LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Petraeus wasn't first to betray us

I can't believe the Senate wasted time to take up the MoveOn.org ads criticizing Gen. David Petraeus. Does no one remember that the most respected general of our time, Colin Powell, was sent to the United Nations Security Council to betray us?

Armed with some phony satellite photos that were quickly discredited by Hans Blix and Muhammad al-Baradei, Powell had to have known better. I did, and I'm an uneducated grandmother, for god's sake!

And our media completely ignored all decent and common sense. Please point this out to the drooling elitists who followed their Judas goat to war.

Joan Vaughn

Blachly

Taser misused on Florida student

The recent tasering of a student after he questioned John Kerry during a University of Florida appearance was a painful example of misjudgment by police officers.

In ganging up on him both physically and psychologically, the police instigated his shock, disorientation and panic. He was never a threat; nor was he vicious. He was not an "enemy combatant." His questioning was passionate but salient, his only "crime" being wordiness.

Such passion is not unheard of at these events. An aide will usually move in to focus the person's attention on time and decorum. Occasionally, it will escalate to a warning about calling security. No such preliminaries occurred here. The overkill in numbers and brutish behavior created a crisis of fear and an unjustified, wrongful tasering.

The Taser is alleged to be a weapon of last resort in a crime setting. Here it was employed for political convenience. In deference to a senator's comfort, officers engaged in conduct that violated the playbook and exacerbated emotions rather than defused them.

Misuse of Tasers on people innocent of any crime is un-American, incompetent and insane. For knowledgeable law officers, such cavalier abuse marks a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The incident's larger symbolism was also unmistakable. This student's passion mimicked the frustration of millions who have been anguishing for years while Congress does nothing to stop the serial violence of unchecked greed. They watch passively as innocent people are tortured or killed, and their own sympathizers brutalized. Pre-emptive overkill rules - because war is now permanent.

Bevin Gilmore

Eugene

If editorials offend, don't read

If readers such as Tom Preuss (letters, Sept. 20) find The Register-Guard's editorials so offensive, why do they continue to pick up the newspaper?

No one is forcing Preuss to ingest viewpoints he finds "sickening," so why does he engage in self-flagellation? I am all for exposing oneself to alternate views, but I find it hard to believe that someone who sees the fundamentally American right to free speech as "anti-American" would take seriously any idea presented in the so-called liberal media. In this day of Web sites and television channels that cater to every possible taste and bias, why doesn't Preuss find one that does less to raise his blood pressure?

I don't watch Bill O'Reilly because I find the man ludicrous, so why do people with nothing but criticism for The Register-Guard keep reading it? If the editors' "shriveled souls" cause so much outrage, put down the paper and take a deep breath.

As for Preuss' condemnation of the editorial writer as a "coward" who "didn't sign his name," I would hope someone with such obvious knowledge of the media would know that the very point of an editorial is to represent the view of the editorial board, not a specific individual. As Preuss should know, even the conservative writers of The Wall Street Journal editorial board are not identified as individuals. Or is The Wall Street Journal just another liberal publication whose shriveled souls should be begging for "God's mercy"?

Emily Keizer

Eugene

Urban density requires thought

Eugene is a wonderful place to live, but it is set to destroy its few historic neighborhoods by permitting plywood boxes to be built alongside small, quaint bungalows.

The four-plex project on West 11th Avenue (Register-Guard, Sept. 19) is an example of poor planning and a cry to move quickly to prevent further destruction of our neighborhoods, which ultimately leads to sprawl.

Increasing density in the core neighborhoods is a worthy goal and can be done tastefully and in a way that preserves and even enhances the character of the West Jefferson Neighborhood. But poorly planned in-fill that does not take into consideration the architecture and design of surrounding buildings creates further sprawl by driving families to look elsewhere for the charm and neighborhood feel that lured them to this community in the first place.

Make quality in-fill standards a high priority and get to work stopping the construction of human warehouses that destroy our neighborhoods.

Shannon Micheel

Eugene

Kill the messenger, honor profits

The attack on MoveOn.org for pointing out that Gen. David Petraeus would continue the administration's lie of "we're making progress" had the president asking how you can doubt a military general (Think: Colin Powell.)

This kill-the-messenger tactic has been used successfully on Bill Moyers, Dan Rather, Max Cleland and John Kerry, to name a few who have also been attacked this way. Instead of listening to the attacks on MoveOn.org, try reading or hearing the message that it is trying to bring to all of us.

Conservatives, progressives, independents and liberals - open your eyes, look at the reality of the last five years. "Stay the course, were making progress" is only for the massive profits that go to the war profiteers who care nothing about the 3,800 dead U.S. troops, the more than 22,000 wounded and maimed, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead and the 4 million displaced. Not to mention $10 billion a month for war profits. And this president is going to veto health care for kids ($35 billion over five years)?

Raise your voices. Only you can change the course that the president and the lock-step Republicans have set for us.

DON NORTON

Florence

Babies should be born in hospital

Babies should be born in the hospital, old people should die at home surrounded by loved ones - not the other way around.

That's this doctor's opinion after practicing medicine for over 30 years. Obstetrics is a natural experience, albeit an extremely complex life event. The fact is, assessing risk and accurately predicting outcomes is not possible in the real world. The good news is that today, more than ever before, it can be a safe and rewarding experience in the hospital setting.

Darcy Hannibal's Sept. 20 guest viewpoint is correct about birth being a more rewarding life experience when attended by concerned and caring people throughout the birthing process. That should be every woman's right.

Her issues regarding hospital food and being around friends just don't fly. We don't go to the hospital for the food and conversation.

The fact is that obstetrics, like anesthesia and flying, is often characterized by hours of relative boredom punctuated by unpredictable moments of terror.

When those critical times occur, you want the most competent and skilled people you can possibly have at the controls. There just isn't any argument among physicians on this point.

When you get home from the hospital with your precious newborn baby, invite your close friends over for a delicious potluck. Until then, remember that babies should be born in the hospital, old people should die at home.

Warren Griffith

Oakridge

UO penalizes low-wage workers

The Service Employees International Union ratified a contract on Aug. 24 that gave workers a 3 percent cost of living increase retroactive to July 1, 2007.

However, the University of Oregon has decided that workers who separated from the university between July 1 and Aug. 31, 2007, will not get the retroactive pay increase that they earned while employed under contract at the university.

Bear in mind that these increases were for the union employees who represent the lowest-paid workers on campus.

The amount that the university is so stingily hanging onto? In my case, it's a whopping $166.92. How many workers left the Oregon University System in those two months? Ten? Twenty? What a way to reward staff for years of service!

Bravo to the university for saving a couple thousand dollars while once again screwing the lowest paid workers on campus.

Tiffany Brannon

Eugene

Bombers drill at Eugene airport

I live 10 miles south of the Eugene airport. Early in 2003, prior to President Bush's invasion of Iraq, there were numerous military aircraft practicing approaches to the airport.

Some of the craft were so low and so noxiously loud that my wife called the airport to complain.The airport operator connected her directly to the air controllers in the tower, where they confirmed that military aircraft crews were practicing instrument approaches. Weeks later, Bush invaded Iraq.

Well, they're at it again. There is a B1 bomber crew - yes, a B1 bomber - that for weeks has been making practice runs on the airport and again the air controller on duty confirmed they are practicing instrument approaches. Coincidently, the Air Force last week "mistakenly" flew a planeload of nuclear bombs across America's skies to the East Coast.

Iranian officials had better beware. For the record, I am a four-year veteran of the Korean conflict era, and I do not appreciate what this country has become. I am so ashamed.

Jim Clarkson

Eugene

Frohnmayer unfairly criticized

A good man should not be maligned unfairly. A Sept. 21 letter to the editor accused University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer of intolerance, of having a "facade of liberal tolerance" - basically, of being a phony.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a conservative, evangelical Christian minister who has worked among students at the UO for 15 years, I know how I, and the students my wife and I have mentored, have been treated by Frohnmayer's administration.

President Frohnmayer has been a vigorous champion of everyone's constitutional rights, and we have freedom and generous access to university facilities, just like everyone else. Charges to the contrary are, at best, uninformed.

Mike Edsall

Eugene