Right-ing The Ship

Nina J. Easton seems to have missed an opportunity to understand the “Republican revolution” (“Taking the Hill,” Jan. 8). She ridiculed a point made by House Speaker Newt Gingrich in which he noted the difference between “caring” and “caretaking.”

Caring means helping others through rough spots in their lives or providing them with an opportunity to improve their lot. Caretaking demeans the recipients and fosters dependency by implying that they cannot take care of themselves, so someone else must do it for them.

Maris Bellamy

Northridge

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If Gingrich instructs his GOP allies to use labels such as candid when describing their actions, he should voice no objections to his mother’s candid revelation that he considers the President’s wife “a bitch.”

Mary E. Hanson

Whittier