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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Who Surrenders?
To the editor: I’m writing about E. R. Bills’ thoughtful column, “Groovy National Product” (Jan. 17, 2007). Our so-called drug war and our war and occupation of Iraq are very similar. Both were started with lies and false pretenses. The war in Iraq is over. We won. What we have now is an occupation of Iraq. Occupations cannot be won. Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty? The so-called war on drugs cannot be won. Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty?
The war on drugs is an occupation, a career, an industry and huge bureaucracy. The goal of the drug war is not to win, but rather to continue and to expand.
The only way to end the drug war is to re-legalize the products that are now prohibited and sell them in licensed and regulated business establishments just as we do with alcohol, tobacco, and other drug products. Those financially benefiting from our drug prohibition policies don’t want this to happen, and they will do everything in their power to make sure it doesn’t.
Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.
Alien Language
To the editor: Why did you go out of your way to avoid using the word “illegal” in your article “Prescription for Care” (Jan. 10, 2007), in describing the two women who needed John Peter Smith hospital services? You referred to them as “poor Tarrant County residents who can’t afford to pay for medical care and can’t receive free medical care at the county hospital’s health clinics because they lack the necessary papers — either a Social Security card or a passport — that prove they are in this country legally.”
If I am stopped and do not have proof of insurance, in the eyes of the law I am in violation of the law. Why do you use the term “undocumented immigrant” instead of illegal immigrant? If someone is here legally they should have or easily be able to acquire documentation. If they can’t get the documentation, does that not suggest that they are here in the country illegally?
I have gone through periods in my life when I had no health insurance provided by an employer. I struggled and paid out of pocket or paid high premiums on a low wage (less than $20,000 a year). It meant I had to watch what I spent my money on. Why should money that comes from U.S. taxpayers (either at the county, state, or federal level) go to pay for healthcare for people who are breaking the laws of the United States? In the last decade, the federal government took steps to crack down on welfare. Why do the advocates in your article, and it sounds like you yourself, believe that citizens of the United States should be held to a higher standard? What steps are taken to prove that someone is truly indigent if they lack documentation? Could I go into JPS and say that I’m unable to pay for care, and then say that I have no documentation to prove it? I’m willing to bet that, because of my skin color and my last name, that would not fly.
David B. Crocker
Fort Worth
To the editor: Thank you for the excellent reporting on the issue of healthcare at JPS for undocumented residents. You achieved with the women’s stories at the beginning and the excellent presentation of the facts what we have been trying to accomplish in the past six months. We have never been able to effectively combine the “stories” with the financial facts.
Ann Sutherland has worked particularly hard on this study, and it was a joy to have you present the essence of the study in such an eloquent and straightforward way.
We welcome your coverage as we continue to work on other issues of social injustice endemic to Tarrant County.
David Burlingame
Allied Communities of Tarrant
Fort Worth
Thank the Truckers
To the editor: I found the Jan. 10, 2007, article “Detours on a Super-Highway “ interesting, but I must admit that I bristled at the comment in the first paragraph that the Trans-Texas Corridor includes “Four lanes for trucks to keep the 18-wheelers from bothering Joe Motorist.”
I have driven 18-wheelers for a living for the past 15 years, and I can tell you that most big-rig drivers feel the same way about “Joe Motorist.” It’s amazing that most drivers consider 18-wheelers a nuisance — but we are the ones who bring all the stuff that you purchase in the store. If you bought it, a trucker brought it.
As for the Trans-Texas Corridor, personally it scares the hell out of me. Why this nation ( and the state of Texas ) is committed to building a “superhighway” to such a corrupt Third World nation as Mexico is beyond me. It seems this country is more than willing to drive a stake right through the heart of the people of Texas. Rick Perry could care less about the farmers of Texas who, for generations, have plowed the fields along the proposed TTC route.
It’s really sad. What the Trans-Texas Corridor says to me is “New World Order.”
Christopher Black
Grapevine
Correction
In “Breaking News of the Week” (Jan. 10, 2007), Chow, Baby referred to The Tower, at 500 Throckmorton St., Fort Worth, by its former name, Bank One Tower. Chow, Baby regrets the memory lapse.
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