The heroes are those who saw through the misplaced, post 9-11 revenge tidal wave and recorded their vote or raised their voice in opposition. Even Bush’s father knew better than to take Baghdad during Desert Storm. General Colin Powell’s “You break it, you own it” advice was sadly unheeded as well. Any general who disagrees is replaced; Generals Shinseki and Zinni then and Generals Abizaid and Casey now. What astonishes me is the “core” supporters who continue to be blinded by their loyalty and hypocritical religious “values” that fosters an “us against them,” Christianity vs. Islam ideology in the face of a tidal wave of truth. Our government took its military eye from Afghanistan and redirected it to Iraq for profit, misplaced personal revenge (on Bush’s part), and a permanent US military presence in the Middle East (see the charter of the Project for New American Century) for control of a finite supply of oil.

I hope you continue to report on this topic and delve into some of the other driving forces behind how we got here. It will be very interesting what the Administration does in the face of only the “core” public and private support they retain. I have my suspicions and they are not uplifting given the nuclear naval fleets off the coast of Iran today. The drumbeat begins anew.

Andy Slusarski
Portland

Diamon is dead wrong
I hope that Al Diamon feels better after venting his rage at being on the losing end of the TABOR vote with distortions of my position (see “We Don’t Need to Whisper,” January 5). Still, responsible readers might wonder why he thinks the old adage to “follow the money” does not apply to Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC).

He says that while properly and fully enjoying their freedom of speech promoting TABOR, “the MHPC received donations. I got paid by this newspaper.”

Are these the same?

We know the source of Diamon’s funding. But the sums MHPC received to pay for its promotions came from undisclosed sources. Apparently, he does not see anything wrong when supposedly independent, third-party proponents of ballot initiatives are actually paid by partisan interests to shill for them. If that’s OK, why shouldn’t Diamon be able to solicit and receive payment from the various national TABOR funders to support his work on the subject?

Like MHPC, Diamon is also out of line on the larger question of our fundamental freedoms. These do not come to us free from responsibility. With Diamon’s help, MHPC seeks to wrap itself in the First Amendment to deflect the consequences of lying to the Ethics Commission. Diamon is right to hold onto the MHPC attorney’s phone number just in case he, too, finds himself facing legitimate, legal consequences for such irresponsible conduct.

Carl Lindemann
Cedar Park, Texas