Tribune Opinion
Primary tabs
Author Content
I read with interest the letter from Ed Mickelson (Public Forum, Dec. 21). I agree the ACGC School Board and administrators are responsible for the financial condition of our school, but the public is responsible for making the money available for them. I wonder how many people who voted against the referendum went to the meetings to find out the obstacles they are against. It is said that we have lower enrollment, so we need less money. This may be true, but we are supposed to keep class sizes low and all the students who leave are not from one age group.
It's been fairly quiet on the Highway 23 front. That probably will be changing in the not too distant future. The city of Paynesville will soon be asked for municipal consent, and the Region 8 Area Transportation Partnership will soon establish its future funding priorities. Let me start by complimenting the Minnesota Department of Transportation District Eight staff. In several years of working towards final design of the Paynesville area project, staff has been flexible, cordial, professional, and (perhaps most important) understanding.
In response to Wayne Cook's letter (Public Forum, Jan. 23), a few corrections. I am not a "metropolitan reader." I live in Northfield, which is not in the metro area and is a town smaller than Willmar. I grew up in Willmar, and still have occasion to visit often. What has continually chapped my hide in Cook's many letters is his view that his "brand" of Christianity and his set of moral values are the only correct beliefs... the only morality that is acceptable. I find that type of thinking narrow-minded and non-inclusive. I consider myself a Christian.
Democrats think they have found their deliverer. He is the new governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine. So confident are they that Kaine can lead them to the electoral promise land, they have tapped him to deliver their party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech. Given the threats posed by foreign and domestic terrorists, Democrats risk exposing Kaine as an inexperienced lightweight who is not in the president's league of knowledge and experience.
I was away for three weeks and when I returned home, there was a large stack of West Central Tribunes on the dining room table. The first paper I read was the Jan. 11 edition. I always turn to the Public Forum first. The letters from Pastor Wayne Cook and Julie Johnson expressing their opinion of a Lindsay Lohan photo caught my attention and I went directly to the Jan. 5 edition to see what all the furor was about. I saw the picture and read the brief article and thought what a wonderful teaching moment this created.
With the expected confirmation of Samuel Alito as associate justice of the Supreme Court, President George Bush is close to having a lock on his imperial court. Unfortunately, too little attention has been paid to two aspects of Alito's convictions -- unitary executive and signing statements. In listening to Alito's testimony about the unitary executive theory, it appeared that "the president is head of the executive branch." My! How enlightening!
A very vocal minority with an agenda to change America's value system has once again found a way to advance its agenda with the help of the media. AP movie writer, David Germain, wrote about the Golden Globe awards, "It was a triumphant night for films dealing with homosexuality and transsexuality." His article, carried by the West Central Tribune on Jan. 17, seems like an attempt to convince people that a homosexual lifestyle is good for society. It does make me wonder about the sexual orientation of the people voting on the awards, as well as those in the media who cover them.
Now with the talk of an independent counsel to investigate wrongdoing by the Bush administration for spying on Americans to supposedly address the issue of dealing with terrorism, we ask what's the likelihood of anything coming of it, even if President George Bush is found guilty? He's guilty of lying and getting the United States involved in a war in Iraq under false pretenses. Sen.
Risking further chapping the hides of the two metropolitan readers who were offended not by the printing of a questionable photo but rather by the letters of a mother and a pastor questioning the photo, I would like to respond. As a Christian leader, I have a responsibility to communicate the moral values that come from the word of God.
WASHINGTON -- I believe that legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a mistake. I also believe that having federal courts and bureaucrats decide the issue is a mistake. This is a question that should be debated by the people and their representatives. That's why the Supreme Court was right this week to uphold Oregon's assisted-suicide law -- a law I would have voted against had I been an Oregon citizen, and would vote to repeal. Oregon passed the law in a referendum.