Hate-mongers to blame

The blame for the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the deaths of a federal judge and five other people with many wounded should be laid squarely at the feet of the the tea party, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and all the other hate-mongers on FOX News. They ramped up their hate speech against Giffords for more than a year.

Palin’s 2010 campaign map had a gun sight over Giffords’ district, and the right kept amping up the attack — her children’s lives were threatened and her office vandalized. She worked with the cloud of death threats hanging over her for a year, along with other Democrats.

It’s not random anymore, whether their fans keep going out and threatening public officials, or spitting on civil-rights hero Congressman John Lewis, or shooting cops in Philadelphia, or plotting to shoot up the ACLU in San Francisco.

Please think long and hard, brothers and sisters, about what kind of country we want to have, and how the culture we create leads to this violence and hatred. 

Blame shooter, not politics

Jared Lee Loughner, the Arizona shooting suspect, is a psychotic incoherent loner that acted on his own to go on a mass-killing spree. Immediately thereafter, CNN news and some liberals are turning this heinous crime into political rhetoric, by insinuating that Sarah Palin is at fault for the actions of Loughner. Any time you have easy access to firearms and a society with many mentally unstable individuals, this type of heinous crime will always occur.

True or not, words matter

Those in the Sarah Palin circle who professed to be horrified at the suggestion of any culpability in this national tragedy doth protest too much — "bull’s eye" by word and image spun as a "surveyor’s symbol?"

Words matter, as our president has said on more than one occasion. Civil discourse — not calumny — is the coin of successful governance in a democratic realm. Demagoguery by shock jocks infects our politics and our politicians — even our mentally ill. Today’s unchallenged absurdities are capable of metastasizing into tomorrow’s accepted myths. To demonize our duly elected president, begin by denying him his birthright and proceed from there.

Jared L. Loughner, under the laws of Arizona, was entitled to purchase that semi-automatic firearm. However, he was obligated to acquire a clean bill of mental health before being readmitted to Pima Community College classes. There’s an absurd disconnect here that requires Arizona’s attention.

Speaker should step down

Calvin Say, the speaker of the state House, has divided his party and aligned himself with the opposition. Isn’t this a clear indication that the speaker needs to step down? Give way and let the party take a new course. We need a change.

Lottery a bad idea for Hawaii

Winston Olaso disagrees with people who feel a lottery in Hawaii would lead to more crime ("Lottery is better alternative than fees," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 8). I must disagree with his theory. Typically, lottery players are local, middle- to lower-income wage earners who truly believe that buying at least one ticket each week could improve their lives. In truth, odds of winning are practically nil.

This money isn’t more money, it’s money already here that would otherwise be spent paying bills. What is going to happen when these folks elect to invest in lottery tickets instead of paying their bills or feeding their families? Don’t you think that might cause an increase in crime?

A way to help wayward man

I just saw a strong young man, a big fellow, get arrested at the King Street Times Market for stealing food. It dawned on me that he is going to jail to be booked and then released.

Wouldn’t it be worthwhile for a qualified individual at the police station to have a talk with this individual to help straighten him out and lead him in the right direction? Sometimes all they need is guidance.

Will solar power survive storms?

With all the push to go "green" — wind farms, solar panels, photovoltaic panels — how vulnerable are we to the devastation of another hurricane like Iniki? And how liable is the state for replacing mandated panels if they are destroyed in such a storm?