ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991                   TAG: 9102050430
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

OLIN OUT OF TOUCH WITH HIS DISTRICT

AT A town meeting Jan. 26, Congressman Jim Olin compared the Soviet military action in the Baltics to the allied military action against Saddam Hussein, claiming that their use of force is no less moral than ours.

Olin repeated these outlandish statements to a WDBJ reporter, bemoaning our inconsistency by saying "we've made huge objections to him [Gorbachev] using force, whereas we're using even greater force to solve a problem that we have."

What an outrage! First, Olin casts a vote against our president in an hour of national crisis. Then he adds insult to injury by making this ridiculous analogy. What a slap in the face to families of the 6th District who have sent their loved ones to serve in the Gulf, only to have their congressman compare them to the Soviet thugs who smashed women's faces with rifle butts in Lithuania.

Clearly, Olin is out of touch with the people of our district who overwhelmingly support our military and our president. The district should demand his resignation. SAMUEL J. WALLIN ROANOKE 


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