Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309290323
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Five hundred jobs gone in Martinsville; thousands more going nationwide. Volvo White in Dublin reportedly is signing a deal to do business in Mexico.
If we all want to live in cardboard shacks and make 65 cents an hour, maybe we could accept NAFTA. Not for me- never, ever!
Go out to the Southwest. Look toward Mexico, from the Texas side of the border, and then decide for yourself.
I hope everyone will contact his or her representatives in Congress to say we cannot afford to be sold out on this one.
Members of the millionaires' club, such as Sen. Dole and others, would vote for cancer, as long as they have their power and perks. Democrats, Republicans, independents:
Please, wake up for our children and grandchildren. It's their country, too.
RONALD LEE BAXTER
NATURAL BRIDGE STATION
\ Time to revolt at the polls
VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN leaders are doing it again! They voted for power politics and reaffirmed their contempt for the average voter.
On Sept.12, the Roanoke Times & World-News carried a news story about the GOP state central committee voting to have a state convention of delegates, as opposed to a primary open to all voters, to nominate the party's candidate for the 1994 Senate election.
The power brokers even ignored Sen. John Warner's request to postpone such a decision until after the 1993 election for governor.
Supporters of Oliver North obviously want to prevent citizens from nominating a candidate of their choice. This appears to be shaping up as a repeat of the June '93 Republican convention where Christian Coalition activists flexed their muscles in nominating Michael Farris, former executive director of the Moral Majority, for lieutenant governor.
According to another news article appearing on the same day, Pat Buchanan brought 2,000 of these Christian conservatives to their feet with his intolerant and supremacy rhetoric.
History tells us that democracies last about 200 years before power groups manage to take over. In Virginia, the Democrats are attacking our right to bear arms, while the Republicans are positioning to attack our freedom of religion and to dictate family values. It's time for Virginians to again lead an American revolution.
In the meantime, I plan to employ a little-known or -utilized constitutional right to write in and vote for a candidate of my choice. I'm referring to Article II, Section 3, of the Virginia Constitution, which states "In elections other than primary elections, provision shall be made whereby votes may be cast for persons other than the listed candidates or nominees." I hope you do the same!
LEO A. DEMERS
STAUNTON
\ Would buy a ticket to ride
"GO WEST, young man" was a term commonly used by our ancestors in the 1800s. It was key in the development of our nation, and railroads shared in this development by expanding rail service westward.
Now, at the end of the 20th century, Roanoke finds itself with no passenger rail service (Amtrak) going west.
Mayor Bowers has requested such service: From the chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern, total rejection was received. It seems the railroad doesn't share in the responsibility of economic development to our valley as it historically did.
I agree with Mayor Bowers on this request, and would use passenger rail service.
PATRICIA D. GRAY
ROANOKE
\ No reason to be surprised
AS I examine the performance of the Clinton administration, I am reminded of a fable I once heard.
The fable tells of a man who discovers an injured snake by the side of the road. The man's heart swells with compassion for the badly injured reptile, so he decides to wrap it in a blanket and carry it home. He gingerly put the snake by the fireplace and began to tend its wounds. For months, the man cared for the snake and finally nursed it back to health.
One day, the man returned home from work, and as he opened the door, the snake lunged at him and inflicted a fatal bite.
As the man fell to the floor, writhing with pain and near death, he looked up at the snake in shock and disbelief and said, "I don't understand. I found you near death, cared for you and nursed you back to health, and this is how you repay me?"
With that, the snake looked at the man, unfazed by his condition, and simply said, "I don't know why you're surprised; you knew I was a snake."
For you disgruntled Clinton supporters who didn't believe that a man's character mattered, yet feel betrayed by his campaign promises, I don't know why you're surprised.
CLIFF SLONE
ROANOKE
by CNB