Heart of the nation
It occurs to me that the thing the citizens of our great nation feel very deeply and dearly about, over most other things that define us, is the great importance of “fair play.” That issue comes to bear in our sports, in our view of right and wrong, and in the actions and ideals of those we look up to as role models. To win at ‘no cost’ is not something we believe in and never have.
We hold high opinion of anyone or group who gains success and wealth, as long as it has been gained by the rules of fair play. To have inherited success does not bring our praise or applause, and never will. We see no value to a person using an unfair advantage to bully their way to winning any issue. We admire anyone who refuses to take advantage for their own well being to enhance their personal position in life or society. We admire those parties with lofty goals, who work hard and reach down to help others gain a better level or quality of life.
Accepting that “might makes right” is abhorrent to the American way. When used in our nation’s own past, it has brought shame to our nation when that use is brought to our attention. Fair play and its place in our character as citizens of our country is, and will always be, a point of pride to ourselves and those who follow in our footsteps and retain our hard fought for concepts and values.
The sad example of lack of conscientiousness or of being well informed, or lack of truth and honesty that we and the rest of the world have been exposed to this election year, and seeing that far too many of our citizens do not support our civilized, historic, practical down-to-earth views, has brought shame to our nation. Hopefully, in November, we’ll be able to repair some of the damage it has done. Hopefully, we’ll move forward to show the world that despite the disrespects of the few, we as a whole still stand by our support for fair play in our respect for our fellow citizens and fellow man.
An important part of this is that we bring back to our nation the demand for truth and honesty; from our leadership, from our mass information media, and from our interactions and cares with our fellow citizens.
Jim Hall, Clearlake Oaks
Take time to write
In the March 11 issue of The Record-Bee the editors posted an item on page A4 that encouraged readers to submit letters or opinion columns for publication. I am writing to support that request as I have been a reader of the R-B for about 14 years now and I am impressed by the fact that a high proportion of the Letters to the Editor are submitted by a relatively small number of writers.
To substantiate that point consider the following data: Between the dates of 12/03/15 and 3/12/16, the R-B published 28 issues with a total number 161 reader’s letters that were submitted by 52 authors. Of these letters 104, or 65 percent, were from 10 writers, or 19 percent of the total contributors.
If there was a competition to see who could submit the most letters during the dates cited above, the winner would be Jim Hall, with a total of 19. He would be followed by Kevin Bracken with 16, then Ron Rose with 14. Deane Sparks and Guff Worth are next with 11 each, followed by Mac McKay at 9, Thomas Nickel at 8 and Bert Pomeroy at 6. Bill Kettenhofen and R. Roon S. Searcy submitted 5 each.
The point of all of this is that there are lots of readers of the R-B out there who have ideas and opinions that they are keeping to themselves. Why don’t you share them with the rest of us so that we too can be enlightened?
Charles S. Nicoll, Lucerne
Voter ID makes sense
I think the several letters concerning voter ID Laws are really interesting to me and the various objections voiced seem out of line in today’s world.
Today we must show ID for so many things like check cashing , credit card use, picking up tickets ordered for shows etc.
Just try and get on an airplane , into many hotels and motels without being able to prove who you are and see how far you get.
Most other countries require Government Issued ID cards for everyone so having to show a some sort of official ID to vote does not seem unreasonable to me at all .
A number of states will come to your home to issue you an ID card so even if disabled or far from the ID issuing office obtaining one is rather simple. I favor this in states that do not offer this service.
We have about 16 million folks that the federal government says are here illegally so the possibility of voter fraud is very possible.
Motor Voter programs, registration on the day of the election etc seem to me, to make the possibility of voter fraud very real.
The requirement to prove who you are before voting seems like a very small price to pay to assure the system remains beyond any possibility of corruption.
Darryl Smith, Kelseyville
