Will Anna Rocknick Receive Justice?

This letter will be in the paper on Wed or Thurs.

Every time someone is murdered in this country it is an indictment of our failed judicial system. We have so rarely applied the hand of justice in an appropriate and measured manner. We have allowed the worst of society to receive the most compassionate of considerations. Anna Rocknick is dead for one reason-we allowed her to die because her killer had no reason not to kill her. To this monster it was well worth the few hundred dollars he might have gotten from her.

Only 1 out of 500 convicted murderers face the death penalty, and only a tiny fraction of those actually pay the penalty passed upon them. Until we take the issue of thoughtless murder as seriously as it deserves, the killings will go on and on. Until we give the killer pause and make him think twice about what might be his punishment, our loved ones will be taken from us cruelly and thoughtlessly. Will Anna Rocknick receive justice for her murder, for her life being cut short, for the community in which she lived being plunged into terror, for the children that she mentored being robbed from them? Not if our justice system has anything to do with it!

ACLU-Friend or Foe?

This is a conversation that I had with some folk on IMDB over the movie, "Goodbye and Good Luck", the drama about Edward Murrow's on air rebuke of Senator Joseph McCarthy's hearings in the 1950's. Our conversation led to the subject of the ACLU.

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to include here.

"There might not be any active Communist infiltrators in our government right now, but the movie does touch on something significant (at least it would become so): The American Civil Liberties Union is the right arm of the American Communist Party and that is no lie. Their attempts to suppress traditional, hard won freedoms are continuous and venomous. They are as Anti-American as any organization can get. "

"The ACLU was founded by two members of the American Communist Party in the 1920's. Its history is Communist. Its mission is Communist. The ACLU is all over anyone who expresses their freedom of religion (1st Amendment) in a public setting. They want no prayer, no evocation, no Ten Commandments, no Bible, no teaching of morals, no absolutes, no mere mention of God or moral higher authority. They push for legislation for increased rights of perverts and child molestors, in and out of prison. They are a poison and a menace to free speech and expression in this country. They have the words "civil liberties" in their title but allow none when the one seeking to possess it or express it are the more conservative or morally bound. They have not abandoned their communist base, nor have they sought freedom for all. They are oppurtunists and seem to always go after the good guys. "

"The ACLU is attempting to erase every mention, every thought and every devotion to God, whomever He may be, so that man may be declared the highest authority on Earth. The ACLU's every waking moment is devoted to expunging from our national consciousness the idea that God may be worshipped. They don't give a hoot what sacrifices our founding fathers made in order to lay the foundations for our freedom. Children are not allowed to read their Bibles in school, EVEN AT LUNCH! They're not allowed to pray. They're told to pray in their head. They are not allowed to say the name of God, except as a swear word. They're not allowed to wear a t-shirt that mentions Christ or God under the penalty of suspension or expulsion. They are allowed to wear t-shirts that promote death or murder. "

"But like I expressed, most kids aren't allowed to practice their religions in school. They do so always with the threat of expulsion. They can't read the bible, submit book reports with the Bible as its subject, or gather with other kids on their own time to celebrate their faith. The point is that they are not ALLOWED to do this. Its not that the government is trying to establish religion, its that there is an effort to de-establish religion. And what can be more disastrous than to tell a person what they CAN'T believe. That's whats happening; In schools, courtrooms and in assembly halls. Its one step from having thought police. "

MY NEW LETTER TO THE EDITOR

GEORGE BUSH IS MISSING AMERICAN VIRTUES

I have always strived to respect whatever man has held the office of President. But I find it increasingly difficult to respect a man who has thumbed his nose over and over at traditional American values and simple human rights. The Geneva Convention, to which we purport to adhere, forbids the torture or mistreatment of prisoners of war. But yet it took the rebuke of John McCain, himself the victim of illegal torture, to remind our supposed moral leader and righteous Commander in Chief, that it was wrong to use such methods in war. How are we to be the leaders in the spread of democracy, if we employ methods reminiscent of paranoid dictatorship? All is NOT fair in love and war!

Brian L. Carter, Ambridge