Regarding “As McCain presses, Obama parries in sharp exchanges” (A1, Oct. 16):
The issue regarding former radical Weatherman William Ayers is not about what Ayers did, or did not do, 40 years ago; it’s about Barack Obama’s truthfulness regarding his relationship with Ayers over the past two decades. There are many questions that we don’t know about the junior senator from Illinois, such as what types of activities were undertaken with Ayers during the Annenberg Challenge years, what types of work did Obama do in Mayor Daley’s office, what is the actual relationship over time between Obama and ACORN regarding “aggressive” voter registration drives, and how did Obama channel or direct the Harvard Law Review (or articles written)?
If Obama would allow access to records or data regarding these topics, the American public would benefit. Describing Ayers as “someone that lives in my neighborhood” or as an “English professor” is not true – by omission. Obama’s friends do, in fact, reflect on his judgment as a person and a leader. Why does Obama get a pass on relevant information that might provide a clearer view of what he might do as president?
LLOYD KITSON
La Mesa
Steve Breen’s editorial cartoon on ACORN (Oct. 16) accurately portrays the true scope and depth of the problem that John McCain claimed during the debate “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”
But how would John McCain and his supporters interpret this cartoon? Do they know the difference between voter fraud and voter registration fraud? Would they understand that the ACORN characters in the cartoon represent temporary employees who are paid by the number of registrations they turn in, and that they are fraudulently padding their paychecks by “registering” the children? Would they understand that, in fact, newly registered “Iron Man,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Yoda” are unaware of the hoax and would not be showing up at the polls to rip threads out of the fabric of our democracy by actually casting fraudulent votes? How does this qualify as “one of the greatest frauds in voter history”?
McCain’s ACORN declaration seems to be another attempt to stir up the vitriolic element in his base when, in fact, as demonstrated in the cartoon, “there is no there there.”
GIVEN HARRISON
Carlsbad
Regarding “What Ayers story reveals about Obama” (Opinion, Oct. 15):
Ruben Navarrette Jr. ends his column stating that perhaps Barack Obama’s biggest sin is not his association with William Ayers, but that he circumvents the issue, essentially lying about it. Navarrette makes an excellent point. And in an ethical world Obama’s silence would probably damage his reputation and popularity. Sadly, however, it seems most voters are not paying attention or, even worse, expect and accept the lies of politicians.
RON LAUDEREBACH
San Diego
Even though Ruben Navarrette Jr. explains that he puts no stock in the politics of guilt by association, his whole commentary is based on his trying to establish that Barack Obama has something to hide by his association with William Ayers. Maybe before Navarrette starts accusing Obama about lying, he needs to look into the relationship between John McCain and G. Gordon Liddy, the convicted Watergate burglar who still believes that what he did was right.
During the same time period that Ayers was part of the Weatherman underground, Liddy was busy masterminding the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building. Some of the other plots also conceived by Liddy, fortunately never carried out, included the firebombing of the Brookings Institution and kidnapping anti-war protesters. Liddy has even acknowledged that he was prepared to kill someone during the break-in if necessary. I don’t think that I’ve ever heard Liddy apologizing for what he did. So, if I understand this correctly, Sen. Obama, who was only 8 at the time that Ayers was a member of the Weatherman underground, is hiding something from the American people, and Sen. McCain, who was in his 30s at the time of the Watergate break-in, is not hiding anything?
JULIE FITZGERALD
Santee
What is certainly clear from the presidential/VP debates and the never-ending campaigning by those in the House is that our Constitution needs to be amended. When the framers of the Constitution decided to allow House members a two-year term and senators a six-year term, this was when the average life span was much shorter than today and these terms represented a longer time in those days.
The problem with the two-year term for the House is that campaigning and fundraising never ends. As a consequence, the hard decisions never get made in Washington. No one wants to tackle Social Security, health care reform or any of the other hard topics that must be addressed. Addressing these topics and making the difficult and unpopular decisions about how to solve them would be a sure exit at the next election cycle.
What we need to do is make the president, Senate and House terms six-year periods, and that’s it. We don’t need career politicians. We need people willing to make a difference and go to Washington for a short period, with no re-election campaigns to worry about, and do the right thing for our country as was originally intended when the Constitution was written.
BOB SEELOS
San Diego
Regarding “ ‘Plumber’ Joe bowled over by attention” (A1, Oct. 17):
If there was ever a doubt about the existence of a liberal bias in the main-stream, broadcast media, we need look no further than the Joe the Plumber phenomena. Instead of questioning the glaringly Marxist answer by a candidate for the U.S. presidency to a simple and relevant economics question, Joe becomes the issue and his character brought into question. The story isn’t about Joe; it’s about Obama espousing socialist dogma. In an unguarded, unscripted moment, we finally get to see the real Obama who wants to redistribute the wealth of a small-business owner. Is anyone out there paying attention?
ERIC C. EPIFANO
Lakeside
As the current financial mess shows, it should be clear that no one person can have all of the skills necessary to be president. Nor should anyone be expected to. That’s why presidents appoint people to Cabinet positions and listen to advisers. What we voters should be considering as we evaluate these two people is who they have surrounded themselves with during their campaigns. These are the people who will help the next president formulate his policies for years to come.
At the top of the list, the vice president should be one of the most useful advisers a president has. Clearly, Joe Biden would bring a lot of experience and wisdom to the office and would be a great asset on foreign affairs in a Barack Obama administration. Does anyone really think that John McCain would even ask for advice from Sarah Palin? I think it is clear that McCain would consider any advice from Palin with as much gravitas as George H.W. Bush did with advice from Dan Quayle.
Quayle was selected to sway young voters. Palin was selected to sway female voters and appease activist fundamentalists, nothing more. We can’t afford to have an empty chair at the table when the president seeks advice on the most pressing issues of the 21st century.
JOHN M. HOEY
San Diego
It amazes me how many supposedly intelligent people profess to believe that Gov. Sarah Palin lacks the needed experience to run for vice president but do not worry about the lack of experience Barack Obama offers in running for president. Our governments, that of the federal, most states as well as of many cities, contains two key branches: the executive and the legislative.
Palin has had experience in the executive branch of both the city of Wasilla and the state of Alaska. Obama has experience only in the legislative branch as a state legislator and a U.S. senator, and not for a very long period. To be a good executive requires more than high-flown oratory, at which Obama is admittedly gifted. At least a little experience is needed as well.
We should give Gov. Palin credit for the great job she has done in Alaska and respect the qualifications she brings to her run for the vice presidency.
BURKE BELKNAP
Oceanside
