Candidates have duty to remove lawn signs after the 0) election
I want to express my concern about politicians placing lawn signs on public property, particularly on grassy medians and in parks. This is bad policy and another form of littering in our city.
Lawn signs may be a good way of keeping a candidate's name before the voters, and private owners can show their support by placing these signs on their property. After the election, they are also able to remove these signs. With no one to take ownership for signs on public land (as well as utility poles), the candidates' -- signs remain indefinitely, especially if the candidate loses the election.
Baltimore is a city where residents are fortunate to have a beautiful network of public parks and grassy medians throughout the city. Just as we enjoy the beautiful green and shade of the trees as we drive through these areas, we as citizens need to share the responsibility for keeping these public areas free of litter.
Holding our trash inside our cars for disposal at home, teaching all children to do the same and keeping political lawn signs out of these public spaces will preserve their beauty for all to appreciate.
orothy Dobbyn
Baltimore
Reserve parking spaces for the truly disabled
In her letter to the editor (" 'Cheaters' deprived disabled of parking," Sept. 12), Theresa A. Sharp highlighted the fact that many drivers who have been awarded handicapped tags are not disabled and that she, as a truly physically handicapped driver, is being deprived of parking spaces designated for the disabled.
This widespread abuse of the system for issuing handicapped tags and parking privileges has reached epidemic proportions and must be addressed by the issuing authority.
It is simply too easy to obtain this privilege in Maryland.
In addition, I question why a driver with handicapped tags is allowed to park free in metered spaces. Are the disabled automatically deemed to be too financially impoverished to pay? If they can drive, they can certainly get to the meter to pay the appropriate fee.
Ronald H. Galler
Baltimore
Clinton should step down because he cannot govern
I am totally disgusted with President Clinton, Kenneth Starr and the law that created the independent prosecutor position.
There is no impeachable offense. The offense is inexcusable stupidity. But now that Mr. Starr has done his damage, Mr. Clinton will be unable to govern and should resign for the good of the country.
The president's stupidity was because of arrogance. He handed his head on a platter to Mr. Starr, and will hand the country to the right-wing extremists if he does not resign. I cannot trust that he will not again be inexcusably stupid in some other way, even if he never does the Monica-type thing again.
Vice President Al Gore should take over now so we can get on with running the country, but Mr. Clinton is a persistent fighter and will not resign.
He will fight for what he thinks are his best interests, but his fighting instinct will blind him from seeing that he will be unable to govern.
We should all instruct our senators and representatives to contact the president and request his resignation for the good of the country.
Also, we should all contact the president and respectfully request his resignation. We can forgive him without keeping him in office.
P. David Wilson
Baltimore
All we got were lots of facts on the president's sex life
I think the timing of the release of the Starr report, as well as the unnecessary and irrelevant details of the Clinton-Monica affair, are nothing more than a smear campaign by the Republican Party to maintain control of the Congress and, it hopes, capture the White House in the next presidential election.
Mr. Starr presented no hard evidence of wrongdoings in the matter he was first authorized to investigate. All we got for his four years of work were lot of facts on the sex life of the president.
I hope all the Democrats and a few independent thinking Republicans will have the courage to stand tall and strongly persuade Congress against taking any action of impeachment.
Steve Wilson
Baltimore
Starr's prurient drive uncovered private business
Kenneth Starr, in his obsessive need to unseat the president chosen by we the people, has exceeded all bounds of decency.
His prurient drive has debased him, Monica Lewinsky and our nation. None of this is to excuse the behavior of President Clinton. Most would call it incredibly callous and many would say sinful. However, in the spirit of "let those who throw the first stone," this is a matter strictly between him, Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky.
At no time was this any of my business, and I feel lessened by being forced by Mr. Starr to be embroiled in this private sexual tragedy. Please, may we all work to preserve the presidency and what remains of the dignity of our legal system.
Patricia A. McIntyre
Baltimore
Bill Clinton's farce to Nixon's tragedy
In an essay on Napoleon III, Karl Marx notes that the philosopher Hegel remarked that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. What Hegel forgot to say, adds Marx, is that these facts and personages appear the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.
We have had Richard Nixon. Now we have Bill Clinton. Tragedy and farce indeed.
John R. McDermott
Baltimore
Whitewater prosecutor came up empty in probe
After years of investigation and millions of taxpayer dollars, not one single allegation of wrongdoing is made concerning Whitewater.
In other words, the Whitewater prosecutor has not reported a shred of evidence to Congress, that there was any wrongdoing on the president's part regarding the development in Arkansas.
I and my fellow taxpayers have instead paid hard-earned dollars so that the private, consensual, intimate relationship between a married man and a young woman (which is no business of Congress) is exposed to public.
If this is what the special prosecutor law was intended to accomplish, I say shame on Congress for creating the worst violation of America's right to privacy.
Please end this disgusting abuse of power by shutting down Kenneth Starr's office immediately and putting his profanely expensive, voyeuristic report in the trash, where it belongs.
Carl Olson
Bowie
Clinton is not above law and should be impeached
Add my name to the list of voters who insist that President Clinton be impeached.
This is not his personal affair. He has lied under oath, obstructed justice and disgraced the presidency of the greatest nation in the world.
If any citizen in the private or public sector had done what he has done, he or she would, at the very least, be fired and would likely be imprisoned. Is he above the law? I think not.
If President Clinton refuses to resign, I will continue to work for his impeachment.
Shaaron Plate
Phoenix
Congress can't cast stones if own homes not in order
The editorial cartoon portraying a congressman off to impeachment proceedings after his extramarital fling captures the irony of this scandal. If impeachment procedures begin, most of the Congress should not be casting stones.
The victim is the American public. It has been tortured with this whole case, and now its leaders are telling the world that we are so mad that we are considering impeachment. I don't think so. Check the polls.
The only things we will be relieved to see disappear are headlines containing Kenneth Starr and Monica Lewinsky.
Suzanne Erb
Hamilton
Pub Date: 9/21/98