Thanks to Schiff for responsible votes

Though I have personally thanked my congressman, Adam Schiff, for voting “yes” on House Roslution 4899, which requires a stated timetable for withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan, Allen E. Brandstater’s letter (“So many reasons to vote for Colbert,” Oct. 16) reminds me to thank him publicly.

Brandstater sarcastically asks, “Hey, it’s only fair to give al-Qaida a heads-up when we’re leaving, right?” Here’s the real joke: Al-Qaida is long gone from Afghanistan, and even the Republicans along with anyone who gets news almost anywhere other than Fox should know it.

Another fact is that a key part of the U.S. military strategy to bring our Afghan fiasco to an end is to get the Karzai gang into negotiations with the Taliban. (See, for example, the New York Times, Oct. 17, “Week in Review,” among numerous other trustworthy sources, to verify this.) But the Taliban has said all along during our now-going-on-10-year occupation that they won’t come to the table until the foreign troops are gone.

So thank you, Adam, for voting “yes” on HR 4899; please continue that same good logic by working to pass House Resolution 6045 (Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan) and bring the troops home.

And regarding a 15-year-old pregnant daughter, Brandstater needn’t worry, I would either be driving that car or grateful for the help if I were unable to, and so would many other mothers.

Roberta Medford

Montrose

City doing a good job removing graffiti

After reading about so much ineffectiveness and waste in government, I wanted to acknowledge the city of Glendale for a very small program.

The city has a graffiti removal hotline program that, from my point of view, has been very successful. Every time I see graffiti on the sidewalk, walls, poles, even trees, I call the hotline, and they come out in two business days and remove it, as they claim.

Since I walk the dog almost every day, I’ve called many times and have been pleased to see that they follow through on their statements. Their phone number is (818) 548-3726.

Bonnie Strand

Glendale