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Hernando Today

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 6, 2008

Risky, Bold, Smart Move
In reading this past Sunday's edition of the Hernando Today, I came across the letter from Fred Peters in which he mentions me by name and says I misrepresented the facts regarding the issue of who was responsible for making Social Security benefits taxable.

Well, I am glad you wrote your letter. I stand by my original statement, based solely on the fact that the Democrats controlled Congress at the time and they were the ones who came up with the idea of taxing Social Security benefits. Remember, I said I had worked for the IRS. The Republicans have failed to reverse it because the Democrats have continuously blocked it in committee.

But the real reason I am writing is to take you task for you misrepresenting Alaska Gov. Sara Palin. For one thing, she came from a town of 9,000 not 5,000, so from off the bat you made a mistake. You also forgot to mention that she blocked the "Bridge to Nowhere," went after her own party; went after the "Big Oil" companies and got the people a rebate of $1,200 per family. She has a popularity rating higher than 70 percent in her state.

As for the GOP being shocked over her being McCain's pick as vice president, I can tell you quite the contrary; the party faithful are right now very pleased with the choice. Sure, it was risky and bold move on the part of McCain, and I admire him for thinking outside the box and I hope it works out for him.

As for Palin not being qualified to run the country because she is too inexperienced: Point taken, and I would have to submit to you that Sen. Barack Obama is not qualified to be president on the same grounds.

In fact, let me put it this way: Palin is a governor, a small state I admit, but she is the leader of a state nonetheless. So I ask this of all Democrats: What has Obama done to earn the right to be elected president of the United States? What leadership ability has he shown?

While we all await an answer to those questions. I would suggest to Mr. Peters to do himself a favor and stop watching MSNBC or listening to Air America or blogging onto sites like Moveon.org, Dailykos or the Huffingtonpost and other left-leaning news outfits, and watch straight news programs like Fox or CNN. At least with them you get truthful reporting.

Peter Stathis

Spring Hill

Education Protection

It is terrible that because of politics the 17-year-old child of Alaska Gov. Sara Palin and her daughter's 18-year-old soon-to-be-husband have had their sexual activities exposed for the entire world to see. How embarrassing for them to be paraded on a stage in front of millions of people because Palin's political party thought it would be more advantageous to their candidate than to allow the couple their privacy. And why would a mother allow her child to be exploited in such a way in the name of politics?

As a mother, I would fiercely protect my child, not put her out like a sacrificial lamb for the news media to feast on. More than that, what message does it send to the teenagers of America?

There is no earthly reason in this day and age that any child should have an unwanted pregnancy or contact a sexual disease, especially when they're members of affluent, educated, loving families. No, I'm not talking about abortion. I'm talking about safe sex. There are dozens if not hundreds of methods of preventing pregnancy and sexual disease.

Every generation has the same urges and raging hormones, and every generation has children that have contacted some type of sexual disease and unwanted pregnancies because they practiced unsafe sex. It is our duty as parents to protect our children against sexual diseases and pregnancy, the same way we protect them against smallpox, mumps, chickenpox and other childhood diseases.

But, we can't take them to the doctor and get them vaccinated against having sex. And we can't be chaperons every time they go out the door. And we can't go on the premise that no matter what, they will have sex, no more than we can go on the premise that no matter what, they will practice abstinence.

But it's a very stupid attitude and extremely risky to the lives of our children to say that abstinence is the only answer to unwanted pregnancies and sexual diseases. Do I advocate promiscuous behavior? No, but I am a realist and, as we all know, sexual intercourse is not the only way to transmit sexual diseases.

So, what choices do we have to protect our children from these deadly diseases? Education. By educating our children on how sexual diseases are contacted and how they can be prevented. They need to see what HIV AIDS and other sexual diseases do to the human body. And they need sex education in school and not depend on parents like Palin, which so obviously proves that parents either can't or won't do the job.

Knowledge is power and, with knowledge, our children have the power to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies and sexual diseases.

Pat Hernandez

Brooksville

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