Candidates offer little hope
At the risk of sounding sycophantic toward Bret Jacobson [ODE, July 11], I agree that Al Gore should not be president. My policy radar, however, is not tracking Jacobson’s logic when he claims that Gore advocates a “socialistic, ecologically-driven agrarian state.” Perhaps I’m suspicious of decoys lately … straw man arguments. Both major candidates are easy targets for criticism; Jacobson busily salutes the flag of private enterprise, remaining silent about our dismal options.
He claims that a socialized health care system would undermine “the pioneering spirit” and doom our “prosperous” nation to the fate of our “European counterparts.” I can assure him that life in rich, western European countries (our “counterparts”?) is just fine — despite 11 percent unemployment. Citizens there live longer (78 years to our 76), and more literate (99 percent to our 97) and work fewer hours than U.S. citizens. Tuition at most German universities consists of a flat fee per semester: 160 DM (about $80).
To quote George W. Bush: “America must close the gap of hope between communities of prosperity and communities of poverty … You see, instead of helping cope with their need, we will help them move beyond it.”
[Ralph] Nader, anyone?

Todd Blevins

Eugene
 

Baseball binds generations
I, too, remember playing catch with my son in the backyard on a September day in 1998 [“Memories and baseball are the fields of dreams,” ODE, July 13]. But it seemed more like an hour — as there was a lot of “catching up” and “letting go” to do for each of us that day. And like the ball that passed between us, the past was held onto and then let go, forever linked to baseball. I just didn’t know that the flight of the ball would find home plate 110 miles down the road. Thanks for remembering and catching me up again on why I like this timeless game of baseball.

Kyle Smith

Beaverton
 
EDITOR’S NOTE: Kyle Smith is the father of Emerald associate editor Jeff Smith, who wrote the mentioned commentary.