Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408010015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I, too, have been through a sobriety checkpoint, but didn't get the same impression as Poland. He stated: ``It was an unwarranted intrusion that was disturbing, humiliating and most undemocratic.'' I strongly disagree.
Law enforcement conducts checkpoints for our protection. In the past few weeks, since the new .08 blood-alcohol content went into effect, dozens of driving-under-the-influence offenders were apprehended. Bravo! This means dozens of potential killers were removed from our highways and waterways. What's undemocratic about that?
Thousands of lives have been changed forever due to the deadly combination of alcohol and driving. I know because I'm one of the victims. How I wish six years ago that a sobriety checkpoint had been conducted on Interstate 64 the night my sister and I were returning from Virginia Beach. My sister might be alive today, and I might be living a normal physical life.
My sister was a critical-care nurse dedicated to saving lives. Would Poland trade his 20 minutes of ``humiliation'' for her life? I would hope so. I don't think it was democratic when I was airlifted to the Medical College of Virginia trauma unit, had to undergo 11 surgeries, and was pushed around in a wheelchair for the better part of two years. It was quite offensive wearing 18 leg casts before getting a permanent leg brace so that I could walk. Not only was I humiliated and frustrated, but there was a considerable amount of pain.
I'm very pleased when I hear of a sobriety checkpoint conducted in any part of our state.
BRENDA A. ALTMAN UNION HALL
Stop whining, start conserving
WE AS humans and citizens of the Western Hemisphere need to count our blessings and start acting to conserve them, instead of whining about our misfortunes.
For people who fail to act and connect with help and kindness, there are consequences. We've seen floods ravage Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and fires in several Western states. A reason given for many of our disasters is lack of topsoil. By some estimates, as much as half the topsoil has been washed away since European colonization. World Watch said in a recent report that ``overgrazing deforestation, and imprudent farming have ruined 5 million acres since 1945.''
Don't we need to conserve and stop whining?
HAROLD WILLIAMS JR. MARTINSVILLE
In North we trust
ON THE 25th anniversary of Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy sits in the Senate. Would you accept a ride from this senator? Would you rely on him in battle? Is he an exemplar of grace under pressure? Also, in Congress is an apparent example of utter venality, Dan Rostenkowski, who allegedly has been pilfering the public coffers for years.
Sen. John Warner has been quoted as saying he wouldn't want to sit in the Senate with Oliver North. He could say he has no influence over the benighted citizens of Massachusetts or Illinois. However, he does sit in the Senate with a fellow Virginian, Charles Robb, a Clinton Clone. Neither Lynda Johnson Robb nor Hillary Rodham Clinton has any reason to trust her husband. Robb's fellow Democrats - Doug Wilder, Virgil Goode and Sylvia Clute - have made clear their reservations about his ``character.''
I would trust North with my life, money and virtue. In November, I'll trust him with my vote.
JUDITH N. CATES BLACKSBURG
The rest of Emerson's story
REGARDING Warren Fiske's July 25 column on Wilder's politics, ``Wilder not sticking to stands'':
In his ``Essays, First Series,'' speaking on self-reliance, Emerson wrote, ``A foolish (my emphasis) consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds ... .''
If Fiske had really wanted to make hey (sic), he would have completed Emerson's sentence: ``adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.''
People worthy of quotation usually write elegant, economical prose. Every word counts. None should be omitted.
CHARLOTTE B. BECKER ROANOKE
The granddaddy of waste
REGARDING the July 18 Associated Press article, ``Food stamp fraud tops $1.8 billion'' for last year: This is just another example of federal programs enacted without proper safeguards to prevent waste and fraud.
When you consider all the programs currently being provided by our federal government (welfare, housing, Medicaid, Social Security income, aid to illegal aliens, foreign aid, etc.), you can just imagine how many billions of dollars are lost through fraud and waste. Probably more than the national budgets of most countries of the world.
Now, President Clinton and Congress want to impose a health-care package on us that will surely be the granddaddy of all waste and fraud. I don't know how much longer U.S. taxpayers can support our government's incompetent schemes.
EUGENE W. LIVESAY LEXINGTON
by CNB