The Reporter-Statesman

Letter to the Editor

America is in the midst of an election season, nearing an Election Day with what likely will be far-reaching consequences. Public interest is extraordinarily high, and candidates are debating many critical issues. Yet we have heard little or nothing about the Constitution and its Bill of Rights – the touchstone of our individual freedoms.

The most significant words of the U.S. Constitution may be the first three: “We the people.” Not “I the King,” not “I the Grand Religious Leader,” not even “I the elected President.” Our governing structure was created by the people, and ensuring that it works for the people is a continuing legal, moral, and political journey.

All through the centuries, arguments about the Constitution’s meaning have persisted: What does it mean that only Congress can declare war? (Article I) What constitutes “high crimes and misdemeanors?” (Article II) Is taking an oath of office with your hand on the Bible a “religious test?” (Article VI) Under which conditions, if any, should explicit sexual language not be considered free speech? (Amendment 1) Is a urine test for drugs an “unreasonable search?” (Amendment 4)

The remarkable characteristic of the Constitution is that it offers bedrock principles—checks and balances, procedures, freedoms, responsibilities, protections—while at the same time responding to the needs of contemporary society. It’s not an accident; the founders wrote it that way on purpose. The Constitution is our civic compass. It points the way for courts, legislatures, and executive administrations. It guides us in times of war and of peace, of boom and of bust, and of everything in-between. It keeps us on the path of fair play, equal treatment, liberty, and security.

Or it does if we’re constantly vigilant.

Over the last two centuries, through activism, dissent, and dedication, citizens have expanded the scope and depth of our liberty. And today, more Americans enjoy the “blessings of liberty” than at any time in history.

Yet, in recent years, our federal government has grown more powerful and secretive, assuming powers it does not rightfully have. Our government has:

• spied on Americans without the approval of Congress or the courts;
• allowed the CIA to torture and abuse hundreds of people, including Americans, in secret prisons throughout the world;
• held prisoners indefinitely without charge;
• placed hundreds of thousands of Americans on terrorist watch lists without an explanation or opportunity to appeal; and
• restricted the free flow of scientific information and set up barriers to the use of scientific materials.

No matter who wins the election, we must remember that the Constitution applies to everyone. It applies to the least desirable among us and to those with whom we vehemently disagree on matters of politics, religion, or ethics. That’s the tough part. We need to be vigilant for all people, not merely the ones whom society favors.

This election season is an opportunity to think about what the Constitution has given us, as well as what we ourselves can do to make sure it survives -- not just in letter, but in spirit. We can consider whether what’s been going on is consistent with the Constitution. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of “Well, it’s not me; it’s that awful other person who’s being tortured/spied upon/denied an attorney/discriminated against/harassed.” Any of us could be that person in the future.

By Kathleen Taylor

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We’re in the waning days of the Bush administration and the ideologues are working furiously to get in their last licks. Women, including the most underprivileged and poor in the world, are their target yet again.
 
A third of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. The vast majority are women and children. Many are forced into marriage at 10 or 12 years of age. Many have six to 10 children, because they have no access to education or services, and no authority to decide on sexual matters in their marriages. As a result, more than 500,000 women die each year just because they get pregnant: they gave birth too young, too old, too often, or they live too far away from any trained health care provider. And increasingly, they are becoming infected with HIV/AIDS.
 
Controlling one’s own reproductive decisions is important for all women, but especially for women in poor families. Birth control is a critical component in ensuring that rates of unwanted pregnancy and abortion continue to drop, and that women and their children are able to live healthy lives.
 
But even as the president and his colleagues prepare to pack up and leave Washington, they’ve continued to find more opportunities to take away these basic women’s rights.
 
Just recently, the United States Agency for International Development discontinued the provision of contraceptives to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world’s leading family planning organizations. According to MSI, the decision will “seriously disrupt” family planning programs in at least six African countries – Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe - including one where the organization delivers 25 percent of all family planning services nationally. Women in these countries will be left with few options other than abortion, the majority of which will be unsafe and could very well result in their death or disability.
 
This is on top of the fact that for the past seven years, President Bush has blocked the congressionally approved U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA works in 140 countries to provide poor women with family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV prevention assistance. This year alone, the U.S. contribution could have helped to prevent up to 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 unsafe abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths, over 77,000 infant and child deaths, and prevented countless women and men from contracting HIV/AIDS.
 
And of course in one of his first acts as president, Bush restored the Global Gag Rule, severely restricting groups that work in the developing world from providing much-needed family planning assistance. The move forced the closure of health clinics throughout Asia and Africa -- often the only providers of health care in their communities -- leaving millions in need.
 
But Bush’s apathy towards women isn’t just for those overseas.
 
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed regulations that would deprive women of the right to make their own informed health care decisions. These regulations would allow doctors, nurses and other health care personnel to refuse to provide services that might offend their conscience. This includes not only the provision of abortion services, from which providers are already exempt under federal law, but could include contraception as well.
 
While we have made laudable progress in funding the fight against HIV/AIDS abroad, this progress has not been matched at home, where AIDS is now the number one killer of black women between the ages of 25 and 34. It’s not helpful that the federal government forces schools to teach programs that preach abstinence-only-until-marriage and bans discussing condoms, except to exaggerate their failure rates. Over 20 states have now rejected federal abstinence-only programs, which have proven not only a complete waste of taxpayer funds, but have likely also caused harm to the students who are taught inaccurate information.
 
In these last few weeks of election season, voters should ask candidates for federal office where they stand regarding the health and welfare of vulnerable women.
 
Do they support the Bush policies of denying women access to contraception and providing young people with dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage education? Or would they give women and youth the opportunity to live healthy lives and to be free to make their own educated decisions regarding their health?
 
The women of the world deserve better than what the Bush administration has provided, and the American people deserve wiser, more generous policies in our name.

By Suzanne Petroni

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Dear Editor,

I would like to take the time to thank the person or persons who took the time to deface the Obama for President sign; I had placed in my front yard. This reinforces several things that I have noted about a certain very small faction of (though, not all or even most) conservatives. This small faction cannot tolerate someone else’s point of view. These types of narrow minded and bigoted people live in a box with all their rules clearly defined and cannot tolerate anyone else who does not agree with ALL their views ALL the time.

This type of individual is indeed a closeted bigot and racist. One side of the sign was painted with Vote McCain. If you would like your own vote McCain sign, they have them for a small fee at the GOP headquarters in Amarillo or you can order one online. You see I do not mind you expressing your opinion of whom you would like to see run our country, even though obviously you mind me expressing my opinion. The other side of the sign said “porch monkey” which is a racist and derogatory phrase used to belittle people of African American heritage. If you want a sign saying that and are brave enough to display it in your own yard, then you’ll have to paint it yourself, since I know you cannot obtain that one at the GOP headquarters, since the vast majority of GOP voters are not racist either. But you really wouldn’t have the courage to display that one would you?

The sign was defaced under the cover of darkness, which is the way vandals who destroy other people’s property operate. I have been told it takes a certain amount of courage to display a sign in this town supporting a democrat, but I have displayed this sign for well over a month now and no one vandalized it. The vast majority of people in this town are decent people who understand that you can disagree with someone without hating them, ignoring them or vandalizing their property and belittling their views. But apparently there is a racist element in our town and it appears it reared its ugly and intolerant, not to mention ignorant head.

I personally believe that Senator Obama is the best choice to lead our country over the next four to eight years and this type of defacing is happening because the racists and others who fear this good and decent man feel he is indeed going to be that leader. I too feel he will win and so does Las Vegas since they place him a prohibitive 2-1 favorite to become president. There are others in this town who agree with me and still more who do not, but most of those people are content to support their candidate by building him up, not tearing the other candidate down.

I feel John McCain is a good man and would be a welcome relief from President Bush whom I believe is not very competent. I didn’t think Jimmy Carter ended up being very competent either, so I supported the Republican Reagan in 1980 and 1984. So as an independent, for me, it is not about Democrat or GOP, but it is about competence. I also feel Obama is brighter, more tolerant and has better answers to the problems that face our diverse nation, than does Senator McCain, so I have chosen to support him over McCain and if the odds makers, pollsters and pundits are right, it looks like he [Obama] will take the oath of office on January 20, 2009, but 3 months is a long time in politics and McCain may emerge the winner, if he does I WILL support him and give him a chance to show that he can begin to undo the mess I believe was created by his predecessor. I hope those who vote for McCain will give Senator Obama the same chance. I think most will, but the hateful, the racist, the intolerant faction never will and unfortunately there is a very small faction like that in the GOP and apparently also in our otherwise very nice little community.

Again, thank you for expressing your views and revealing your true self (well I guess you really didn’t since you chose to express those views in my yard and not yours). I have more signs and I will put another up.

Dr. Glenn Robinson

Spearman, TX