Politicians in hot water; Arizona vs. L.A.; Patt Morrison’s interview of John Rockwell

Two of a kind

Re “Senate candidate under fire,” and “ GOP lawmaker resigns over affair with aide,” May 19

How appropriate that the revelations about two more dishonest politicians should appear side by side on the same page. We have Democratic Senate hopeful Richard Blumenthal, who confesses to having “misspoken” about his service record “on a few occasions.” Then there’s Indiana Rep. Mark Souder, who righteously preached celibacy and fidelity while cheating on his wife.

Did Blumenthal never consider how easy it would be to discover the truth about his record? Did Souder learn nothing from fellow Indiana Rep. Dan Burton, who crudely castigated Bill Clinton for his infidelities, only to later admit that he had fathered an illegitimate child? I am no fan of the “tea party” movement, but it’s not hard to understand or share their disgust with politicians.

A plague on both their houses!

Sam Graham

Los Angeles

Arizona’s power over L.A.

Re “An Arizonan’s suggestion: Let’s unplug L.A.,” May 20

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s assertion that Arizona “has isolated itself from the America that values freedom, liberty and basic civil rights” is completely unintelligible. I can assure you that I am an American, and I do value freedom, liberty and basic civil rights.

As citizens, we have a responsibility to protect our interests and uphold our laws. Our elected officials should realize that we expect them to look out for the best interests of our citizens and our country.

Before any federal action is taken on immigration “reform,” our government needs to listen to us.

Deborah Guerrero

Huntington Beach

I wholeheartedly support the mayor’s response to Arizona’s threat. This is the perfect opportunity for us to find out how easy it is to cut power consumption. All you have to do is turn things off, adjust your refrigerator a notch and use fans instead of air conditioning as much as possible.

Most important, the issue is not illegal immigration. That’s just a red herring to get everyone inflamed. The only issue is civil liberty.

My son’s father is African American; I am white. My son is cafe au lait in color, and he has brown, slightly curly hair. He drives a 1992 Chevrolet pickup. He frequently wears a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. If he visits friends in Arizona, he must carry proof of his citizenship.

People who support these kinds of laws only do so because they think they don’t have to worry about such laws affecting them. Caucasians need to understand that in the history of the world, white people have never been the majority.

Kate Whitesell

Lancaster

Budgeting matters

Re “The ‘ugly’ budget,” Editorial, May 18

Any set of budget choices adopted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been the “worst choice.” That he chose to make cuts that should have been made years before the state spent itself into insolvency may be unpalatable to the social welfare lobby and its union allies, but these are cuts that were long overdue.

The alternative is Obama budgetary dishonesty — kick the can because we are able to do so and do nothing to reduce the number of sacred cows embedded in a budget. Had California made hard choices when hard choices were required, it might not today be the poster child for out-of-control spending.

Jeffrey Meyer

Clearwater, Fla.

Per Jonathan Swift, perhaps Schwarzenegger’s “pulling the rug and then the floor itself from under millions of ill, addicted, unemployed and underskilled Californians” isn’t such a bad idea. Get rid of funding that supports people in need: the elderly, children, the mentally ill. Stop services to those who can’t pay in full for healthcare. Then, finally, only the healthy, self-sufficient Californians who are in no need of government support will populate the Golden State (the needy will have gone away). And then we will have the perfect budget.

Lenore Navarro Dowling

Los Angeles

OK, agreed: “Human services are a necessary part of a solvent, sustainable, humane California.”

So give your readers some ideas to chew on. What can be done? Don’t just kick the can down the road to the Legislature.

Connie Haddad

Yorba Linda

No excuses for Wagner

Re “Operatic,” Opinion, May 15

I was disturbed by John Rockwell’s quote: “Wagner was a virulent anti-Semite, and Hitler loved him, loved his music. He was a bad man when it came to Jewish issues.”

It appears that Rockwell is struggling with the simple truth that Wagner was a bad man, period. Debates on separating the man from his music have been part of the cultural conversation for decades. To my mind, they have arrived at certain conclusions and the topic, I thought, was exhausted.

Anyone who can be described as a virulent anti-Semite must surely be condemned without any qualification. Let’s grant Wagner his true scale, both as a musician and as an anti-Semite. Anything less is a profound offense to the Jewish people and to good people everywhere.

Doreen Seidler-Feller

Los Angeles

Patt Morrison’s interview of Rockwell shows how far we have come in how we view music. When I was a student at the University of Washington, the head of the music department said in a newspaper interview that the only good music was classical music.

Morrison uses the unfortunate phrase “if aliens came to Earth” rather than the better phrase used by Rockwell of “space aliens,” so as to avoid any mix-up with the current news about aliens coming here from Mexico.

Kenneth Larson

Los Angeles

The haves and the have-nots

Re “Consumer spending is off balance,” May 17

Of course consumer spending is off balance. Thirty years of bad tax codes and trade laws have devastated the middle class, shipped our manufacturing overseas and created an economic royalty. It will not take many years more of the current policies to make this country weaker than Mexico. Unfortunately, the Obama administration seems determined to continue the destructive Bush policies.

Larry Severson

Fountain Valley

I read the article about how spending by the rich was fueling the “economic recovery” and then flipped to the letters. There I spotted the headline, “Whitman and Goldman Sachs.” Then the epiphany occurred: Meg Whitman’s, Steve Poizner’s and Carly Fiorina’s campaign spending is fueling California’s economic recovery.

I guess that is what Ronald Reagan intended with his “voodoo” trickle-down economic theory.

Arch Miller

Arcadia

Bunker mentality

Re “Doomsday? They have it covered,” May 17

Those inclined to bury themselves in the Mojave Desert would be better-served if they went back to school and took a couple of classes in political science and world history. Geography would help, and critical thinking would be a cure. They could learn to read a map and realize that when they need it most, they’ll never make it to their bunker. Fear is a terrible thing to waste.

John Thomas Ellis

Kentfield, Calif.