Robust, effective, well-equipped and well-staffed public safety forces performed in Boston, as we the public expect. This is not to diminish the role of bystanders and volunteers who assisted in the immediate blast aftermath. However, EMS and the hospitals bear the lion’s share of the credit for the fact that no victim who left the scene alive perished.
Law enforcement was instrumental in bringing the perpetrators to bay, even as another officer gave his life in service.
Our Founding Fathers told us how to measure freedom by providing a prioritized list: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Taxes spent on public safety do not erode our freedom; rather, they seek to protect life, without which liberty, the pursuit of happiness or a lower tax bill have absolutely no meaning. DAVID WRIGHT, DAYTON
‘Church is standing on solid legal ground’
Re Frank Bruni’s commentary “Fired Ohio teacher still cries when she talks of job,” May 28: Please allow me to fill in the huge hole this New York Times writer — in all likelihood deliberately — left in opining on his latest “leftist gripe of the day” column.
While I am personally sympathetic to Carla Hale’s plight, it is completely understandable by anyone with anything approaching a pedestrian knowledge of the term “ministerial exception,” a reference nowhere to be found in Bruni’s piece. For those not in the know, I urge you to Google or look up this term. Whether you, I or Bruni personally like it or not, the Catholic Church is standing on solid legal ground in its actions in this case. And taking it to Supreme Court will not change anything either because it has already been done back in 2005 with an affirmed 9-0 ruling in the church’s favor.
The real "dirty little secret" about this entire subject is that, ever since "his highness" President Obama took office, he and his minions in the Justice Department have been on a virtual stealth crusade to eliminate this exception. Isn't it strange that Bruni didn't mention a thing about any of this? I say no. DAVID MURRAY, BUTLER TWP.
‘Drones are simply a new weapon’
Let’s put the use of drones into perspective.
We are at war. In wars innocent people get killed.
Estimates of the death toll during World War II range as high as 60 million. More than two-thirds of those were innocent non-combatants. They died in the London blitz, the Dresden fire bombings, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and a myriad of other locales. And others continue to die in conflicts all over the globe.
Apologists for Hiroshima are reminded that there would have been no Hiroshima if there hadn’t been a Pearl Harbor. Likewise, there would be no drone attacks if there had not been Sept. 11, 2001. Drones are simply a new weapon, one that reduces the peril to our ground forces while carrying out attacks.
Gen. (William) Sherman was quoted as saying, "War is hell." As distasteful as it is to stomach, this "hell" will continue to claim innocent victims until people learn to live with one another in peace. CARL BEYER, KETTERING
‘We can’t grow economy on these cuts’
I thought we the people elect senators and member of Congress. Then we send them to Washington to come up with a plan for all concerned. How could the sequestration be the answer?
How come the Republicans in Congress won’t ask the wealthy to pay a little more by closing (tax loopholes) to protect investments that help grow our economy and keep this country safe? Why is it that the children, troops, seniors, families of military and the middle class are the ones to carry the burden of deficit reduction?
I feel President Obama is willing to compromise, but the Republicans have to meet him (who represents we the people) halfway (giving people what we voted for). Cuts are a cop-out. We cannot grow the economy on these types of cuts. Make the wealthy pay their fair share by closing tax loopholes so that this country can move forward. We have too much to lose. The president has a plan; give it a chance. Do the deal. DONNA J. BAKER, DAYTON
Speak Up
The (Deputy Suzanne) Hopper Act is quite nauseating to me. This police officer died, not as a martyr, but because of irresponsible and faulty commands. The ridiculous call to action on the part of police agencies to put so many officers in harm's way to wipe out one nut case is beyond me. How, with this act, are they going to keep this information on mental individuals current?
Unlike the Washington Twp. Recreation Center, which was paid for with taxpayer money, the Golf Club at Yankee Trace pays its operating expenses entirely from fees paid by users and it has increased the tax base in the community by millions of dollars.
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