Teddy & W.
Re: Jack Lessenberry's column "Last word on Teddy Kennedy" (Sept. 2):
Touché, Jack. It took some time after Chappaquiddick for me to come around and decide Teddy Kennedy deserved redemption. But who was I? It was never any of my business. My judgments of others' wrongdoing bind me to my resentments and render me impotent. Teddy appeared to forgive himself (in a Catholic torturing kind of way) and lived out the balance of his life effecting compassionate social change.
George W. provided us the challenge to withhold our judgment while he unilaterally sent 5,000 Americans to their death in Iraq. Teddy Kennedy was 39 when he made his impulsively stupid and heinous mistake. George W. Bush was a 56-year-old president of the United States when his selfish and thoughtless premeditation sent so many Americans to die in a misguided war. Again, we must forgive this more deliberate offense by an older statesman so we reasonable activists may fight with healthy, rather than festering, indignation.
Thomas Szasz put it this way: The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. —Charlie Haviland, Franklin
Yahoo, you
In your opening paragraph you state that the right wing was whipping up the "yahoos" (Lessenberry's "Michigan on the rocks," Aug. 19) getting them to protest against an Obama health care plan that would "help this nation and greatly improve most of our lives."
Later on in the same article you mention how difficult it was to deal with AT&T regarding an issue you had with them. If you think that was hard, just wait until we turn the best health care system in the world over to the government. They will (and have already) taken incompetency to a new level. Imagine trying to deal with a government employee and your telephone line is no longer the issue but a loved one's health is.
The good news for you is you do not have to go far to get an education. Simply head north (or east) and visit our friends in Canada. Once you pass the boarder and the long line of people waiting to get EKGs, MRIs and other life-enhancing medical treatments in our health care system, simply stop the people on the street and ask them about their health care system. You will find that it is the lower- and middle-income people that can't get real health care as it is being rationed. The wealthy people are the ones in line as they can afford to pay the extremely high taxes (due to their "free" health care) and pay for health care! —Todd Williams, Novi
Thankful in Detroit
I am grateful to Metro Times for their ongoing coverage of the issues relating to Detroit's incinerator ("Still Burning," News Hits, Sept. 2). You have kept us and continue to keep us, the citizens, informed with clarity, and facts. For this I commend you. —Gloria Rivera, Detroit
Post mortem
Detroit Bloggerjohn's recent article "Home free" about a family squatting in an abandoned Detroit apartment complex generated this message from poster Tammy Smith:
I would like to comment on the article "Home free" in your Sept. 2 issue. I, too, was raised in the Cass Corridor. I went to Burton Elementary and used to go swimming at Wayne State as a child. I know what hard times are all about. I wish Rick Tipton and his family all the luck in the world; it's hard out there especially if you have a past that some people will not let you forget. I think I knew Rick as a very young boy. I would like to know how to get in touch with Rick and maybe offer a little assistance. Thanks for a great article and, once again, good luck to Rick and his family.
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