ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602270003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
IN A PREVIOUS letter to the editor, I accused the Roanoke County administration - appointive and elective - of being asleep to the complaints of county residents. I was wrong. It's evident that the placid inhabitants of the crystal palace on Bernard Drive aren't asleep, they're comatose.
Virtually weekly, there are letters to the editor of complaint concerning taxes and utility rates. The complains apparently aren't penetrating the wall of isolation with which county officials have protected themselves.
We're taxed on our electric, gas, phone and cable bills, and there's even a piggyback tax on our water-sewer bill. Obviously, those politicrats we've entrusted with the responsibility of stewardship of county affairs regard the tax-paying public as only a money cow to be milked, with minimum return to the public.
An example of the county administration's cavalier attitude was discontinuing the leaf collection with the excuse that the machinery was at the end of its life and too expensive to repair. This ``condemned'' machinery was sold to Roanoke city, and is regularly used by the city. The alternative offered to county residents to costly, laborious leaf-bagging was collection by an independent contractor at a cost of about $25.
Roanoke County residents deserve a change in county administration to one that has more concern, not for the enrichment of county coffers, but with the quality of life in the county. Also, an administration that's motivated, not by what we must do for it, but what it must do for us.
BUD SANTORO
ROANOKE
The symbolism is loud and clear
THE CONTROVERSY over whether the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism has been going on much longer than this newspaper has been around. I've observed a few things concerning this symbol.
I find it interesting that the Confederate flag is one of the main symbols the Ku Klux Klan uses to promote its hate-filled rhetoric. Why that flag and not the Union flag?
When you hear individuals speak negatively about certain minority groups, they often hold up, point to or make a big show of looking at the Confederate flag, bumper sticker or whatever that's depicted in such a way as to appear flaunted as opposed to simply displayed.
The majority of people with whom I'm acquainted who display the above-mentioned symbols have at one time or the other made offensive or prejudicial remarks to me or in my presence about another ethnic or racial group.
These same individuals never discuss the Confederate flag in terms of a symbol for states' rights, economic power, territorial expansion, etc. It's always mentioned in conjunction with their misconceived ideas of imaginary wrongs the white man has suffered as a result of laws calling for an end to segregated practices.
Isn't it true that the name something is given depends upon how that particular thing is used? Listen to the individual's belief system pertaining to minority groups - particularly African-Americans. Compare that belief system to the way an individual displays the Confederate flag and other such symbols. Then draw your own conclusions.
PATRICIA D. DEEL
CLOVERDALE
A meaningless security guarantee
REGARDING the possible Israel-U.S. defense pact:
Four years ago, it took about 150 days for the United States to move 10 divisions and Air Force, Marine and Navy air forces to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm. These forces generated about 1,300 combat sorties a day.
By comparison, about 72 hours after mobilization, the Israel Defense Force could deploy about 17 divisions and the Israel Air Force could generate about 2,400 combat sorties a day. In other words, Israel can now deploy more than twice as much conventional military power in 72 hours as the United States could rush to Israel in 72 days.
Within the constraints of the current U.S. defense budget, it would be impossible for the United States to deploy more than token forces to Israel in an emergency.
Consequently, withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for a meaningless U.S. security guarantee would be a terrible mistake.
ALVIN W. FINESTONE
CLIFTON FORGE
Hate is not basis for religious beliefs
IN RESPONSE to your Jan. 27 editorial, ``Signs of hate mar the community'':
Your writer is wrong in assuming hate and prejudice are at the root of it when individuals reject billboards that express ideas clearly against their religious beliefs. I take offense to the reference that Bible-believing people are clinging to a prejudice against homosexuals.
As a true Christian, I'm called to love all people as Christ loves me. I can hate the sin, but I'm called to love the sinner. Jesus was surrounded by people who sinned. His reaction to them wasn't hate or prejudice, and he didn't encourage them to continue in their sin, but he forgave them and told them to change their ways.
Christians aren't obsessed with homosexuals and do not consider them to be a scapegoat for anything. If bulletin boards appeared promoting teen-age pregnancy, divorce, murder, adultery or any other situation going against my religious belief, I'd respond as many have in this matter. It doesn't mean I hate the teen-ager, the divorced person, the murderer or the adulterer. It simply means the choices they made go against my religious beliefs, and I wouldn't want to promote what they've done or celebrate it in any way.
To Christians who believe that the Bible is the word of God, all these choices - including homosexuality - go against God's desire for mankind. It's simply part of the Christian's moral value system.
KAREN KENNEDY
ROANOKE
Nation is ill-served by scare tactics
THE JAN. 31 letter to the editor by Philip Rosdol (``Republicans believe in charity for none'') is brimming over with harsh rhetoric and misleading statements. He suggests that those in Congress who have addressed real issues and made difficult decisions are indifferent to suffering by the American people. He implies that these people couldn't care less if families freeze, the elderly die and children starve. Do those of you who repeat this rhetoric really believe that Americans who hold conservative views are this heartless?
Problems facing this nation need immediate attention. The government cannot continue to spend at the current rate. The first budget submitted last year by President Clinton predicted a tax rate of more than 80 pecent for our children's generation. This isn't conservative rhetoric, but Clinton's estimate using his optimistic predictions.
Ideas proposed by conservatives to curb spending meet with distortions and scare tactics from liberals. One example is the Medicare proposal. The plan will increase Medicare spending. Somehow the left has convinced many Americans that this increase, twice the current rate of inflation, will result in the elderly dying in the streets so the wealthy can get a tax break. Ironically, part of the proposed savings in Medicare will come from forcing wealthy retirees to pay more.
The rhetoric of today's liberals serves no American, except those in the media looking for a headline or a sound bite. And it's time to stop this nonsense.
MICHAEL and KAYEN QUESENBERRY
BLACKSBURG
Keep the garbage out of classrooms
EACH WEEK The Roanoke Times advertises its ``Newspaper In Education'' program, which encourages teachers to use the newspaper as a teaching aid in their classrooms. I'm curious to know how the editors would explain the Feb. 8 article, ``Zoo offers a romantic look at real animal magnetism.'' This article described the San Francisco Zoo's ``Valentine's Day Sex Tour'' - an opportunity for interested adults to view animals mating. Also, how would editors explain the obviously used condom pictured in the foreground of an article on local prostitution?
How are parents and teachers to explain such vulgar examples of journalistic indiscretion? These articles and photographs can hardly be considered news. and would have been more appropriately placed in a supermarket tabloid.
I think it's sad this newspaper would encourage youthful readership of such garbage, and that parents have yet one more R-rated medium from which to protect our children.
LESLIE TERRY
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 154 linesby CNB