Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 2, 1994 TAG: 9401040010
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I had also just finished reading an article about Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the neo-facist who will control the second largest bloc of votes in the new Russian Parliament.
The thought entered my mind that a funeral march is rather appropriate considering the impact this turn of events could have on the world. It looks like President Clinton is going to have a lot more to worry about than his domestic programs.
Eighty years ago last March, another Democrat came to the White House with the idea of focusing on a domestic agenda. Unfortunately for Woodrow Wilson, things didn't work out that way. The next year, problems that had been simmering for decades came to a head in the Balkans and the powers of Europe blundered into the conflict we call World War I. Wilson, the domestic-agenda man, found himself up to his neck in foreign policy. The same thing could happen to Bill Clinton.
Will Clinton be up to providing leadership if the history hits the fan in the next couple of years? If not, the dirge may be for us.
Zhirinovsky's "Liberal Democrats" will have a slightly higher percentage of the seats in next year's Russian Parliament than Adolf Hitler's National Socialists had in the German Reichstag in 1930.
JOHN BARNHART
ROANOKE
The Second is about rights
I AM writing in response to Catherine Witte's Dec. 16 letter, "Brady Bill needed to control 'need'."
Ms. Witte writes, "I just can't understand why anyone needs a gun instantly, unless the need is fueled by anger or frustration."
Yes, I agree that no normal person needs to buy a gun instantly. But the fact of the matter is, gun ownership in the United States, whether for hunting or self-defense, is based on a right, not a need. People have a right, without a waiting period, to buy any kind of weapon they want, including assault rifles - which, of course, have no "legitimate sporting purpose."
Nowhere in the Bill of Rights do I see mention of hunting rifles. The Second Amendment ain't about duck hunting!
ILYA BELOOZEROV
BLACKSBURG
\ And justice for all?
I WAS completely outraged after reading that Kari Frasier, the Liberty University student who was charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving in the death of her boyfriend, was sentenced to a measly 300 hours of community service! This small blurb about the Frasier case appeared in the Dec.17 edition of the Roanoke Times & World-News (news article, "Liberty student won't serve time for death"), the day after John Stover's obviously grief-stricken face was plastered on the front page!
John was sentenced to a total of 11 1/2 years for charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving and driving under a suspended license for the accident that caused the death of Dustin Washburn. Judge Kenneth Trabue suspended 51/2 years of the sentences. Although eligible for parole in 12 to 18 months, when John is released he will also have to put in 400 hours of community service and he will be on probation for 10 years. His driver's license will also be suspended for possibly 10 years if Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkhart has his way.
I'm a little confused. Frasier, who was under age and legally drunk at the time of her wreck, gets a slap on the hand and community service. She'll also have to meet with a case worker once a week and attend a substance-abuse program for a few years. But she will still be free. Maybe not emotionally, but she will be physically free. Kari Frasier likely was in a nice warm house with her family on Christmas morning, opening presents and maybe even laughing. These are things that John Stover, by commiting the same crime, will not get to do for a long time. There is no justice here.
SARAH K. BRADY
ROANOKE
Don't trivialize moral character
YOUR EDITORIAL of Dec. 23, "More questions about character," seems to trivialize the issue of the president's character and relegate its importance to those who are "Clinton haters."
But the issue of moral fiber in our national leadership seems to me to be the principal ill in our government. President Clinton happens to be presently in the public eye, but, regardless of party, he is far from being alone.
Count the congressmen who go to Washington in moderate circumstances and soon become millionaires. Look at the scandals on Capitol Hill. Look at the Oliver North-Admiral Poindexter attempts to evade the law during the Reagan years. Look at congressmen living with gay lovers; at senators who harass their female employees. Look also at the lobbyists and the price of legislation in Washington.
Look, and you will soon see that lack of character is a very real concern in government. Where are the Harry Trumans, the Richard Russells, the Harry Byrds, the Everett Dirksens, the Sam Rayburns and the other giants to whom, regardless of party, no whiff of scandal ever attached? They are needed as never before.
In my opinion, character counts, and behavior tells much more about an individual's qualities than all the cover-ups and attacks leveled at those daring to accuse.
CABELL F. COBBS
ROANOKE
\ Angry that doubt has been cast
I AM writing in regard to the Dec. 12 article in the Roanoke Times & World-News, written by David Crum, entitled "Gospels Give Wrong Picture of Jesus, Scholars Say."
Never have I become so angry and upset over an article in this newspaper. I am trying to decide whether to cancel my subscription or read your garbage a little longer and see if others feel the same way as I now feel.
We Christians (I mean born-again Christians) are appalled at these so-called scholars who dare to say that "Jesus probably did not say about 80 percent of the words attributed to him in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John."
May God have mercy on these scholars when they try to deny the words of God.
CLARA R. EUBANK
BEDFORD
\ Products working, but are Americans?
WELL, THE Christmas rush is over. I do wish for many (especially children of all ages) that they received what they were hoping for. And recently, NAFTA passed, which will be a boon for the United States.
As I assembled (and, yes, played with) my kids' toys, I did notice that approximately 90 percent were manufactured in China. Red China, Taiwan or Hong Kong, the Pacific Rim where American "workers" have no real chance to compete (which is where Mexico comes in).
But my point is that a lot of gifts, even a lot of Christmas decorations, were made in China. American companies using Chinese labor vs. American labor. OK, the products work well, but my question is: Why were they not made here in America by Americans?
GEORGE EWEN
ROANOKE
Symbolism misconstrued
THOUGH HER commendations about the Roanoke Christmas Pageant were greatly appreciated, Susan Highfill's Dec. 26 letter to the editor (``Sword didn't represent Jesus") prompts a response for another reason.
She wrote of being appalled over the scene of Jesus' resurrection wherein there was a depiction of Satan being slain with a sword. It seems she found that portrayal in conflict with Jesus' admonition for his followers to resist evil with love rather than with swords and anger.
Whereas Jesus taught resisting evil with good in personal relationships, Ms. Highfill has obviously misunderstood the reality of an incessant spiritual warfare between God and Satan. Indeed, Satan is the enemy and, if God is to accomplish good in our behalf, Satan must be challenged and defeated.
When Jesus said, "I came not to send peace on earth but a sword" (Matthew 10:34), he was not contradicting himself. He was underscoring the inescapable fact that we are either with him or against him in the warfare with the adversary.
Incidentally, the character in the pageant who stepped from the empty tomb to slay Satan was not Jesus, as Ms. Highfill misconstrued. The character was an angel, fulfilling the scripture, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (I Corinthians 15:26).
CHARLES FULLER
PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCHo
ROANOKE
by CNB