November 12, 2008 12:00 am Chasm still exists After witnessing first-hand the euphoric reaction to President-elect Obama's victory from my adopted hometown of Chicago, this feels like such a remarkable time for our country and clear proof of how far we've progressed as a nation and a people. However, I was saddened and deeply shamed when I saw the photo of Hampel's flag flying upside-down in my actual hometown, Traverse City. Combined with the shockingly ignorant and bigoted comments by the store employee, it became very apparent how far this country still needs to go to fulfill its promise of equality. The fact that someone could react to Obama's election with such vitriol and pure racism speaks volumes to the chasm that still exists in America. Many gun-toting, right-wing extremists like to preach about "county first" and what it means to be patriotic. What speaks much louder to me, however, is seeing this disgusting and unquestionably unpatriotic response to an election where nearly 65 million people across this nation stood in line to cast a ballot for Obama. If they're so unhappy with the results, I think the country as a whole would be better off without them. Maybe Canada is taking applications. Jonathan Burian The only real job Several years ago my husband received his third DUI in 10 years. He quit drinking, did his time and has started attending church again; but it continues to haunt him. He cannot seem to find employment anywhere except McDonald's, or local golf courses. Our family struggles because of this. Even Kmart will not accept his application, nor will the temporary employment agencies. Now I hear that Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who was convicted of not one but seven felonies, can still be a member of the U.S. Senate. Wow. Maybe my husband should run for Senate since that seems to be the only real job a felon can get. Chelle Koons Open minded & hopeful Hurray! The election is over at last. The presidential team steps forward after a statesman-like speech from John McCain. Appreciation goes to all who ran for any office. Campaigns are too long, arduous and costly. More people registered and voted this year, hopeful that democracy is viable. Americans all, let us be ready to silence any hint of racial slur by stating gently or directly that we don't have time for divisions amongst us. We need to be open-minded and hopeful, while continuing to attend to the values of hard work, integrity in government and business, attention to health care for all, re-evaluation of spending at home and in government, and finding better roads to a peaceful world in cooperation with other nations. Booya! Mary Hagan Be informed and tolerant Rod Nyland's small-minded, racist comments are truly an embarrassment to the decent people of the Grand Traverse region. One can only pray that this article is not picked up by the Associated Press and circulated nationwide. What a terrible image of our wonderful community. Here's some advice for chicken-littles like those at Hampel's Key and Lockshop. Go to a library; pick up a book, magazine or newspaper (even this one). Educate yourselves on matters of history, politics, economics or any subject that might broaden your views of the world to help yourselves become better informed and tolerant of people. Whether or not you voted for Barack Obama, the truth is this: He is our president-elect and worthy of respect and support. For the sake of the country we all love so much, please put aside your fear and prejudice, trust in the system and become engaged in finding solutions to the issues that concern us all. Vicki Gudritz Wondering and thinking Some reflections on the election approval for Proposals 1 and 2 are in order. The first proposal says that we are not smart enough to extract the medicinal component of marijuana for legal use. Or perhaps, we are now willing to accept the social carnage of casual drug-use and not the carnage created with law enforcement and incarceration. The approval of the second proposal says that we are so smart that we can unravel the basic secrets of life through experimentation on ourselves. Or, we assuredly wanted to bail out a failed private genetics industry, like our auto industry. But there is still hope. Based on the above approvals, we now have to decide how much DNA constitutes a human being. Is it 98.6 percent or 99 percent? Surely, it cannot be 100 percent. Perhaps we should start using the medicinal drugs before we decide. I wonder what I would look like with 98.5 percent human DNA? Could I get a driver's license and vote? I was just wondering and thinking. Bruce Schafer What bothers me This seems to be just another bogus way for the Department of Natural Resources to get more money. They said the baiting ban was supposed to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease. What bothers me most is if this disease is the main worry, why are they finding bait piles and leaving them until gun season? So they can come back and arrest the person who is hunting over it? It would seem to me if the real threat were the CWD, all found bait sights would be removed immediately so the deer wouldn't have the chance to come into contact with it. I'm an avid hunter; I have been hunting all my life. I do back the DNR in most cases, but this goes too far. If I am walking through an area that I'm not familiar with, happen to sit on a scrape line or runway, and someone has baited nearby, I would be ticketed for their actions. Or, if I were to come over a rise, see a buck standing and shoot, am I supposed to look for a bait pile before I shoot? There are many legal ways to get yourself in trouble. David Phillips Just plain wrong Using bigotry and hatred as a means of venting frustration because one thinks his business might not have an opportunity to sell assault weapons, and then deciding that maybe one should apologize for such slime, tells me one might not mean it. But at least one knows that it is just plain wrong. Harriet Jones
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