Critic needs to get
his facts right
Zachary Vishanoff is certainly entitled to his opinion (ODE, Feb. 17), but if he would first get his facts straight, we’d be more likely to have a useful discussion. Contrary to his statement, none of my re-election materials said that my support for a housing code was restricted to “privately-held” properties.
The only place his statement comes close to reality is that my voter’s pamphlet statement said that I was “working with ASUO to improve the condition of private-market housing.” The words “private-market” are there only because that is what ASUO is working on!
David Kelly
Eugene city councilor
Ward 3
Anti-war protests do show mercy
In her opening statement about the impending war on Iraq, Salena De La Cruz (“Time for action against Iraq,” ODE, Feb. 17) said, “Blow the bastards away!” Which bastards is she talking about? Does she think that bombs find their way only to the leaders of a country? Or is every Iraqi a bastard because they live in a country whose ruler’s ideology opposes that of the United States?
Secondly, she says that if we don’t act, American citizens will be “falling to their knees for mercy and be denied that small act.” What small act is mercy? I would venture to say that most of the millions of people who protested against the war last Saturday would say that their actions were in part aimed at showing mercy to the civilians in and around Iraq. This is no small act we are asking for — millions asked, and we are still waiting, on edge, for this “small act” to be considered by our government.
Finally she asks us “what is to stop them from entering our country and taking what little we would have left?” Even on our knees we would still be the wealthiest country in the world. Do we really have so little that people are unable to think about things like recreation? Almost all of us have cars for which we trade food for oil with Iraq. Maybe if we didn’t have so much, our entire relationship with Iraq would be different.
Mona Jones
junior
environmental science
