Letters to the editor

Recapping the RNC

McCain not right for the country, especially not right now

Editor, The Times:

I was curious to see Sen. John McCain claiming that he will put this country "back on track" ["McCain urges country: 'Stand up and fight,' " Times, page one, Sept. 5]. After eight years of Republican rule, another Republican sees the need to put our country back on track.

Amazing! The current administration has squandered our jobs and our children's future on an unnecessary war, ignored the real war against terrorists, and pushed a shortsighted energy policy that creates short-term profits for oil-company executives.

I respect what McCain went through in Vietnam, but what will he do as president? We still don't know. More of the same, I suspect!

I hope when the debates begin, McCain has more to offer than, "I'm a war hero," to the American people. There's lots of war heroes out there — many of them begging on the streets. What has he done about that?

— Wayne Anderson, Littlerock, Thurston County

A truly global war

I enjoyed Sen. John McCain's nomination speech, but have just one question: The senator said that failure in Iraq risks a wider war. My question for McCain is then this: What is wider than a "global war on terror"?

— Jon Weerts, Kent

Getting feisty

Attacks from Giuliani and Palin unfair

From the Christian Coalition of America to ACORN, community leaders should be outraged by both Rudy Giuliani's and Gov. Sarah Palin's disrespect and dismissal of the value of community and grass-roots leadership ["Feisty Palin slams Obama, D.C. insiders," page one, Sept. 4].

Contrary to the Republicans' beliefs, community organizers have particularly keen decision-making responsibilities and capabilities, a passion to improve the overall quality of life for all working families, and the ability to discern lies from truth.

— Cynthia Renfro, Seattle

Take a look in the mirror

I find the Republican Party's mean-spirited attack on Sen. Barack Obama's "community-organizer" experience — led by "hockey mom" Sarah Palin — to be tragically amusing.

Don't those who are heartily cackling whenever the phrase "community organizer" is mentioned realize just whom they are mocking?

Who in the world do they think community organizers are? I'd say they are the PTA moms and dads, they are the church members who run food drives, they are the fundraisers for their school's hockey team and they are the convention delegates who worked so hard to get to St. Paul.

They are themselves. But anything for a laugh, right?

— Beverly Marcus, Seattle

Goodbye, good ol' boys

Sarah Palin has knocked her critics back on their heels with her acceptance speech. I am guessing her electric introduction to the American people has ended the "vetting" questions for good. She without a doubt is ready to lead and take charge if called upon.

What's better, she's just an ordinary American who has and will continue to do extraordinary things. She is living proof that ordinary people, and an ordinary mom, can get involved in the political process and change things at all levels of government.

From a small-town mayor to the realization that an ordinary citizen can, in the 21st century, still rise to be the leader of the free world, Palin has already brought change.

No longer are Washington's political offices reserved only for lawyers and cigar-smoking professional politicians. Those longtime Washington good ol' boys better take note.

— David Glenn, Renton

Apology requested

Along with many other Roman Catholics, I was deeply offended at Sarah Palin's demeaning reference in her acceptance speech to Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago.

Community organizing is so important to Catholic social teaching that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has operated the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, its domestic anti-poverty and social-justice program, since 1969.

In 1968, the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued "Economic Justice for All," a pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the economy, which said, "Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community."

In the 1980s, Obama worked in several Catholic parishes, supported by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, rather than pursue a lucrative career on Wall Street.

The McCain campaign owes an apology to the thousands of community organizers, the organizations that have supported them, including the Campaign for Human Development, and particularly the countless working families who have been helped in communities across our country.

— The Rev. Roger G. O'Brien, senior priest, Archdiocese of Seattle

Metaphoric rifles pointed at Palin's critics

Nicole Brodeur's column about Sarah Palin seems unhinged ["Hockey mom, gov, juggler?" Local News, Sept. 5]. Brodeur says "shame on her" for aiming her "hunting rifle" at the media — the very media which spread baseless lies about the parentage of her baby and a fringe Alaska secessionist party she never belonged to.

Brodeur says Palin found it "easier to play the victim," an odd characterization of a woman with a metaphoric hunting rifle. Then, to top it all off, Brodeur announces that because the president, vice president and respective first spouses have so many responsibilities, families with young children are basically disqualified from these positions.

Apparently, John F. Kennedy should have been impeached what with all that "John-John" stuff and Jackie giving birth while he was in office.

Palin has induced such raw fear in the hearts of the left wing that they have panicked, as one might when unexpectedly confronting a mama grizzly bear in the woods.

— Steven Adler, Seattle

A little mom power

Nicole Brodeur's thoughts concerning Sarah Palin are a bit of a "head-scratcher." Our great nation has a woman on a national ticket with a good chance of winning the election.

This should be a reason for celebration among the many people who have championed women's causes throughout the years.

What I see in Gov. Palin is a person who exudes values that provide an avenue to a fulfilling and successful life: She values family, faith, hard work and recreation. She brings a servant's heart to her endeavors, and we all would benefit from her "maverick" style that puts the people's interests first.

Not lost in her story is what must be a tremendous support network, including a loving husband and children who undoubtedly share a good piece of the load on the home front.

This is a great example of how a marriage can be a synergistic relationship, where both spouses are allowed to pursue their passions through a mutually supportive family.

The path Palin has chosen is certainly not the easiest one. I, for one, am excited that she has chosen the road less traveled and is willing to serve our great country.

She epitomizes the opportunities afforded Americans who are willing to work hard and hold the values that are consistent to those of our country's founders.

— Jim Campbell, Seattle