South of the border
Bob Casimiro’s July 15 OpEd amazes me. There is such a simple solution to the problem of the U.S. being invaded by children from south of the border: Keep the U.S. north of the border.
The U.S. dominates Central America economically, and when a Central American government attempts to free itself from the tentacles of the octopus, the U.S. invades.
My introduction to the realities of U.S. policy toward Central America happened when I was a kid: the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, when he attempted to buy from the United Fruit Company its vast holdings. He had the gall to offer United Fruit the price it claimed the land was worth for tax purposes. Guatemala has yet to recover from the depredations of the thugs we then installed.
For a run-down on U.S. imperialism as it affects Central America, I recommend Walter LaFeber’s “ Inevitable Revolutions.” It was written a generation ago, but things have not gotten any better, and the pattern remains the same.
Karen Saum
Belfast
State of politics
Reading the article “ Michaud fundraiser with Giffords spurs Maine GOP to question his commitment to gun rights,” I tap into my periodic despair over the state of American politics. A congresswoman takes a bullet to the head, and, after she miraculously and courageously survives, she and her astronaut U.S. Navy captain husband — when I was in grade school, lessons were postponed so we could watch the activities of these American heroes on old grainy black and white TV — take up the campaign for sensible gun laws. Because they also support her former congressional colleague in his bid for Maine’s governorship, right-wing gun extremists think they can score points against Michaud.
What is so discouraging is that there are so many of our deluded fellow citizens who would actually think that a brave gunshot-wound survivor, her astronaut husband and anyone who is associated with them does not pass their crazy litmus test of being fit for leadership. With all the problems we face, a significant portion of the electorate is worried about the artificial issue of “gun rights.” To hell with health care, education, public safety, employment, rising sea levels and quality of life. Just give me my guns.
David Mahoney
Hebron
Lobby ruling
There has been a lot of attention given to the Supreme Court ruling on contraceptives and private business. Running a family business is like being a steward of the business. You need to abide by the laws of the land and moral laws. Sometimes there are conflicts with the two, as demonstrated with the July 2 BDN editorial and the July 10 OpEd, which clarifies it is four of 20 contraceptives that are an issue.
Hobby Lobby disagreed with the law of the land; when Obamacare was imposed, it had to provide contraceptive and abortion coverage for its employees. The law of the land says this is acceptable or even expected. The family’s moral judgment says it’s not.
Abortion is legal by the law of the land, but it will never be morally right. The number of abortions that this multibillion dollar industry produces per day is 3,000. It was no surprise to see the July 9 OpEd by the two from Planned Parenthood promoting abortion as a contraceptive, and then having Mabel Wadsworth protesting in front of Hobby Lobby kind of rounded out the message.
Two major abortion providers are upset. Now we have our legislators, Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud, jumping on board to get the law of the land changed. Just because it is law, does not make it right.
R. Scott Jellison
Hermon
Catch and release
President Barack Obama initially claimed the dramatic surge of minors at the border was driven by Central American gang violence. Conveniently, a United Nations report instantly substantiated this narrative. Then more people interviewed the migrants. The story evolves.
The New York Times and others now report the surge is because of people who believe there’s a change in immigration policies, that everyone gets “permisos” to stay. Obama recently said that, despite Republican “obstructionism” on immigration reform, he will explore executive action to legalize the undocumented on his own. His comments received full coverage on Hispanic stations.
Fewer than 25 percent of undocumented immigrants appear for court deportation hearings, and there are no repercussions. About 840,000 undocumented immigrants already deported by our courts remain here. The courts are overwhelmed. For six years, migrants have experienced Obama’s “catch and release” policies when stopped by police. This news travels home. It’s not surprising they come.
Jonette Christian
Mainers for Sensible Immigration Policy
Holden
Attacking messenger
Will Coggin failed to mention in his July 15 letter that he represents a front group for Philip Morris, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, factory farmers and other enterprises whose profits come from intensively confining and slaughtering billions of animals every year. The group is run by the lobbyist Richard Berman, who opposes Mothers Against Drunk Driving and regulations to curb obesity.
The group’s self-professed strategy is to attack the messenger. It fears the impact PETA is making in changing people’s buying habits and educating consumers about cruelty to animals that occurs behind the scenes. That’s why Coggin and his colleagues carefully mischaracterize the euthanasia PETA carries out to help animals living with appalling conditions.
PETA is proud to be a “shelter of a last resort” and provide a merciful release to abused and broken beings. We welcome aggressive dogs that have always been chained and are suffering heart failure from advanced heartworm disease; feral cats that are ravaged by feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia or other contagious, fatal diseases; and other suffering and unadoptable animals. We transfer adoption candidates to other open-admission shelters — those that, unlike “no-kill” shelters, never turn animals away — for a chance at finding loving homes.
Unlike Coggin’s group, PETA believes all animals — from kittens to crabs — deserve respect. Sometimes that means respecting their need to leave behind a world of suffering.
Daphna Nachminovitch
Senior Vice President, Cruelty Investigations Department
PETA
Norfolk, Virginia