Letters to the Editor

Last Friday morning, June 22, my wife and I were driving in Daryl Keiser’s funeral procession from the American Lutheran Church to the Lutheran Cemetery northeast of Gothenburg.

As we were going north on Lake Avenue at the Evangelical Free Church four young men were washing a car in the church parking lot. They stopped washing the car while the funeral procession drove by. A block north of the church another young man on a bicycle stopped and put his hand over his heart as the procession went by.

To these young men I say thank you, commend you and give you a big pat on the back. You stopped what you were doing and showed respectfulness to the family and Daryl. Someone taught you well. These acts show that not everything or everyone is wrong or gloomy in our society today.

Daryl would have said way to go “Kiddos.”

Thanks so much for the great coverage the Destination Imagination (DI) program has received over the past several years. The Times has always done a great job recognizing the students that have participated in the program and their accomplishments at the competitions. The recent coverage for our team advancing to Global Finals was fabulous, We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The front-page publicity was fantastic and very helpful as the kids went around the community selling raffle tickets. Thanks to the articles in The Times, a majority of community members contacted were already aware of the team’s accomplishments and were very generous in helping them meet their fund-raising goal. I had several people contact me to offer praise and congratulatory remarks for the team.

The success of this team and the great coverage the DI program received has also sparked an interest in other parents who want to learn more about the program and would like to see their child participate in the future.

Destination Imagination develops skills our youth need throughout life. The students that choose to participate in DI are the promising leaders of the future. Thank you for showcasing this great group of kids and a great program offered at Gothenburg Public Schools. Gothenburg has so much to be proud of.

Cozad’s Aug. 30 opening of the National Smithsonian Exhibit “Journey Stories” is quickly approaching. People visiting the 100th Meridian Museum from Aug. 30 to Oct. 6 will be able to view and experience journey stories that have made our country what it is today. This is an exciting time because we all have the opportunity to also become part of the exhibit by sharing our own journey stories.

“Journey Stories” notebooks have been placed in the public libraries in Cozad, Elwood, Gothenburg, and Lexington and in the Senior Centers in Eustis and Overton. Whether you were born in another country or just another state, share the journey that brought you to your current home. The notebooks provide information to help you get started writing or telling your journey story and people to call if you want help.

The exhibit will close on Oct. 6, but the local journey stories will become permanent records of the 100th Meridian Museum. Journey stories are encouraged prior to the Exhibit but may still be submitted during the Exhibit and after it closes.

In a 2001 radio interview, Barack Obama spoke about failures of the Warren court during the civil rights movement. He said “...generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties” (what government can’t do to you, not what it must do on your behalf). He lamented that the Supreme Court never ventured into redistribution of wealth and political and economic justice in society.

Hundreds of years ago, the founders saw Obama coming and intentionally limited intrusive federal powers like these in the Constitution. Read Frederic Bastiat’s “The Law” at (bastiat.org/en/the_law.html). Learn why we have laws and why socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism.

Obama dislikes not having a federal mandate to “do to you.” Joe Knoedler (02-22-12) thinks Obama should have that power and characterizes him as “...someone who understands the middle class and will fight for...me and my future family...” As a Marxist socialist, Obama “understands the middle class” is his enemy. He wants it eliminated by killing off capitalism. I would like Knoedler to explain to me how Obama’s attempt to destroy the First Amendment shows understanding for the middle class (or any class).

Knoedler in his second letter (03-07-12) wrote “...those of the religious community sometimes forget that little part of the Constitution claiming the separation of church and state.” There is no such claim in the Constitution. What the First Amendment states is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”

Both statements are protection for the people. Government can’t form a state religion (what colonists fled from in England) and government can’t interfere with established religion. However, through Obamacare “the secretary shall” and has mandated religious employers to provide health insurance that covers contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs.

This is a direct violation of Catholic tenets. The Archdiocese of New York, the University of Notre Dame and over 40 other plaintiffs filed a dozen separate federal lawsuits against the requirement.

In his 2012 State of the Union speech Obama announced “If you make more than one million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes…you shouldn’t get special tax subsidies or deductions.” Looking at his 2010 tax return we see that he made over $1.7 million and paid less than 26% in taxes, while taking over $373,000 in deductions. I guess his “Buffet rule” applies to everyone but him. Hypocrisy? While his talk is about millionaires and billionaires, the policies include business owners making $250,000 (middle class).

Some of the idiots in the Occupy Wall Street movement believe they can’t get good paying jobs because there is no money left. Rich people have taken it all. Obama encourages this line of thinking (attacking the evil rich gets votes). At the same time he thinks government can create money supply just by printing it. This man was elected POTUS because of the belief that Democrats are masterminds of economics? This stupidity must be voted out in November.