Letters to the Editor

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

“Bush in ‘Nosedive’ “


David M. O’Neill correctly pointed out the necessity for America’s entry into World War II under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leadership [“Bush In ‘Nosedive,'” Letters, November 21, 2005].


Further to that necessity, let us consider if, like President Bush’s leadership against terrorism, FDR could have acted together with the British and French to pre-empt Adolf Hitler in 1936, when he re-occupied the Rhineland, because he was a clear danger to the future.


Most historians will agree that Hitler would have been quickly defeated, probably at the cost of several thousand lives. But in occupying a defeated Germany, the Allies would have found no death camps like Dachau, no buzz-bomb rocket weapons, no starving slave laborers, no massive amounts of Luftwaffe bombers, and no poison gas weapons of mass destruction.


For the next 70 years, “peace-loving” politicians would each year mourn the needless loss of thousands of lives in a needless war against a non-threat called Hitler, and FDR would be called a liar. Instead of pre-emption, the world chose to wait until the threat was “imminent,” and the result was 50 million horrendous deaths throughout the world.


SEYMOUR YUSEM
Manhattan


‘What Abortion Debate?’


At first I agreed with Michael Kinsley in his opinion piece “What Abortion Debate?” [November 21, 2005], when he observes that the abortion debate is not openly discussed in the political arena, except in abstract terms. Mr. Kinsley made a turn for the worse, however, when he disregarded the impact of abortion on American society, and suggested that “Roe opponents” abandon their crusade.


Thirty-two years of legal abortion has resulted in increased child abuse, higher breast cancer rates, broken families, and failed marriages. Studies have shown that abortion hurts women emotionally, physically, and spiritually, being directly related to an increase in suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and depression.


Abortion rejects the traditional family where life is a gift from God to one another, for one another. Call me an idealist, but isn’t it productive to promote the best possible society, rather than one of selfish convenience and moral ineptness?


Mr. Kinsley’s assertion that if Roe were reversed, a woman would be “forced” by the government to endure an “unwanted pregnancy” is only true if one believes that the government is responsible for the pregnancy. Conception of life is part of the natural order, not the product of a government program, which the government can control.


Accepting abortion as a natural right, must assume a greater good than life itself. Sixty-four thousand pre-born babies at 18 weeks of gestation and older will be aborted this year, even while that same pre-born baby swallows, digests, hiccups, sleeps, dreams, kicks, and has a fully developed body capable of experiencing pain.


Abandon my crusade? Never.


RAQUEL LACOMBA WALKER
Flushing, N.Y.


‘American Illusion’


The most serious problem facing lawmakers today, and the bottom-line issue that roiled the Congress last week, is that our government has so mismanaged its resources that we cannot provide the basic services and support that all our citizens deserve [Robert J. Samuelson, “American Illusion,” Opinion, November 16, 2005].


We live in a country that could and should ensure that every person has adequate food, shelter and a decent quality of life, whether they are 7 or 70.


We are falling short of providing that because the government does not have enough money, largely because of tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy – tax cuts that, astonishingly, Congress extended last week.


The answer is not to privatize Social Security and go back to the day when millions of seniors – mostly women – lived out their lives in dire poverty. When that happens, we shouldn’t forget that it is younger working families who have to step in and care for them, sometimes instead of heating their homes, clothing their children or saving for their kids’ college education.


The answer is to reject divide-and-conquer strategies, re-set our priorities, and ensure that our government has enough money to provide a safety net for every person who needs it.


DEBRA L. NESS
President
National Partnership For Women & Families
Washington, D.C.



Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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