Terrorism incident

I find myself in a strange position of defending some of the people on President Barack Obama’s national security team. But think about it:

Should Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who went skiing with his son after an attempted Christmas Day act of terrorism on a U.S.-bound airplane — which came very close to being successful — be fired when his “commander” stayed on vacation, on the golf course, for the next 11 days?

Leiter was as much in touch with officials about the incident as Obama.

Should Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano be fired because she misspoke? At least she spoke.

Obama waited three days to openly talk about the attempted bombing, then referred to it as “this isolated extremist.”

I don’t believe he once used the word terror in any form. Most people take cues from their boss. Obama has never given any indication to his team or to the nation that he takes terrorism, terrorists or our security seriously, or that it’s a priority.

His priority on security has been closing Guantanamo Bay and giving terrorists civilian trials. All the way down the chain, these attitudes filter and take hold. He says the buck stopped with him, but he didn’t mean it. If he were to fire anyone, it would have to be himself.

Alys Collmer

Waco

Alabama lacks class

I am not a University of Texas fan, but I thought they handled themselves well during the Jan. 7 championship game against the University of Alabama.

While using an inexperienced freshman quarterback, they hung in well. Alabama’s points at the end came at the expense of a young man who was thrown into an impossible situation.

With the game out of reach, Alabama coach Nick Saban showed his class when he went for another touchdown with 1:41 left on the clock. The touchdown was a gift, and they took it to make their score a little more convincing.

National champs? I wonder about that. Lacking in class? Absolutely!

Joe Walker

Lorena

Wash pecans first?

Last week I celebrated my 68th birthday. That’s how long it took me to find out that pecans that have fallen to the ground are considered contaminated by health officials. I learned this from reading the Trib’s Jan. 9 story, “New rules force pecan company to close doors.”

Give me a break!

All of these years, I have picked up pecans from under trees, then shelled and eaten them on the spot. I have walked country roads, picking wild blackberries and consuming them. I have stripped tomato vines of their luscious offerings, straight from the garden.

We as a society are taking all the values away that our forefathers enjoyed. Kids will never know the joys of living close to the earth if we have so many blasted rules.

That is very sad to me. It is my thought that I would rather eat nature’s abundant crops than to consume bleach — as is required of pecan sellers prior to selling shelled nuts.

We’ve already been warned about the hazards we have caused with antibiotics. What’s next?

Glenda Allbright

Waco