Friday, July 18, 2003

By Staff
Adding fuel to the fire
To the editor:
I was shocked and saddened to learn of the recent Lockheed Martin tragedies. This apparently happened during an ethics meeting which Mr. Williams was required to attend. I don't think that putting people who don't get along in a room to debate things was a good idea. This was only adding fuel to the fire.
Lynn McMillan
Meridian
Maybe meeting should have been canceled
To the editor:
My thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost a loved one in the July 8 shootings at the Lockheed Martin plant. I never thought that something like that could happen here. If people at the plant knew that tensions ran high between some employees, then why were they forced to attend class to debate issues with one another? An argument was sure to happen. Not having the meeting might have helped to defuse the situation.
Virginia Smith
Meridian
Medical profession should police its own ranks
To the editor:
In his June 11 speech to Congress, President Bush called medical malpractice lawsuits "junk" lawsuits. He, of course, has the right to say what he pleases from his bully pulpit, callous though it may be. I, too, have the right to say what I must in response, using my bully pulpit, the press, to do so.
Unfortunately, the president latches onto a few pet phrases and seems to think that if he says them often enough they will have validity, even going so far as to make use of them in his State of the Union address.
Simply repeating "weapons of mass destruction" to the point of predictability did not make them appear. Making a mantra of "frivolous lawsuits" does not change the fact that many serious lawsuits have been filed because the medical profession will not police its own ranks.
It is time for the president or perhaps someone on his staff to give some thought to the concept that life isn't one-dimensional, that language has power, thus mandating that words be chosen with care, that cause and effect is at work, resulting in valid lawsuits being filed when medical malpractice maims peoples' bodies, produces constant and debilitating pain, changes entirely the course of peoples' lives, and, far too often, causes death.
Jane Marshall
Clarksville, Tenn.
Barbour tells it straight
To the editor:
I believe Haley Barbour will give it to us straight. We need someone that will discuss Mississippi's challenges and shortfalls, instead of blaming others and offer real proposals to solve our state's problems.
We need to know that our state is in the hole to the tune of $600 million and since 1999 we have lost 46,000 manufacturing jobs these are the facts. Ronnie Musgrove wants to take credit for Nissan jobs but won't accept responsibility for any of the 46,000 jobs we've lost. He can't have it both ways.
Haley Barbour is willing to tell the truth and has the courage to propose solutions to keep more jobs in Mississippi like supporting more tort reform, reforming our workforce training system, opposing tax increases and using his relationships with national political and business leaders to bring more jobs to Mississippi.
Real leadership means first telling the truth about our state's problems and second, having the vision and courage to propose solutions. Real leadership means making the right decision whether it is politically popular or not. It also means sometimes having to say "no" when "no" is the right answer.
Gloria Gilless
Southaven