Letters to the editor for Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018

When is the time?

One more time. One more time innocent students are killed. One more time the weapon is a semi-automatic weapon. One more time the shooter is someone who should not have had access to such a weapon. One more time the Republican establishment in a state says “it’s not the time” to address the gun ownership issue. One more time, we’re asked to keep the victims and their families in our “thoughts and prayers.”

Would someone please tell me when it IS time to address the issue of semi-automatic gun ownership? Is it with Sheriff Arpaio, Congressman Amodei, Senator Heller and Adam Laxalt in Douglas County on Sunday? Is it in the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting? Is it in Nevada when the background check initiative is vetoed?

When is the time?

Joyce Newman

Carson City

Vietnam veteran appeals to Sen. Dean Heller

I sent the enclosed letter to Senator Dean Heller today and would encourage all my fellow Vietnam veterans or any veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange or other similar herbicides during their tour of duty to do the same. Silence is acceptance.

Dear Senator Heller,

As a Vietnam veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange during my tour in the Air Force and currently receiving compensation for a related disease, I was curious as to when the V.A. Director, David Shulkin, is going to actually make a decision (supposed to have been completed in November 2017) to approve/deny additional Agent Orange related diseases that affect many, many veterans who served in Vietnam as well as other areas where Agent Orange or other similar herbicides were used extensively.

The consensus of myself and a great many of my fellow veterans is that the V.A. is just biding its time until we all just die off.

Thank you for your time,

David Knighton

Phan Rang Air Base, Vietnam June 1969 to June 1970

Grasping at venomous rattlesnakes

Margaret Konieczny who writes, “We need a world of compassion and empathy for all,” is in sore need of a dose of her own medicine.

Speaking as a person who easily qualifies as coming from the past world of old white men, let me say I was not taught to be a bully, and I didn’t naturally grow into one. Neither did my old white male compatriots.

Let Margaret make a list of all those old white male bullies she has encountered. Happily for her, old white male bullies who come from a past world are dying out. Only to be replaced by a present world of younger, perhaps not-so-white female bullies?

To understand Lynn Muzzy, and have some compassion for him, we need only observe that misapplication of neo-liberal principals by both Democrats and Republicans has ended up benefiting profiteers, foreigners, big entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and speculators whose property and stocks increase without limit. For them, practically everything is free. It is a great sellout of thrift, honest effort and respectability.

Is it a wonder that the Lynn Muzzys of the world grasp at straws, even if their straws turn into venomous rattlesnakes?

Michael Goldeen

Carson City

Civil discourse missing key ingredient

Reasonable people can agree to disagree. Unreasonable people live in a toilet. I am going to try to reason with people who have sent letters to the editor complaining about others. We can blame others and rant and rave that others have more dirt in their lives than we do. We call others despicable names. We can write despicable nonsense about others. The one thing that might help us all is taking responsibility for our own lives.

Individual responsibility. What a novel approach. You are responsible for your own life. Your destiny is up to you. Enjoy the choices you make and look inside yourself for improvement.

In life, all people do things that need only two comments: “I did it because it made me feel good;” and/or “I screwed up.”

Your life is up to you and only you. You are responsible for your life. Presidents and other politicians don’t ruin your life or make your life enjoyable. You do.

In conclusion, writing this letter made me feel good. Think about it!

Gary Espenship

Dayton

President Trump: Think before you speak (and tweet)

The leader of a particular country has publicly called certain members of Congress treasonous because, in his egotistical mind, they did not stand up and clap enough times for him during his speech. Was this the leader of North Korea, China, or Russia? No! This was the leader of the United States of America.

This leader also claimed that these members of Congress were un-American for the same reason. Does this leader have any sense of what being called un-American or treasonous means? These are serious accusations.

This leader needs to study the history of his own country to see how these same accusations have been used to destroy many lives. My hope is that this leader will learn to think before he speaks or “tweets.” Is that too much to ask for from the president of the United States of America?

Carol Holzhauer

Dayton