Letters to the Editor: Vets Not Immune From Criticism

Vets Not Immune From Criticism Wisconsin State Journal :: OPINION :: A10 Monday, July 17, 2006 I thank Friday guest columnist Thomas Dixon for his service to our country in Vietnam. However, the veterans in public office that he mentions -- Max Cleland, Sen. John Kerry and Rep. John Murtha -- are not immune from criticism for their political positions, actions and voting records simply because they have served in the military. More than 200 Swift boat veterans, including those who served on Kerry's boat, pointed out his shortcomings and questionable medals, and the senator has yet to release his complete military records to counter their accusations. The senator chose to run as a "war hero," so his service record is fair game. Cleland was voted out of office for his far left positions by his more conservative Georgia constituents. And Murtha's "cut and run" speeches and motions will be challenged for their shortsightedness, regardless of the number of years he served in the Marine Corps Reserve and his accomplishments there. No one in public office is immune from challenge, as Dixon demonstrates by calling the Bush administration "chicken hawks." Vets occupy a special and honored place in American society, but they are not the only citizens who are allowed to vote, criticize politicians or have opinions about our country. -- Bill Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: It feels like war's tide is turning

It feels like war's tide is turning WIS. ST. JRNL 6/17/06 Zarqawi, the murderer of countless innocents in the Middle East, is dead, thanks to an F-16 delivering two U.S. 500-pound bombs. The mini computer drive found on his body led coalition troops to terrorists' nests, which resulted in over 100 terrorist deaths and capture of over 700 in raids which took place not long after Zarqawi died. Iraq's National Security Advisor release of an al-Qaida memo which characterized their situation as "bleak" and conceded that time is now of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance, and "offered a pointed admission, that al-Qaida in Iraq is in a crisis." It went on to lament that America was having success in training Iraq's new security forces. President Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq to meet with the Iraqi government to assure them we will keep our word and not abandon them, but the Iraqi government must step up security to guard the safety of their own country as soon as possible. As he said even before the war, "when the Iraqi security forces can stand up, our troops will stand down." Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., Sens. Feingold, Kennedy and Kerry discover that the majority of the Senate does not share their "cut and run" mentality, nor does the House. Their vote said stay the course. Millions in Iraq and Afghanistan are free and working hard at standing up a representative democracy. The 2,500 brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for our safety and freedoms and to free over 50 million people have not died in vain. -- Bill Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Allen eschews conservative roots

Allen eschews conservative roots WIS. ST JRNL 5/12/06 When I read that Ray Allen had decided to run for Madison mayor, I was delighted and thought I would make a contribution in time and money to his campaign. Then I heard the audio excerpts of his press conference where he trashed the president, his foreign policy and domestic policies. He also said he was a pro-choice "mainstream" Madisonian politically. I agree. He is another left wing Democrat, and therefore is mainstream in Madison. He claims he is no longer a Republican, and the State Journal confirmed that in the "Setting it Straight" section. Is that why he is now running as a Progressive Dane-light, an inch to the right of Mayor Dave Cieslewicz? Conservatives, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians and conservative Democrats in this city from whom you want to distance yourself got the message. We won't be working, contributing or voting for you. -- Bill Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Bucher has AG appeal

Bucher has AG appeal Wis. ST Jrnl 1/24/06 I found Sunday's piece about how local, state, health care, AFL-CIO and government unions are fighting over the Falk and Lautenschlager attorney general endorsements interesting but a bit off the mark. To me, the most important endorsements for the top cop are the police officer unions. I believe most of the large southeast Wisconsin police unions have already endorsed Paul Bucher who is -- gasp! -- a Republican. I would also guess that members of the unions mentioned in the article may or may not follow their union bosses and vote for a guy who, as a 20-year prosecutor as Waukesha's district attorney, convicts cop killers. -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: reply to Isthmus editorial on VNTCAR

Reply to Kristian Knutsen’s Monday, 2/20/06 Blog on thedailypage. First, thanks for the coverage of Votenotocutandrun.com by Kristian Knutsen on 2/20/06. The title of the article is close to correct in that the individuals who formed VNTCAR were asking at the caucus last Saturday that the Dane County GOP join us and get behind defeating the irresponsible "Bring the Troops home NOW: (emphasis added) referendum brought by WNPJ, Green party, Bring the troops home, and all the other far Left groups listed in their coalition. In fact, as Jenna Pryor accurately reported in her blog that you sited, they unanimously voted in favor of the resolution to defeat the referendum and are now supporting our efforts. WNPJ and Co. has received money from the Democrat Party and the AFSCME Local 171 UW Employees. (Do you wonder how their members who are, or have been in the Armed Forces feel about their dues being spent this way?). Also, the League of Women Voters (a non partisan group?) and out of state money from far Left “peace” organizations have contributed to WNPJ. We, however, have not received any money from the RPDC. But, we have from individual Republicans and from folks that simply have common sense, but are not associated with any political party. We too will happily accept money from the Democrat party and the League of Women voters should they care to support the troops and our effort. We did not make it a partisan issue by politicizing the support of our troops, and the completion of their mission. And in classic grass roots tradition, we are reacting to the fact that this referendum does. We differ on the definition of what a grassroots group is I guess. We were shaken when we read the referendum and realized the devastating impact it would have on the morale of our troops and we set up VNTCAR specifically to defeat it. The RPDC didn’t set it up, we did. The morale of our troops directly depends on the support they receive from the American public back home. We believe that the majority of Madisonians- Republicans, Independents, Democrats, Progressives, and non-politically charged people - do support the troops and the completion of their mission and will vote against “bring the troops home NOW.” We welcome their help and support. The six questions I would pose to you as a fine reporter are: What would happen if we withdrew all U.S. Troops NOW? Who is behind the referendum? Have they supported our troops in the past, and do they now, or is their newfound “concern” for our soldiers simply a cover for a different agenda? What is their true agenda? From whom does their financial support come? What do they have to gain? And no, we are not going to “harvest” people for RPDC. This is a single issue and we are confident that most democrats/independents will vote against the referendum and we have enough trouble herding the cats that are members of the “R” side now, without adding staunch democrats! Yes I do support Attorneys General like Paul Bucher that put cop killers behind bars, and finally, you are correct that this has become a partisan issue. Reason: this referendum was offered up and/or forced upon communities via law suits by the Peace and Justice posse. We fully support the troops and the successful completion of their mission in Iraq. Does the other side? Bill Richardson, treasurer, VoteNOtoCutandRun.com .

GUEST EDITORIAL: Fuzzy Thinking Snags 'Bring Troops Home' Backers

Fuzzy Thinking Snags 'Bring Troops Home' Backers The Capital Times EDITORIAL A9 Saturday, March 4, 2006 WILLIAM RICHARDSON First, we have to admit that being taken apart by John Nichols, an editor and writer of national stature, while not an honor, is at least a tribute to the fact that we must have been doing something right to be flogged by a famous editor! We have been working on the VOTENOToCutandRun.com Web site for the last three weeks and just put it up officially a few days ago. We agree with him on at least one thing: We think the site is "slick" too. Thanks! Expensive? No. Hard work? Yes. New appreciation for what a writer must do? Yep. The three founding members of Vote No to Cut and Run, Wendy Fjelstad, Sam Johnson and I, are newly minted Republicans, joining the party in the last two years and elected a year ago to serve as Assembly district chairs for the Republican Party of Dane County. But the source of our funding was strictly grass-roots -- it started in our own pocketbooks. Republicans, independents and Democrats (so far no one from Progressive Dane, but we are hopeful) have donated $10, $15, $25 amounts mostly, with one individual stepping up to help fund some of the start-up costs. No money has come from the Republican Party at any level. How about a follow-up story on all the Bring the Troops Home Now referendum supporters and their funding? We are not "so-called" -- we are called VOTE NO to Cut and Run. (Wouldn't that be called an editorial "cheap shot"?) Nichols calls it "peddling armchair slogans." We call it trying to get reasonable people with common sense regardless of their political orientation to look at the referendum -- which is: "Resolved: The U.S. should bring all military personnel home from Iraq now" -- and say, "Now?" We ask them to imagine what would happen in Iraq, the Middle East, the United States and the world if we withdrew all our troops now! We grant we are amateurs at writing and persuasion and Nichols is a master at his craft. However, he did not mention, quote or discuss the actual referendum in his column or what would happen if we did remove all our troops now. Why? Will he now? We believe the important thing now is to address not how we got there -- the historians will handle that -- but what do we do now: finish the job of stabilizing a struggling, proudly purple-fingered democratic state or cut and run now as the referendum dictates. Also agreed: We did not address several issues Nichols raised; we need to do so and will. Freeing 27 million people from Saddam and sons was already known, we thought. Shouldn't reporting the good news in Iraq be your job, too? However, the Web site does allow our soldiers, the Iraqi people, our governor and prominent Democrats to speak about the wisdom of an immediate withdrawal. The site shows how this referendum is a direct attack on the morale of our troops in Iraq, how our Wisconsin troops are reacting to being undermined by their hometowns and how this is, in fact, more about an anti-military referendum than it is about peace and justice and "just let the people decide" foreign policy in each city across the state. The fact that 41 Wisconsin soldiers re-enlisted recently while serving in Kuwait/Iraq speaks to how high their morale is. Not every soldier who has, or is serving, likely agrees with every reason why they are there, but they are serving and deserve our support, not our criticism, or second-guessing their mission. The Green Party, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Code Pink, World Can't Wait, Not in Our Name, Answer and many other anti-military left groups have made this a partisan issue by placing it on the ballot in nearly 30 communities in Wisconsin, using tactics that included lawsuits to force it on each city, and make them pay for it, too. Check the minutes in most of the cities. They did not want to join Madison and pay local tax money to pretend they set national foreign policy. We are reacting to those tactics. On our Web site, we define the background of the referendum groups and show how their literature and historical stance have been anti-military for many years and this pose of "caring for the troops" now is just that, a cynical pose. Nichols mentioned that voting is a way for citizens to provide a "check and balance" on their elected leaders at all times. This referendum does not address our elected leaders; it is a local referendum in April. Voters had the choice of an anti-war candidate during the national Democratic primary for the 2004 presidential election and will again in coming elections. What is the real reason this referendum is being pushed? * Finally, to call the Bring the Troops Home Now referendum rammers (hiding behind multilayered, well-funded, far-left front groups) "true" patriots (look at their history and anti-American literature) who are acting in an "American tradition" is beyond the pale, unless you are referring to their own old, worn-out playbook from the early '70s as a "tradition." William Richardson is a retired UW-Madison professor, retired member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard and treasurer of the anti-referendum group VOTE NO To Cut and Run.

Letters to the Editor: UW School Loses Credibility

School Loses Credibility Wisconsin State Journal :: SPECTRUM :: F2 Thursday, March 3, 2005 "Law schools are asked to accept discrimination" is the headline for Michael Rooke-Ley's essay against military recruiters on campus. Our university and law school (as well as most of the members of FAIR) have been discriminating against select races and genders for years -- at the direction of the U.S. government. They have no qualms about this kind of discrimination, only against allowing military recruiters access to campuses. Two examples: Title IX, though not intended to establish quotas for female and male athletes at universities when it was written, has been twisted so it is rigidly interpreted in exactly that manner. Do you recall a few years ago when UW-Madison dumped men's baseball, volleyball and several other men's sports and added several women's sports so they could comply with the Title IX quotas deadline? The men in the targeted sports were blatantly discriminated against so UW could keep its funding, legal status and sports teams in line with the requirements. I don't recall the law school professors trying to stop the discrimination then. Second, the university and law school discriminate in the selection of students they will accept. Grades, class rank, SAT scores, letters of recommendation, special talents and race are used to determine prospective students. Racial preference, euphemistically renamed "affirmative action," is used to encourage students with lower grades, rank, etc., to apply. Even here, one's specific race has to be defined so as to discriminate against high-achieving Asians or whichever group is considered to have "too much advantage." When we see these examples of discrimination abolished by the law school and the university, and a return to merit-based admissions and common sense sports programs, their credibility will be enhanced enough to listen to their reasons for wanting to ban military recruiters. -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Abortion ruling seems within mainstream

Your Views The Alito Nomination Wisconsin State Journal :: FORUM :: B1 Sunday, November 13, 2005 Abortion ruling seems within mainstream Forum columnist Jill Porter's opinion of Samuel Alito shows more about her "feminist zealot" bias (to use her own words) than informs us of the judge's qualifications. She admits reading part of the trial transcript of the 1991 Pennsylvania court ruling, but she missed the fact that they wanted the husband to be notified, not give consent for an abortion. Exceptions in the law, when no notification was required, included rape, fear of abuse, when the father was not her husband or not locatable. If a married woman signed a statement that she notified her husband and presented it to the abortion doctor, she met the requirement. Alito thought this was a reasonable request of a married woman. So do I. Notifying a husband of an abortion is simply common sense for those of us on the "rabid right" and "dangerously radical" conservatives (again using Porter's labels) who are not part of Porter's definition of the "mainstream." If the judge is qualified, I am confident our senators will vote their conscience. -- William Richardson, Madison NOTE: I was wrong. Both Sen Kohl & Finegold voted No to confirmation of Alito on Jan. 31,2006 (So much for integrity-Dem party loyalty trumps integrity)

Letters to the Editor: Creed Of Liberal Dems To Hate Wal-mart

Creed Of Liberal Dems To Hate Wal-mart Wisconsin State Journal SPECTRUM F1 Thursday, October 20, 2005 I enjoyed Susan Lampert Smith's Sunday column about the reasons Target is considered cool and Wal-Mart is not. I do think she missed one big political reason however. All those who consider themselves informed and loyal Democrats hate Wal-Mart for many reasons, with two of the biggest reasons being Wal-Mart represents raw capitalism and has fought unionization since they began. Ask any liberal Democrat what they think of Wal-Mart and you will get one answer. It is part of their catechism. -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Vang trial raises questions of bias

Vang trial raises questions of bias STATE JOURNAL 9/14/05 It is laughable, but predictable, that whenever the charge of liberal bias is raised -- this time in relation to choosing a jury from Dane County for the Chai Soua Vang murder trial of six deer hunters near Rice Lake -- reporters usually interview one moderate Republican and several liberals who never see or can acknowledge their own bias. The comments of former prosecutor Chris Van Wagner and Michele Lavigne, former public defender and now UW Law professor, illustrate the point perfectly. "Bias, what bias?" My questions are: With 10 Dane County women on the jury, how many of them are hunters or have ever hunted or even held a firearm? Why is lefty Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager prosecuting this case? Were her questions to the potential jury members about gun ownership to eliminate anyone who actually knows something about firearms or to assure herself that only those who shared her beliefs about guns would be on the jury? Move the jury selection to liberal Dane County, choose nearly an all-women jury and then make sure they hate or have no knowledge of hunting or guns. Bias, what bias? -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Kopp Needed More Support

Wisconsin State Journal :: OPINION :: A8 Saturday, March 19, 2005 Kopp Needed More Support I disagree with the letter printed Friday regarding Ken Kopp. He did not "fail" because he didn't maintain the store. He chose to retire from the business and close the store, and it was not due to any failure on his part. He told me he did not blame the people in the neighborhood, but the reality was that most residents go to the big chains to stock up on groceries and stop in at his store only to pick up small items. It was obvious to me he could not maintain a profit margin with competition like that and only infrequent purchases made by neighborhood residents. I support the use of TIF money to rebuild the site, not because of the grocery store, which will face the same conditions that Ken Kopp's did, but because the residents of that area have been paying high taxes for decades. Their taxes have been paying for projects all over the city, including many on the North Side. Isn't it reasonable that their taxes go to improve their own neighborhood for a change? - William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Punish first, then rehab Wis. ST. Journal Feb. 18, 2005

Punish first, then rehab Wis. ST. Journal Feb. 18, 2005 I was struck by the contrast between Thursday's guest column by Jodi Beyer titled "Why is killer in rehab, not prison?" and the front page photo of Cheri Maples accepting the job as the Division of Community Corrections State Supervisor of offenders on probation and parole. While Beyer is righteously angry that the killer of her husband now resides in a "hotel for drug rehabilitation" and not a prison, Corrections Secretary Matt Frank states that Maples' background and experience meshes with the department's "new direction of helping offenders in the community succeed." Maples' statement that "Just like it takes a village to raise children" . . . to be successful with offenders, "there are a number of things you have to surround them with." Many believe it takes but one caring adult to raise a successful child, and an offender who spends several years in prison as punishment for recklessly killing someone will come out motivated to take responsibility for his own behavior. I searched in vain for a statement by Frank or Maples about the ultimate responsibility of each offender for their own success. The "village" is tasked with trying and, if guilty, sentencing the individual to be removed from the village. They can return, but not while serving the sentence. We wish Maples well in this new endeavor. Posting Jodi Beyer's column in her office should be one of the first things she does. -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the Editor: Keep effective prison policies

Keep effective prison policies Jan.18, 2005 Wis ST. Jrnl The Wisconsin State Journal's Sunday piece on Wisconsin prisons, "Conning ourselves," could be described as "Conning the readers." The charts, grafts and statistics show how crime rates for property and violent crime have dropped dramatically over the last 15 years as the number of criminals incarcerated per 100,000 residents has shot up. But the writer states "the question of how much crime prison prevents is far from settled." Another article -- "Crime has been prevented, but how much?" -- includes a quote from crime expert Todd Clear that "young men who are involved in criminal activity are doing a lot of things in a neighborhood that are not criminal activity." So a guy may be mugging, raping and shooting people, but he takes good care of his dog, calls his mom on Sundays and his car looks great! The weak, worn out arguments of the coddle-the-criminal liberal left are certainly presented at length, but the actual drop in the rate of all crimes cannot be ignored. It mentions that it costs each person in the state $150 to run our prison system. I say that's a bargain to keep the dirtbags from murdering more innocent people like Ericha Von Hoken behind bars for the rest of their lives. The quote with the most common sense in either article came from Assembly Speaker John Gard: "When you see violent crime is on the decline, why would you change your policy?" -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the editor: Rip Van Wineke Wake up!

Rip Van Wineke, wake up 7/10/04 WIS ST. JOURNAL Bill Wineke's column, "The left now has its entertaining demogogue" was a classic example of a lefty not able to recognize his own leftward bias or that of the mass media that dominant the airwaves. Rip Van Wineke has somehow slept through or ignored all of the media and all of the left's Bush-hating Web sites like Moveon.org. He states that the "ever-increasing number of voices on the right (is) dominating the electronic media." That would be the recently arrived Fox News and talk radio's long-running Rush Limbaugh. Reality check, Bill: Fox/O'Reilly have been a voice of the right for only a few years. We have all been paying taxes for years to support the far-left reporting and commentary of NPR and PBS. Michael Moore's movies have deliberate and documented lies, half-truths and editing tricks. -- William Richardson, Madison

Letters to the editor: Stop Blaming, start Focusing

Stop blaming, start focusing Wis. State Journal Jan. 6, 2003 I congratulate Barbara Golden for helping to organize the Madison FamilyAdvisory/Advocacy Council but urge her to advise the minority families and students in the Madison schools to take responsibility for their own success or failure and to stop blaming the schools. Instead of trotting out the race card and attacking the Madison schools,take the four points mentioned in the Dec. 10 news story -- more minority teachers, barriers to parent involvement, data on disciplinary problems and more money -- and get her organization to focus on these problems. Show the parents how to dial the number for their student's school or teacher and take them to parent- teacher conferences. If the parent can't, or won't do it, her group could help the youngster by subbing for the parent.It's not up to the schools to involve the parents, it's a parental responsibility to be involved. Take the data on minority students disciplinary actions and counsel the student, not the school, on how to succeed in school. Interview the 41 percent of minority students doing well and staying in school, and use the information to help the kids who are failing. The schools spend thousands of dollars a month to motivate students. Just once, I would like to hear Superintendent Art Rainwater or any Madison school teacher or official say, "We will continue to do our best to help every student do their best, but the students and their parents (or guardians) carry the majority of the responsibility for their own success or failure." Identify what additional resources schools or teachers need and have Golden's group raise funds for those needs, just like all the other parent/teacher groups do. Kids are kids. Their color does not matter; all kids love to learn but they need to be guided by their parents, relatives, friends, classmates and yes,their teachers too. If Golden uses her council to help the kids and parents, she will be helping the schools to deal with the four problem areas she identified. -- William Richardson, Madison