LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Where is Ralph Nader's heart?

Ralph Nader has a brilliant mind, but his decision to run (yet again) for president, as an independent, raises the question: Where is his heart.

Many people attribute George W. Bush's ascendancy to Nader's 2000 candidacy. If the voters who chose Nader in New Hampshire or Florida had voted Democratic, Al Gore would be president today.

Bush's administration has been an unmitigated disaster in so many ways. Those who claim to see no difference between Republicans and Democrats might benefit from a trip to the optometrist. The damage to those on the receiving end of Bush's foreign and domestic policies (war-mongering on the one hand and slashing social services on the other) has been immense.

Well, Nader is at it again, this time spurning the Green Party (before it spurns him). If John Kerry loses a close race to Bush we will be subjected to the sad consequences, handing a cruel and greedy corporate cabal virtually a blank check. There will be more wars abroad and more poverty at home, with all the arbitrary and avoidable suffering they bring.

Those contemplating supporting Nader's candidacy should think long and hard, and with their hearts as well as their heads. They should give Nader a pass. Defeating Bush is the most important thing.

PAUL PRENSKY

Springfield

Licensing bicycles is a bad idea

Shirley Reade's suggestion (letters, Feb. 24) to place a license fee on bicycles is a bad idea. We should use taxes to raise money to discourage activities we want to reduce, and to encourage activities that we want to increase.

For example, by taxing pollution we can encourage people to reduce polluting activities. Large cars and trucks create much more pollution than small cars or bicycles. With our car and truck registration cost, we can encourage fuel efficient, less polluting cars and bicycles.

A variable registration fee that is more for SUVs and trucks that get poor gas mileage and is less for small cars that get good gas mileage would encourage people to buy small cars and to ride bicycles. There is also a lot more tax money available in SUVs and trucks than in bicycles.

BROOKS HICKERSON

Eugene

Gay marriage concerns ironic

Fifty years ago when I was a district attorney, it was a crime in Oregon for a man and a woman to live together without being married to each other. The crime was called lewd and lascivious conduct and was punishable by fine and imprisonment. Later the statute was repealed.

Now our president and others are advocating an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits gay couples from legitimizing their relationship by marrying.

It is interesting how the pendulum has swung.

THOMAS E. BROWNHILL

Eugene

Furor over 'Passion' ominous

Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of The Christ" is an ominous indication of where the United States is heading, spiritually speaking.

Were Christ's final hours any different than the lives of other innocent people the Romans and the Pharisees murdered and crucified in the name of fealty to the emperor and keeping the peace? What about the Christian Crusaders' massacres of Muslims? Columbus' massacre of the Arawaks? The Puritan witch trials? The Holocaust? The innocent Iraqis who are being killed by the U.S. Army and their Muslim opponents? All were slaughtered with God's blessing. What sort of God is this? If Jesus died for our sins, then so have they - and millions of others through the ages.

Humanity rarely, if ever, creates a God with manners and morals superior to itself. Christ was a rare man, indeed, but his teachings have been followed by some in a twisted, barbarous fashion.

Will our modern-day Pharisees of the evangelical apocalyptic millennialists determine who will live and die for the status quo, with the blessing of the Justice Department as Pontius Pilate? Gibson's film will not change this. It will, indeed, exacerbate it. I do not plan to watch it.

Either we are all the chosen people with the same right to strive for a peaceful relationship with the Divine, or none of us are. Perhaps we deserve the latter situation and the consequences thereof.

According to the recently leaked Pentagon report on climate change, it seems we just might get it.

MICHAEL ANDERSON 

Oakridge

Group gives DeFazio low score

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio has been very critical of President Bush concerning jobs for Oregon and the large deficit for the upcoming year. It should be noted that the congressman has not been entirely innocent in his contribution to these two issues.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste rated DeFazio at 21 for the year 2002 and 27 for his career. The lower the rating, the higher percentage of the time the congressman voted for wasteful spending. This percentage falls into the category of 20 percent to 39 percent and is considered by the council as unfriendly to taxpayers. The council is a nonpartisan group that highlights wasteful government spending.

The Small Business Survival Committee rates congressional votes on bills that are favorable to small businesses. Since small businesses employ more than half of private sector employees, a friendly climate for small businesses is very crucial for employment. Oregon's rating for the year 2002 was 40 percent, which was 34th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

If DeFazio had supported more of these bills and helped to pass them, then our state's unemployment rate would be lower. Small business owners and employees should remember this next November.

FRANK WILLIAMS

Florence

Discrimination has supporters

Susan B. Anthony was arrested for the crime of being a woman and voting. In her defense she explained that she had violated a law written by men, administered by men, in the interests of men and against women.

In San Francisco we may soon witness individuals arrested for the crime of being gay and loving another person enough to get married. Laws against marriage have been written by heterosexuals, passed by predominantly heterosexual legislatures, in the interests of heterosexuals and against homosexuals. Have we learned nothing in the last 150 years?

Some claim that gays do not make good parents. But there's no law against gay couples raising children. If you truly believe that gays are poor parents and that there should be a law against gays raising children, have the courage to say so. Don't stay in the closet, hiding behind the separate issue of gay marriage.

Others suggest that allowing gays to marry would somehow destroy straight marriage. I'm not clear on how this is even possible. If you are straight, how could a gay couple getting married reduce your own feelings of love for and commitment to your spouse?

People have developed all kinds of excuses for not allowing women to vote or not allowing blacks to drink from whites-only fountains. Discrimination always has its supporters. But we have to find a way to live together with dignity. It's at times like this that we must turn to the equal protection guarantee in the Constitution and remember why it is so important.

DAVID DUEMLER

Eugene

Photo unworthy of newspaper

A picture of a man in an ambulance, in apparent pain from bleeding face wounds, speaks volumes to me about victim of violence, casualty of war, survivor of explosion. Not in one hundred tries would I have guessed "early release criminal obtains gun and uses it to shoot his ex-wife and terrorize the neighborhood by shooting at police officers for hours."

The idea that the graphic Feb. 24 front-page picture in any way depicted the actual story is lame and unworthy of the newspaper. I believe the photographer feels that he got lucky to capture a moment few experience and felt the need to print it even though it was inappropriate to the story and certainly took attention away from the real issues such as domestic violence and early release of prisoners.

That man was not a victim, he was a perpetrator. I am sure I was not alone in feeling anger at my misdirected sympathy toward his pictorial portrayal.

VICKI ZEMLYN

Eugene

Readers owed an apology

The picture that appeared on the Feb. 24 front page was unnecessary. I also found the Feb. 25 article of explanation to be offensive and condescending.

Rob Romig essentially said, "We don't care whether this picture offended you or your children. We know what's best for you." He and the editors of this newspaper owe the readers an apology.

Alton F. Baker III has joined the ranks of other illustrious publishers like Larry Flynt. It's a pity that when Baker is dead and gone, he'll be remembered only for publishing pictures of dead children and mutilated bodies.

PETER CAMPBELL

Eugene

Governor's trip was a junket

Gov. Ted Kulongoski goes to Iraq. What a surprise to read that the governor decided that Oregon problems were solved and now he would assist the president in Iraq. At what cost?

A justification given was that the state of Oregon only had to pay for the fare to New York and that the Department of Defense paid the rest. Don't Oregon taxpayers also pay for the Department of Defense? It just doesn't pass the test that such a trip benefited Oregon, but was another example of an elected official taking a junket at the taxpayers' expense.

No wonder Measure 30 didn't pass. Why should the taxpayer give more money for feel-important VIP trips?

JOHN WEGNER

North Bend