Disgraceful Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter's efforts to become the most disgraced former president in our nation's history received a large boost this week, as he plans to meet with the Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal ("Ex-president offers to be foreign communicator," April 15). Hamas, an Iranian terrorist satellite, is committed to the destruction of the United States and Israel, the Middle East's lone beacon of freedom. Carter is a frequent critic of Israel, but mum is the word when it comes to terrorist organizations. Carter makes little mention of the reality faced by citizens of Sderot, of Haifa, of Tel Aviv.
What does Carter's upcoming meeting with a terrorist say to those who mourned for the eight dead in a shooting in a rabbinical school in Jerusalem? What does it say for the peace process when terror is validated by a former president? Unfortunately, there are no answers to these questions. The only question that has an answer is this: Why doesn't Carter have any meetings scheduled with top Israeli government officials? I think that one is pretty obvious.
Thomas Kelley Government senior College Republicans at Texas former president
Paying respect to all memories
Saturday is the 13th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. It may merit a mention on the national news, and there may be a memorial service here and there. We will be reminded of the evil of Timothy McVeigh, and there may be renewed commitment against domestic terrorism. What will not be noted, or even mentioned, is that McVeigh's evil act was a response, however misguided, to the botched treatment and massacre two years earlier of dozens of civilians at the Branch Davidian complex outside Waco, which also occurred on April 19.
If you visit the site of the former Murrah building in Oklahoma City, you'll find a beautiful, multimillion-dollar federally funded and maintained memorial park. If you visit the site of the former Branch Davidian complex, you'll see nothing but a simple frame church and a field of trees, one for each victim, all slowly put together by volunteer labor over a period of years. The victors write the histories, and every speech in and about Oklahoma City is a distraction to divert your attention from the crimes that Janet Reno and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms committed in Waco 15 years ago.
Alan McKendree UT School of Nursing staff
Coffee stains and liberal fascism
I had to mop up my morning cup of coffee after reading Leah Finnegan's ridiculous opinion piece in Thursday's Daily Texan ("Armed with Awareness," April 17). The sheer ignorance of the words "... our country should turn fascist" caused me to spray coffee all over my floor.
Does she realize that I have a constitutional right to own a firearm and to protect myself? Does she think "fascism" is a good choice for our other constitutional rights? How about speech codes, Leah?
Allowing people the freedom to exercise their rights is always the best answer. Time and time again we have seen crazy people bring guns onto "gun-free" campuses (Victim Disarmament Zones if you ask me) so that they can commit mass murder. Just last night, another incident of violent robbery took place on campus. Especially considering the process of training and certification required to get a concealed handgun license, there is absolutely no reason other than the "fascist" schemes of people like Leah Finnegan why I shouldn't be allowed to exercise my rights on campus.
Tony McDonald Young Conservatives of Texas former chairman Economics and government senior
Mischaracterizing the homeless
I was completely floored by Edward Oden's comments regarding the UT panhandling study ("Vagrant vengeance," The Firing Line, April 15). It is these kind of uneducated mischaracterizations - apparently based solely on his own perceptions - that perpetuate archaic stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness and do little to contribute to efforts to address this social problem. Evidently, Oden has not spent time evaluating more recent research which contradicts older, more conservative understandings of homelessness. He continues to frame it as a personal choice or moral failing and ignores larger, structural issues which have been acknowledged as contributing factors to homelessness. He also neglects to speak to the diversity that exists among people who are homeless, instead making reckless generalizations about "most vagrants." Perhaps Oden should spend time developing a more informed understanding of the multitude of factors that contribute to homelessness - individual and otherwise and gain some insight into the distinctly different sub-populations who experience homelessness, i.e., single men, families, children, the elderly, single women with children. Given this more informed perspective I think his comments would be different.
In all honesty, I feel my words to Oden will likely fall on deaf ears. His prejudiced and resentful attitudes towards people who are homeless appear very entrenched, and I can only pray that he has little ability to influence others to think like he does. His comment that people who are homeless "will be looked down on by society, as they deserve" is the very attitude that has revealed itself at different times in history and usually resulted - and continues to result - in horrific actions towards groups considered "less than." Let us all hope that reason and understanding can prevail over ignorance and discrimination.
James Petrovich, LMSW UTA social work doctoral student
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