GOP lost election by shunning Ron Paul wing
To the editor:
A camp divided rarely wins. The events that took place at this year's Nevada Republican Convention were a precursor to "Team Nevada," and thus to many disgruntled Ron Paul supporters not voting.
A quick agreement to "Audit the Fed," a policy very popular with many Democrats as well, would have brought the passion and efforts of Ron Paul supporters to help Mitt Romney win. This process of excluding and separating camps among Republicans continued at the national level as well, something Mr. Romney failed to quickly correct, as he should have.
Democrats exhibited quite the opposite with their union-backed "Reid Machine." Clark County's unions worked together as a cohesive unit and drove their members to vote with almost coercive passion.
Nevada's electoral process will be owned by a few union bosses for many years to come, with most of their members obeying orders, which proved very effective for another election cycle.
BRIAN BRESEE
LAS VEGAS
Wait to be told
To the editor:
Some, if not most, of your Monday letters to the editor made invalid comments based on news accounts and/or other media reports on Benghazi. If you want to know what really took place, why not simply wait until the investigations have been completed? Then you will have some idea of what mistakes were made and what steps might be taken to prevent such situations.
Unless you have served with the CIA or FBI, you have no idea what took place. I served more than 20 years in the federal government, and I for one don't believe in transparency, but instead "for your eyes only." For example, knowing exactly how Osama bin Laden died is irrelevant. He's dead, end of story.
Often we're given information when I see no reason we should have it. What are we going to do with it? Does it serve a useful purpose? If you're not in the CIA, FBI, DOD, etc., then accept the news you receive and hope it's accurate.
Being transparent only opens the door to conjecture. Monday quarterbacking does nobody any good. Wait until the investigation is over. Then we'll all know what took place.
ROGELL BURKETT
LAS VEGAS
The bigoted party
To the editor:
In his Sunday column, Charles Krauthammer pleads for Republicans to stick to their core values. It seems to me that the only core value of today's GOP is to allow the very wealthy to get even wealthier at the expense of everybody else.
To do this they need the support of the misinformed, uninformed, ignorant and bigoted. So they have embraced opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, gun control, climate change, immigration and unions.
Perhaps the only one of these positions they really believe in is anti-unionization, as the more the working man gets, the less for the very wealthy.
Don't the election results suggest the people are beginning to see that the GOP is not really interested in the great majority of Americans?
SHELDON LANG
HENDERSON
Lack of courtesy
To the editor:
I enjoy reading a good letter and a good debate about the issues, but the lack of civility in some letters is disturbing, as is the willingness of the Review-Journal to print letters that are nothing more than rants.
So, you don't approve of the fact that I used my vote to re-elect President Obama? Why can you not address the issues without impugning my character, intelligence and social mores? I am not asking for eloquence, just courtesy.
JOANNA QUARZ
LAS VEGAS
D-Day veteran
To the editor:
The Saturday article by Mike Henle on D-Day veteran Gaetano Benza did a great job of relaying the experiences of a true American hero. I was left with a clear impression of this veteran's fears, as well as his satisfaction with a job well done.
My grandfather fought in the Pacific, and he was unable to speak of it during his lifetime. Having seen some of his letters to loved ones only after his death often makes me wonder what sort of memories he must have dealt with all of those years.
Thank you to Gaetano Benza and the other veterans who have been able to speak of their experiences so that we may learn from them. As he states, "It's a story that never gets old."
STEVE DES CHAMPS
LAS VEGAS
Video game
To the editor:
I see that seven Navy SEALs (including one who was on the actual Osama bin Laden raid) have taken career-ending reductions in pay and official reprimands for providing unclassified but unauthorized "technical" expertise to a video game manufacturer.
Does anyone remember the massive dump of actual classified information that was leaked out of the (almost giddy) White House within hours of the bin Laden raid? Does anyone remember the demands for accountability from Congress and how the president said this leaked information put our brave soldiers' lives in danger and that those responsible would be found and punished?
Does anybody remember if anyone was found and punished? Attorney General Eric Holder? The president? The mainstream press? Anybody ever hear anything?
Me neither.
As Veterans Day is celebrated once again this year, it's good to know our commander in chief "will always have the back of our military" and will treat them with the same set of rules he treats his own White House staff.
Oops, the election is over. Never mind.
J.J. SCHRADER
HENDERSON
Reduced sentence
To the editor:
The Nov. 8 Review-Journal again offers us common folk a demonstration of American elitism and aristocracy.
Former Clark County Assistant District Attorney David Schubert, who pleaded guilty to a drug offense, failed to present himself for incarceration and fled to Mexico, is not punished with additional time but instead receives a 10-month reduction of his sentence of 40 months?
This man is highly educated and well-versed in the criminal justice system, and we're told he's "not grasping his problems"? His attorney states, "The measure of a man is he returned and understood what he did."
With all this, his license to practice law is only suspended. I'd like to see a registered nurse get away with that. So much for protecting the public.
We've also seen a Clark County Family Court judge indicted by the feds and allowed to decide when to turn himself in. Were his co-conspirators allowed the same privilege? I think not. They were probably cuffed and stuffed. No wonder there is so much cynicism relating to American politics, politicians and government.
WARREN PAWLIUK
PAHRUMP
