Democrat Prejudice (Letter to Independent Coast Observer)

Rob Lowe indulged in the “soft bigotry of prejudice” (Mean-spirited, ICO April 29, 2011 letter). According to Mr. Lowe, mostly white, pseudo-religious Republicans are anti-gay and favor budget cuts for the elderly, poor, and needy, and tax cuts for the über-rich. He must also think that Republicans created California’s messes, even though Republicans have been a minority for many years.

Anti-gay, I suppose, means supporters of Proposition 8. Although Alice and I and most of our conservative friends opposed Prop 8, it was passed by over 52% of California voters, and drew strong support from groups with high Democrat membership such as Catholics, Orthodox Jews, Eastern Orthodox Church, African Americans, and Asians. Are they pseudo-religious, Mr. Lowe?

Earlier, 61% of Californians passed Proposition 22 to recognize only opposite-sex marriages. Since many Democrats supported Prop 22, are they closet Republicans, Mr. Lowe?

In terms of Republicans favoring budget cuts, 67% of Californians rejected extending taxes two years ago, and current polling indicates they would do the same. Again, it takes more than Republican votes to reject tax extensions or increases. Republicans do tend to favor budget cuts, particularly in areas beloved of Democrats such as pandering to public-employee unions. The reason is simple and obvious: California can’t afford to continue cutting the budgets of the elderly, poor and needy (and of education, parks, police and fire protection) to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of current pensions, and coming like a tsunami, the much larger public-employee unfunded pension liabilities. At the current rate, in a few decades California will have to apply all tax revenues to pensions only.

Public-employee pensioners will then receive their checks in better managed states and leave California to those who can’t move. California Democrats and Republicans will finally find Mr. Lowe’s “common ground” in other states.

Michael B. Combs

A SICKNESS (Letter to the Independent Coast Observer)

Thanks to a small group of Navy Seals, Osama Bin Laden has been sent to meet his 72 virgins. President Obama is receiving a lot of credit for this successful action, and he should. He certainly would have received blame had it gone awry. We should all be thankful that a full measure of revenge combined with justice has been handed out to the mastermind of 911 by our courageous Navy Seals.

I was in Quebec on the morning of 911. We immediately headed for Burlington, Vermont and a potential flight home. The airport was closed, so we drove another 14 hours to reach Washington, D.C., arriving at my step-daughter’s house around 11:00 P.M. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, my (then) son-in-law casually remarked that the 3000+ people who died in the Twin Towers got exactly what they deserved! I exploded in anger at him, but he didn’t back down. The next morning he mocked a stockbroker who had dissolved in tears in front of a TV camera. Back home I read an article in the ICO about a small group of locals holding a ceremony (celebration?) on the beach in which the leader described the fall of the Towers as “something graceful” to behold. The ICO editorial that week opined that “America had been brought to her knees.” 

These post-911 incidents marked my first realization that there was a sickness in this country that went beyond legitimate political disagreements. This anti-American sickness still resides in the twisted philosophy of many on the Far Left and has become a stain on the Democrat Party. It seems fitting that a Left-leaning President has kept in place key anti-terrorism policies designed to protect America and the good for which it stands.

Jim Littlejohn