Letters to the Editor

Year after year, people complain about government. When asked what they have done about the failed government, they say they voted, they wrote to their legislator. Those actions didn’t work: Voting and e-mailing only achieved the status quo. Year after year, people complain that not enough people vote; those complaints don’t move people to vote. […]

In response to Scott Cooper’s article “Pot of gold” in the May 12, 2010, Gazette: I am still trying to figure out why our lawmakers insist on clinging to an outdated, ridiculous law such as the criminalization of marijuana. It is the very definition of the Latin legal term malum prohibitum, or “bad because it’s […]

Regarding Sherry Fair’s article (News, “Teacher incentive,” April 12, 2010, Gazette): There is one major, greatly overlooked reason why teachers’ pay should not be tied to what is cleverly, and misleadingly, referred to as “student achievement.” If such an evaluative tool is to be used, it should be used honestly. If student achievement, or educational […]

The tragic decisions of Timothy McVeigh, 15 years ago, illuminate the terrible consequences resulting when anyone takes it upon themselves to “retaliate” violently, no matter how “justifiable” they believe their anger is. Three people I knew were murdered that day, and the losses imposed on others by McVeigh’s personal mission still stab the hearts of […]

In the past, the editorial staff of The Oklahoman has proclaimed that Oklahoma City is “recession-proof” and “big league.” If we are, indeed, recession proof, why are they eliminating 57 positions in their organization? Why wouldn’t they just raise the price of the paper (again) and save these jobs? But, on the bright side, Oklahoma […]

To Tom Furlong (Letters, “Defining marriage,” April 21, 2010, Gazette) and other similar self-proclaimed “authorities” on law, our Constitution, human rights and where gays fit into all this: Gay couples do not already have the same rights as other couples, even in a legal or civil union, because most jurisdictions don’t recognize those unions, even […]

Thanks for LeighAnne Manwarren’s article, “State of abortion” in the May 5, 2010, Gazette.In part, the article explained that House Bill 2780 recently became law in Oklahoma but is on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, New York.This new law requires that a woman seeking an abortion […]

This is in response to the April 29 Oklahoma Gazette Commentary articles (Bob Gresham’s “Point: Christians and Muslims in Oklahoma” and the Rev. Paul Blair’s “Counterpoint: ‘Proclaiming truth is not hateful’”). The ridiculousness that I hear and see here in Oklahoma against Muslims is appalling. Paul Blair states that Islam is against the Constitution. The […]

Good job on presenting an article about breast-feeding (Malena Lott, “Breast is best,” April 21, 2010, Gazette). I only wish you’d delved a little deeper into the issue. Many people agree that “breast is best,” but the reason why many women continue to bottle feed with formula is not (only) because our mothers and grandmothers […]

House Bill 3290 prohibits abortion coverage by private health insurance except to prevent the death of the mother or in cases of rape and incest. Per this law, a woman must buy an additional policy to cover the procedure. First, if a woman finds out that she is carrying a fetus that has an abnormality […]