Fear, Sensationalism Conquer Common Sense

Whether it was one of Osama bin Laden’s paid assassins or a home-grown Una-nut who sent the anthrax is beside the point (“Anthrax Investigation Broadens in 3 States,” Oct. 14). They all have the same goal: Destroy the U.S. and destroy the freedom it represents. Sadly, we’ve been helping them. When the barbarians came, our gates were wide open and the sentries were gone. So while we worry about losing our civil liberties, it should be pretty clear to everyone that we’ve already lost quite a bit: We’re afraid to fly, afraid to open the U.S. mail, afraid of truck bombs--afraid. Is that how we want to live from now on? Do we want to be controlled by the new Hitler, who piously invokes God while plotting to make himself one?

There’s freedom, and then there’s freedom with common sense. It’s time to lock the gates, find the rats who have invaded our house and deal with them accordingly. They lost their civil rights when they decided to torture and murder more than 5,000 innocent souls. We’ll never feel confident about dealing with our enemies until we’ve secured our own house and returned a sense of safety at home to all who live here. And we need that sense of security to be able to move forward and deal with whatever comes. How many victims equal action?

Severn Day

Moorpark

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Is there no common sense used by newspaper writers in favor of sensationalism? “Anxieties in U.S. Build as Scares Multiply” (Oct. 13) gives the terrorists just what they want--publicity to further their aim of paralyzing us. Besides inflaming normal citizens, the crazies will all be mailing baby powder in envelopes. We must be informed, but drop the inflammatory adjectives. We all need to be vigilant.

Judy Winick

Beverly Hills