Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010052
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A18 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Where's our collective conscience? Where is our responsibility as adults to our community's children? The first boy did as he was taught by police, teachers at his school and his parents. He called to a passer-by, yelling ``help,'' the international distress call. The passer-by, presumably not wanting to get involved and obviously feeling as if his efforts would be of no avail, threw his hands up in the international signal of passivity. For his part, he could have used a bowl as he washed his hands of the matter, sentencing the boy to a fate beyond his control.
And as if this weren't assailable enough, a sheriff's deputy, acting on his instinct that something was amiss, approached the car in which the man with above-average intelligence was performing oral sex on a second boy, in the parking lot where we good people go every day to buy food and necessities. The deputy denied his instincts, projecting instead a harmless interlude between consenting lovers, and let them go. Didn't Milwaukee police project the same scene as the young Laotian boy ran screaming into the street, claiming Jeffrey Dahmer was trying to eat him for dinner?
We as a country have no right to complain about violence in our streets if we're unwilling to become involved. We must be willing to have some connection with our fellow humans because we're all at risk. I'm sad for these boys, for the invasion they endured, and for the legacy that sexual abuse creates for their future and for future generations. I apologize to these boys that adults didn't come to their aid as they were led to believe adults would. The betrayal of their trust is all our fault. We haven't been willing to kill this cancer before it spreads to the organism that's our family, our society and our country.
ROBBIE MUSE SALEM
Democrats better prepare for change
HOW DID Democrats like the election? Wasn't that the most fantastic thing you ever saw? In my lifetime, I can't remember when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and governorships, too. Hallelujah! Here is what the GOP proposes to do starting Jan. 2, 1995:
Pass an amendment to balance the budget. This will force Democrats to reduce spending and make income equal the outgo. This alone will preserve the financial integrity of the United States, and allow it to continue. Otherwise, it's bankruptcy.
Pass a line-item veto.
Limit terms in Congress.
Chase faggots and queers out of the military.
Reduce taxes. Isn't that wonderful? That alone should make one a Republican.
Maintain a strong military posture. So many people still don't understand that to avoid war and sneak attacks, a country must be strong, not weak.
No socialized medicine.
Here is a free lesson in political science, one that has to be repeated constantly so our Democrat friends can savvy. All bills of appropriation must originate in the House of Representatives. Since the lower House has been controlled by the Democrats, this is how and why we have a national debt of $4.6 trillion. When we have a Republican president who will veto this asinine spending, the Democrats may try to pass the spending bill over the president's veto, as they did over Ronald Reagan's. How simple it was. But no more. Once again, I say hallelujah!
Incidentally, Sen. Charles Robb voted exactly the opposite of what's now going to take place. Count on it.
If 43 states have to balance their budgets, why shouldn't the federal government? It will now.
R. KEITH WHITLEY BEDFORD
Adoption beneficial for all concerned
ON NOV. 16, you published a commentary by Janet Scheid, ``Dispelling the myths of adoption.''
As executive director of Catholic Charities Adoption Option Program, I congratulate Scheid for her commentary. Adoptions today aren't what they were 10 years ago. Today, they're more open and focused on meeting the mutual needs of the birth parents and adoptive parents, as well as the child's. It's that mutual desire to love and care for the child that drives adoption.
Scheid is correct: There are many special-needs children seeking permanent adoptive homes, as there are pregnant women unsure of how to cope with the pregnancy. Adoption becomes an act of love that benefits everyone.
Again, bravo to Scheid's commentary.
STEPHEN D. ANKIEL Executive Director Catholic Charities of Southwestern Virginia, Inc. ROANOKE
Wear blaze orange for safety's sake
A RECENT hunting accident in Craig County raises several issues (Nov. 15 news article, ``Hunter shot, not wearing blaze orange''). Hunting accidents in Virginia have declined over the past few years due largely to the blaze-orange requirement for the modern firearms season and required completion of the Hunter Safety Course for first-year hunters.
While blaze orange isn't required during other seasons, I encourage hunters to wear it for all hunting seasons. Everyone who hunts with us wears at least a blaze-orange hat. Being a hunter for more than 30 years, I also feel that the Hunter Safety Course should be required for all hunters.
The media said both hunters involved in the Craig County accident were experienced. But in my mind, at least one wasn't. Experienced hunters make sure of their targets. That particular day was a bucks-only day, and you had to identify antlers. With a muzzleloader, you only have one shot with steel sights. You need patience to get a clean shot. I don't believe patience was a factor in this incident.
My heart and prayers go out to these men and their families. If some hunters rethink wearing blaze orange or hesitate a few seconds before pulling the trigger, maybe we can avoid a repeat of this tragic incident.
RICHARD V. BALDWIN ROANOKE
To hear lonesome whistles blow again
I, TOO, was real sorry to hear about Norfolk Southern discontinuing the steam trains. Remember the thrill of riding in the caboose going to Lambert's Point, watching that long train of coal in front with one of those sleek 1,200 [Class A] engines balling the jack ahead of that long black snake of coal? And on the Shenandoah division with those mighty 2,100 [Class Y6] engines eating up the mountains ahead of you? Before we had electric lanterns and two-way radios, we signaled by hand in daytime and by an oil lantern at night. We'd go to the roundhouse and fill our lanterns before each run.
And to hear the lonesome sound of those steam whistles at night was a thrill that can't be described. What a pity we didn't have camcorders then. A movie of some of those runs would be a treasure.
BEN RICE NATURAL BRIDGE
North and Lee: no comparison
I WAS concerned to see your recent reporting (Nov. 10 news article, ``Robb seeks public trust'') of former state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Goldman's comments following Oliver North's recent defeat for senator. He compared that defeat with the defeat of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate army during the War between the States.
Certainly there's no valid comparison between North and Lee. This was a poor piece of reporting that denigrated an honored son of this historic state, and I expected better of you.
If indeed we entertain Goldman's argument, it loses its validity for two reasons. First, Lee and his army were fighting for states' rights, which the outcome of the recent elections at the national level would seem to vindicate in the call for less control at the federal level and more control at the state and local levels. Second, there's no comparison between the supposed integrity of North and the actual, documented integrity of Lee.
Goldman would do well to become a better student of this great state's history of leadership and of the personal integrity of Lee, which was maintained at a great personal sacrifice.
RON MARLOWE BLACKSBURG
by CNB