District should clean up its own primary system first Re: “D.C. to spend big on statehood road show,” Jan. 13
Before Mayor Gray and City Council members spend thousands of dollars in a probably fruitless attempt to gain voting rights for the District, they should put their own house in order.
The District is a one-party town with more than 70 percent of voters registered as Democrats. Because of this, the winners of the Democratic primary are usually the winners of the general election. With a closed primary system (voters may only vote in the party in which they are registered), nearly 30 percent of District residents are thus effectively disenfranchised. They have no voice in choosing the person likely to win in the general election.
In the last election, this translated to our current mayor being chosen by a majority of the registered Democrats who chose to vote in the primary. It is time to either open the primaries and allow voters to choose their party in the voting booth, or eliminate the primaries all together.
Why should the District expect national voting rights while continuing to disenfranchise 30 percent of its own voters in local elections?
Vernon Mallu
Washington
Occupiers should pay to clean up park
Re: “Gray wants Occupy out of McPherson Square,” Jan. 13
Since the Occupy DC protesters are making such a mess and costing the city so much money, why don’t the city have them pitch in their $300,000 to pay their own way?
That seems “fair” to me.
N. Mayer
Alexandria
Dr. King’s highest goal was equality for all
By turning the 2012 Martin Luther King Day observance into a day of service, with numerous community projects taking place across the country, including weatherizing homes, beautifying schools, serving meals and supporting veterans and military families, we advance Dr. King’s dream of economic opportunity, equality, and social justice for all.
Our time with King, who would have turned 83 on Jan. 15, was too brief, but his wisdom still holds true today. He believed that the one thing worth dying for was freedom, which is what our soldiers serve to protect. He believed that love can overcome hate, that justice requires sacrifice, and that faith is the equalizer that surmounts all controversy.
Now more than ever, amid the worst recession since the Great Depression, we must take King’s teachings to heart and work together to achieve his dream. Duty to country knows only three colors — red, white and blue. Those who have worn the uniform of the United States armed forces have truly served us all.
King never served in the military, but he commanded an army of Americans dedicated to fulfilling our country’s highest ideal that all men and all women are created equal, an ideal forged in the heat of battle here at home in the struggle for civil rights and around the world in wars against tyranny and oppression. And he died for his commitment to this ideal.
King’s highest goal was to make us better than we are as individuals and as a people. May God bless this dear and noble nation he died to improve — and may we soon share the radiant vision of unity he so wanted us to see.
Dennis H. Smith
Director,
VA Maryland Health Care System
