Beware opinion masquerading as news
There is a difference between opinion or commentary and the news. When we tune into CNN or Fox during the day, for the most part, they report the news, but when we hit prime time, we get a heavy dose of opinions and commentary. It doesn't matter if the station is CNN, Fox, MSNBC or even "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Opinions are not news.
It's a good clue when the commentator rolls their eyes or gives the knowing look that it's an opinion, and opinions are like noses, everyone has one.
With newspapers, there is a news section and then the op-ed pages. At least with printed news the difference between opinion and news is clearly shown.
Too many people get their news from TV, usually one station, and that ensures a very slanted viewpoint. Why not read a newspaper or look at more than one news outlet? Staying on your favorite channel might make you feel good because they agree with you, but it is not balanced news.
Finally, news on the Internet is a very mixed bag, and unless it is an established source, it can be very inaccurate. Worse yet are those forwarded e-mails that are often totally false.
Ronald H. Adams
Dayton
You want to talk treason? Look at Bush-Cheney
A serial letter-to-the-editor writer has once again used the term treason and Sen. Harry Reid in the same sentence. Treason is a very, very serious charge. There are several definitions for treason, but none include stating your honest, forthright opinion. To commit treason, one must actively seek to aid the enemy and/or show a willingness to cause injury or death to your own soldiers. Clearly, Sen. Reid's comment does not even come close.
However, if someone knowingly lies to unnecessarily start a war resulting in more than 4,000 soldiers killed and maiming many thousands more, that to me fits the definition. Claiming that "you go to war with the army you have rather than the one you want" rings hollow when that same person is directly responsible for the timing of the war. Many soldiers and Marines lost their lives due to lack of planning and inadequately equipping our attacking force. One could make a case for that being treason.
How about disbanding the Iraqi army and sending those soldiers home with weapons but no job, guaranteeing the insurgency? How about torture? No point in going there.
Stupidity must get a pass, otherwise the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld gang should have been sent to the Hague. The writer obviously knows very little about the military and absolutely nothing about war. He should be careful with the terms he throws around. Can you say libel and slander?
Warren Sprinkle
Carson City
School district rewarded dangerous behavior
I am angry and dismayed at the Carson City School District decision to retain Mr. Santillo in any position in our district. A speeding drunk with marijuana on board - is this really the example you want to reward in the eyes of our youth and community? They not only keep him, they reward him with a glorified secretary position at a whopping $100,000 salary. What a deal.
In more civilized societies of the world, this man would be in prison and/or would lose his driving privileges for life. Is this possibly another signal that attempted murder by automobile is a socially acceptable condition?
I use the term attempted murder because when someone makes the conscious decision to drive an automobile knowing their ability to safely operate that automobile is impaired in any way, they are putting life in danger. They have selected their weapon, they just haven't yet selected their victim.
Don McKenzie
Carson City
Country he fought for imperiled by GOP politics
Just what in the Sam Hill is wrong with our American people? I'm talking about Sharron Angle, who is against everything that we stand for. I would hope that she does not get in, as we already have enough of her kind in Washington right now.
Didn't you get enough of Bush and his gang? I would hate to think the time that I spent in Europe during World War II, that it was all a waste. I would like to think that Angle and Sarah Palin would just go dig a very deep hole in the snow and then come out once in awhile to look over at Russia. I was once so very proud to serve our once-great country in the great war, and I sure do hope that it was not in vain.
If the GOP gets in, it's goodbye to our way of life, and I resent that very much.
Our great politicians should do what is right for us and not accept money from all the lobbyists that are ruining our country.
And this is another question - when is this very useless war going to end? Politicians, please quit fighting each other and fight for us. Boy, am I ever a dreamer. Our president can't do it if the Republicans keep fighting to get their cushy jobs back.
Think about our pocketbooks, too. But you won't, will you?
Robert Brandt
Carson City