Letters for Monday — August 02, 2004

• Kerry’s record

• Kerry again

• Kaua‘i aloha

• Iraq War

• Kaua‘i visitors

Kerry’s record

There is an old saying; “He that knows little, soon repeats it.” In a letter in The Garden Island on July 31 (was a)…challenge to me to prove George Bush was AWOL in 1972-72. A more careful reading of my letter in The Garden Island on July 28 would reveal that my position on the AWOL charge was that it was based on innuendo and could not be proved and should not be continued. Therefore, the challenge makes absolutely no sense at all. Instead, I will address his statement about what “every major non-partisan think tank” has reported about John Kerry’s voting record.

According to the annual study by Fairness and Accuracy in the Media (FAIR) of the top 3 think tanks most cited in the media, the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute are clearly right wing organizations. The most widely cited think tank, The Brookings Institute, is considered “centrist” although Fortune Magazine has reported a tilt to the right. The next most cited centrist think tank is The Rand Corporation which has a focus on foreign policy rather than domestic politics.

The Brookings Institute report on John Kerry’s voting record was published in the New York Times on July 26th, 2004. It says that The Bush campaign has gotten a lot of mileage out of the National Journal analysis that ranked John Kerry the #1 liberal and John Edwards the #4. The report says the ratings are misleading because of the large number of votes each man missed while campaigning across the country. Brookings took career voting records of Kerry and Edwards and Cheney (while in Congress), as well as announced positions of President Bush, and compared them to the career voting records of senators from each party.

Pete Antonson

Lawa‘i

Kerry again

Yet again, somebody has seen fit to diminish John Kerry’s military service to this country. In the 24 July TGI, the letter writer seems to imply (he avoids being explicit) that Kerry’s service in Vietnam was less than honorable.

He mentions that Kerry went “to war for only four months” as if there is some shame in this. True, the tour in Vietnam was usually a year but at least Kerry was there. If we were to compare apples to apples, Kerry could have spent just four seconds in Vietnam and still have been there longer than Bush. The writer then points out that one of Kerry’s wounds “had some blood, but…was not as serious as a razor cut.”

In order to qualify for the Purple Heart, one must only receive “a wound which necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in action with an enemy.” (AR 600-45)

There is no requirement than one be killed or even horribly maimed for life. Kerry’s wounds qualified. Again, let’s compare apples to apples and put Kerry’s combat wounds up against Bush’s.

Oops…I forgot. Bush wasn’t even there. the writer then goes on to further muddy the waters by mentioning that Kerry’s wife inherited her money from a previous husband, now deceased. What is the writer’s point with this? Spouses have been inheriting money like that for a very long time. The writer next says that Mrs. Kerry used her ex-husband’s money to “buy a husband with medals” and “to get him elected to the Senate.”

Such a statement is so incredibly contemptuous that it isn’t even worthy of comment. I find it sad that today, when American forces are serving overseas in combat, some people still want to belittle the sacrifices made by the military in the past.

Brian Christensen

Lihu‘e

Kaua‘i aloha

I have seen too many tourists take for granted the beautiful island and act as though residents are servants to them. I told a visitor she was walking on coral reef and explained how that will damage it. I did this very nicely. Her response was she knew what she was on and it was visitor’s money that kept us fed! She then called for her daughters to walk on the reef. Luckily, the daughters had more sense then the mother.

People must treat others with respect and warmth in order for it to be given.It is not owed anyone, you earn it. I know when we lived on Kaua‘i everyone treated us wonderfully. We can’t wait to move back to soak up more of the Aloha spirit.

Janet Cooke

Eureka, Mo.

Iraq War

What saddens me most about the invasion of Iraq is not only our quiet disinterest in the lives we have destroyed, but also our docile acceptance of military force as a key element in our country’s future foreign policy.

As a probation officer, I find it immensely ironic that I, as an arm of the government, must hold each individual accountable for his violent acts, while that same government can administer unimaginable courage for covert reasons of national interest and be showered with praise.

Are we becoming so gullible and uncaring that we are evolving into the very spirit of the military god we have created? Was it merely a 120 to 2 football game that we forced Iraq to play?

Have we tried to imagine the pain and terror experienced by the 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and civilians being blown apart and buried to death by our country in a war of overkill the ferocity of which has seldom been equaled in world history?

Have we tried to empathize with the searing, inconsolable anguish of millions of Iraqi parents and relatives and friends? Are we contributing aid to Red Cross relief efforts in Iraq? Are we seeking information from media sources that value accuracy of reporting over job security? Are we vocal in speaking the truth to others at a time when integrity is needed? Do we promote understanding among all races and cultures?

Johnny Risk

Hanalei

Kaua‘i visitors

As frequent visitors to Kaua‘i, we were taken aback at the tone of Sunday’s article regarding “The ups and downs of Kaua’i’s “aloha spirit, and especially the comments on “See ya Kaua’i, Hello Tahiti.” Perhaps the writer needs a reminder that Kaua‘i is not a private resort and the residents here are real people who experience all of the complexities of life. While it is unfortunate that she had a negative experience (which could have occurred anywhere), her comments reek of a sense of entitlement given the dollars her family has chosen to spend on vacations to the island.

All visitors to this wonderful island should keep in mind that this is a living community, not a “Disneyland” with residents held to strict codes of sanitary personal conduct. Rather than blame the younger generation as “obviously” suffering a “crisis of drugs, anger and animosity,” we would suggest that visitors question just how the tourism industry affects the community on the island and what (if any) of the riches spent here trickle down to residents forced to keep up economically with a constantly rising cost of living (driven to a large degree by non-resident tourists and land investors). This is not a generational issue, but an economic one.

Craig & Cassandra Whetstone

San Jose, CA