Letters

Voting machine story on target

Barbara Jean Hope’s Jan. 17 commentary, “Who is counting your vote? Diebold & Bush vs. the public interest,” is both timely and alarming. I have been watching for years the increasingly brazen takeover of America by so-called Republicans, while Americans for the most part turned a deaf ear and blind eye. I’m amazed at how willing Americans have become to be duped, to not question questionable tactics and behaviors, and to let themselves be ripped off by these anti-American criminals and traitors. The farther a cancer spreads the harder it is to remove, and I fear it may already be too late to cure this malignancy that has infected American virtues and ideologies. At this point it seems that the only safe means to vote anymore is by absentee ballot. I hope it is not too late to save your once great country.
Thanks again for a great piece.

William SweetlingHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ashamed of fellow Texan

Activists in Dallas, Texas, were ashamed but not surprised to see that G.W. Bush was attempting to hog the spotlight during Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations in Atlanta. When he was first running for governor of Texas, he used that same ugly tactic to exploit Dr. King’s good name for his own benefit. Without authorization, he inserted himself at the head of our gigantic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade. We were stunned and ashamed of this crass low-life who calls himself a Texan!

Jim LaneDallas TX

GOP playing for keeps

In case you haven’t been paying attention, this election year, Republicans are playing a deadly game of attrition – death by a thousand tiny cuts, so to speak: extreme gerrymandering in Texas, the recall of a governor in California, the installation of non-auditable, easily “preprogrammed” DRE e-vote machines in as many counties as will allow them to be stuffed down their throats, relentless and bloody character assassinations in a bought-and-paid-for Murdoch-dominated media empire, and stacked courts ready to deliver decisions for which 2000’s Gore vs. Bush set the precedent. In case you haven’t connected the dots, this time the GOP is playing for keeps. And so, I challenge you: this is a battle we perhaps cannot win, but, at all costs, must not lose. The consequences of surrender will be incalculable: one by one, like dominos, institutions we cherish will fall – environmental laws, Social Security, independent media, healthy advocacy groups, assistance for the unemployed, impoverished and disenfranchised – and, foremost, the right to choose our leaders. Don’t let the dream die. Stand up and fight for the vote.

Eric A. SmithTokyo, Japan

Elated about socialist content

I was elated to see the article by Dr. H. Salari on capitalism (PWW, 1/10-16). The article explains, on one level, why we need socialism. I am particularly delighted because, as I ring doorbells asking people to subscribe to the People’s Weekly World and telling them it is a Communist newspaper, for the past few years there have been virtually no articles telling why they should join. Articles on the socialist solution to our capitalist problem are welcome.

Karl DennisTucson AZ

Ousting Bush the top priority

I believe that our first responsibility as activists is to stand in opposition to the very undemocratic Bush administration. Our nation has suffered over these last four years, firstly through a bogus election. The chipping away of civil liberties in great chunks is clear. The deceptions on top of deceptions that brought us into a state of endless, greed-based war are a threat to our very existence.
A vote for any candidate outside of our two-party system is nothing less than self-injurious. Cutting off our nose to spite our face? No. More like lobbing off the whole head. I could never, ever advocate a left organization that tells members and the public to vote for their candidate – sadly, one with the ability to reach but a handful of voters – when we are facing another term of Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney and Rumsfeld. So I urge all radicals to remember what the larger battle is: we need to remove George Bush from the White House.

John PietaroNew York NY