Having a gun doesn’t equate to a desire to use it
To the editor:
I have two fire extinguishers in my house. I hope I never need them. I have a spare tire on the truck. I hope I never need it. I have several first aid kits I hope I never need. I have homeowners insurance and flood insurance, and I really hope I never need them. I have auto insurance I hope I never need, but the government says I must buy it to drive.
Years ago, in my prime, the government said I had to join the Army or go to jail.
It taught me to use real assault weapons: machine guns, mines, anti-tank rockets, armored personnel carriers and hand grenades, and to call in air support and bombs. Then it said I had to go overseas and use these on another nation or I would be sent to jail. I went.
Now that same government wants me to not have weapons. It wants to regulate what guns I can buy, how many I can have and what size the magazines can be, how many bullets I can have, and for me to let them have a list of it all. They are even talking of taxing me more for them.
I have a gun. I hope I never need it. I know the number 911. I hope I never need it, but like a good Boy Scout I believe in being prepared. Why doesn’t the government want me to have what they trained me to use? Wouldn’t my Top Secret clearance be the same as a background check?
LARRY NIELSEN
HENDERSON
Arrogance
To the editor:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony before Congress was a shameful display of her arrogance.
She testified that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice had been the one to go on five Sunday talk shows in the wake of September’s four murders (including that of the American ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens) because Mrs. Clinton had better things to do on Sunday mornings. The fact that Mrs. Clinton’s real motive was to avoid the twisted and false talking points offered by the Obama administration to explain the murders was not mentioned. She simply did not want her career stained by the misleading statements that had been devised by the Obama administration for release to the public. Ms. Rice instead was the sacrificial lamb for the administration. As a consequence, Ms. Rice’s reputation has been badly tarnished and her ambitions for a career in government put on hold.
In another display of both her arrogance and disdain for the congressional panel, Mrs. Clinton shamelessly proclaimed, “What difference does it make how they were killed,” (referring to the four murdered Americans) when a key purpose of the hearing was to determine just that: Why they had been placed in harm’s way and been killed?
Mrs. Clinton’s arrogance didn’t go unnoticed, and at some point, if she decides to become a candidate for president in 2016, she’ll have to deal with her incorrigible testimony and shameful incompetence in this tragedy.
BOB JACK
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Array
Showtime
To the editor:
Like 164 million other Americans, on Sunday my wife and I watched the Super Bowl. Like a lot of fans, we were as interested in the Super Bowl halftime show, the innovative and entertaining commercials and our appetizer snacks and drinks as the game itself, which turned out to be a real thriller.
Given the controversy surrounding Beyonce’s performance of the national anthem at the president’s inauguration, which she admitted to prerecording, or lip-synching, we were interested in watching her halftime performance. In contrast to her Washington performance, her Super Bowl show was very well-rehearsed and energetic. It was much appreciated by her excited, adoring fans, and while there was definitely some hip-synching by her and her dance troupe, I didn’t detect any lip-synching.
So are the different efforts exhibited by Beyonce attributable to the disinterest or disdain many of us have for our political leaders and institutions, versus the almost idolatrous regard we have for our pop icons, performers, sports heroes and iconic institutions such as football? Or could this be the difference between cinema verity and an alternate reality, the partisan Washington Beltway, simply the cultural difference between Hollywood and Washington?
JEFFREY M. SHEAR
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Array
A lot of garbage
To the editor:
Has local trash hauler Republic Services performed satisfaction surveys with its customers? If it has, I have not been contacted.
I don’t have as many recyclable goods as I have trash. I need two trash pickups per week. I only need one recycle pickup a month.
Has Republic Services done studies on the amount of trash collected each pickup day? Has Republic Services done studies of the amount of recycled goods picked up each recycle day?
Until studies such as this are made a matter of public record, the Clark County Commission should not rush to give Republic Services a 20 percent boost to profits by reducing the number of pickups in the unincorporated county from 130 to 104 (“Trash talk comes with strings,” Wednesday Review-Journal) . Where is the money going? Follow the money. Is it going to the commissioners? Another perk for being an elected official who wants to be re-elected?
If Republic Services wants more recycling pickups, why don’t they put recycle bins on public rights of way. I’m sure there are plenty of places the commission could find. I’ll take my recycled goods there.
Why was the commission is such a hurry to do this? I also don’t want the big trash cans.
MARGE BRAKE
LAS VEGAS
