Alberto Gonzales is WORSE than Ashcroft!

Ijole ´mano!

[link to www.wisinfo.com]

Letters: Civil liberties low on Gonzales priority list


Last week, President Bush nominated Alberto Gonzales to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general of the United States. Alas, how short our memories are regarding Abu Ghraib and the ongoing travesty of justice taking place at Guantanamo prison camp – crimes that can be traced back to Gonzales’ efforts to find a way around the restrictions of the Geneva Conventions.

It is less than a year ago that we recoiled at the graphic videos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib by a few of our military personnel who claimed to be following orders from higher command officers. Gonzales had approved these orders.

It was Mr. Gonzales who described the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners as “quaint” and suggested that President Bush could ignore them.

By ignoring the Geneva Conventions, we give our enemies reason to ignore them when they take prisoners from our forces, or when they kidnap civilian aid workers from other countries.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ruled that the United States was out of bounds in keeping the Guantanamo prisoners incommunicado for three years, refusing to allow them to know the charges against them and denying them access to lawyers.

To this day, the authorities have only acknowledged the court rulings by having sham hearings for a few of the detainees.

Gonzales, whom we are now supposed to welcome as U.S. attorney general and whose appointment it is predicted will be easily confirmed, approved these illegal detentions without trial.

Should Mr. Gonzales be confirmed, the next four years do not bode well for civil liberties and American values.

If this is the best President Bush can offer in mending the divisions that have plagued our country, we’re in for a long four years.

Jean C. Thompson,

Grand Chute

Second-hand smoke threatens asthmatics

I think a smoking ban is a very good idea. People like me who have asthma can have an attack just by breathing in the slightest bit of second-hand smoke.

I know I’m just 13, but this issue directly affects me and a lot of other people. I’m most concerned because my grandfather died when I was only 3 months old of pancreatic cancer.

We know that smoking is a direct cause of this. It makes me sad. I never got to know him and have fun with him.

Then I think of Ahman Green, from the Packers, who has asthma and is affected by smoke. He uses an inhaler after big runs in the games.

Matthew Stormer,

Appleton

Restorative justice makes area safer

This is International Restorative Justice Week. RESTORE — Fox Valley Restorative Justice Project, has been advocating for victims of crime for a number of years. One of our goals is to empower victims of crime by facilitating victim/offender conferences.

This allows the victim to confront their offender in a safe environment. The victim can tell the offender directly how their criminal actions caused harm.

The empirical evidence strongly suggests that offenders who are confronted by their victims are less likely to become repeat offenders.

Victim/offender conferencing is just one of the proven tools that RESTORE has implemented to make the Fox Valley a safer community.

I have been a prosecutor for 18 years. As a career prosecutor, it is vital that we support programs that deter criminal activity. RESTORE is at the forefront of these efforts.

Please support victims of crime and help make our community safer by supporting RESTORE.

Mitch Metropulos,

Vice President, RESTORE,

Appleton

Financial time bombs overshadow social issues

The real problems facing the U.S. are the economy and the national debt.

One of the presidential candidates avoided discussing economic problems as much as possible. Instead, most of the campaign funds were spent on personal attacks and flimflam.

This works well, as many voters don’t want to hear of the serious problems confronting our nation, but wish to hear less burdensome issues. Of course, this is delusional, which was exploited by the candidates.

On the PBS series, “Now,” Laurence Kotlikoff, chairman of the Boston University Economics Deptartment, stated that the U.S. is bankrupt, and that our economy is less sound than the economies of Brazil or Argentina. Much of the national debt is being funded by the Chinese and other foreign investors.

Obviously, we no longer control our own destiny. Most economists, including Alan Greenspan, have stated in essence that Medicare, Social Security and the national debt are financial time bombs.

By delaying the resolution of these problems, they will only become graver.

It is obvious that, should the U.S. in fact become bankrupt, there truly will become a mighty class struggle as the country will be in a severe financial depression.

Payments under Social Security and Medicare will be curtailed drastically. The rich will probably leave the U.S., along with most of their wealth.

With this scenario, will the moral issues of abortion and gay marriage be an issue for most?

Surely with very little in the way of financial resources, bigger issues for the elderly and children will be how to avoid starvation and to obtain medical care. It’s certainly immoral to starve citizens and not provide health and medical care.

Please, contact your national politicians ASAP to voice your concerns that it is critical that the U.S. become fiscally responsible.

Lee Adamski,

Appleton