I write in response to Mike Parker’s Friday letter attacking Paul Stanley and Republicans for three reasons: First, I know Paul Stanley; he is my boss and I know firsthand his attitudes toward women. Second, politics is one of my passions. Third, I am a conservative Republican.

Since there is not a woman running for our nomination, it would have sounded strange indeed had Paul Stanley said "he or she" in referring to the president he is looking for. If Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas or Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina (who ran in 2000) were running, he would have said "he or she" since all are Republicans. Likewise for Secretary of Labor Elaine Chou.

If he had failed to include "she," I would have corrected him. But I know him well enough to know that he would have done it on his own. Certainly, the "she" on the other side is not what we are looking for in The White House.

Given the tone of smug certainty in Mr. Parker’s letter, I am sure he knows that the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate was a Georgian, Rebecca Latimer Felton, though this was a symbolic appointment after a long career in journalism and politics. He must remember Republicans Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Paula Hawkins and Susan Collins, all U.S. senators in recent years.

Of special note in history is Republican Margaret Chase Smith from the early ’50s, the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Of much greater importance, Sen. Smith was the first U.S. senator to denounce the tactics of Joe McCarthy.

I could, of course, offer more examples along these lines; I’ve even left out one sitting U.S. Senator, Olympia Snowe, whose views on the proper role of government are not exactly our cup of tea.

But I will let Mr. Parker consider these prominent office holders so he can better understand Republican attitudes toward women in government.

Robin Lambert

Gainesville

I would like to straighten up the supposed torture label they have put on waterboarding many liberals and Sen. John McCain seem to deplore.

I will attempt to explain how I feel based on being a military officer during the Vietnam War. The two main responsibilities of an officer are to complete your mission and the welfare of your soldiers.

Now, here is the way I see it: If I have a captured enemy combatant and I feel he would damage the chance of me completing my mission or be a danger to my soldiers if he had information I needed, I would use any and all means to extract the information.

I had much rather eliminate an enemy combatant than write a letter home to one of my dead soldier’s mothers knowing I did not do all I could to protect her son or daughter.

For some strange reason, I value the lives of Americans more than I do folks that would just as soon cut my head off, disembowel me and hang me off a bridge for the birds to peck away at.

If our idiot leaders had rather protect the enemy than our citizens, we are not long for this world.

Jim Threlkeld

Clarkesville