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In the Nov. 29 Community Forum there was a letter by Ronnie Shoemake that I feel deserves a response.
First, the "stopping" of the vote count in Florida in 2000: I assume that this statement is referring to the attempt by the Gore campaign to hijack the election by asking for manual recounts. I could see the logic here had it not been for the fact that a recount was only requested in heavily Democratic areas under the guise of making sure that "every vote counts."
If Gore were truly interested in "making sure every vote counts," he would have asked for a recount of the whole state and not just in the counties that were sure to benefit him. Bush won; get over it!
Second, the 9/11 attacks were planned well before Bush took office. The first bombing of the WTC in 1993 should have been a wake up call for the Clinton administration. Instead, Clinton did nothing.
We could have had Osama bin Laden during the Clinton administration, but inaction allowed him to slip away. Al-Qaida perpetrated attacks on U.S. targets because of a perceived weakness in the administration. Clinton only proved them right by failing to take any decisive action after the first WTC bombing in 1993.
Third, the current problems with the economy can also be traced back to the Clinton administration and the deregulation of the mortgage industry. By encouraging lenders to take bigger risks and give loans to people who could not afford to pay, is it any wonder the mortgage industry is in such a mess?
Fourth, the intelligence at the time we invaded Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had or was close to having weapons of mass destruction. If you recall prior to the Bush Administration, Saddam was under U.N. mandate to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq. If you recall, he repeatedly stalled or refused to allow weapons inspectors in. What do you think he was doing while he was stalling? Playing tiddlywinks?
Again the administration at the time - oh, yes, Clinton - refused to even push the U.N. to take any decisive action to make Saddam comply with weapons inspectors. No wonder no evidence was found. Saddam had plenty of time to get rid of it all.
And don't bring up that it was about oil. No need to go there.
Now don't get me wrong, there are things the Bush administration has done or failed to do that should be noted. First, it gave us No Child Left Behind. This has had a negative impact on our school systems by saddling them with unfunded mandates with which they must find a way to comply. NCLB has not improved the quality of learning and has become a burden on taxpayers.
Next, was the Hurricane Katrina debacle. I agree that the government response was totally unacceptable. Our Southern border is still porous and there has been no meaningful immigration reform. We now know that the price of oil was artificially inflated by speculation in the commodities market.
Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress in 2006. Since then, they have done nothing for the American people. All they seem to be able to do is bash President Bush and talk about all the things he has done wrong.
Why not put a stop to the bitter partisanship and show some leadership? Do something rather than complaining. Lay off the Kool-Aid!
Gary Entrekin
Gainesville
Multicultural group joins solemn ceremony
On Nov. 13, our son, Alexander, had a bris (Jewish circumcision ceremony for 8-day old boys) here in Gainesville. I think it might be one of few, if not the first, ever performed here in Hall County.
I want to thank the Gainesville staff that assisted us in securing the Fair Street Community Center which was the perfect venue. The staff did a great job on site and we really appreciated it.
People who attended this event were born in the United States, Israel, Iran, Syria, Germany, South Africa, India and Thailand and represented many faiths and backgrounds. In our great country, people come together and celebrate special life events in friendship and love and we appreciated our neighbors, friends and of course family who attended the bris.
Et Gentin
Gainesville