Military cannot resign

Recently on NPR’s Talk of the Nation (10/24) author Bob Woodward said that senior military leaders have threatened to resign over President Obama’s announcement that troops would leave Iraq this year. The 2011 withdraw timeline was established in December 2008 between President Bush and the Iraqi government – and endorsed by President-Elect Obama.

For military officers to threaten resignation not only is an overt attempt to subvert the authority of the President, but is a renunciation of the officer’s oath to “support and defend the Constitution.” Article Two of the Constitution establishes the President as the Commander-in-Chief of the military...

Beware mailings

I just got another one of these political mailers from some Washington, D.C.-based group I have never heard of trying (and failing) to convince me that Congressman Dan Benishek is somehow saving my Medicare.

Hogwash. Last year, then-candidate Dan Benishek said on many occasions that he wants to end Medicare and Social Security. And the first thing he did when he went to congress was to just that. Rep. Benishek voted to end Medicare and force seniors to pay $6,400 of their own money to buy private healthcare while at the same time giving even more tax breaks to the super wealthy.

So it’s clear that this mailer is flat-out misleading people into believe the opposite...

#2 priority? ... Buzz-kill robo calls ... Tea party extremism ... Didn’t like cover  ...
Catholics & tax dollars ... Corrections ...

Helmets & motorcycles Properly worn motorcycle helmets, particularly full-face helmets, are quite effective in preventing head injuries during a crash. Like Jim Lumley (featured in the April 29 issue), I always wear a helmet and am fully covered (i.e. jacket/pants/ boots/gloves) while riding, even when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees...

Fear-mongering lobby Today’s NRA is not the same proud organization my father belonged to. The NRA today has become a fear-mongering lobby for the gun manufacturers...

Don’t blame others Regarding Pete VanBerlo’s letter (May 6) it seems to me that he has fallen hook, line and sinker for the tactic legislators want us to fall for: blaming each other for our problems and not addressing the real issue...

Taxed by Snyder Wait a minute Pete (re: May 6 letter). Entitlement attitude. What makes you think that you somehow support us retired people who collect Social Security?

Dear Beloved Michigan He is one tough NERD. Never. Ending. Rights/Resource. Destroyer. Yes, look out Pure Michigan... 

Corrections

-- Credit for the photo in last week's story on Serenity Wellness is due to Lisa Newhouse of Cherry City Consulting.

-- George Colburn (“Eisenhower's Secret War:”) was a councilman in East Lansing, not Lansing. Also, it was a former Eisenhower staffer who asked him to create documentaries, rather than a fellow filmmaker. Additionally, Bob Elliott is not a translator, but the “voice” mouthing translations of Russian, German and French commentators.