Letters
Why California districts aren't competitive
Regarding the July 25 editorial, "California people's power": If California voters had the chance to decide the borders of the state Senate and Assembly districts, you would have seen more opportunity to change the composition of the legislature.
Right now there are few competitive districts. This has resulted in a majority of the districts being in the hands of leftists who are eager to buy votes with taxpayers' monies. The majority of Democrats in the legislature cater to the lobbyists representing the interests of illegal aliens, spending money on them that was sent to Sacramento by honest citizens and legal residents.
Nancy Long
Hesperia, Calif.
Regarding your July 24 editorial "Fair deal for Mexicans in the US": There would not be this illegal immigration from Mexico to the US unless there were jobs in the US for the immigrants. It is jobs that attract illegals. If the US would quit winking at its combined policy of "cheap(est) labor wanted" alongside the "we don't want illegal immigration" hypocrisy, this issue could be resolved.
But as long as the US stays greedy for cheap labor and allows the easy employment of illegals, it will keep playing the charade. If illegals were not in your neighborhoods then who would do your day care, janitorial services, dishwashing, etc?
This is one of those typical American problems that people complain about but never want fixed.
Mark Dunn
Zacatecas, Mexico
Regarding Daniel Schorr's July 25 Opinion column, "Right war, wrong reason": He writes, "A school of thought is emerging that Saddam Hussein was not so much covering up his possession of banned weapons as his lack of them."
The Iraqis denied they had WMD all along. Their scientists gave seemingly logical explanations, point by point, about every ounce of nerve gas and biological agents that they supposedly had. These interviews were directly given, but no one believed them or even seemed to listen. So I would disagree that they were trying to hide the fact that they did not have them. The tragic fact may be that Iraq was doomed to invasion from Day 1. I guess the only thing they could have done was to quickly start manufacturing WMD so they could have something to give up.
William Bauer
Atlanta
Regarding your editorial: "Tuning Out the FCC" (July 25): I beg to differ. As diverse as the media seem to be at first glance, they simply are not. I have been around long enough to remember when the first TV came to my neighborhood. The voices present today are no more diverse now than then. What is worse is those voices are increasingly attempting to form the opinions of consumers rather than inform them. This power has already become far too concentrated. Enough is enough.
Philip Gerard
Auburn, Wash.
Regarding your article "Wanted: Fairy-tale wedding at a dream price": Where is it written, besides etiquette books, that a wedding needs gowns and tuxes and extravagant dinners and musicians and limousines?
Couples opting for a simple gathering of friends and family in a living room or a park for a short ceremony are just as married without all the debt. If a couple feel deprived because they can't afford an elaborate wedding bash, then they should rethink their priorities.
Mary Alice Rose
Brookeville, Md.
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