Letters to the editor: 'Never again' cont'd

Finally calling it what it is
Dear Editor:
Regarding “Never Again?” in the Feb. 5 edition:
I have been preaching to the choir (mostly retired people) with similar views, but I find a large number of people who blindly love the president and agree with his strategy. (What strategy?) Some people think we should ignore ISIS (al Qaeda, Hamas, etc.) and naively believe they will leave us alone.

After reading your words of wisdom and those of Ret. Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, I felt optimistic. Finally, there are thinking journalists like you and military people willing to step forward and call it what it is.

Why are we not leading the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan and others in the fight against these animals who torture and kill? This is a global threat, and the countries of the world need to band together and terminate these barbarians.

Thank you for your words in the Observer. Hopefully, you will continue to point out the obvious.

Mary Loughrey
Sarasota

We cannot turn the other cheek
Dear Editor:
I read Mr. Signaigo’s response to your Feb. 5 editorial, “Never Again?” I am puzzled by his obvious anger and unwillingness to acknowledge that the editorial was as timely today as it could have been in 1933, 1934, etc.

Consider the possibilities had someone had been brave enough to write such an editorial back in that grim time before Hitler.

Are we to stand by and watch it happen again?

I cannot understand Mr. Signaigo’s anger and believe if that hostility were put to the good of all people, it might send our representatives in Washington the wake-up call they need. We simply cannot turn the other cheek ever again and watch until it is too late to do anything. Too much time and too many terrible events have already taken place and will continue.

Seeing another Sept. 11 on our shores is within the realm of possibility and probability. We need to understand that as a people.

Name calling and other negative remarks are not going to address the issue. The issue is to try to stop ISIS from growing out of control. It wants us all dead — just like Hitler wanted all the Jews dead.

I would urge Mr. Signaigo to open his mind to the human condition; it includes every living person in this world, including him.

None of us wants war. We had hoped that would never again happen.

Sadly, this is not the case, as we are already engaged in a silent war, one that sees killing every single day.

Write your congressmen and make your voice heard. That is where it will do the most good.

This has gone far past Arab killing Arab. No one is bullying here. It is called writing and acting on your conscience. Mine says: “Bravo, Mr. Walsh,” and everyone else who responded to the positive nature of that editorial in their letters to the editor.

Dana Williams
Palm Coast

Facts about terrorists, media
Dear Editor:
I finished reading the letters concerning your editorial urging action on the Islamic terrorists. One in particular caught my attention, and I had to read it twice to realize the writer, Jerry Signaigo, was serious and not joking.

First, Mr. Signaigo, the East County Observer is free, a gift you did not pay for. You do not have to take it into your home, nor are you required to read it. It is not delivered to me, so I grab it at Publix.

Second, I myself have wondered why Obama never uses the word “Islam,” “Islamic” or “Islamist” when speaking about the terrorists. So I went back through the archives of the news media reports on Obama speaking about terrorists and found, no, he does not use those qualifying words pertaining to Islam when speaking about terrorists.

Third, I did a Google search for Terry Jones and the Westboro Baptist Church and found that in every article, those two were always described as “Christian” preachers and/or churches, both also described as “hate” spewers. Yet, none has committed acts of terrorism against non-Christians. Nor were they identified as just preachers or churches, always Christian.

I also searched for references to Christians committing terrorist crimes and found none. No Christians blew up churches, synagogues or mosques. No Christians involved themselves as “suicide bombers” (I prefer to use the term “homicide” bombers). No Christians committed beheadings, nor did any Christians burn any “captured” pilots, news people or innocent travelers, after first torturing them and holding them for ransom. And no Christians were involved in the selling of captured young women and girls into sexual slavery, ala Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group.

As to Mr. Signaigo’s reference to Fox News, might I suggest a counting lesson? ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC and PBS. Those left-leaning media outlets equal six. Fox News equals one, and that leaves you with the indisputable evidence that the leftists outnumber the conservatives. Notice I did not toss in the New York Times, Washington Post, etc.

No, Obama does not mention the “religion” of Islam when speaking of terrorists, but even a most casual search will find 99.99% of all terrorist activities and atrocities are committed by those practicing Islam.

And please, in challenging my views, do not bring up the “crimes” committed more than 350 years ago and which have not been repeated. I am not responsible for the possible sins, real or imagined, of my predecessors. This is the 21st century, and the only terrorist activities against innocent and defenseless humans are being committed by Islamists.

James Hennen
Myakka City

‘I applaud your stand’
Dear Editor:
I’ve never commented about your paper since we moved here almost seven years ago and became a loyal reader. But your Feb. 5 Opinion page really got my attention. I loved it.

Thanks for showing the reality of what these Islamic nut jobs are doing. Perhaps the armchair liberals won’t be so tolerant of this intolerance if they are presented with FACTS.

There are so few media outlets that present the truth. It takes courage, and I applaud your stand.

SueAnn Carpenter
Bradenton

Powerful and so true!
Dear Editor:
Your Feb. 5 editorial is so powerful and so true!

This is something that is seldom written in our local newspapers, and it SHOULD be! I really hope the American people will wake up!

Please continue to write these excellent and informative articles. Thank you.

Joan Eveland
Lakewood Ranch

Call for a convention of states
Dear Editor:
Do you think America is in trouble?

In my small circle it seems like folks that dig just a little bit beneath the surface become very, very concerned, but many, seeing like a mole, think things are good and improving.

For instance, gas prices are down, putting a little more money in your pockets; the new iPhones are great; and in our area, there’s a lot of new construction and retail.

But consider these few things:

• The national debt is $18 trillion;

• Illegal immigrants still flood the border every day;

• The IRS still targets groups that politically oppose the president;

• A report from the Congressional Budget Office reveals that it will cost the federal government $50,000 for every person who gets health insurance under Obamacare;

• Social Security’s disability trust fund will empty in 2016;

• Social Security’s retirement trust fund will empty in 2034;

• China’s economy has surpassed ours;

• Our Navy has fewer ships than it did in WWII, and the Chinese will have more by 2020; and

• The federal register for 2014 contains about 80,000 pages of “rules,” all created by unelected, unreachable agencies. We can’t hold these bureaucrats accountable.

The fact is, at the national level in particular, our politicians are failing us. Not only, but in particular, Republicans are failing us, as well as Democrats who were just defeated.

Among their first acts was to tell Mr. Obama they would not use one of their most effective tools — the power of the purse — to shut down 17% of the federal government.

They campaign on repealing Obamacare, and now openly say they cannot do so because Obama will not agree.

John Boehner worked with Obama on the budget they just passed. And by the way, our own Vern Buchanan voted more than 20 times for continuing resolutions.

And amid our staggering debt, Mr. Obama proposes making community college free while proposing to eliminate the tax deductibility of 529 savings plans already given to the citizens.

The federal government is out of control. Congress isn’t about to fix it.

What can be done?

Thankfully, the founders built the answer into our Constitution. The answer is as constitutional as every other part of the constitution, including the amendments. It’s Article V.

At the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, George Mason was certain that a day may come when the federal government would abuse its authority. Mason insisted that in addition to Congress, the states be given the power to propose amendments to the Constitution — to rein in the federal government. Why? Because Congress would never propose amendments to restrict its own federal power. Has it ever?

This is the ONLY constitutional way to fix the oppressive Leviathan that this government has become.
Let’s urge our state legislators to fix the federal government. It’s their duty.

John Dunzik
Bradenton