Hunger and the holidays; defending the ACLU; Ft. Hood and political correctness

Holiday shame

Re “Holiday feast is in the bag,” Nov. 22

On the front page of my Sunday paper I saw a picture that literally took my breath away. An elderly woman is in a wheelchair, crying and embracing a pastor who was giving away bags of turkeys and groceries.

She had traveled nearly a mile in her chair for free food. Reading the article, I found that others in need had begun standing in line at 2 p.m. the day before the handout.

What kind of country have we become? There is need all around us -- but we who still have jobs complain about paying more in taxes. It is a shameful situation.

Joan Gorger
Westlake Village

This strategy makes sense

Re “Afghan effort to recruit Taliban,” Nov. 23

Finally, a plan that makes sense to a layman like me -- offer jobs and protection to Taliban foot soldiers to lure them away from battle.

I have always wondered whether we were rebuilding roads and repairing the water and electrical systems in Afghanistan. And if we weren’t, why not? We never see photos of these kinds of efforts, only soldiers breaking down doors. I know it seems way too simple, but maybe the simple efforts bring the best results.

Susan Harris
Glendale

Speaking up for the ACLU

Re “Everyone’s ACLU,” Editorial, Nov. 23

As a card-carrying American Civil Liberties Union member for over 50 years, and a member of many a liberal organization (many of which I didn’t think were liberal enough), I wonder which such organization your editorial has in mind when it says, “If the ACLU were just another liberal organization, it wouldn’t have supported [immigration opponent Jim] Gilchrist’s right to speak.”

And what, pray tell, is the “liberal orthodoxy” from which you say the ACLU departed in opposing the McCain-Feingold law’s restrictions on union and corporate political broadcasts?

There are liberal positions on various issues, but for me a liberal orthodoxy is the product of an anti-liberal more than a reality.

Tom Robischon
Los Angeles

Thanks for your editorial. I’ve been a proud, card-carrying member of the ACLU for over 20 years. Its defense of the Constitution leads it to advocate not only for those deemed respectable by the majority but also for those whom most detest.

What prompted me to join was its philosophy: Either the Bill of Rights applies to everybody, or to nobody.

Richard Nagle
Los Angeles

Debating political correctness

Re “Ft. Hood and the bugaboo of ‘political correctness,’ ” Opinion, Nov. 23

Gregory Rodriguez writes of political correctness that “the term has become a kind of code for an essentially racial struggle over what it means to be American.”

I strongly disagree. As a Mexican American, I believe political correctness goes far beyond race.

For example, it is not politically correct to say “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending those who don’t celebrate it. It is not politically correct to stand up for traditional marriage because if one dares, the label of bigot promptly follows. It is not politically correct to say that women are not as physically strong as men without being called a sexist.

I believe political correctness is more accurately defined as the narrowing of acceptable opinions by a group that uses guilt to impose their views. Political correctness is running rampant in this country. If left unchecked, it has the potential to cost human lives in extreme situations -- as was the case at Ft. Hood.

Sam Chaidez
Mission Hills

It’s not political correctness that drives people to murder others, it’s the radicalization of religion. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan may be angry, confused and disturbed -- but it was his religion that made him that way.

Extremist Islam and extremist Christianity may have more in common than we are comfortable with. Both hate what America has become and is doing. Political correctness may have a role in propagating their agendas, but blaming it for the murders is like saying the Band-Aid causes the sore.

Larry Shapiro
Rancho Mirage

The business of medicine

Re “The emergency room bill is enough to make you sick,” Column, Nov. 22

Steve Lopez is right; hospital and emergency room fees are exorbitant. Yet hospitals and emergency rooms are closing due to insolvency.

The burdensome costs of government over-regulation and defensive medical practice, losses incurred by non-compensated care and the inefficient payment-for-services dance in which healthcare providers must engage with profit-gorging health insurance companies are the sources of this inane system.

I suggest we lock the politicians, businessmen and attorneys out of the hospitals and doctors’ offices and get back to taking care of patients. Think of the savings!

Howard R. Krauss MD
Los Angeles

The testimonial Lopez offers in support of the single-payer solution is naive in many ways.

The price of a tetanus shot does seem ridiculous. But most hospitals are nonprofit institutions. Charging high prices for small items is what it takes to keep their doors open. Yes, that is cost-shifting. But hospitals must resort to it to cover the multitude of services they offer.

In a single-payer system, you won’t get the big hospital bill in the mail, but you will pay higher insurance premiums, higher income taxes and higher prices for goods and services. You will still have less in your pocket at the end of the year, even though you won’t see a bill in your mailbox.

Single-payer is a politician’s shell game scheme to promise health coverage for all at a lower cost. It is a deception. Nobody is going to get Cadillac healthcare for the price of a VW.

Peter Corrigan
Arcadia

There is another side to the emergency room bill controversy. I have a “friend” I’ve known since elementary school. He is a substance abuser and a con man.

Whenever he needs medical attention, he goes to an ER. When in California, he gives my address and phone number, so I get the bills and the calls. I tell the callers that the person is a con man and that they’ll never collect. The response is, inevitably, “We get a lot of that.”

How can anyone run a business in which, by law, he must serve all comers whether or not he gets paid for it? Imagine if The Times had to keep delivering newspapers to people who didn’t pay for them. And if emergency rooms are overcharging, why are so many closing?

Bill Serantoni
Thousand Oaks

Byrd’s song

Re “Byrd sets a longevity record for the ages,” Nov. 19

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) is not only a fine fiddler but also a fine poet.

In 1977, I served as a Senate Republican page when the distinguished senator from West Virginia was majority leader. Once -- on the occasion of Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey’s birthday -- we GOP pages respectfully wished the venerable senator a happy birthday, and we asked Sen. Orrin G. Hatch to enter our statement into the Congressional Record.

In response, Byrd vowed to keep the Senate in session until the Democratic pages came up with their own statement in honor of Humphrey. Moreover, Byrd praised the Republican pages and noted that “they certainly have set a fine example.” He then recited this beautiful poem:

Ah, great it is to believe the dream
As we stand in youth by the starlit stream.
But greater still is to live life through
And find at the end that the dream is true.

David Tulanian
Los Angeles