something I have never done before: I went out on strike.

During the ensuing weeks, I learned many things. I learned that nurses, when united, have a very loud voice. We used that voice to speak out against mandatory overtime, unsafe patient loads and unsatisfactory working conditions.

I learned that the nurses have many supporters in the community. Support in the form of food being dropped off at the picket lines, honks as cars went by, words of encouragement — all were much appreciated and will never be forgotten.

I also want to express my thanks to Larry Price and Midweek magazine for running excellent commentaries on the nursing strike.

Most importantly, I learned that I as a nurse can make a difference. I am proud to be a nurse and am proud to work alongside others of my profession. I go back to my patients with a new zeal.

Yes, this Christmas vacation was very different from others, but it was one that has changed me as well as the nursing profession in Hawai'i.

Edwina Gosnell, R.N.
The Queen's Medical Center

Replace road rage with a lot of aloha

I write regarding most Hawai'i drivers' disregard for the traffic code.

So many people regard posted speed limits as suggestions — requests — and not the law designed by civil authorities to provide for safe, expeditious travel. And really, if a driver breaks the law and travels along 25-mph roadways at 40 mph, what time would be saved on a 30-minute trip? Maybe five minutes? C'mon, people, we live on an island.

Further, it is so easy to signal a turn with the modern car, yet a lot of drivers still don't. It's not as if you have to have your window rolled down to make arm signals; all one must do is flick a lever.

If all people observed speed limits and signaled turns as they should, a lot of aloha would appear, replacing a lot of road rage.

Stuart N. Taba

Students will be helped

I agree with the governor about drug testing for all students. This is a good idea because right now many teenagers are using drugs, and if they continue using them, they are going to lose their future. If they do drug testing, the students will be afraid to use the drugs.

Domilan Secretaria

Let's figure out how drug tests would work

Lee Cataluna, in her Jan. 19 column, raises the most salient question regarding Robert Bunda's drug-testing proposal.

Without an adequate answer to that question — what are the treatment and prevention options? — all other relevant questions are moot, such as, how will we pay for it? Are our expectations of our young people really that low? How about first testing it on a small group, like the Senate, for whom many already have low expectations?

However, I am surprised that, despite her facility with the local idiom, she took that many words to ask, "An den?"

Nobu Nakamoto

Neighborhood Watch a little too neighborly

I am a new resident of Palolo Valley. On Jan. 20, I misplaced my wallet. The person who found my wallet discovered it on Palolo Avenue right by where I park my truck.

My wallet happened to be underneath a discarded motorcycle there, and the person who returned it assumed that the bike was left there by me. He took it upon himself to penalize me for littering by helping himself to the cash I was carrying that day. I have never owned, nor do I even know how to operate, a motorcycle. The wallet was returned to the address on my I.D. (my parents' house) along with a letter explaining the absence of cash.

The letter had no return address but was signed: The Palolo Neighborhood Watch. I don't think the Palolo Neighborhood Watch members were paying attention in high school when learning the value of "due process."

Well, at least they returned all my stuff (which I had already replaced). Such good people.

Alex Akamine

It is the woman's right to choose on abortion

This letter is in regard to all of the letters against abortion. I do not think these writers understand why some women get an abortion.

Some women have been raped by strangers and family members and have become pregnant. Most choose to have an abortion since the baby would only remind them of the tragic event.

It is the woman's right to choose what she does. It really does not matter if the U.S. bans abortion altogether because people could just go to another country or a remote place and get a doctor there. Then again, if the U.S. bans abortion, you can bet the suicide rate will be a lot higher than it already is.

Would you rather save a fetus or a person who is trying to survive?

Trisha Kuznicki
Kailua