Letters to the Editor, November 22

Published November 22, 2006 at midnight

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Family tragedy a result of our 'justice' system

The tragedy that struck the Bingham family ("A farewell to hopes and dreams," Nov. 16) is a commentary on what has become of of our society. Our "justice" system has evolved into a system of plea bargaining and negotiations for criminal actions that too often are explained away as "I did it, but it's not my fault," or "I did it, but let's make a deal and set me free."

Because our "justice" system is not about justice at all, the safety of innocent citizens is in jeopardy each day. Because our "justice" system is not about justice, the quality of life in this country has deteriorated and will continue to do so.

Because of this "justice" system, a repeat offender was allowed to crawl behind the wheel of a vehicle in his own admitted state of intoxication and plow down four innocent people, killing three.

A justice system should aim to ensure the quality of life for a society, not endanger it by "bargaining" for deals that set a criminal free - free to act with reckless, and too often deadly, abandon. The system attempts to protect those wrongly accused, but when someone is obviously guilty of a crime, the consequences ought to be severe. Severe enough that that person will never be or have the opportunity to again be a threat to the safety of innocent people.

There is no way justice can be served for Frank Bingham, or the rest of society. Nothing will bring back Becca, Macie or Garrison. It is sickening to think that we as a society will have to foot the bill to pay for a criminal like Frank Trujillo as he serves whatever number of years he is sentenced to and then set free to do it again.

Michael P. Carter

Littleton

Using different terms offers perspective

I'm often fascinated at how the use of a word or words changes how we think about things. I'd like to offer a couple of alternative phases for often-heard terms.

"Terrorist," for instance. How about every time we hear the word "terrorist," we instead think "person insane with a desire for justice." "Person insane with a desire for justice" gives us a more accurate handle to practice compassion and seek empathy for these distraught folks in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another term is "illegal alien," which we tend to think of when "illegal immigrant" is said. I prefer the term "undocumented indigenous worker." "Undocumented indigenous worker" rightfully defines these folks as the descendants of a 30,000-year-old culture that shared a common language and gene pool from Point Barrow, Alaska, through the Darien Strait of Colombia. The ancestors of the "undocumented indigenous worker" maintained a pristine environment in North America for 30,000 years. Their healthy, sustained populations had graciously optimized the environment for comfortably living off the land when the Europeans showed up 400 years ago.

Like, "person insane with a desire for justice," "undocumented indigenous worker" gives us a handle to better understand the predicament of these folks and thus to practice friendship and compassion.

John Hoffmann

Carbondale

Lakewood special election holds perils

Since I don't live near Rooney Valley, I'm not directly affected by Lakewood's proposed land exchange but the precedent set by the upcoming Jan. 2 special election could hurt us all.

Since development is inevitable, we need better planning to minimize the adverse effects of any land deals. This special election might discourage flexibility, innovation and creativity in future planning.

This land exchange creates a buffer zone, provides a wildlife corridor, and preserves the existing bike route while keeping the benefits of the current park. Getting a bigger bang for our buck (or in this case, more benefits from existing assets) is just being smart.

Conversely, if we stick Lakewood with its current park boundaries forever, we will be unable to take advantage of future land deals that might create better parks.

This land exchange does not sell any parkland - there will still be 22 acres of parkland with or without the trade. The only difference is the park boundaries.

Finally, it's wrong to ignore the will of the people who years ago devised a Rooney Valley master plan that included a buffer zone.

Lakewood voters should allow our city to become smarter and more responsive by preserving the option of making parkland exchanges when it's in the people's best interests.

David Wiechman

Lakewood

Seems Medicare crisis must get much worse

I am a mostly retired physician. (I still volunteer a couple of days a week.) Thus, I am more a consumer and Medicare beneficiary than provider of medical care.

If I were still actively practicing medicine, I would decline me for a patient!

It is patently ridiculous to cut physician reimbursement when costs of operating a medical practice continue to rise ("Medicare cuts reimbursement rates 5% for 2007," Nov. 2).

The costs of pharmaceuticals, rent, office personnel salaries and benefits - including, ironically, medical insurance - and practically everything else go up every year. Yet Congress in its cynical wisdom sees physicians as the group with the least political clout and, thus, less likely to make the waves required to reverse a punitive law and policy.

Unless and until more physicians refuse to accept Medicare patients and those deprived patients mount a concerted drive to inform Congress, this travesty will continue to occur annually. I have no hope that simple logic and reason will accomplish anything.

Dr. J. Bruce Laubach

Castle Rock

Dems should work to prove voters were right

Abraham Brennan in his hate letter of Nov. 9, "It's time to hold Bush, GOP accountable," shows just the kind of vindictive, emotional outburst I expected from the left wing if they won the election. I knew that some of them, at least, would not be satisfied with merely winning the election, but would start to scream "fire subpoenas" right away. I'm sure the word "impeach" will surface soon also.

This is the very type of anger- based hogwash the country doesn't need to waste time and money on.

If President Bush, the GOP or, for that matter, anyone else is proven guilty (innocent until proven guilty, remember) of any criminal acts (incompetence, as mentioned by Brennan, is not a criminal act) then they should be appropriately punished.

Meanwhile, however, I think the Democratic Party and their left- wing supporters should direct their energies toward proving to us, the voters, that we actually made the right choice.

Alan Thomas

Denver

S. Africa bests the U.S.

In the constitution drafted at the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa recognized the rights of gay people by declaring that any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited.

The U.S. Constitution still has no such provision.

Tuesday, South Africa's parliament voted 230 to 41 in favor of legislation that would recognize same-sex marriages.

The United States has the Defense of Marriage Act, consistent attempts to amend the federal constitution specifically to deny the recognition of same-sex unions, and 27 states that have successfully done that with their own state constitutions.

A country that just over a decade ago was considered the model of injustice and discrimination is now more progressive than the "land of freedom" itself.

Sad.

Dave Savitsky

Fort Collins

DAM's sneaky slur

After visiting the Denver Art Museum's new Frederic C. Hamilton "wing," I feel a strong sense of pride that we had the courage to leap into the future and not simply build a simple "extension" of the work Gio Ponti and James Sudler gave us, but I am truly shocked that the all signs leading to the Ponti-Sudler effort now simply show it has been renamed "The North Building," as if it is now mere storage.

It was with pride that we used to talk about the Denver Art Museum. Now it seems DAM is only the new Hamilton wing and a north building. The sneaky renaming cheapens and diminishes what is exhibited in "the North Building."

I find it difficult to believe Mayor John Hickenlooper, as a DAM honorary trustee, would have either voted to approve or, even worse, kept silent about such a slur.

Robert L. Keyser III

Denver

Switch to wind power

Did you know that there is a very simple way to help fight global warming and improve air quality in the Denver metro area? By making a phone call to Xcel Energy you can tell them to switch you from coal to wind power.

This switch cost me an additional $3.80 per month, but will prevent a lot of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere.

Currently, Colorado gets about 70 percent of its energy from coal, which emits carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases when burned in power plants. Wind and solar are renewable energy sources with no toxic emissions.

Make the conversion to wind power and join in the effort to reduce smog, improve air quality and fight global warming.

Baxter Pharr

Silverthorne

Prefers de Tocqueville

Regarding syndicated columnist John Tierney's skeptical view of the film Borat and its star, Sacha Baron Cohen (" 'Borat' has little mercy on Kazakhs - high five!" Nov. 14), the idea of foreigners visiting America and explaining the mysteries therein is an old one. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French aristocrat who penned the classic 1835 work Democracy in America, comes to mind.

An unending stream of books and films followed. The 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America was gentler than Borat.

Borat is a very funny 45-minute film. Unfortunately it runs much longer and demeans everyone in sight. I prefer de Tocqueville.

Neal Ulevich

Centennial

Bush apology awaited

After his pre-election gaffe, John Kerry made his apology to the troops in uniform. It is now well past time that we also demand that George Bush apologize to the troops for:

• Inspiring the enemy by telling their leaders to "bring 'em on."

• Telling the troops that the mission was accomplished, yet continuing to call on them for repeat and longer tours of duty.

• Failing to supply adequate battle equipment to keep them safe; and more.

Roger Wolff

Larkspur

Why he's a Republican

Someone asked me the other day why I am a Republican. It did not take me long to answer the question.

I turned 93 on Oct. 31. During the last few years, my investments have increased. Also, my income tax has not increased a lot.

I am thankful that I have more money to leave my heirs.

Fred Eblen

Centennial

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