Your View 2/6: Eco-voodoo; Apology demand

President Bush's State of the Union Address is nothing more than a revival of Reaganomics, voodoo black magic, California fortune teller, make-believe; we borrow now, we don't have to pay for anything we can borrow ourselves rich; cut taxes and increase spending.

The above is the Republican agenda for the long term future of our country. President Bush did not learn from his daddy and Ronald Reagan. They released the deficit spending monster and it roared out of control, devouring our national treasure at an alarming rate. During Clinton's presidency we subdued that monster and in only two years, President Bush has released it completely and it's running wild and unchecked.

President Bush is our commander-in-chief, so let's check his and other high profile Republicans' military records. President Bush used the National Guard to avoid combat. Others, like Vice President Dick Cheney, Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Defense Advisor Richard Perle, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Senators Trent Lott, Newt Gingrich and that mean hawk, Tom DeLay - these draft-dodging homefront warriors are in charge of the world's most powerful military and, like themselves, their sons will not be fighting in Iraq, and neither will the Wal-Mart heirs and others who will stay home and exploit America under the watchful eye of the Republicans.

Richard Nixon ended the draft to favor the privileged and went to the voluntary military, but the shirking is still just as cowardly.

President Bush's daddy was commander-in-chief 12 years ago in his war with Iraq. Saddam Hussein out-smarted him, Colin Powell, Stormin' Norman and others in charge. We lost over 400 lives plus injuries to our troops in that boondoggle. Even though they successfully brainwashed the American people into believing they won it, every buck private knows better.

If they play politics with this war, resulting in the loss of the life of one soldier, then the political players are traitors and should be hanged for murder.

The Founding Fathers would spit on this draft-dodging commander-in-chief and his cohorts. Also, Wal-Mart would come under their ire; according to reports Wal-Mart imports 80 percent of the merchandise they sell, creating thousands of new factories in foreign countries and closing thousands in America. Being the world's largest retailer, in my view, Wal-Mart is also the world's largest legalized traitor in our democracy.

Billionaires are clamoring for more and Bush is giving it to them and democracy is on the back burner and at great risk to being put in an early grave by the greedy it has served so well.

W.T. Woods

I am outraged at the speech that the former South African leader, Nelson Mandella, made that I saw broadcast on TV on Jan. 30.

In his speech, he voiced his personal opinion about the way President Bush was handling the situation with Iraq. I believe everyone has a right to voice their personal opinion on anything. And from his remarks, Mr. Mandella made it clear that his personal opinion about Mr. Bush stops short of being incompetent, which I thought was a personal attack against Mr. Bush and was definitely out of line. But, again, that is his opinion. But when he made the comment that "the United States of America was the greatest perpetrator of atrocities that the world has ever known," I was outraged!

What Mr. Mandella was referring to was the nuclear bombs we dropped on Japan that ended the Second World War. It is a clear fact of history that if it had not been for the bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, the war would have gone on for months more and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, would have lost their lives. The Japanese were prepared to sacrifice their all to defend their homeland, but when we dropped the A-bomb, it broke their will and they surrendered.

I take this comment of Mr. Mandella as a personal attack against the United States of America! I demand a public apology from him.

I am not only outraged at Mr. Mandella for his slanderous comment, I am also outraged at CBS News for the way they inserted the footage of an old nuclear explosion during that part of the speech. I guess it was edited and as a visual to give his unfair and degrading comment more validity. I demand a public apology from CBS News also for their interference of this unwarranted insertion. I believe this clip was inserted as an attempt to sway the public opinion against military action in Iraq.

Let me remind you, the citizens of this great country, that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who gives you the freedom of press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who gives you freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who allows you the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag.

It is the soldier who is called on to orphan his children and leave his wife to go to places around the world where you and I would never choose to go. We have a great history of soldiers who have distinguished themselves as heroes.

The soldier, like all Americans, does not relish the facts of going to war. But war is a fact that we must live with. Freedom is and always has been the just cause for war. Freedom isn't free. It is bought and paid for by the blood of honorable men willing to give the last full measure of devotion.

How can we stay silent? We must not stay silent at the comments of this media attack against this great country.

God bless our soldiers!

God bless our President!

God bless America!

Tom McCanless, pastor Kewanee Missionary Baptist Church