Politicians acting shamelessly

The actions of our elected senators these past few weeks make me feel less than comfortable with the way they are running the country.

How can a senator let it be known he’s not going to vote with his party on the current health care bill until the leaders of that party all hug and kiss up to him and promise him the moon? Then, it seems, he decides to vote with his party after all.

Guess who’s going to pay for all that hugging and kissing and those goodies promised? That’s right: We are.

Where on earth are they getting the money? They had to raise the debt limit even before they started buying votes.

Then the Missouri senator laughs and giggles like a teenager and says: “Oh, we do that all the time! There’s nothing to it.”

Well, in my humble opinion, there is something to it. That’s like watching the illegals coming across the border and we just sit here and say, “Oh, they do it all the time, there’s nothing to it.” But there is something to it when they go to the hospital to have a baby and don’t have to pay for their medical care, and it comes out of our pockets.

I don’t feel one bit good knowing that the folks in Florida, Nebraska and Michigan and 10 other states got a better deal with this health care bill than we did in Texas.

Helen K. Hood

McGregor

Coach Art Briles: Stay at Baylor

If I were Baylor University football coach Art Briles, I would think long and hard about interviewing with a university that has provided so little support for its football coach, such as Texas Tech.

Tech fired football coach Mike Leach on Wednesday after giant egos clashed, and on the eve of a big bowl game.

Leach was fired after he took the school to court to try to overturn his suspension for alleged mistreatment of an injured player. Can we blame him for being “hardheaded” when his integrity was being questioned? 

Reportedly, the injured player refused to sit out during practice and had to be restrained to keep him off the field. I wonder what the outcome would have been if he had not been restrained from practice and had aggravated his concussion? 

Coach Briles should remain in Waco where he is needed, respected and will be supported. 

Joe Walker

Lorena

* * *

I would like for everyone to take a step back, as well as a deep breath, and get all the details on the Mike Leach controversy before condemning him or Texas Tech.

There are so many stories going around that I’ll bet we  do not have half the truth. Also, it does not matter that this Tech athlete who accused Leach of mistreatment is the son of an ESPN reporter or a semifamous NFL player.

I do hope that an investigation looks into the athlete and his parents, as well as the coach, the administration and all the hearsay going on behind the scenes. This is already a publicity nightmare, and both sides need to resort to finding the truth.

David Light

Lorena

Listening to game can be better

Paul Brinkman mentions in his Dec. 30 letter having to listen to Dallas Cowboys games in his garage because of the Time Warner/Fox dispute. When I was with the Navy in Baltimore, many folks sat on their row house porches listening to the Baltimore Orioles baseball games. It gave them a chance to know each other, talking about the game and about life.

Most Orioles games were on TV, but they preferred radio. Now, I’d rather watch the Dallas Cowboys games on TV, but the radio announcers, Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg, sure do a fine job. Listening to them is a treat.

I may not get to watch some games, but at least the radio broadcasts are a fun alternative.

Kyle Fallon

Waco

Explanation requested for graphic

I am somewhat confused — admittedly, that’s not unusual at my age — but I have been studying and am perplexed by the art panel above the wonderful unnamed Christmas Day editorial in the Trib, “Christmas for All.”

Your holiday editorial offers a great, timely and much-needed message during these times of world unrest, political turmoil and economic hard times. This move toward commercial emphasis and away from the “reason for the season” has been creeping up on us for 30 years. Having spent most of that time in retail and wholesale management, I was well aware of the movement. Praise God there are still media contributors not afraid to mention Jesus by name.

My college experience was not in liberal arts, so I have some difficulty interpreting art as it were. Would someone please explain the symbolism of a figure resembling a quarter-moon peering through what I think is a window with grass growing in two different directions? There even appears to be a horn growing out of the far side of his head. Please educate this ignorant soul on the significance of that art panel. Meanwhile, God bless the article writer and happy New Year to all.

George R. Shieldes

Waco

EDITOR’S NOTE: There was no symbolism intended with the graphic. This was just an artful holiday image.