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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 19, 1993                   TAG: 9302190398
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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LINK TO RACIAL BIAS IS LUDICROUS

YOUR EDITORIAL of Feb. 12, "Powell misses echoes from '40s," is another example of the extreme leftist position of the Roanoke Times & World-News. To demean Gen. Colin Powell in such terms is plainly prejudicial. You imply that a man of his caliber has no right to his own opinion but should subjugate rather than express it, kowtow to his commander in chief rather than stand up for his convictions.

You state that "gays have always been in the military." A sweeping statement. Do you have statistics to substantiate this claim? And your reference to a 1942 report to President Roosevelt is ridiculous. ("How many white men would choose that their closest associates in sleeping quarters . . . be men of another race?") Even to suggest a comparison between a choice for a roommate of someone of another race or with a sexual deviant, who might be "turned on" by a male associate in close quarters, is ludicrous. In your opinion, would the same principle apply to selection of a spouse - someone of another race, or a homosexual?

The root of our moral problems is lack of respect for, and belief in, the Bible. God laid down laws, but the majority couldn't care less about God or his word. Our founding fathers believed in God, and they established this nation on a standard of old-fashioned moral values. How the mighty have fallen! MILDRED SADLER SALEM

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