Wednesday, July 23, 2003

By Staff
Jaded coverage
To the editor:
Today six American soldiers died in Iraq and 10 more were injured, according to a 10-second report on national TV. Kolbe Bryant may have to face charges of rape. Any news channel you choose will give you all the details.
Six American soldiers died doing their duty. They were trying to make this world a better place for people who have never known freedom, equality or justice. Bryant may lose his $40 million contract with Nike.
What has happened to the American public that we should care more about a man who can run, dribble a ball and put it in a basket than we do about a young American fighting man who sacrifices his life to make the lives of others better? Six American soldiers' bodies will be shipped home and buried by their grieving moms, dads, wives, children, brothers and sisters with little notice from anyone outside their hometown. If Kolbe Bryant is convicted and sent to jail there will probably be rioting in the streets, portions of cities burned and innocent people injured or killed, and property destroyed because someone who entertained us will not be available.
On 9-11, would we have preferred to see a man bouncing a basketball, or a fireman rescuing a person from a pile of burning rubble. Have we forgotten? If it's true that we are a reflection of what we see on television, then God help us. We don't deserve the freedom we enjoy. If an entertainer is more valuable to us than six American soldiers, then we have truly lost our way.
I don't believe this to be the case. I think there are more Americans who think like I do than there who think like the national media. When we end our day, and say our prayers, do we ask God to protect our troops in Iraq or to protect and preserve the National Basketball Association?
Donald W. Powell
Meridian
Shootings at Lockheed Martin fault of one man
To the editor:
As a former Lockheed Meridian employee and employee of a plant in Georgia, I have such surreal feelings about this tragedy. It's a shame how we all jump to conclusions and label this a "racial issue."
More than half the people shot were white. I worked with several of the employees and found most people to be kind, caring and very good at their jobs. Of course, they all didn't get along but it was a close family oriented group. Its seems this society is so ready to sue someone every time companies don't predict these things beforehand.
We all grieve in different ways. Lockheed Martin management could not have foreseen this terrible tragedy. They are the best thing that ever happened to Meridian and I'm sure the people are aware they have a better quality of life be cause Lockheed has a plant there. Just maybe once we all would realize it's no one's fault only a man who was tormented by his own demons.
Therese Cooper-Brown
Woodstock, Ga.
Theft of couch lamented
To the editor:
This letter is to the person who stole the couch that was in front of my house on the corner of Arundel Rd. and Hwy 11 S. How sad that you didn't have the decency to ask if we were getting rid of the couch, but you waited for the cover of darkness to creep like a thief and take something that was not yours. I hope you are happy with yourself.
Tia Bajus
Meridian
Jumping on the Tyner bandwagon
To the editor:
I recently logged onto the site
www.washingtonfatcat.com and was, for a lack of a better word, appalled at what I found. I saw straight through the lies of Haley Barbour's campaign and into the truth about his ulterior motives for returning to our state. It disgusts me to hear this man attempt to run as a conservative Republican. If elected, this man would be the most liberal governor in state history.
We must do something before it is too late. I have jumped on Mitch Tyner's bandwagon with both feet. He is a truly Christian man with morals and values, through which he runs his small business. Barbour
has been paying taxes in Washington, D.C. for 20 years. Honestly, what does he know about our problems?
Thomas Bellinder
Jackson