Bang, Bang
Three cheers for Toys R Us and other retailers that are voluntarily removing realistic toy guns from their shelves (The Sun, Oct. 15).
As the holidays loom and the childish yet bloodthirsty cries for more fire power are heard in shopping malls across America, it is comforting to know that fewer guns will be sold. And perhaps fewer people will be killed in accidental shootings.
It is also comforting to know that children may now have the opportunity to recapture their imaginations, long lost among the proliferation of "realistic" toys.
And in reclaiming their imaginations, they might learn the difference between what is real and what is pretend.
Picture the young and impressionable child with his first toy gun, a real-looking revolver, confidently brandishing his toy at his playmates, his dog, passing cars. Bang, bang!
Now picture the same child as he discovers Daddy's real revolver. Bang, bang?
Dare we trust this child to know the difference? Or to know that there is a difference?
Toy guns need not be outlawed. The toys simply must not be allowed to mimic the real thing.
Children experience too much reality in their neighborhoods and their schools. They don't need to experience it in their playtime.
Desiree Godchaux
Towson
Racing Questions
With regard to the proposed plan to take approximately 110 days of horse racing from the state of Maryland and move them to Virginia, I need someone to explain a few things to me, and how this benefits Maryland.
What replaces the revenue currently put into the state coffers by the tracks if this plan works? Who will pay the union and concession employees laid off for three months -- the state's unemployment insurance?
What incentive is there for horsemen to ship their stock three-plus hours south for smaller purses when they can ship north for larger ones?
What happens to the riders and other essential track personnel who cannot afford to pack up their families for the three-month meet?
How confident can these athletes be putting their lives in the hands of newly-trained assistant starters?
Most curious, if Joe DeFrancis cannot manage the Pimlico and Laurel tracks well, what makes him think he can take on a third one successfully?
Deborah F. Springer
Gambrills
Things Change
Signs of the times:
April 15, 1912: The White Star liner Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic; 711 women and children are saved in the lifeboats; 1,513 men go down singing "Nearer My God to Thee."
September 28, 1994: The ferry Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea; 137 young men survive by trampling over 912 women, children and elderly, who die.
Dan M. Bowers
Randallstown
School Bus Policy
I hope you will be able to help clear up some misperceptions that have followed your publishing of my letter on Oct. 17.
In that letter, I referenced a fatal accident that occurred in Howard County, and apparently many of your readers have assumed that the student involved was a public school student.
In fact, my reference to Howard County was a geographic reference only. The student killed by the motorist who failed to stop for the red flashing lights attended a private school and rode a school bus privately contracted by that school.
The Howard County Public School System had no involvement in the incident whatever and no authority over the bus route in question.
In addition, the student who was struck and killed was attempting to cross a four-lane road.
Neither the Howard County Public School System nor the Baltimore County Public School System allows students to cross four-lane roadways. Students are provided residence-side service.
I regret if my letter caused any misunderstanding and hope that you will assist me in clarifying this issue.
Rita Fromm
Towson
The writer is manager of transportation for the Baltimore County Public Schools.
Limbaugh: Master Salesman (of Snake Oil?)
I was astonished to see "The Torch Has Been Passed to Me" by Rush Limbaugh -- and located on a prominent page at that (Opinion * Commentary, Oct. 26).
After my amazement I was suspicion as to The Sun's turnabout concerning giving Mr. Limbaugh a fair share of positive press.
Rush Limbaugh has his faults -- as do all prominent media news and entertainment persons -- but he is very good at what he does, and whether or not you like his show business shtick of boastfulness and clearly naming his opponents -- he sells his ideas well -- and even those listeners who do not agree with him are forced to defend their beliefs to a degree not normally challenged.
Being the master salesman that he is, Mr. Limbaugh's goal in writing the piece appears to have been to entice non-listeners to tune him in to hear what he's all about.
However, the real message was in the article's title. Rush Limbaugh has returned millions of Americans' interest to national politics and an appreciation of capitalism which hasn't existed since the era of Ayn Rand.
Now that the Cold War is over, there is time to reflect on the nation's peacetime economic goals and the type of leadership required to achieve them. Mr. Limbaugh is sometimes brash and a little crude, but through his annoying traits he pictures America and all Americans as being capable of being better than they are and as fortunate to have the American constitutional system to support them.
Ron Walker
Baltimore
I am writing in response to the article by Rush LimbaughMany of us (moderates, liberals and more than a few conservatives) take issue with Rush Limbaugh not because we fear him (a silly thought), or merely that we have the gall to disagree with him, but because, among other things, we are nauseated by his megalomaniacal and frequently juvenile invective (oops! -- I mean "information and analysis").
Rush Limbaugh suggests that we, the poor, dumb, misled
public, forsake "the media" and instead obtain
our "facts" and "statistics" from him. (We should all sleep well, secure under the watchful eye of this selfless, disinterested guardian of the public trust).
As he describes his listeners as "thoughtful, informed, engaged citizens," Rush Limbaugh refers to them as "ditto-heads." This from the man who claims that liberals insult the American public.
There is one fact that explains quite a lot -- the words "me" "my" and "I" appear 32 times in the text, suggesting that Rush $H Limbaugh's sense of his own importance in the grand scheme of things may be a bit inflated.
Timothy C. Rule
Baltimore
Rush Limbaugh's article is a textbook example of self-aggrandizing bombast and blatant demagogy.
In his article, Rush Limbaugh charges that "Americans feel lied to by the so-called experts." He then proceeds to list seven statements allegedly made by "so-called experts."
Included in his list are such quotations as "drugs are safe," "free sex is liberating" and "religious people are dangerous."
Nowhere in the article does he cite the names of any of the "so-called experts" who made the seven statements, the dates when they were said, or the places where they were said.
The use of such glittering generalities is a common tactic of the demagogue who trusts that his readers and listeners, out of their ignorance or bias or both, will not doubt the validity of his &L; allegations.
I challenge Rush Limbaugh and any of his claimed 20 million listeners to provide the names, dates and places for the seven quotations listed in this article for public scrutiny and verification.
If Rush Limbaugh does indeed have 20 million listeners, I would readily have to acknowledge that it is difficult to argue with success.
However, I would add, "Snake oil salesmen, take note! There are 20 million Americans out there who are ready to buy your products."
Harry L. Rashbaum
Baltimore