March 19, 2024

Letters 03-30-2015

March 29, 2015

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Bigotry Determined

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines "bigot" as "a person who holds blindly and intolerantly to a particular creed, opinion, etc." and "bigotry" as "the behavior, attitude, or beliefs of a bigot." Thomas Kachadurian claims in his opinion piece about "The Lie Told 1,000 Times" that the media shows "their own bigotry," as he concocts a fable about "lies" "fiction" and "misinformation" being "created by activists and promoted by the media." Sadly, he is blind to the reality of the continuing racial injustice in America.

All of the facts of too many police killings are dismissed with: "explaining to black youth that when you treat authorities with respect they will respond with respect," but that is simply blaming the victims for getting in the way of bullets.

Anyone living in the Traverse City area should be aware of a different response to how a white man was handled after a four-day drunken binge, domestic violence, and assaulting a police officer. He was taken to the hospital for treatment as a medical problem. That was good police work!

Personally, I don’t think his binge had anything to do with his work and it is debatable if he should have been punished with losing his job, but his chances of recovery are far better than a man being left to bleed out with five bullet holes in him.

It’s not surprising that some readers are praising the Kachadurian opinion and supporting the oft-repeated claim of "left-wing media bias." True bigotry thrives on a steady diet of beliefs without facts, and seeing something without looking. But then, we are the "Great White Hope," and any other race, religion, culture or economy different from ours must be considered inferior and should show respect to our exceptional status.

David Petrove, Interlochen

Police State

Thomas Kachadurian’s column might get the facts right but misses the story.

Yes, there is compelling evidence that Michael Brown was not an innocent victim. Yes, police work is hard, potentially dangerous work. Law enforcement risks danger with every stop and emergency. Deadly force is required on occasion. And yes, media exploits deadly force stories for their own advantage.

However, there is a deep abiding perception that our local legal and law enforcement agencies believe society should serve them, and not the other way around. "˜The law must be obeyed’ is their mantra. While that is true, laws must be just, and serve everyone equally and fairly. The Ferguson law enforcement extortion scam, police property and cash forfeiture laws, "˜search and frisk’ procedures, the criminal fine and court cost rackets, demonstrates, all too often, that our legal system is too interested in extracting money for its own self-sustenance, and not "˜in justice for all.’

Heaven help the poor person who experiences a run in with our "˜justice system.’ The innocent risks bankruptcy to defend themselves, or are compelled to take bad plea deals rather than face felony conviction and subsequent imprisonment. Those who make mistakes and poor decisions are grouped together with the truly guilty and swept into a corrupt and expensive penal system. They emerge, generally, worse off, unemployable, and scarred for life. Meanwhile, well-heeled fraudsters and corporate thieves escape justice, often receiving less punishment than a Sunday evening pot smoker.

Our legal system serves society terribly and poorly. Justice is hard to find, especially for the poor. Perhaps that, too, was what the Ferguson citizenry protested.

Thomas Johnson, Petoskey

Oppose The Shell Game

Is this a Shell Game? As a Democrat, I support increased taxes on motor fuels and vehicles to provide funding for our transportation infrastructure. I do not support exempting motor fuels from the sales tax; nor do I see any need to increase the sales tax rate from 6% to 7%.

Before I get into specifics, I would like to thank state representative Ray Franz for his evenhanded explanation of the sales tax increase recently at the Leelanau County Government Center. I think Mr. Franz and I might agree that this proposal is a well-packaged shell game in which the legislature takes potential school and local government revenues in order to fix our roads and then asks us, as voters, to raise the sales tax in order to replace the money they just took from the schools and local governments.

I oppose this proposal for the following reasons: The sales tax is already very high at 6%. If the voters approve Proposition 1, Michigan would have the second highest sales tax in the nation. The sales tax is a regressive tax that harms the most families with the lowest incomes. The claim that our schools need more money is certainly valid, but that is largely because Governor Snyder and the legislature have used the School Aid Fund to cover other priorities, primarily tax cuts for Michigan businesses. Do the governor and legislature really think they can shift taxpayer dollars from one pot to another when the voters aren’t looking?

As always seems to be the case with this governor and this legislature, the result is higher taxes on the middle and lower classes and more tax benefits for businesses and the wealthy.

Jay Johnson, Empire

Sugars On The Way

Senator Patrick Colbeck from Canton introduced a bill and the Senate passed it allowing schools and Girl & Boy Scout troops to have up to 3 bake sales per week. Sen. Colbeck wants to move away from the 2014-15 "Smart Snack" program in favor of one that promotes more sugar, processed white flour and no nutritional value. The "Smart Snack" program requires that all foods sold at school meet nutritional standards using whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Bake sales do not fall into this category.

Sen. Colbeck’s move is at a time when obesity is at an all time high and child obesity in Michigan is at 14.8 percent.

The bake sale was also sold as a fundraising tool. In Cheboygan County’s school district they must cut over $1 million from this year’s budget and another million in next years budget. In what reality can weekly bake sales offer any financial assistance?

In fact, thrice weekly bake sales will increase a child’s consumption of empty calories, add to poor nutrition, and increase hyperactivity in some children as a direct result of too much sugar.

Finally one has to ask, wouldn’t it have been a much better use of the Senate’s time to work on an even and fair distribution of funding throughout Michigan’s school districts? Well apparently Sen. Colbeck did not think so, and nor did all but one of his esteemed colleagues.

So Michigan is officially moving away from a healthy snack program and embracing an empty snack program. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, who already are embracing a similar bill.

Not our legislature’s finest hour.

Joanne Cromley, Afton

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