Others could ask, ‘What difference does it make?’
To the editor:
Our esteemed Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, summed up the recent Senate investigation into the questionable circumstances surrounding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi with, "What difference does it make?" Then one of her two scenarios was, "Maybe some guys out for a walk one night decided to kill some Americans."
Her smart-aleck comment during the investigation brought rave reviews from the liberal media. "Boy, she really stuck it to those dudes," was their general opinion.
I wonder what their response would have been if Richard Nixon had summed up Watergate with, "What difference does it make? Maybe those guys who broke into the Watergate were just some guys out for a walk one night who decided to steal some campaign posters. It's done. What difference does it make?"
Or how about George W. Bush insisting "What difference does it make?" when no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq? "Maybe our intelligence was just not thorough enough. But what difference does it make? We're there now." I doubt Mr. Bush's statements would have been heartily applauded by the likes of The New York Times.
Somebody screwed up big time, and somebody way up near the top needs to be held accountable for the deaths of those four American citizens in Benghazi. That's the difference.
Instead of applauding comments like "What difference does it make?" journalists working for the liberal media need to start considering their own biases in their "coverage" of their buddies in the Obama administration.
JERRY PATCHMAN
LAS VEGAS
Editorial page surprise
To the editor:
Since I moved here four years ago, I've seethed daily at the Review-Journal's habit of tossing crumbs to the conservative core of the citizenry while sniping from the so-called "progressive" fringe in articles, editorials, choice of letters to the editor and especially choice of cartoons.
Why the virulent and perfidious pseudo-American rag, the Las Vegas Sun, secreted within every edition of the Review-Journal, isn't enough left-wing hysteria for us readers is a mystery, unless one just assumes the Review-Journal really is primarily a left-wing publication itself.
Until last Thursday, that is.
Your Jan. 24 editorial page was a marvel. It contained nary a word raging against conservatives or the Tea Party or the religious folk or capitalism or even gun owners. Everything on the page was common sense for once. Bravo! Please try to maintain this solid footing in real American values and leave the foul poison to the Sun.
Better yet, untangle yourself from that awful rag and let it try to swim on its own. Yes, thanks for being agreeable to this conservative old American at long last, at least for one day.
RANDY SCHLACK
BOULDER CITY
Still caged
To the editor:
Sunday's lead Viewpoints commentary by Frederick Hess on school efficiency used the phrase "cage-busting leadership."
In fact, this is the title of Mr. Hess' book. While I cannot argue with the salient points the author made, he neglected to mention that "cage-busting leadership" is woefully lacking in the Clark County School District.
I would really like someone to tell me how the school district initiatives dubbed Open Book, Ready by Exit, Common Core Standards and Curriculum Engine, just to name a few, directly help a classroom instructor deal with delivering academic content in their overcrowded classrooms. Here's a headline - it doesn't.
In fact, they just add burdensome requirements that extend a teacher's workday. So, until we see sensible, meaningful, "cage-busting leadership" that helps instructors on the front line, we won't be seeing the types of improvements the writer hopes for.
ROBERT BENCIVENGA
HENDERSON
Howitzers aren't guns
To the editor:
In response to David Adams' Saturday letter, the restrictions cited by him on howitzers, bazookas and grenade launchers have nothing to do with Second Amendment rights. These weapons are not guns and therefore are not protected by the Constitution. They fire high-explosive rounds, not bullets. Nowhere in the Constitution does it classify owning high explosives as a constitutional right.
As far as committing the act of murder, which he also cites in his examples of miscreants "exercising their Second Amendment rights," nowhere in the Constitution does it allow you to commit murder. You are, however, allowed to defend yourself. Since the act of murder is illegal in all 50 states and punishable by death in most places, I wonder why this law does not stop them, but another gun law will?
People committing murder with a gun are not exercising their Second Amendment rights.
ALAN GALINS
LAS VEGAS
Unintended consequences
To the editor:
Jack Nicholson's shouted response to Tom Cruise in the movie "A Few Good Men" is also an appropriate reply to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the whole gaggle of gun grabbers intent on further infringing the constitutionally protected rights of already-beleaguered, law-abiding citizens.
The truth is, the number of innocents (amounting to scores of people) shot by nut cases like Jeffrey Weise, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, etc., though tragic, pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of would-be robbers, rapists and murderers annually thwarted from harming innocents by law-abiding citizens bearing the kind of firearms and magazines the anti-gun folks want to make illegal.
Who is going to answer for the unintended consequences of harm to innocents, facilitated by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from bearing firearms on the prohibited list? You can bet it won't be Sen. Feinstein. She can't handle the truth.
JOE SCHAERER
LAS VEGAS
To head the SEC
To the editor:
President George W. Bush had an Orange County congressman named Christopher Cox as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A blind zombie with amnesia could have done a better job. Mr. Cox should have been indicted for impersonating a public official.
Now President Obama has appointed Mary Jo White, who has a background hunting down the Mafia and Middle East terrorists.
Look out, you white-collar economic butchers. There's a new sheriff in town.
STAN OLSON
LAS VEGAS
