Opinion: In Thursday’s Letters to the editor

Sen. John McCain is still behaving as if the campaign never ended, leading the GOP charge against President Obama. Republican leaders now pontificate about bipartisanship, but their public statements foster the old Washington gridlock and the old ways of doing the public’s business. Even more disingenuous is when they rant about the Democrats’ recovery plan, claiming it will increase the deficit. What short memories they have. Under Republican control of the White House and the Congress for much of the last eight years, didn’t the deficit increase off the charts? It makes me wonder, who won the 2008 election, and wasn’t it supposed to signal change?

Times and property uses have changed over the decades, and not necessarily for the better.

Those of us fortunate enough to live with our horses, adjacent to Griffith Park, are lucky enough to have access to miles of trails that are not likely to be replaced by housing developments and condo complexes, strip malls and parking lots. But even here, protecting the park from development has been an ongoing fight. We believe strongly that preserving this way of life is worth the effort. Every day we lose a little more of the most precious things from our past. It is time to demand accountability from elected representatives and to fight to save what’s left of our neighborhoods, parks and wild places -- not just for horse people but for everyone who enjoys having a place to go to that hasn’t been paved over.