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#2 priority?

Now that the Republican Congress has failed at its number one priority, which was to make Barack Obama a one term president, we will finally have the opportunity to discover what their number two priority is. Lets hope that it has something to do with fixing the economy.

Bob Ross • Pellston

Buzz-kill robo calls

After receiving an unprecedented number of phone calls each day for over a month from automated messages representing themselves as the Republican Party, I would never vote for anybody on their party ticket. From 9 am to 9 pm I was interrupted by these phone calls. Just in one hour I got three calls from the National Republican Party. This is political torture. All it does for me is to swear I would never vote for anyone on the Republican ticket. It’s definitely not a way to win my vote.

Gail Glarum • via email

Tea party extremism

The degrading influence of tea party radicalism has robbed the Republican Party of the credibility it once enjoyed.

Its extreme positions on taxes and the budget, on women’s rights, on foreign policy, on global warming and the environment, on health care, Medicare and Social Security have made honest, balanced debate on these issues almost impossible.

Recent comments by Republicans on rape alone, were so ludicrous as to become a national joke.

The use of wholly discredited “evidence” in their denial of global warming is not only cynical but thwarts action on the threat that 99% of scientists in the field of climatology say is very real indeed.

The vacillation and slippery evasions of their presidential candidate on almost all of these issues augurs only more tea party control of the national debate.

In this election, independent-minded voters supported Democratic candidates who offered rational and sensible alternatives to the challenges we face.

Mary Easthope • Lake Leelanau

Didn’t like cover

Your cover on the Oct 22-28 edition was offensive to both principals running for President.

Surely it would have been possible to find portraits of the President and the Governor conveying the dignity and best features of the candidates instead of the exaggerated comic-book drawings on your cover.

It is difficult enough to measure the qualities of the two candidates without a publication like yours seemingly delighting in denigrating the President and the Governor with ugly drawings on your cover.

Ted Curran • Frankfort

Catholics & tax dollars

Is it really a violation of religious liberty when Catholic institutions, which take millions of taxpayer dollars, refuse to follow government policies?

Is the government denying these institutions their religious liberty by requiring them to treat all citizens, including their employees, equally?

Or, are these institutions denying their employees their civil rights?

If religious institutions take no money from government sources, then these institutions can limit their benefits package for employees however they want when they employ members of their faith. If they do take money from the government, however, then they are required to follow the stipulations that accompany that money.

The government must represent and respect the rights of all citizens and follow the rulings of our judicial system. If some of those rulings are considered unjust or immoral, appeals are available through our judicial system. Or, pass a new law.

The USA is not, and never was, a Christian nation. Our Constitution does not establish a Christian nation. In fact, the First Amendment distinctly and deliberately insists that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...” Our founding fathers had enough of European “Christendom” and the marriage of Church and State. They wanted nothing to do with it.

In terms of contraceptive measures, there is no civil law against their use, and according to all polls, most people in the country use, have used, or will use some form of artificial contraceptive. The Church can condemn that usage, exhort its members not to use them, even reject users as members, but they can’t force or expect the government to enforce their beliefs.

The government must follow the Constitution and the laws of the land. If we don’t like a law, then we can try to persuade people to change it. But we cannot expect the government NOT to apply the law, or condemn them when they do enforce it.

John Chuchman • Bellaire

Corrections

Last week’s story on domestic violence should have cited the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan in Petoskey, not Traverse City. They fielded over 1,000 calls for the fiscal 2011-12.

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An unnamed chef who was mentioned in a story about Stony Point notes that he resigned his position at another restaurant and was not sacked as the article claimed.

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A story entitled “Web Designing Women” incorrectly stated the ownership of the Common Angle IT firm in Petoskey. Actually, Des Moore bought Chesley Consulting and changed its name to Common Angle. Marcie Wolf and Cindy Dixon are employees of Common Angle.