Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.com">le*****@oc******.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.
TALK OF WAR
What a disgrace! First you publish a photo of the president flipping the bird, and now this garbage about one malcontent who isn't happy about the way the war went for him [Gustavo Arellano's “Hail the Hesitant Hero,” Nov. 12]. Hey, Acosta, you lost an arm; how about the soldiers who lost their lives? Your whining is an insult to their sacrifice.
Sgt. Dave
via e-mail
The article took me back to my 13th birthday—January 1964. We heard that “the [Vietnam] war was going well.” It never crossed my mind that when I turned 18, we would still be fighting and incurring our heaviest casualties. We were told this was “the price we have to pay to stop the communists” and “The war will keep us safe at home.” As an impressionable boy with a proud World War II Marine for a dad, I joined the Navy at age 19. I never went to Vietnam, but I saw the effects on those who did. During the '60s and '70s, brave Vietnam vets who had been wounded and didn't agree with the war would, like Robert Acosta, speak out against the war. They were subjected to the most horrific ridicule from government officials, members of the “citizenry” and, worst of all, fellow veterans. I also looked at these guys as outcasts. Yet they displayed guts in a battle far more brutal than the one they fought in Vietnam—they fought for PEACE! And now history is repeating itself. The daily casualties are increasing, and what you hear is “This is the price we have to pay to stop the terrorists” and “The war will keep us safe at home.” My fear is that this war, which has involved my son-in-law, one of the first U.S. troops into Baghdad, will also involve his 13-year-old son, my grandson.
Patrick J. Carey Jr.
Oxnard
Robert Acosta can say and do whatever he wants, but if he is going to badmouth America, he should have the decency to take off this country's uniform when he does it.
Lisa DeMentae
via e-mail
CANUCK YOURSELF
Steve Lowery's article “Ask a Canadian” [Nov. 12] has reflected my sentiments of late. I am a naturalized U.S. citizen of Canadian descent who has been living in OC since 1965. Canada's reasonable laws, living costs and social benefits contrast with the U.S.' ongoing decline from stellar symbol of an enlightened citizenry and a government considerate of the common good into a Wal-Mart wonderland of working-poor wages, high cost of living and the privileged few enjoying Bush's wealth-fare policies. The notion of emigrating has become ever more appealing. I'm sure the rancorous Republican “reddies” reading this are contemptuously anticipating my departure (despite my honorable service in the U.S. military—as Kerry can attest, “reddie” ideology trumps any sense of gratitude). However, let them ponder this: one less rationally thinking, “blue,” tax-paying American to pay for Bush's deficit, war and wealth-fare.
Francis Roffel
Fullerton
Be my guest: please, go to Canada. I believe the rest of us real Americans can somehow stand to let you go. See you later; be sure not to write.
Pat Williams
via e-mail
ROCK ON, ROCCO
Steve Rocco's win has to do with one thing: Measure A, the $196 million scam of a school bond [Nick Schou's “The Rocco Horror Picture Show,” Nov. 12]. We voters within Orange Unified School District (OUSD) are sick and tired of these irresponsible, incompetent school boards. OUSD has totally mismanaged its funds and twice this year has begged the already-burdened taxpayer to bail them out. We have spoken: enough is enough. And yes, if Bozo had been on the ballot, we would have voted for him, too. By you running down Rocco, it just makes the OUSD trustees look even worse. Go, Rocco! He can only improve this completely out-of-control, fiscally irresponsible board. I hope people in California will wise up and vote down these school bonds; they are the biggest scam going, and the voters in OUSD are on to it!
Nancy Agnew
Orange
WASHBURN IN '08
This is to say thank you to Jim Washburn for saying so eloquently what I think, feel and know [“So Now What?” Nov. 12]. A blue person in a red county is challenging at times, but there are more of US out there than you know. I had chest pains and was totally depressed for two days after Nov. 2. I was in mourning for our nation. With people such as you, I know there is hope and that I'm in good company!
Linda Francis
via e-mail
Jim Washburn, what a bitter, self-righteous opinion you have! We should make you president. Then you could ignore all the red states and do whatever you want.
Todd Hansen
vie e-mail
The editor responds: Todd, I can see no drawback to your plan. Let us begin.
9-0-NEIN!
Re: Valerie Howard's “Beyond the Valley of the Dirt People” [Nov. 12]: How does the statement about the air quality in the 909 look when compared to the recent (well, longstanding) chemical-dump concerns in and around Huntington Beach that your paper reports on? So local leftist-weekly writers for the 714 or 949 hold up their treasured districts filled with slums similar to ours but somehow see them as bequeathed with the magic of Disneyland, a model of utopian efficiency and perfection. Please continue to promote the idea that this is a horrible place to live. I like seeing how many of you people the Irvine Co. can stack on top of one another at those prices.
Billy Lamb
via e-mail
