Independents are disenfranchised in the District
Re: “Behind in the polls, Fenty runs scared,” Aug. 26
I had the opportunity to speak to the mayor a few months ago when he was canvassing my Columbia Heights neighborhood. On that occasion, Mayor Adrian Fenty suggested that I was effectively excluding myself from the political process in the District by remaining independent. My suggestion to the mayor was that if he truly believes my vote does not count, he ought to seek to change the rules that exclude me from voting in the primary.
In our exchange, I also expressed concerns about his administration that would potentially lead me to vote for his rival, were I not disenfranchised as a non-Democratic Party voter. I don’t know that our conversation was a contributing factor in the mayor’s petition to the election board, but I am not convinced that his effort to open the election up to independents was based solely on political strategy. The assumption that independents would rush to vote for Fenty is unsupported by your story. At least this one is not.
However, I give credit to the mayor for addressing the issue at all. It is ironic that Washington, D.C., so long disenfranchised from national politics, would choose not to clean up its own backyard.
S. Ashkon Randell
Washington
Big government will muck up health care too
Re: “Big government forgets how to build big projects,” Aug. 17
Michael Barone hit the nail on the head when he showed how our government has become better at slowing down a job site than a union or a special interest group.
This sentence in his article — “Big government has become a big waddling sluggish beast, ever ready to boss you around, but not able to perform useful functions at anything but a plodding pace.” — should be placed on the wall of every bureaucrat and read daily.
Now, place “health care plan” after “big government” in the sentence above and you will get an idea where the country will be in about 10 years.
Ever try to reach a government employee (except law enforcement, fire, or military) after 5 p.m. on a Friday?
George J. Pitonyak
Kitty Hawk, N.C.
Mosque editorial riddled with errors, bigotry
Re: Don’t build a mosque at ground zero,” editorial, Aug. 13
There were not 3,000 Americans murdered at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Of the 2,700 victims, only about 2,100 were Americans. Several hundred were Muslims. And the proposed Islamic center is not “immediately around” ground zero, but two blocks away.
After the “bloody Muslim conquest of Cordoba, Spain, in 711”, several centuries of peace, prosperity, and mutual respect among Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Muslim-ruled Spain followed, the like of which has not otherwise been known in history. Science and art flourished there while the Dark Ages ruled the rest of Europe. Thereafter, the Christians re-conquered Spain and carried on the bloody Spanish Inquisition for decades.
Lumping all Muslims together with the extremists who murdered the WTC victims is the essence of bigotry. Likewise, referring to the building as a “Muslim propaganda and recruitment center” shows a bias against peaceful, moderate Muslims. For shame!
Gilbert Adams
Washington
