Letters to the Editor:

Poor people, whether white, black, or brown, are not on the GOP's agenda. The GOP tight-asses view New Orleans, with its human gumbo of mixed families and let-it-all-hang-out party atmosphere, as Satan's resting place. The President's Mom chimed in with the standard sentiment of the rich: poor people are so yesterday, so inconvenient.

Somehow the electorate, so fearful of a gay couple next door getting married, is unable to see this callousness. To Bush, folks in "blue" states are “unpersons” who would be ignored if the media weren’t watching. More money and lower taxes are offered to the corporate elite while the vast middle class is made to sacrifice and fed a line of bull about preserving moral values. Katrina showed us that our government has done more for Kuwaitis (in Desert Storm) and Saudis (by not releasing oil reserves) then it does for its own citizens. It’s ironic that the GOP practices Social Darwinism—survival of the fittest—while promoting an alternate theory of evolution. It’s time we took our gloves off as Democrats and stepped up to the plate. Lets give the voters a real alternative!

In 2006 vote the Republicans out of office so that George Bush may be impeached!

I know that you've promised those hurtin’ black folks out of the Big Easy the moon but even they know that you don't have the time left in office to give 'em a streetlight. George, nobody but a pure D idiot would believe all those grand schemes. And yer hopin’ that will shut ‘em all up until yer out of office. It might work. But it’s kind of a scummy trick.

We saw that yer guys got the flood lights turned on in the town square by the Andy Jackson statue, but Andy was the only one there. We all know damned good ‘n well that the city is empty except for the many ghosts that you helped to make and the stink of rotting death in the air. I have to admit that it all was kinda weird to be watching on the TV.

Katrina would've been a great opportunity for a great leader, George. But guess what? You ain't one, old son! And we're all goin’ to have to pay out the butt fer yer freeze up in the old clutch.

Hell, our Border Patrol guys here in El Paso down at the border line on Doniphan Road and the Rio by ASARCO smelter town could've alone done a hell of a lot better job than you with the whole damned United States Army & Marines & Navy & Coast Guard & FEMA & Homeland Security & National Guard did all rolled up into one. Great job George, but why don't you take a hike and let someone else seat that stud who knows the hell how to ride!

Yer fine speech amounted to Bactine on yer brain-dead & heartless non-rescue effort—and that ain't much fer damned sure!

God save the GOP from George Bush our fearless leader!

Roberts' failure to state his views on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties, privacy, and corporate responsibility to society confirms his disqualification from the Court's lifetime appointment. Democratic and Republican Senators must rouse themselves from the stupor of the delusion that the White House's nomination serves the best interest of our nation. The White House has proven its interests are only self-serving.

This huge hurricane could be seen coming across the Gulf for days before the projected direct hit on this major US city. By Sunday it was a level 5, and although there was a mandatory evacuation, there seemed to be no further planning beyond that point. The people with cars and means got out—but where was the mass transportation to evacuate the others?

So sad to see whole lots full of school buses, later submerged and useless. Where was the National Guard to help at this point? Waiting for word from Bush? It was abundantly clear that this was a federal-size disaster! They should have jumped in during the evacuation. But we know where most of them are: in Iraq!

Where was our "leader" when he should have been seeing to this burgeoning catastrophe? AWOL again, cheerleading for his godforsaken war! He was on his ranch Sunday, seemingly oblivious, meeting with McCain and his well-heeled friends! On Monday as the winds howled and the levees were breaking, he went off to California to push his reduced-benefit version of Medicare. Meanwhile, Rumsfeld was at a baseball game, Condi Rice was out buying a new pair of Jackboots to go with her Darth Vader helmet, and Cheney was probably still vacationing in his Formaldehyde jar!

Not until days later did our feckless "leader" deign to make a fly-by and some cavalier, smirky pronouncements. Like 9/11, again, too little too late!

This was no sneak attack! God help us if there ever is one. (A dirty bomb perhaps? I hear the Governor just put in for a large supply of radiation pills!)

And where were the boats? Helicopter rescues make for exciting video, but wouldn't boats have been more useful? What about Coast Guard boats, Navy boats, private boats commandeered with compensation? I hear there was a huge Navy ship in the gulf, not there for rescue, but for Naval exercises in preparation for a possible attack on Venezuela! (Obviously Pat Roberts' fervent praying is working!)

Couldn't they at least have gotten some rubber rafts tossed down to those people? With some water and food in them? How about all those barges? Couldn't they have been positioned to block the breakages in the levees?

I know this is a huge event, and ordinary people are doing what they can, but it seems obvious that the level of planning and preparation, especially on the Federal level, was dismally inadequate, and that must be laid at the feet of our authorities, right up to Bubble Boy at the top. This is what we pay all those taxes for, isn't it? This is what our taxes should be used for, as well as our National Guard, but those are all being squandered in the Iraq quagmire. Instead, we can all expect our insurance costs to rocket even higher, along with gas/oil prices! And with Global Warming becoming all too real, and hurricane season far from over, it certainly won't be the last natural disaster we'll need to deal with, maybe not even this year!

How many more dismal failures can we afford before we impeach this administration, take this trash out with the rubble of Katrina, and get some competent people who understand that the government is there to serve and protect the people of this country, not their own crony-base and war-mongering ambitions!

He said Germany acted decisively when faced with flooding. Well, the last time I checked Germany was land-locked and wouldn’t suffer 145 mph winds, nor is it near enough to the tropics to get hit by a tropical storm.... Germany we are not. We are the US. We are governed by different laws and have a different social structure. When did you last see a policeman drag another man into the streets and beat him into submission so that he could be questioned? Polizei?

Chuckman states that the Mayor of New Orleans was reduced to screams and tears on TV. Well I know I would probably be upset if I was the Mayor of New Orleans, I give him that, but I wouldn't have jumped on the offensive against Mr. Bush. I believe a good portion of the blame falls on Mr. Nagin in that he was a little presumptuous thinking trucks would be rolling before the rain stopped and the damages were assessed. More than likely he is responsible for most if not all of the negative feedback that is present and building. I believe Mr. Nagin’s statements will more than likely in the future prove to have been exaggerated to increase his own media personal exposure. He is no Rudy Giuliani. The responsibility ultimately falls on Governor Blanco, who should have requested the help her state needed. I believe that now, having been educated on how the Government works, Governor Blanco is actually trying to do her job. It was ultimately her responsibility to survey and report on the damage, to provide an estimation of the destruction and the number of people affected, and to present a structured request describing the amount, type and duration of help needed. FEMA can help the governor produce these figures, but she must request the help. None of those responsibilities falls on Mr. Nagin. He should have reported what he saw to Governor Blanco. The only thing Mr. Bush could have done was to impose martial law. I think you guys would have screamed about that as much if not more.

It wasn't a matter of when Mr. Bush got around to helping, but rather a matter of regional authorities not knowing their jobs. Mr. Chuckman's statements are ignorant and irresponsible....

I personally do not like Mr. Bush, but I cannot condemn him for the mistakes of those more directly responsible for helping people in need. I believe if asked Mr. Bush would have mobilized the appropriate personnel and provide the appropriate amount of help. If your home were broken into, would you call your mayor? What could he do? Would he (the Mayor) know what changes the police infrastructure may need? You would be better off calling your police commissioner, who would request additional police for his force.

It has been shown again what it is to be American. Thanks to the American people who donated their blood and money. Thanks to Wal-Mart and the many other companies who have donated funds. Thanks to Kuwait and the other countries who have provided aid. All of these combined do not equal the funds requested and help provided by Mr. Bush, who represents our government.

The National Academy of Sciences says that we could double average fuel economy from 20 to 40 miles per gallon. For consumers, that would be like cutting the price of gas in half.

But the recently passed federal energy bill did nothing to ensure that cars and trucks would go farther on a gallon of gas. Worse yet, oil industry allies in Congress are now pushing to use the spike in gas prices as an argument for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Even the Bush administration admits that drilling in the Arctic would lower gas prices by less than 1% at most.

With gas prices going through the roof, Senator Barbara Mikulski should support a real solution for high gas costs, requiring automakers to meet a fleet-wide fuel efficiency standard of 40 miles per gallon.

Recently, NAFTA and CAFTA put thousands of Americans out of work. Our President says we need these trade agreements to help democracies. Are we closing bases here instead of elsewhere in the world to help democracies also? Helping the oppressed and downtrodden is commendable, but if the price of doing so is an insolvent America, is the cost too high? Which is worse, being downtrodden or being bankrupt?

We are presently fighting a terrible and costly war in Iraq. Is it worth it? The President says we must honor those who have died and spread democracy. The Hatfields and McCoys kept their feud going to honor those who died. Was this a sane policy for them? Apparently, George Bush thinks so. Secondly, is it justifiable to bestow democracy on a people against their will? If democracy is so desirable, why do Americans have to be driven to insolvency to ensure that others have it?

I am confused about a lot of things. I don’t understand why we are closing bases in the United States and not elsewhere in the world at a time when so many Americans have already lost their jobs. I guess the price of imperialism is dear. I just wish our leaders cared as much about us as they do about other people who do not pay their salaries.

And in case you have no idea what our war in Iraq is really about, all you have to do is read “DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 7277”.

By doing so you will learn that our armed forces are now really controlled by the New World Order (NWO). In other words, our armed forces no longer fight wars for us, but do so at the behest of those who run the world for the alleged benefit of all mankind. Sounds really good, doesn’t it. That is until you realize Americans are footing the bill for these wars of subjugation and getting nothing for it other than a bankrupt and insolvent nation.

The rumbling is about confusion, anger and misplaced priorities. It's about the unaffordable cost of college tuition. It's about sky-high gas prices, proposed toll roads and an inadequate public education system. It's about endlessly sending off America's children to war and not knowing if they'll return. It's about sky-high property taxes, the loss of jobs and outsourcing. It's about high insurance costs of homes and health care. It's about the higher costs of everyday living expenses and people struggling to survive. But mostly, it's about elected officials not doing the jobs they were hired to do.

The rumbling is getting a little louder every day. The eruption is not far off.

I am glad that Ward Reilly did not experience what many of us did. Who is surprised that the media did not publicize the fruits of their own hate-the-Vets campaign? No, you probably won't find much in police records either. We dealt directly with some ugly encounters while the police looked the other way.

For some of us, the epithets were in more private settings. I recall vividly the first time I was called a baby killer. It was on the college campus I was attending after my discharge. I even think the accuser meant it in jest.

If folks want to find documents of how we were treated on our return, they'll probably have to look in the Veterans' Administration's records. I have met many of my brothers over the years at the Baltimore area VA Medical Centers. I have heard similar stories of our “welcome home” so often I get ill hearing them.

The anti-war crowd of the era is still living in denial of the human damage they are responsible for. There is a reason so many of us Vietnam Vets have chronic PTSD. The VA clinicians will tell you that the trauma of return was worse for some of us than the trauma of war.

That is a legacy of the anti-war movements.

Last night, I saw America, my country, chase the moneychangers from the Temple.

Gone were the bloodthirsty hypocrites in Washington who would do anything for money, spending their tainted billions to turn our politicians into the Whores of Babylon. "No rich man shall serve in Congress," Jesus said. America said "Amen."

If America did put on white robes and followed the teachings of Jesus, what would happen? We would become a light unto the world. And this light would not be fueled with gasoline, nuclear radiation, corporate greed or religious bigotry. It would be fueled with love.

If America were like Jesus and gave away her widow's mite and took the chalice in her hands, what a beacon we could become to other nations. But America has found this path too rocky and has become like Herod instead.

Bad men nailed Jesus to the cross. Bad men blew up the World Trade Center. Yet Jesus never faltered. "Thou shalt not kill," he said. But instead of listening to Him, America faltered and fell and covered her hands with blood. Over 153,000 people died because Bush Republicans desired juicy weapons contracts, encouraging us to live in fear. Do you honestly think that Jesus would be proud of what they did?

"If you did it to the least of them," said Jesus, "you did it unto me." America's soldiers committed atrocities. America's politicians ordered them to do it. America's citizens relished all the gore.

On the Via Dolorosa, Jesus and His mother cried out at the cruelty and the sin. Yet the Roman soldiers pounded in the nails. And the American soldiers did things even worse. And America, my country, let this happen. What would Jesus do?

If America followed the teachings of Jesus, it would take much more courage than we have.

If America acted like Jesus did, we would not be afraid of death. It is better to die a hero than to lose our immortal souls. Every single one of us will die most surely. It is a human's fate. So why sacrifice our glory now—and in Heaven—so that we can live just a few more wretched years in cowardice and in fear? And what follower of Jesus would drop bombs on innocent women and children? If you plan to kill infants, at least take the responsibility to do it face to face.

How much easier and safer it seems at first to follow fear, cruelty, false prophets, Mammon and Satan. But moral cowardice is never the safer road to Jerusalem. The only way that America will ever be safe is to lose its life to gain eternal life and become known as the gentle servant of Mankind, the light unto the world.

I had a vision of America following the principles of Jesus and setting an example. Will it happen? It could. Imagine if it did. I would be proud to be an American again. It's been a long, long time since I have been able to say that.