Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508050002
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
After our own Revolutionary War, we resumed diplomatic relations with England immediately. And we had much more at stake with that war - our independence. Wherein with Vietnam, all we had was our pride.
While we're praying for the souls of our lost POWs and MIAs, let us remember that the United States doesn't have a monopoly on dead and missing after wars. The Vietnamese lost many of their family and friends. Hardly any were the cold-blooded killer enemies they were portrayed to be, but simply victims of their government, as our own men were.
Apologizing for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although the United States did nothing wrong and it's not the most popular of political actions, represents the new wave of international understanding that will open the path for a new generation of world peace.
With all the work to be done internationally and within our own country, it seems a shame to me that people can't be forgiving and open-minded enough to rethink old hatreds. Perhaps with external hatreds resolved, our internal ones can be addressed.
KAITLYN BEISECKER
BLACKSBURG
Medicaid decision is the taxpayers' call
SO, Linda Poindexter is upset because, as a Medicaid recipient, she must enroll in Medallion (July 24 article, ``No money; now, no physician''). She feels the government is controlling her choice of doctors.
As a taxpayer who has paid her medical bills since 1988 and the bills of 20,000 others in the valley, I feel that he who pays has the right to choose the doctor - and the taxpayers choose Medallion.
CAROL HUNT
ROANOKE
Escaping death by a technicality
IT IS with utter abhorrence that I read in your July 25 newspaper the article ``Mom's boyfriend guilty in child's murder.''
A monster, Norman Hoverter, brutalized and tortured 12-year-old Valerie Smelser by locking her in the kitchen or basement, sometimes chaining her to a door overnight, kicking her in the head, rubbing her face in urine, slamming her head through the dry wall, and then finishing her off by kicking her down the basement stairs where she died of brain swelling on a dirt floor covered with feces. (She had been forced to sleep there and wasn't allowed to use the family toilet.) On top of that, the child had also been sodomized shortly before her death. Her naked body was then dumped by a rural roadside like garbage. (Even garbage isn't allowed to be discarded on a rural roadside.)
Hoverter pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abduction in a ``plea agreement.'' Why was he allowed to plea-bargain?
Here's the part that's even sicker (if it can get any sicker): The prosecution in Winchester cannot seek the death penalty because DNA tests on the semen were inconclusive.
Isn't it enough that this 12-year-old child had been forced to ``live'' under grisly conditions, tortured, sodomized, beaten to death, and then dumped naked by the roadside? Why must there also be a positive DNA test on the semen to confirm sodomy so that Hoverter can be put to death?
A society that lets this monster live is even sicker than the monster. Our heavenly Father will hold such a society accountable for its (mis)deeds.
KARL A. SENSE
GALAX
No one enforces lawyers' ethics
YOUR July 17 article (``Critics want justice'') on lawyers and the Virginia State Bar was quite appropriate and accurate. I commend you for facts well-presented.
I engaged a Blacksburg lawyer to purchase land for me. He did a halfway job, and charged me some $1,600 above his standard land-transfer fee to correct his mistakes. He's honest, bright and sloppy.
I complained to the Bar Ethics Committee, and its members took his word for facts that just weren't accurate and ruled in his favor. They didn't give me a copy of what he submitted or even ask me if what he said was correct. I had agreed at the start to accept their judgment. Boy, was I wrong to agree to that!
I'm a registered professional engineer, and our board enforces ethical behavior for engineers. I learned that the State Bar doesn't enforce ethical behavior for lawyers. It was an expensive lesson learned, and I will remember it.
CARL L. EPLEY
DUBLIN
Disinviting citizens' views in Bedford
UPON READING the July 25 article (``Groups defend Bedford library'') regarding the efforts of citizens to save the Louise Wharton House and Garden, I'm appalled at comments made by our city councilmen. It's obvious from their comments that they regard input from the constituency as bothersome and unnecessary.
``Council business is directed by council, and not by any group out there,'' according to Mayor Mike Shelton. Are we now to assume that City Council has become its own guiding force and we might as well do away with the Constitution?
And how sad that Councilman Ronnie Rice had to get out of the pool and dry off to talk to a county resident. Never mind that the county resident was asked to support the library plan (which included the Louise Wharton House and Garden), and that county residents may be a part of Bedfordshire in the future. He wasn't a part of the ``damn city'' (Rice's term), so the county resident shouldn't have any input.
As to monies being withheld by the state, aren't they being withheld to force council members to do what they were supposed to do originally - that is, to protect the historic district for which Bedford has received state grants? Weren't we all assured from the beginning that the Louise Wharton House and Garden was in no danger? If this is still the case, why doesn't City Council just assure the state attorney general of that fact, and collect the $178,000 being held by the state librarian?
KATHIE C. JOHNSON
BEDFORD
Sheriff's office needs improvement
I AM voting for Doug Maynard in the Bedford County sheriff's race in November because he is the most qualified.
He has a plan for improving the efficiency and reliability of our sheriff's department and has the experience and know-how to make his plan work. He will make a great sheriff.
DONNA HURT
BEDFORD
Sell cable viewing by the channel
CURRENTLY, there's mention in the press about congressional action to control the content of television cable transmissions and to classify content based on social and moral considerations. The content factor encounters the problem of censorship, and classification systems for the movie industry have been a failure.
My suggestion is simple: Why aren't cable companies required to provide a converter box wherein the consumer receives only television channels he desires, and pays only for channels of his choice?
The basic rationale for my proposal: Why should a consumer be forced to accept a package of channels he doesn't desire and which may contain objectionable material? It would also give consumers better control of the cable he receives and assist parents in supervising programs viewed by children. My idea is also economical and could be easily implemented.
KEVIN J. O'LEARY
CLIFTON FORGE
The pampered rich, the punished poor
THIS GREAT country is tearing down the welfare system, Medicare and anything that helps the poor common souls of America. The pendulum of our government has catapulted to the extreme right of conservatism, and is stuck in that position. One percent of the pampered rich of America own 40 percent of the country now. It looks to many that revolution isn't far off.
Our national debt, which is $4 trillion, can be paid off with 2,000 B-1 bombers.
GRANT A. HALLOCK
CHECK
by CNB