Letters to the Editor for Nov. 18

No longer a free republic

What value do we Americans truly place on our once free republic?

Today our men and women are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, arising each morning, going on patrols, risking their lives and dying in the belief they are fighting to preserve a free republic.

We no longer have a free republic!

We are in a no man’s land with an arrogant, hypocritical, socialistic president aided by a partisan Congress hell bent on destroying our liberty and freedom. We in America are being led to catastrophe, while our men and women are dying in the Middle East, fighting for a belief that in reality may just be a dying dream.

Our founding fathers would be in agony as we squander our liberty and freedom for socialistic foolery, while our people die on foreign soil. What must occur to awaken this once great nation from our shameful slumber, and inspire us to reclaim our priceless birthright? Shame on us! Obama and his cohorts are a disgusting insult to our founding principles.

We must wake up! We must demand that our representatives in Congress reject any legislation imperiling the founding principles of our once free republic. We must not allow ourselves to be dictated to by socialistic claptrap coming from Obama, Congress or their cohorts in the White House, weakening us as individuals and chipping away at our constitutional foundations.

We must give our troops a true cause to fight for! We must reclaim our once free republic, our Constitution, liberty and freedom.

MICHAEL W. MUNZ, Shelton

What have we gotten for defense budget?

Why is it that we have finite resources for health care but unlimited money for war?

Lawrence Wittner, in an article titled “The Weakness of National Military Strength,” noted that during 2008, the nations of the world spent nearly $1.5 trillion on their military forces, and that the five biggest spenders were the United States ($607 billion), China ($85 billion), France ($66 billion), Britain ($65 billion) and Russia ($59 billion). Adjusted for inflation, these totals represent an increase of 45 percent in military expenditures over the past decade.

But what has this brought us? The United States is the world’s top spender on the military and yet, he says, “The reality is that, since 1945, (the U.S.) has been continuously at war, either hot or cold. Furthermore, despite the vast resources ... devoted to national defense, the nation’s leaders now tell us that (we are) more threatened than ever. Certainly the overdeveloped U.S. military machine – by far the most powerful in the world – did nothing to safeguard the nation against the terrorist attack in 2001 that was conducted by 19 men armed only with box-cutters. Why is all this military might not doing a better job of protecting us?”

He says, “The fundamental reason is that what one nation views as defending its vital interests is viewed by other nations as threatening (theirs). The result is frequently a sense of national insecurity, a growing arms race, and in many cases, war.”

Isn’t it about time for a different approach?

SISTER MIMI MALONEY AND SISTER KATHERINE GRAY, Olympia

Democracy not stomping out competition

Hypocrisy runs thick in your veins.

Yeah, you know who you are. In 2008, you said you wanted change. It is apparent not only by the recent election and almost every election prior for the past 30 years that you want anything but change.

The name of your party suggests that you enjoy democracy, yet allow big unions to determine which government will serve the union best.

You state that a robust debate is a foundation to democracy, yet maintain strongholds within our government – stomping out competition year after year.

You have become what you hate – a very large and powerful, monopolizing corporation making self-interest a priority.

You are the Democratic Party.

JAMIE BARIEKMAN, Shelton