Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 31, 1994 TAG: 9402010003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I'll not go into any detail about this $500 million mess our state legislators got us into. We all should know the sad facts by now. But I wish to ask the editorial writer one question: When did making an attempt to right a wrong and taking a stand against an illegality or an injustice become an act of ``wimpiness''?
I'd like to comment here on the statement made by former Attorney General Rosenthal as quoted in a recent news article, ``I am gratified by Judge Kent's ruling. What Virginia did, it did in good faith.'' The ruling by His Honor, not at all honorable. The statement made by Rosenthal, absurd!
Gov. Allen begins in office as an honest man and a ``fighter'' for the rights of his fellow Virginians - in this case, mostly elderly. Let's hope he stays this way.
ED BAKER
SALEM
Interstates messed up by design
I AGREE with Patrick Travis (Jan. 19 letter to the editor, ``Don't mess up another interstate'') regarding Interstate 581 and I-81. They are the most ill-designed wagon-train-type of interstate roads I've ever driven on. Whoever designed the exit ramps most likely is dead now, from an auto accident on 581.
The year is 1994, not 1894. These two interstates need upgrading badly.
ROGER SHELTON
SALEM
Taxpayers won't have a choice
HOW DO you feel about abortion? Do you think it should only be used to save the mother's life, or does pregnancy due to rape or incest justify it? Should a woman be allowed to kill her fetus simply because the pregnancy was unintended?
The Clinton health-care plan adds a new dimension to the abortion debate. If it becomes law, you'll pay for abortions, no matter how you feel about it. His plan includes pregnancy-related services, which, by their definition, includes abortion. And you won't just be paying for abortions to save a woman's life or do away with a fetus that's conceived as the result of rape or incest. If Bill and Hillary have their way, ``Oops, I'm pregnant'' will be sufficient reason.
How do you feel about forcing people to pay for something they're convinced is immoral? Paying for abortions won't be a matter of choice if Clinton's health-care plan is passed. They'll be funded by your tax dollars, and you'll go to prison if you refuse to pay your taxes.
JOHN BARNHART
ROANOKE
Silly reasoning on gun ownership
R. EDWARD Mitchell's Jan. 22 letter to the editor entitled ``Second Amendment: insurance policy against tyranny'' is one of the silliest pieces of reasoning I've seen in a long time.
The days of ``ball and powder'' are gone (excluding a few weeks in late fall). This is the nuclear age. Does Mitchell seriously believe that we should reserve the right to violently overthrow a government that has the means to extinguish every life on the planet?
If this is the best argument for preserving the Second Amendment, I'm afraid it won't be with us long.
ERIC SHEFFIELD
BUENA VISTA
Abused wives must leave the abuser
I CRIED as I listened to Lorena Bobbitt's court testimony describing years of painful physical and emotional abuse by her husband. Unfortunately, she's just one of thousands of women in our state who are caught in violent, abusive marriages and feel there's nowhere to turn.
The abusive mate is usually an insecure, immature male who abuses other aspects of his life - most often alcohol, drugs, his job, other women or even his children. Inflicting abuse gives him a sense of superiority and control that he cannot achieve as a normal individual.
Many women stay in these relationships because they feel they have nowhere else to go. Because they were serious when they spoke their marriage vow ``until death do us part,'' they have the false hope that their spouse may change for the betterment of their family.
My advice to any woman trapped in an abusive relationship is: Get out, save yourself and your children. No one else can do it but you. Don't allow an abuser to further control and hurt you by pushing you over the edge until you resort to physical violence yourself!
The transition is not easy, and it will be the hardest task you've ever had to do. But many people are available to help you make this transition - relatives, friends, pastors, counseling services, support groups, the court system and God. The road to recovery and the healing process is long, and it takes time. But you can survive and make a better life for yourself and your children - free from abuse! I've survived and you can, too.
SUSAN S. JACOBS
ROANOKE
Keillor's satire treats sexes equally
DESPITE her attempt to deflect any response to her attack on Garrison Keillor, I take exception to Margie Fisher's Jan. 23 column entitled ``In battle of the sexes, Garrison Keillor takes the wrong stand.''
If she's as familiar with his entire body of work as she suggests, she should have known that he is, first and foremost, a satirist - one of the most effective writing and performing today. She should also have seen, across all of his work, that he levels men and women equally as he attacks stereotypic thinking and makes such perceptive fun of our human, male and female, foibles. It's unfortunate that she focused only on ``The Book of Guys,'' which by itself cannot be used to determine if he's almost Neanderthal or a brilliant satirist.
Ms. Fisher suggests that a white male such as myself will respond, ``You idiot! You just don't get it!'' No, she's no idiot, and neither that tone nor the tone of her column are what's needed here. She's, instead, another person who let an emotional reaction cloud her analytical abilities. It's an all too common reaction to great satirists like Keillor - they're great in part because they completely assume the persona that they're satirizing. But her attack is particularly unfortunate because his work has shown him to be not only an egalitarian voice in the ``battle of the sexes,'' but also someone who is, if we read carefully, so witty that we stop fighting and begin laughing at ourselves.
I hope someone will ask Ms. Fisher to read carefully before she reacts again, lest in her next column she attacks Jonathan Swift's ``A Modest Proposal'' for expressing a typical male attitude toward children. Oh, what wonderful quotes she could find there to support her invective!
MARTIN AYLESWORTH
RADFORD
You don't have to be a golfer
WE'D LIKE to pass on a very handy tip to those who have trouble negotiating icy streets, driveways, back steps, etc.:
Purchase a pair of golf shoes with cleats. Don't shuffle your feet as you walk, but set them down a bit heavier and you'll have no problems. It's worked for us for years. The shoes are always handy, sitting right by the door in icy weather.
Believe us - it works!
MR. and MRS. PRESCOTT WALKER
CHRISTIANSBURG
No state funds for Disney project
WHEN WE read that House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell was lining up with Walt Disney theme-park promoters at Haymarket, we weren't surprised (Jan. 8 business article entitled ``Want to ride with Disney? Cranwell says its worth it''). Rather than enlisting Northern Virginia support on significant local issues such as the correction of education-funding disparaties, he's chosen to position himself on a distinctly Northern Virginia issue that should be left in the hands of the individuals and areas to be impacted.
Interstate 66 is full to the hilt, dawn until dusk and after, from Gainsville, the next exit beyond Haymarket, all the way to the Beltway and Arlington. Proponents of this plan should be asked to stay just one month in the sector to be developed, making appointments and meetings on a daily basis in the Northern Virginia metro area, winding up at the Smithsonian and National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. Cranwell seems to have a particular interest in museums and theme parks, based on recent accounts of the Martinsville museum coup attempt that failed.
Disney World in Virginia should be stopped in its tracks. Haymarket, The Plains, Marshall, Delaplane and points all the way west to I-81 mark Virginia's finest and most beautiful country. An opposition group called Protest has been formed to save not only a local treasure but the very quality of Virginia itself. Any bond issues or state-financing schemes for the Disney project should be opposed and summarily dropped with the perpetrators consigned back to the locker rooms where they belong.
GERALD HUBBS
BEDFORD
by CNB