Editorial standards for new year

I noted with interest the Trib’s statements on editorial standards in the New Year’s Day editorial “Opinions 2010.” I wonder which of these standards precludes letters from your readers expressing the outrage so many of us are feeling about the tortuous route the current health care legislation is taking through Congress?

Procedural rules of both the House and Senate are being modified, violated and blatantly ignored. New processes are being created, with votes late at night and on Christmas Eve. Secret meetings are called to cut tawdry special deals for supporting votes.

President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders insist they must do this “for the American people.” Those would be the people who by large majority (71 percent) are saying they don’t want it. But our leaders declare they must do this to fix the crisis. Would that crisis be the 87 percent of Americans who say they are perfectly happy with their current health care?

The public sees through their trumped-up crisis and recognizes that their machinations reflect political goals rather than true public benefit.

Those leaders who feel empowered to flout the expressed will of the public will soon enough face terrible reckoning. They will soon enough learn how we, the American public, feel about tyrants.

I hope the Trib will be true to its word in giving voice to such concerns building within its community.

Jim Mitchell

Waco

Republican hypocrisies

Republicans continue to be shamelessly hypocritical. They oppose closing Guantanamo. But President George W. Bush voiced the same objective.

They chastise President Barack Obama for the intelligence slip-up that allowed a Nigerian Muslim to attempt a suicide terrorist attack on a crowded airliner. The shoe bomber during Bush’s term attempted to do the same thing.

They harshly accuse Obama of being soft on terror for charging the Nigerian under civilian criminal code. Bush did the same thing with the shoe bomber.

They charge that the president never uses the word “terror.” But the media run video clip after clip showing the opposite.

They continue their soft-on-terror accusations, saying America is unsafe, but they ignore that 9/11 happened on their watch.

They criticize the president’s efforts to turn around the economy but conveniently ignore that the greatest recession since the Depression took place on their watch.

They ignore the fact that bailouts began with the outgoing Bush administration.

They criticize war policy even though the Bush administration made the monumental error of making war on Iraq and diverting resources from Afghanistan to get us into the tar-baby mess we find ourselves in.

But the greatest hypocrisy of all is the criticism of health care reform. They never address that their harshest critics, like Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, championed the legislation that created the Part D prescription-drug benefit under Medicare. They cut off C-Span, intimidated fellow Republicans and held open voting for many hours for a bill that Medicare trustees estimated would add $1.2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.

Mike Brown

Waco

Allow Segrest to do his job

A recent article by the Trib said District Attorney John Segrest was losing the political backing of the Waco Police Association and the McLennan County Sheriff’s Association because of their perception that his office does not prosecute enough of those they arrest. However, this highlights one glaring problem: These organizations should stick to their business of arresting suspects and let the district attorney’s office decide if their arrests were warranted.

This magnifies my belief that these two police associations should never lobby for or against prosecutions. It gives too much power to the police, at the expense of those arrested. What association do the accused have to lobby their case for dismissal of their arrest warrant?

David Orosz

Waco

Charming Lady Bears

The Tip Off Club luncheon held Jan. 5 in Waco focused on the current members of the Lady Bear basketball team. They were all charming and enthusiastic about being at Baylor and playing in the Big 12. You could not help but be charmed by Brittney Griner. Her size is impressive, but her outgoing manner and good humor make her the most positive ambassador for Baylor. She is modest in spite of her national attention and appears to be he ultimate team player.

George Soloman

Woodway

Grateful for father’s supporters

My family and I would like to express our thanks to those in Waco community who came into contact with my father, Col. Robert L. Howard, after bringing him here to live his final months. Thanks to the staff of St. Catherine’s Center and Providence Hospice, who provided compassionate and loving care.

We appreciate the help of Bill Coleman and Oak Crest Funeral Home, who have assisted in the preparation for my father’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in the coming months.

I want to thank the Trib for the wonderful article and editorial written about my father honoring his commitment to our country and the soldiers who have served and continue to serve protecting our freedoms.

My family and I so appreciate all of those who expressed condolences upon his death.

Missy Gentsch

Hewitt