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Letters To The Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 30, 2008

Playing Limbaugh's Game

Regarding "Delegate Seating Battle Back In Court" (front page, May 23):

It appears that state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Cooper City, took a page out of "Operation Chaos," a plan by Rush Limbaugh to get Democrats to destroy their own chances of winning the presidency in November.

The plan he stated today was simple: Escalate the fight over delegates from Michigan and Florida and convince women that a loss by Hillary Clinton is a setback to women's rights.

Limbaugh reminds voters from both states that they have a constitutional right to be represented. He asserts also that Clinton's campaign is a fight for all women; any attempt to urge her to quit is disrespectful to all women. He admits that his only concern was to ensure a Republican victory in November but also wants to defend the civil rights of all people.

It shows how misguided some people were in thinking that Limbaugh was a right-wing bigot with no respect for gender or racial equality.

NEWTON OWI

Tampa

A Real 'People' Event

I attended the Barack Obama rally last week. It was an experience I won't soon forget. He was inspiring, but it wasn't just Sen. Obama who made it so memorable. It was the people. People of all races, religion and ages were represented. Everyone was smiling.

After the event, people squeezed onto a trolley. No one seemed to get upset or irritated because of the closeness. People were laughing and talking with each other about what we all had just experienced.

I stood up front by the conductor and heard every passenger thank him.

I truly enjoyed the entire experience and won't forget the many people I had the honor of meeting and sharing an afternoon with.

GABRIELLE SPELL

Tampa

A Party In Crisis
Republican Congressman Vito Fossella, representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in New York City, has announced that he will retire rather than face re-election this year.

Arrested on a DUI charge and having admitted to an extramarital affair, Fossella will be the 26th Republican to leave office.

As a lifelong Republican, I am saddened and dismayed with the party that promoted family values and fostered the return to small government. The special election losses of three seats in what was thought to be safely within the Republican fold may well be a harbinger of things to come.

It is my gut feeling that Republicans this forthcoming November could possibly suffer the most devastating congressional setback in its history.

EARL A. MYERS, JR.

Tampa

GOP Blew Its Opportunity

The May 20 Tribune had letters from three people who all had the same theme: We need change, Bush and the Republicans failed, and Obama or Clinton - along with a Democratic Congress - will save the day.

I am a conservative and a registered Republican. One letter writer thinks conservatives have been in control for the last eight years and have failed.

In my opinion, Republicans having control of the White House and Congress for the first time in decades was an awesome opportunity - and they blew it. These people were not conservatives. They were Democrat "Lites."

The letter writers all want change. I wonder what that change would be.

How is the party that blocks oil drilling in North America going to solve our oil crisis?

How is a party that thinks we should punish successful people by taxing them to death going to promote work ethic and ambition?

How is a party that didn't see the unintended consequences of socialism when they implemented the New Deal and the Great Society going to understand that socializing medical care is also going to have horrendous unintended consequences?

PHIL JOHNSON

Tampa

No Magic Reading Wand

Regarding "Another Curriculum That Comes Up Short" (Our Opinion, May 21):

Common sense has left the building. I don't know what "promise" isn't kept, but I do know you cannot effectively teach history, science and the humanities to those who have a limited vocabulary and cannot read.

In early Head Start programs, the children did not gain long-term benefits from "enrichment experiences" because they were not taught the vocabulary to describe and remember the event.

Learning to read takes "teacher patience" and practice. There is no magic program that, when waved in a classroom, will ensure that all the children learn to read at the same rate. But reading is fundamental to education. Not focusing on reading in the early years shortchanges all students.

Stop "throwing billions of dollars" at programs and let the teachers teach.

If children are not taught reading, vocabulary and phonics, there is no future readership for your newspaper. No newspaper should advocate that.

ANNE HANTO

Tampa

Shameful Cuts By State

Regarding "USF To Cut 450 Jobs; Majors Safe In Budget" (front page, May 22):

Remember higher education? You know, one of the few state expenditures that actually demonstrates returns - less crime, more employment, more total income to keep individual taxes down, better goods and services, etc.?

Apparently, the citizens and politicians of Florida do not.

If you think the layoffs and cutbacks of the universities merely reflect past overspending, I suggest you rethink. Unlike businesses, which have massive layoffs when their products are no longer being bought, the universities are eating massive cuts even as demand continually increases.

Now, these already underpaid state employees - already making 10 to 50 percent less than their peers elsewhere, who have already gone two years or more without a raise - must work even more with less. The quality of education will drop even more.

These cuts are not trimming fat; they are long-term damage to the fabric of our state.

ERIC C. ODGAARD

Tampa

The writer is an assistant professor at USF, St. Petersburg.

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