Letters to the Editor

+ Kudos to CVS!
Dear Editor:
Kudos to the staff of CVS. It could have closed the store’s doors for a week to arrange for the move to the new store. Instead, they were open until 4 p.m. Saturday at the old store and were open at 7 a.m. Sunday in the new building.

Thank you to all of the staff and management of CVS for taking such good care of us here on Longboat Key.
BJ Webb
Longboat Key

+ Kudos for your guts
Dear Editor:
Kudos to you and your staff for having the guts to tell the truth about Barack Obama and his presidency.
John Paul II said, “Do not be afraid,” and you certainly stepped up. The negative comments are simply rants from narrow-view individuals who support Socialism, Marxism or whatever you want to call it.

I went to see the latest Batman movie. It reminded me a lot of what Obama would like to see happen here: redistribution of wealth, hate against anyone with means, kangaroo courts and our own self-destruction. Wasn’t he supposed to bring us together and lower unemployment?

The misguided people who challenged your article refuse to acknowledge that Obama’s policies are out to destroy us as a nation.

I voted for Jack Kennedy and was a Democrat years ago. There is nothing wrong in being a Democrat, but my father and many others who died in World War II did not fight and die for their country to see it turned into a European welfare state like Obama wants.

I believe he purposely is out to destroy the greatest country on earth through economic and social division. His philosophy is not that of an old-line Democrat but that of a progressive Socialist.

I have never been active politically until I have seen what this current administration is attempting to do. It doesn’t compromise; it uses bully tactics to get things passed by executive order, and its transparency is a joke.

This is a time I have never seen in America. I hope there are other people like myself who still love the country they were raised in and will wake up to what is going on.

As for withdrawing advertising, many of these Obama supporters should move to Washington, D.C., where they can be closer to their leader. Wake up in November.
Dave Carter
Longboat Key

+ He is ‘anti-American’
Dear Editor:
After reading the negative responses to your “anti-American president” editorial, I am compelled to assure you there are thousands of us who support you and your right to express your opinion about our president.

I commend you for having the courage to state what you believe — a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Obama is the anti-American president. “Anti” means “against.” He is against everything we have believed in for more than 200 years and which have made our country great. He sat under Rev. Jeremiah Wright for 20 years, listening to that minister tear down and rip apart his own country, constantly spewing vitriolic criticism on America. Sounds anti-American to me.

Anyone who truly loves his country and is a patriot could not have been able to listen to such talk week after week. He would have left that church, unable to bear hearing such despicable language.

Obama told us that the United States is the greatest country on earth, and then he asked us to help him change it. Sounds anti-American to me. Changing something that is so great?

He definitely is against America, its ideals and its exceptionalism.

Yes, Obama has a right to say those kinds of things, but so do you.

Funny how liberals can say whatever they want, and we have to tolerate their words. But let a conservative espouse his thoughts, and the liberals are enraged; they just can’t stand to have anyone not agree with them. They do not practice the tolerance they preach.

Conservatives, let’s make sure we patronize the advertisers who remain with the Observer and tell them so!
Everyone should respect an individual’s right to express his own opinion, even when it disagrees with yours!
And that bit about “a call to arms.” It is a rallying term and, in its less literal meaning, it is a call to action! I guess it means: No Obama in November!
Linda Langenger
Sarasota

+ Thanks for your courage
Dear Editor:
I believe it was Rocky Marciano who proclaimed, “You can tell when you’ve got guys hurt, ’cause they start flailing away, kind of crazy…”

Your criticism of the president and his style of government/leadership aroused that reaction in the readers who so scathingly attacked your criticism.

Thank you for being confident enough to print their angry letters.

I’m sure you noted, as many of your readers did, the irony inherent in their accusing you of being “hateful,” “disrespectful” and “uncivil.”

Your expression of your opinion was incendiary. You chose, as is your right, to have a strong, negative perception of a man who is diametrically opposed to many of the founders of this nation’s government. Big government has never led any country to long-term success. With a sufficient number of eyes opened, and the grace of God, we can add another proponent of such socialist inclinations to the has-been file in November.

Thank you for the courage of your convictions and being willing to “take the heat.”
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Sarasota

+ ‘Call to arms’
Dear Editor:
I read your paper every Friday morning when it is delivered to my home. If you had a full daily paper, I would dump my subscription to the Sarasota Herald Tribune. One can only wish …

Anyway, your editorial about the “Anti-American President” was right on track. Perfect. Do not apologize, not even for using the term “a call to arms.”

This presidential administration has proven time and time again it does not respect the U.S. Constitution (i.e., EPA being given powers that were denied them by Congress); does not respect our allies (i.e., the abhorrent treatment of Great Britain and Israel); and now has shown that it does not respect the people of this country (i.e., “you didn’t build that”).

Add it all up, it screams anti-American, despite the protestations to the contrary. Actions, as always, are more important, and more telling, than words. (Apologies to honest journalists like yourselves!)

It is unfortunate that great numbers of people in our wonderful country are more interested in popular culture (American Idol or whatever) than our historical culture and history. Add that to being brainwashed and herded like sheep by our “mainstream media,” and without the drive to search for the truth themselves, our population is becoming more complacent about being driven into socialism like lemmings.

We need a “call to arms,” a wakeup call or a kick in the pants to awaken the sleeping giant that is our country’s largest asset — our pioneering, spirited, independent, self-sufficient, “I-can-do-it-myself” citizens of America!

“Land of the free,” “home of the brave” are not just platitudes. Those words describe the country I was born into, not the one I inhabit now.

Let us answer the “call to arms” to preserve, protect and restore our country, our government and our people to our historic lofty purpose as a beacon of freedom, truth and the largest force for good ever known by humankind.

If we lose it now, what will our grandchildren think of us when they are in bondage to a tyrant? Oh, right, they won’t know, because the government, the educators and the media won’t let them know …
Susan Beckner
Nokomis

+ Patronize advertisers
Dear Editor:
I just got back from vacation and was catching up on my local papers. As a 60-year-old native of Siesta Key, I make a living in the medical industry. To say the least, in health care, military, budget balancing and many more areas, the federal government has failed miserably.

The current president is a true champion to this failing cause.

I am successful only by MY hard work and sales tenacity. The federal government under Barak Obama has done nothing but reduce the viability of my business and regulate it the point of absurdity.

I look forward to heavily patronizing all your vendors who stay with you. Keep up the good work.
Gary Howle
Nokomis

+ You’re like ‘FauxNews’
Dear Editor:
You certainly should have expected a lot of people would have been upset about your July 19 editorial, “The anti-American president.”

The question is: Why give an opinion when the conventions have not even been held yet? What you did was open a can of worms for every fruitcake out there.

I have read The Observer for years and always considered it a good source of for local news. Now I have second thoughts. Why did you put yourself in the same category as FauxNews, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh? You had a good local weekly going, and now you have people turning against your paper and your advertisers.

I am truly disturbed and may join the “no longer a readers group.”
Anthony Iannacone
Sarasota

+ Vengeance terrifying
Dear Editor:
Thank you for publishing the emails sent to your advertisers.

But you were too kind. Those writers seek not retribution but a form of vengeance as instructive as it is terrifying.

Not content with silencing opposing viewpoints, Obama supporters punish third parties for the affront of doing business with those whom they dislike. The liberal catechism replaces political discourse with the politics of punishment.

We have seen this behavior before. The former speaker of the House, among other liberals, tried to punish conservative talk radio by driving away advertisers. Barack Obama last year attempted to punish a disfavored news outlet by excluding it from a news interview of Obama executive-pay Czar, Kenneth Feinberg. But he failed.

The Observers fill a need and will succeed. Nonetheless, the politics of punishment is a disturbing pattern.
Punishment for speech always is alarming, but when practiced by those we elect, it is terrifying. These experiences are instructive for voters.

What kind of America would we choose for ourselves and our progeny? How comfortable are we with elected officials and their supporters who would punish those with opposing political views?

What does it say about the character of those who punish rather than debate because of something that was said?

This coming election truly will be the most important in our lifetime.
Werner Hartenberger
Sarasota