Letters to the editor for September 7, 2008

Attacks on Palin take the cake

To the editor:

This election is getting curiouser and curiouser! The current round of questions and assertions about John McCain’s running mate take the cake.

Sarah Palin is much too inexperienced. (If you look closely, she has more hands-on executive experience than Biden, Obama or McCain.)

Palin is merely governor of a state with a small population. (Wyoming, 515,000; Alaska, 670,000; Delaware, 854,000).

What if McCain dies in office and the inexperienced Palin has to assume the helm? (What if Obama is elected and Biden dies in office?)

I need not mention the sleazy attacks on her family.

Time to put away the name-calling and sophomoric questioning. It is time to spell out how each party plans to address the problems facing America. What is each planing to accomplish with Social Security, oil addiction, rising food prices, the war against terrorism, and how will this be done?

Don’t let fires burn up our forests

To the editor:

There are a few things on my mind I’d like to say. First, I’m not very good at editorials, so bear with me.

I want the public to know that the forest belongs to us. We pay the wages of government workers and we expect them to take care of our forest by putting out the fires.

I don’t believe in underbrush burning because those fires always seem to get out of control. I’ve seen the aftermath and it’s not pretty.

I’ve lived among and smelled the timber and the outdoors. I’ve set chokers and gone to timber sales. I’ve loved the fresh cutting of timber for many years.

My father, husband and son all worked in the woods. My son right now is running skidders in McCall, Idaho. My father and husband drove logging truck, loaders, cats and skidders.

In the early years, loggers put fires out with no problem, but now the Forest Service sends them home while the Forest Service crews stand there and watch it burn. No! This is not right. We need to put a stop to this action now!

Members of the public also need to express how they feel about road closures. How are we going to stop them? First — why? How do road closures help things?

Papé out of Mitchell has land. Well, guess what? A fire in the wilderness started small and the Forest Service was notified three or four times, but no one came and fire spread on to private land. Now Papé is bringing a lawsuit against the Forest Service.

It’s so sad when cattle and wildlife die. OK, let’s all get together and do something to stop the Forest Service from burning up our forest. Good luck, Papé.

Christianity, politics need to be mixed

To the editor:

Sorry to say, some still believe that Christianity and politics don’t mix — some even in the church. As a believer, I hotly disagree!

We’re told to pray for our leaders, to stand in the gap for them. As Christians, but still citizens of this world, it is our responsibility to open the doors so that God can set the right person in office or remove the wrong one.

I watched the debate from the Saddleback Church in California between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama. If you profess Christianity as they both do, then your views will be the same as the word of God, or as God said, you lie, and the truth is not in you. That applies to the  the question on same sex marriage, abortion, gay rights and so on.

All these questions are answered in the Bible. McCain’s answers were totally correct and biblical. Obama’s were wrong and political. Obama is either lying, afraid of his party or he reads a different Bible than I do!

I haven’t herd this man answer one Bible question with a Bible answer. He either beats around the brush or gives an ignorant answer.

The Bible says life begins with conception in the mother’s womb. Read Psalm 139. The Bible is very clear on marriage. It’s between a man and a woman: Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!

Obama says he’s for the Second Amendment. No so, according to his voting record. He supports banning the use of firearms for home defense, even banning the use of all handguns, revoking your right to carry and increasing federal taxes on guns and ammunition by 500 percent.

He would close down 90 percent of the gun shops in America by passing a law of no gun-related shop within five miles of any school. This would close down every gun shop in Baker City.

And he would appoint Supreme Court and federal judges who share his views on the Second Amendment.

Check the record before you vote. You will have to live with it!