Just Appalling

Dear Editor:

(In response to a classified ad in the Feb. 4-10 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly)

Regarding the recent classified ads being posted by the Crispy Family Carnival.

The last couple weeks I've noticed ads being posted in the employment section and most have been cute but this last week went too far.

I cannot believe your publication would print an ad for midgets for a sideshow! Would you post an ad looking for niggers or spicks to work a farm too? "Midget" is a derogatory term and I can't believe people are still ignorant enough to use it. Obviously this Mr. Crispy has no idea what it's like to be discriminated against due to your size. And the fact he wants to exploit people just for being different is even more appalling.

-Robin Marx

The Real Tulsa

Dear Editor:

(In response to "Good Times, Bad Times" in the Jan. 28-Feb. 3 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly)

Let me start by stating I appreciate all the officers and firefighters that protect our city. They do the jobs and make the sacrifices that make our city safe. The character of most of these men and women is not reflected by all the negative press. Most of them love their jobs and are good at them. Now, let's get to the real message.

The mayor has inherited a mess from Kathy Taylor. She continued to spend with our commissioner's approval, even though it was evident we should be cutting back. She made this mess and then bolted after she saw what she had created. The Union leaders should have addressed this issue 12 months ago with Taylor.

We saw what was happening to the sales tax revenue of our city. No one should be surprised. The city's sales tax revenue has continued to decrease. It's tough all over the country right now. I feel for all the parties taking pay cuts and layoffs. What I don't understand is that is happening all over the country including the company in which I am employed.

No one is writing articles and picketing for them. I understand that is the way it works. I don't like it, but that is life. If the company's sales drop, there will be tough decisions. I don't take it personally. I can go find another job or change careers.

I hope our city will one day become profitable and everyone can regain their jobs and reunite our city. Until then, join the rest of the nation. We need to cut back personal expenses and find other ways to increase our income. It's time to get creative. No one owes us anything. It's me against the financial times that I live in. It is up to us to make it. That's the great thing about living in the USA, we have this freedom. I love my city. People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

-I Love My City

Finally ... Something

Dear Editor:

(In response to "The Memory Hole Heats Up" in the Jan. 28-Feb. 3 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly)

Ted Rall, please stand up. Accept my congratulations for your first opinionated article, which is mostly free of one-sided inflammatory bias and appears to be written with the blinders off.

Good comments about Obama's potential impact on the Democrats in the November elections. I do not believe people's main problem with Obama has a thing to do with race. I've heard many acquaintances discuss Obama's actions, but I've rarely heard race mentioned, regardless of the commenter's race or party affiliation or who they voted for.

The only time I hear it mentioned is when complaining about the liberal media continuing to bring up Obama's race! Second, I agree that the Republican Party is in no shape to go for a power grab. Over 50 percent of U.S. citizens now feel neither party represents their views.

There is a growing tide of people who want less government meddling and nannying, smaller government and a reigning in the out-of-control entitlements and bloated expenses. They blame both parties for a growing government.

The Republican Party, seeking to horn-in on this upward movement, has attempted to claim this. Wrong! People in this growing group may be registered Republicans, but less inclined to follow the standard party line. Republican leadership may be in for a shock as they find more people from this movement in elected positions who vote more along ideology rather than what the D or R leadership tells them to vote.

Again, congrats on a good article. Keep this up, and people might listen!

-Scott

Jaw-dropping

Dear Editor:

(In response to "The Haitian Earthquake: Made in U.S.A." in the Jan. 21-27 issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly)

My mouth dropped open at Ted Rall's latest rant that suggested the U.S. is responsible for the mayhem in Haiti that followed the terrible earthquakes. The U.S. (along with Canada) has given the nation billions of dollars over the decades to be used to help develop the nation, but the Haitian leaders have squandered it away and horded it for themselves. Moreover, the U.S. has done more in relief effort than all the other nations combined.

Still, why Rall wants to lay blame on the U.S. is beyond me. Earthquakes of that magnitude will always cause destruction and death no matter how well you build structures. It also trivializes the suffering of the Haitian people.

I have never suggested this--but I hope your paper seriously considers dropping his column. I'm not saying it is offensive, nor do I wish to limit his free-speech rights. However, I do believe in the marketplace of ideas, and I seriously doubt that market is friendly to such radical opinion.

Besides, if he really believes his rhetoric, then he shares responsibility as well. If he wrote this column, then maybe he should be in Haiti offering relief personally instead of hiding behind his word processor.

-Stephen Scott