So much for unity

The guy’s just giving a prayer, not determining policy.

President-elect Barack Obama has shown he is above pettiness by having a pastor of the religious right, Rick Warren, deliver the prayer at his  inauguration. I didn’t think Warren was fair in the debate at Saddleback Mountain between Obama and John McCain, but Obama continues to show maturity and willingness to unite our country.

The political left and right wings need to get a life. Gay marriage and abortion are minor problems compared to all the jobs lost and the despair from the economic collapse sweeping the nation.

Let’s get off the soap box and work together, as a nation, to repair the damage of the Bush legacy.

Meg Hillert

Dallas, Texas

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our sister paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells us Rev. Warren will deliver the key speech for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance in Atlanta. The King Center chose him in part because of his success getting evangelicals working to solve social problems such as poverty.

Powell the politico

It seems I was wrong, and I’m sorely disappointed, about Colin Powell. He is just a politician who happens to have worn a uniform. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the military high command is filled with people like that.

They’re a lot more comfortable walking the paths of power in Washington, D.C., than with the grunts who do the fighting and dying.

Clyde Reedy

Waco

Acts of charity

Jimmy Dorrell’s guest column [“What happened to giving?” Dec. 23] is a very accurate portrait of “giving Americans.”

When I was in the Navy as an enlisted man, the folks of lower rank usually tipped far better than the officers or, worse yet, the officers’ wives. When one can relate to someone’s survival, one tends to give more.

Our rich politicians should know this. Our CEOs and high-ranking business people should, too. The Bible is full of examples of the poor giving all they had. So if you can give 10 percent of your income to charity and churches, you will see God bless you and your family. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you.”

Merry Christmas.

Kyle Fallon

Waco

Bury ’em deep

Could you please explain why the electric provider companies insist on keeping transmission lines above ground? Every time bad weather occurs, too many people are left without electrical power. Electrical power in the United States is an absolute necessity, so why aren’t the wires buried?

Electrical substations could also be buried. Doctoral theses have been written describing how electrical transmission lines can be buried without significant power loss.

If the electrical companies are reluctant to do this, perhaps they could be nationalized and the government could do the task.

John Foy

Waco

EDITOR’S NOTE: The idea is gaining traction. However, when the issue has been raised in times past, expense and property rights are among the reasons given for not burying cables underground. Also, concerns remain about accidental diggings into buried utility lines.