LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Baltimore Sun

Anti-war resolution just empty rhetoric

The House of Representatives has proved once again that it can waste more time than any governmental body on Earth ("House tackles 'surge,'" Feb. 17).

The debate over the nonbinding resolution of disapproval of Mr. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq means nothing to the president.

He will do what he wants despite America's call to bring our service people home from Iraq.

Instead of using the valuable time of 435 legislators wisely to rebuke Mr. Bush either by cutting off the funding for war or by starting a process of impeachment, these representatives have wasted more time and more money in accomplishing nothing.

We are seeing more dead military personnel, more civilian deaths, more lifelong injuries and more wasted dollars in a war that should not have been started in Iraq.

It's time to stop wasting time.

Peter J. Schap

Cockeysville

Never has an adage once attributed to the performance of the U.S. Congress been more appropriate than it was over the weekend: "When it's all said and done, there's a lot more said than done."

Dale Swecker

Ellicott City

Senate shows it has no spine on the war

Once again, the Senate has wimped out and betrayed the will of the American people.

Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans have indicated their displeasure and frustration with the war in Iraq, the Senate has blocked the relatively benign resolution intended to show Mr. Bush it meant business, sort of, about the lack of public support for the war ("Debate in Senate stalls," Feb. 18).

The president arrogantly ignores the wishes of the American public, and the Republicans in the Senate rubber-stamp that arrogance by blocking the anti-war resolution.

As Garrison Keillor recently noted, someone needs to take these timid chicken-hearts to task for their failure to serve the real interests of this nation and force them to get something done ("This democracy needs more caribou and fewer Holsteins," Opinion * Commentary, Feb. 8).

The Senate doesn't even have the courage or integrity to demonstrate to the president that it disagrees with him, let alone take action to move in a different direction in Iraq.

The Senate and those responsible for such gridlock should hang their heads in abject shame to even be associated with cheap, disgraceful and partisan politics.

As a veteran, I say: Support the troops - bring them home.

David Manning

Towson

Unite nation to fight our common foes

We are in Iraq fighting a war. After the war is over, we will have plenty of time to debate whether we should have been there or not. History will also answer that question.

Some want to make this war into another situation like the Vietnam War, where we left with our tails between our legs.

I don't know whether our war is right or wrong, and with the limited intelligence the public has, we can only guess.

But right now the important thing is: United we stand, divided we fall.

Howard Gelzhiser

Catonsville

Population growth linked to warming

The fact that The Sun devoted an entire Opinion * Commentary page (Feb.13) to one subject - global warming - shows just how critical the issue has become.

Of all the points made in the four columns on the page, the one I found most compelling was John Seager's remark that even if the developed world could cut carbon emissions by as much as 40 percent over the next half-century, it could all go for naught because of population growth ("Population plays a key role," Opinion * Commentary, Feb. 13).

It is amazing to me that unsustainable population growth is so often left out of the global warming debate - as if we can keep adding more and more people without having any effect on our planet.

What has become abundantly clear is that our "human imprint" is now the chief cause of global warming.

The only way to reduce this human imprint is to reduce our human numbers.

Howard Bluth

Baltimore

Auto emphasis puts pedestrians at risk

Here it is several days after the snowfall and still area sidewalks are impassable. Yet many roadways have been plowed curb to curb ("City breaks the ice," Feb. 19).

I live in Towson, and my daughter, who attends Towson University, can't walk the four blocks to college because the sidewalks are covered with hard snow and ice.

People wonder why we are facing catastrophic climate change and waging wars for oil.

But just look around: It's all about the cars. People are waiting at bus stops perched on mounds of ice, as cars whiz by on cleared roads.

We have it backward. The sidewalks should be cleared before the roads.

The last time I checked, clearing sidewalks after a snowstorm was required by law.

How about some enforcement?

Galen Wallace

Towson

Do we need order to enforce respect?

It is a shame an executive order is required for the employees of the state's executive branch to treat all people with common decency and respect ("O'Malley issues executive orders," Feb. 16).

Dotti Fielder

Catonsville

City sage offered modesty and wit

Many of the richly deserved accolades marking the life of Walter Sondheim Jr. underscore his gentle and sometimes irreverent wit ("Sage adviser, key figure in city's growth," Feb. 16).

Here is another example: Many years ago, Mr. Sondheim and I sat next to each other at a memorial service for a distinguished Marylander.

The presiding clergyman not only lauded the public service of the deceased but also identified by name each member of the deceased's extended family, detailing his or her actual, or anticipated, accomplishments.

The service, inevitably, was very lengthy. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Mr. Sondheim whispered to me when it finally ended, "It's a good thing he didn't have a dog."

Knowing and appreciating Walter Sondheim Jr., a genuinely modest man, as I did for more than 50 years, I suspect he would have regarded this story as a cautionary tale for the rest of us as we celebrate his extraordinary life.

Stephen H. Sachs

Baltimore

Unsmiling Sondheim a misleading image

The text of The Sun's tribute to Walter Sondheim Jr. was exemplary ("Sage adviser, key figure in city's growth," Feb. 16). But the front-page photo was disappointing, if not inaccurate.

I never saw Mr. Sondheim with anything but a puckish smile on his face; the grouchy face that greeted me Friday morning was simply not in character for this great, warm, wonderfully engaging man.

John A. Talbott

Baltimore

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