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Listen with open minds

10/5/2016

I’ve heard some discouraging remarks since Hillary fell ill — but wait. Most conclusions are not easily or wisely jumped to. Let’s take some time off the voter-decision trail and let Hillary heal. Maybe we could see things a little differently if we know the down-to-earth realization of the truth that everyone is apt to suffer health problems. So we can leave it alone. Both candidates should have a chance to further prove themselves, to voice their opinions and to hopefully explain to us why they believe the party they represent would be better equipped to govern, instead of taking their time and ours to badmouth those who have served in the past. That kind of talk serves no profitable purpose for anyone as I see it. If we loyal Americans try to really listen with open minds, we may make a better choice.

Harriet Hamilton

Des Moines

 

Clintons playing doctor

CNA - Stop HIV Iowa

The country must surely be relieved with the announcement by the hokey ex-president Bill Clinton, playing doctor again, that spouse Hillary, the other pathological liar in the family, is healthy and “looking like a million.” Never mind nosedives walking up steps and fainting spells, she’s ready and raring to continue blazing the campaign trail with her legendary foul mouth and her acid personality.

Dave Adkins

Des Moines

 

Small potatoes

Like Bernie Sanders, I really don’t understand why the Hillary Clinton opposition is making such a big deal of her emails. Compared with other scandals in our federal government, this one is really small potatoes.

Small potatoes when compared to the scandals involving President Warren G. Harding in 1923. He took a summer train trip West to avoid the breaking news of the Teapot Dome Scandal and others, which caused several of his cabinet members to be sent to jail. And there were leaks about his two mistresses and a love child, which would have been fatal to his career and reputation.

Small potatoes when compared to the secret relationship of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his mistress, Lucy Mercer, present at his death in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1945.

Small potatoes when compared to the lies of the Eisenhower Administration concerning the U-2 spy plane incident in 1960. Ike got caught red-handed in a lie when the Soviets presented the wreckage of the plane and a live pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

Small potatoes when compared to the secret health problems of John F. Kennedy.

Small potatoes when compared to the sins of the Nixon White House and the Watergate Scandal.

Small potatoes when compared with Ronald Reagan’s intentional violation of the will of Congress in the Iran-Contra Affair, an impeachable offense.

Small potatoes when Bill Clinton lied to Congress and the American people and lost his right to practice law.

Small potatoes when George W. Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction. Jesus Christ has never been president.

The closest anybody came was Jimmy Carter, and what a disaster that was. He should have taken Machiavelli as his role model. I hope that Hillary Clinton does when she becomes president. n

Gary Thelen

West Des Moines

CLARIFICATION

In our September 2016 OUR VIEW column, we stated that The Des Moines Register’s “USA TODAY BEST: DES MOINES METRO” readers’  poll only had categories with paid advertising in it and that businesses had to write checks to the Register to be listed on the ballot. Register publisher David Chivers says some categories in the poll actually don’t have paid advertisers, but he admits that those who write checks are automatically included on the drop-down menu while others can be written in. In other words, yes, their poll is loaded.

ail your opinions to editor@dmcityview.com. Mail to 5619 N.W. 86th St., Suite 600, Johnston, IA 50131. Fax us at 953-1394. Please limit letters to 200 words or less. Cityview reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. The writer’s address and daytime phone number will not be printed but must be given for verification.

10 Comments

  1. gary wilson says:

    Fake news is in the news. It’s sin? Bogus stories burning thru the infoverse constructed to make fuzzy and grey the accepted black and white truths of BIG MEDIA. It’s creators proclaimed as fakers, creeps, and anarchists with or without a definite political or social agenda. They could just be money making scamsters pulling in big coin from ad sales; profit is always a motivator for specious activity.
    They spread discord and lies. Trollers are accused of taking bits of real new stories and pumping them up with innuendo, slurs, and rumor. These boffins of b.s. are the scourge of BIG MEDIA and it’s manifest destiny to be the one source of all that is deemed relevant to the republic.
    Fake news, a genuine concern or a continuation of loose narrative and suspect import. Real, mainstream news, however, has long been collusive in delivering of poorly sourced news and sloppy reporting.. It’s record of thinly vetted stories is encyclopedic. A brief online search of the Wars and their supposed causes will keep one reading till the next century. Politician Ron Paul has posted a list of Big Media’s most famed reporters/news readers often blabbering fake news or no r news stories. Wolf Blitzer, George Stephanopoulos, and Chuck Todd make his checklist. CNN recently trolled their own credibility. This vaguely honorable institution showed a video of an irate man at an anti-Trump rally barking partisan invective at the election results. Sadly, for CNN, this incensed millennial protestor was a CNN cameraman enjoying his fifteen seconds of fame. Shame on Cable News Networks big honcho Jeff Zucker.
    Fake news will be sorted out by people only after due diligence in double checking and cross referencing stories and conflating them with common sense. This will take time-not that much-and effort for those lazy news consumers who live a world of sound bites and Twitter dribbling.

  2. Charles Lavorato says:

    To:
    The Most Reverend Richard Pates, Bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines
    The Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City
    The Most Reverend Martin J. Amos, Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport
    The Most Reverend Michael Own Jackels, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque

    An open letter to the Iowa Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
    In past years, Planned Parenthood has provided medical services to low income women across the United States. According to Fact Check.Org, Some of the services provided by Planned Parenthood in 2013 included:
    1. 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections
    2. 3.6 million contraception related services
    3. 935,573 cancer screenings including breast exams and pap smears
    4. 1.1 million pregnancy tests and prenatal services
    5. 17,817 men and women received medical services including services for low income pregnant women through the Women, Infants, and Children federal program.
    Tweet by D’Angelo Gore posted on 09-15-15, Planned Parenthood Services

    The Republican controlled Congress is poised to defund Planned Parenthood. The Iowa Senate has already passed a bill defunding Planned Parenthood. Millions of low income women will lose the services once provided by Planned Parenthood. Without those services, many women will not have the benefit of early cancer screening which could save lives.

    The Roman Catholic Hierarchy spent years working to defund Planned Parenthood because a small portion of Planned Parenthood services involve abortions. Given the dire need of low income women for the services provided by Planned Parenthood, somebody must step in the void. I urge the Iowa Roman Catholic Hierarchy to meet its biblical obligations by declaring it is a moral imperative that Catholic medical providers across the nation and in Iowa fill the void and provide the lost services. Anything less, would be a failure of their obligation to proclaim and live the gospels:

    Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
    Psalm 82:34

    Charles Lavorato
    3662 Ingersoll
    Des Moines, Iowa 50312
    c_lavorato_123@msn.com

  3. David Leslie says:

    What is with Cityview’s morbid obsession with the Register’s circulation? The Register adds value to our community with thorough reporting on government, coverage of culture and sports events, and provides a cross-section of public opinion. Expert commentary by Obradovich and Basu provides food for thought. Finney and Munson reflect on our lives and experiences. Cityview publishes trivia and tidbits, but very little hard news or analysis. Either add real value or leave the circulation disorder behind. It is tiresome.

    1. Leslie Allen says:

      The Des Moines Register is known as The Locust Street Liar by those of us who want facts instead of biased blather and petty opinions. I regard The Des Moines Register as hate speech and their declining circulation indicates that I’m not the only person who holds this opinion.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Dear Des Moines Public School District,
    We are your teachers. We are your people. We are starving.
    We enter with kindness in our souls. We enter our classrooms with so much good and hope in our hearts. But soon we are drowning in behavior that chokes our voices and takes over our rooms. Our students cannot learn. We cannot teach.
    We cry out for your help. You say, your hearts are not pure enough! Your thinking is flawed! You are not engaging! Your learning targets are not clear!
    We try to be more engaging. We try new things. We smile and show our love for our students and offer a new day for each one. We work hard to build relationships, and attend all the meetings. But still, our rooms grow dark, as behavior emerges despite our best tries. Behavior that rises from places we cannot fully grasp or control.
    We cry out for help.
    Again, you say, you must cleanse your heart of bias and doubt! You must alter your thinking! You are not engaging! Your targets are wrong!
    We huddle in hushed circles, in grief and confusion. We support each other, reassure each other. You are a good teacher, we say to each other. You do care about your students so much, we say. We comfort each other, reassure ourselves so we can get through one more day. Many of us leave, run to the hills with heavy hearts, sad to leave our students, our buildings, our friends.
    You tell us to give more. We give until we ache. We are no longer teachers, we are just putting out fires. Our buckets are empty. We long to teach, we are hungry to teach! Desperate to teach! But we must endure the turmoil alone. The behaviors get worse, and nothing is done. And we are told, your hearts are not pure.
    Des Moines, We are your teachers. We are your people.
    We are starving.
    -Anonymous Des Moines Teacher

  5. Natalie Chin says:

    Dear Editor,

    I am writing to express the frustration and fear I feel in the face of the upcoming election for Iowa governor. Governor Reynolds has signed multiple bills reducing the funding allocations made to Planned Parenthood and I am terrified that Planned Parenthood will no longer be able to provide charitable care to myself or others.

    I rely on Planned Parenthood and am terrified at the idea of losing my right to affordable and accessible care. Every session, Governor Reynolds and other anti-choice legislators have passed oppressive bills blocking people from receiving care at Planned Parenthood.

    If I have to switch providers due to oppressive legislation, I don’t want to feel the embarrassment and anxiety that I have felt with other providers. I deserve to feel safe when I go to the doctor and I deserve to go to the provider I choose: Planned Parenthood.

    Please reject Governor Kim Reynolds in the upcoming election; I can’t afford to receive care anywhere else and I wouldn’t want to. Think of myself and other people you may know who don’t have insurance or are living paycheck-to-paycheck: don’t re-elect Reynolds!

    Sincerely,
    Natalie

  6. Eric Stimson says:

    Five Things to Take Away From My Register Subscription-What I Learned:
    Nothing
    Nothing
    Nothing
    Nothing
    Nothing

  7. Scott Hanel says:

    I look forward to Cityview’s ‘Best of…’ issue every year. It shows people’s choices and their involvement in the community. Some of the winners I agree with and some I don’t.
    One thing I would like to see though is the Metro’s best parking lot. I think that would add another dimension to the feature that is lacking so far. In case you haven’t noticed, there are some good ones and some not so good ones.

  8. Gerald Ott says:

    Yes. I plan to vote in the November 2 school board election. Where I live the issue that has folks buzzed (dumb, I know) is whether Covid is of sufficient danger to warrant masks in classrooms. In normal times, parents would demand schools be safe from communicable diseases. In fact, school boards are still required by law to maintain safe classrooms (a no-brainer).

    Medical virologists say this novel coronavirus is both dangerous and communicable—700K Americans have died so far, more than the horrendous 1918 Flu. There are effective vaccines now (thank God), but too many have not stood up to the challenge. Immunologists say that, until we reach herd immunity (by vaccination), masks are important tools to mediate in-class spread.

    I’ll be voting for candidates who have the good sense (and heart) to keep kids and teachers safe from harm …And to maintain the district’s facilities, recruit great teachers, keep the buses running, and the lines of civil communication open. For me, that’s Bullock, Lovstad, and Northway.

  9. Richard E H Phelps II says:

    A GOOD IDEA
    I read where Trump is proposing that drug dealers be executed. You have to give the guy credit for coming up with a good idea once in a while. Now, I presume he doesn’t mean pharmacists or other health professionals although I don’t believe he specified.
    If you give, sell, donate, otherwise transfer possession of an illegal or legal drug, say, you are technically a drug dealer. This would apply to illegal substances as well as legal medications. If you, for instance, have some oxycodone in the medicine cabinet and give one to a member of the family, being in excruciating pain, on your own without a prescription from a licensed physician, you are by definition a drug dealer.
    So, the question is: Who will be put to death and who will not be put to death? The answer to this question has significant consequences to a whole lot of people. After all, one does not want to be put to death needlessly or for lack of a proper definition.
    This statement by Trump comes, unfortunately, at the waning of the war on drugs. We have been fighting this war for several decades now and it’s not time, necessarily, that we move on to other wars, such as the war against sex. And if you ask what the war on drugs has accomplished, it has given employment to thousands of people who otherwise would be unemployable. Unfortunately the use of the mantra “Drugs destroy lives” has slowly ebbed. We decided, as a nation, that in order to properly destroy lives the best way is by putting drug dealers in prison for decades and sometimes for life. So, it is not a matter of destroying lives, but on how it is to be done. Executing them is simply one further step in a process.
    Of course, if you are dead, your life is destroyed by definition. What we are talking about here is not how not to destroy lives, but on how and who is to do it. Let’s be clear about that. It is much better to have your life destroyed by the government than by illegal drugs. At least, having your life destroyed by the government has a purpose, to convince other people not to use or deliver illegal substances and that they are in charge, not you. What could be clearer than that?
    So once again, we need to give credit where credit is due and to congratulate Trump on his pronouncement that drug dealers should be executed.

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