Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Reservists lack time to prepare

I've been watching recent headlines, what with things going so wonderfully well in Iraq, but have seen no explanations for the October national emergency that required summarily and immediately mobilizing some 700 of Oregon's National Guard personnel with mere hours of advance notice, while then giving them no free time to deal with things such as individual living quarters, associated furnishings and possessions, privately-owned vehicles, bank accounts, civilian jobs and other details.

When I was drafted back in 1962, my out-of-town parents didn't need to travel hundreds of miles to vacate my bachelor apartment, to move and store all of my possessions or to coordinate all of the other associated and personal matters of my military mobilization, because I was then given reasonable time to take care of all of those sorts of personal details. But not so in this year of 2003!

Why have our 700 Oregon National Guard folks been so terribly jerked around during this recent mobilization? Why is no time allowed to take care of any of those innumerable and individual personal details associated with preparing for some 18 months of life in the U.S. Army?

If the administration were deliberately seeking to destroy the morale of our troops (and of their families) before they even got started on their mission, they couldn't have found any better and/or more effective ways to operate.

JOHN D. ENGELS

North Bend 

Get ready for vicious campaign

It's now becoming obvious that the Bush economic plan is working. The Clinton recession is almost over, as evidenced by the 7 percent growth for the third quarter of this year. Add an expanding labor market and success in the war on terror, and you have the Democrats' worst nightmare.

Democrats, with the help of their lapdogs in the press, have been trying to sabotage the economy since Bush was elected. Every negative development was amplified beyond its significance and positive data ignored. Democrats have distorted the efforts in Iraq in spite of obvious success.

Polls show most Iraqis are happy we're there. The few who are not are the holdovers from the horrific Saddam crowd.

The environmental nut cases have been rabidly blaming Bush for everything from global warming to hurricanes. But the saddest part of it all is how the deaths of our soldiers have been used for political purposes. Each incident is gleefully reported with the hope that it will somehow persuade us we should cut and run, allowing them to proclaim Bush as a loser.

Fortunately, most of us know better. Democrat politicians, media flacks and letter writers are slowly digging their own graves as desperation sets in and they intensify their accusations and misinformation.

So get ready for the most nasty election campaign in history. The Democrats will commit any perversion in their attempt to regain their power.

TOM PREUSS

Creswell

Go back to paper ballots

Lane County Elections has followed the mandated reform (and flawed lesser-of-evils theory) by choosing a new optical-scan vote-counting system. Presumably there is a physical record (pencil mark on paper ballot), but the virtual tally will be much easier to rig than with a punch-card system. Some questions need answers:

Is the software proprietary? Will Lane County elections have access to the code? Will audits or recounts account for ballot input and vote tally, but not the black box in between? Will anyone outside of elections have access to the software, such as political oversight or media investigation? Or only the voting machine corporation? Will elections officials allow the press to audit both the vote tally and the software data after every election? If the company that makes the machines has the sole access to the software, and since it is a constitutional requirement to hold transparent elections, is this not, by definition, an illegal voting system?

Why not choose the system (hand-counting paper ballots) with the lowest error rate, the lowest risk of rigging, the most honest and transparent process, and that tabulates the votes in a few hours? Is it typical or expedient to avoid a recount or audit of vote-counting procedure, especially after an actual election, rather than merely pre-testing mock-ups? (As evidenced in the 2000 coup with the suppression of any true recount in a contested election where the spectacular and primary issue was exactly how many votes were cast in Florida.)

BERNARD NICKERSON

Eugene

Express line at Pearly Gates 

Is it any wonder Lt. Gen. William Boykin touts (while in uniform) the United States as a Christian nation at war with Islam when the president himself labels enemies of America evil?

Pat Robertson spends millions of dollars a day propagating the same message, as if the United States government were the defender of all that is good and holy, reminiscent of the Jerry Falwell/Reagan collaboration in the war on drugs to enlist support from credulous Christians, who are advised by St. Paul in Romans 13:1 to "obey the government, for God is the one who put it there," yet seem to forget Paul himself was martyred for disobedience to government.

Mottos, slogans, songs and pledges of allegiance to the contrary, the First Amendment makes this nation secular, not Christian, and no government made by men can ever be more than a necessary evil. One has only to watch TV for an hour or so to realize this is in all probability the most decadent and immoral nation on earth since Sodom and Gomorrah, so what are religious leaders doing promoting secular causes, especially war?

If there is an express line for Americans at the Pearly Gates, you won't find me in it, because it probably leads straight to hell. Get religion out of government and keep it out.

PETE RAITERI

Eugene

Weigh facts before signing

While I staunchly oppose signing any petition to refer the graduated income tax assessment component of the Oregon Legislature's revenue package to the ballot, I recognize the rights of Oregonians to do so. I simply hope that when folks consider signing the petition, however, they utilize factual information.

A Nov. 2 letter by Bob Loomis encouraged people to sign the petition, but it did so using inaccurate information. Loomis identifies public education as a trouble spot in Oregon's budget, claiming that Oregon spends $10,000 per student per year. This is inaccurate and misleading. According to the Oregon Department of Education, there were 554,071 students enrolled in Oregon schools in 2002. The Legislature allocated approximately $2.6 billion to K-12 schools for 2003-04 and approximately $2.7 billion in 2004-05. This amounts to roughly $4,700 per student, less than half of Loomis' figure.

In his letter, Loomis also argues that students in Oregon are performing poorly. This, too, is inaccurate. Since the inception of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, student performance on statewide assessments in math and reading has improved each year. Additionally, eighth graders in Oregon exceeded the national averages - and the scores of all Western states - on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This is just one of many examples of successful Oregon students.

I urge everyone to resist signing the petition and to continue supporting education in Oregon. It is a critical investment in our future.

JON BULLOCK

Eugene

Liberals hate President Bush

I just finished reading the opinion of Henriette Foss (letters, Nov. 1) about giving control of Iraq to the United Nations. If the United Nations were in control, it would turn and run at the first hint of aggression. Oops, that's already happened.

Also, she states that the United Nations has the personnel and money in order to do this. Does she not know that most of the money that goes to the United Nations is paid in dues from the United States? Without the United States, there would be no United Nations (including personnel).

I also have a problem with all these liberals in Eugene bad-mouthing the war in Iraq because no evidence of weapons of mass destruction have been found. Don't they know or even care that it's not the weapons that are important, it's that we've just liberated millions of our Iraqi brothers and sisters from a life of tyranny and poverty? That was the main goal, and we've achieved it.

To say that our Iraqi brothers' and sisters' lives are not worth the effort is not the liberal way. Why don't the liberals of Eugene just come right out and say it - they agree with the liberation, they just hate President Bush.

WAYNE WEAVER

Eugene

Give up pro-tax mantra

In the article titled "Less help for more in need," (Register-Guard, Nov. 1), we were once again treated to front-page editorializing: Taxes are good, tax cuts are bad.

All over Lane County - and the nation, for that matter - families have both parents working 40-plus hours a week, yet they can't ever seem to get ahead because of the truly obscene tax burden placed upon them by federal, state and local governments. At the same time, these governments constantly demand even higher taxes (quick - name the last general election where there wasn't a tax increase on the ballot).

When is The Register-Guard going to run a similar front-page story dealing with these issues? Probably never.

JOEL EAGELSTON

Eugene

Evil men are in charge

Ultimately, according to granola philosophers, "It's all good." How do I know it's perfect? Because it's happening. This take on the Big Picture certainly makes sense to me.

That being said, my perspective on current world events can still be summed up as follows: Evil men are in charge, and we let it happen. We can do better.

VIP SHORT

Eugene