Letters: High-tech drone awards fits today's military

COSTA MESA,?Gabrielle Champol:?In response to James M. Dorn's letter, "Drone award an insult to those who face combat" [Commentary, March 3]: I have a different point of view. A close relative of mine is a drone operator. Please don't get me wrong. I am sure during your time in the Special Forces you faced unusual challenges. And we are all extremely grateful for you and everyone else in similiar positions, working hard to honor our country. I just feel that awarding medals for drones is in line with our military operations.

I'm sure I don't need to school you on drones, but the high resolution videos that drones provide are superior to anything that satellites can produce. Drones are equipped to eavesdrop on electronic transmissions, too. Drones were a signigicant part of our military locating Osama bin Laden. Someone deserves a medal for that. To refer to drone operators as "joystick jockeys" is quite offensive, and I can assure you that my relative may not be in the battlefield, but is still based in Afghanistan, facing plenty of continuous danger.

Please try to accept the progress that our military is making, and the awards that are justified. Every man and woman in our military is fighting for the same goal.

Basketball diplomacy

HUNTINGTON BEACH,?Dan Johancsik:?Sure Dennis Rodman's suggestion that President Barack Obama phone Kim Jong-un to talk basketball is naive, maybe even absurd, but consider our State Department's response. Berating North Korea for wining and dining Rodman while their own people starve is so hypocritical. Apparently 16-million American children go to bed hungry every night while our press swoons over Michelle Obama's bangs and Jason Wu inaugural gowns. She has a personal staff of 24. Which one of them is in charge of hungry children?

It took our own government three months to pass an emergency relief bill for the victims of hurricane Sandy. Where was the compassion while those people slept in makeshift hovels and shelters?

It's the American dream

FULLERTON,?William Sisler:?No matter one's ethnic heritage, Americans have no moral right to refer offensively to "illegal aliens," especially since these people are coming north to work and are doing so for the same reasons that most of our ancestors came to this country: a better life for their families.

We are here in this country today, just as our Native Americans were here in this country when illegal immigration first began in 1492. So why should anyone be upset by others wanting to come to this country and do what our ancestors did to the Native Americans?

It was once said, "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

Woodward exaggerated

IRVINE,?Janet Terry:?Before jumping to defend Bob Woodward from the "threats" of the White House or lauding him for his "courage," letter writers Ron Keller and George Eazell should have taken the time to read the actual email from White House economic adviser Gene Sperling to Bob Woodward. Had they done so they would have found it was quite cordial, not at all a "threat" and that the whole thing was all a tempest in a teapot. After the email was published Woodward himself tried to backtrack, and even Fox News is feeling suckered.

As Keller said, it is indeed sad that too much of the electorate pays so little attention to what is really happening. We all need to look beyond the sound bites we see on TV. The full story is easily available is only we take a little time to find it before we form ? and publish ? opinions.

On citing Eisenhower

BREA,?Robert W. Grebner:?Letter-writer Larry Severson, a self-proclaimed "Eisenhower conservative Republican," would prefer that we return to the trade and tax policies of pre-1980 ["Draconian cuts," March 4].

My first presidential vote was cast in 1956 for President Dwight Eisenhower, who was not as conservative as I would have liked, but was certainly better than the alternative, Adlai Stevenson. It is curious that Severson picked 1980 as the turning point from success to failure, as that was the year a true conservative, Ronald Reagan was elected.

Do we really want to return to the era of President Jimmy Carter, with double digit unemployment and inflation? On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be as bad as what we could face if President Barack Obama implements his full agenda.

Make prudent cuts

ROSSMOOR,?T. Murphy:?After reading the list of "budget cuts that will affect Americans," I don't see a single cut in the president's staff ["Cutback's economic pain," News, March 3]. How about closing a few departments altogether in DC? Make some prudent cuts by sending the business of education to the states where it belongs.

How about not allowing automatic federal budget increases to kick in? I imagine many families have not had automatic increases in their paychecks. If a department cannot operate on the amount of money allocated from last year's fiscal allocation, it should be last hired and first let go (in the business world it is fired). In my business if there is no money in the account to cover a new phone system, one is not purchased and we use what we have.

Examples of ways to really look at sequester are very simple, but in order to accomplish the task someone has to lead and use the red pen on their own department first.

The Bloomberg diet

GARDEN GROVE, Marlem Mason: I would hate to give our California politicians any more ideas, but it looks like New York's egotistical billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has got them beat.

Consider his soda liter-ship, crackdowns on smoking, trans fats, salt and baby formula, orders to force mothers to breastfeed and miles of unused bike lanes. What's next for them? Banning Oreos? Cheetos? Big Macs? It's a wonder those poor New Yorkers can still figure out how to dress themselves in the morning.

Political pandering

LAGUNA NIGUEL,?Gordon Wilson:?Admittedly tacking a vague "In God we trust" sign on a city building has, if nothing else, a certain feel-good quality about it. And invoking deities, whether real or imagined, can of course be a very politically expedient, if perhaps otherwise dubious, thing to do ["Councilman wants motto at City Hall," Local, March 1]. We should be relieved at least that our good Councilman Derek Reeve is not pushing for an even more dubious "In government we trust" eyesore.

Hybrid useage fees

YORBA LINDA,?Jules Vogel:?I've read recently about the coming rise in California's gasoline tax. I understand part of this is due to the increase of electric and hybrid vehicles which cause less gasoline to be purchased and, thus, lower tax revenues.

O have a question: Do electrics and hybrids pay any kind of road-maintenance fee other than gasoline tax? Higher registration fees, perhaps?

If not, are these drivers getting a partially free ride? Taxpayers, generally, subsidize purchase of these vehicles and then gasoline users pay higher taxes to cover their share of road wear.

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