Published: April 20, 2008 03:54 pm            

4/20/2008 Letters to the Editor

Getting it straight



Let’s see if I have this straight. His father was a Kenyan, a Muslim and black. We have seen pictures of his black family. His mother is a Kansan, an atheist and white. Where are the pictures of his white mother and the white grandparents who raised him? His father deserted him and his mother when he was young and returned to his family in Kenya.

His mother married an Indonesian Muslim and took him to Jakarta where he attended a Muslim school. His mother then returned to Hawaii where he was raised by his white grandparents and where he attended the best schools, and later an Ivy League university.

Who was responsible for that opportunity? He lives in a $1.4 million dollar house he acquired through a deal with a wealthy fundraiser. He “worked” as a civil rights activist in Chicago and has never held a real job. He entered politics at the state level and then the national level where he has absolutely minimal experience. He is so very proud of his “African Heritage,” but it seems that his only African connection was that his Kenyan father got a white girl pregnant and then deserted her.

Where is his pride in his white culture? He goes to an “Afrocentric” church that hates whites, hates Jews and blames America (the same America that provided him with the opportunity to become president) for all the world’s perceived faults, and then he repeatedly makes excuses for the pastor and church. He claims that he could not confront his pastor but wants us to believe that he can confront North Korea and Iran.

Like Hillary, he is a proven liar, claiming that he was brought here by President Kennedy’s airlift of African black youths, years after he was already here.

Folks, if you think either one of these Democratic candidates is going to improve this country, then you have been drinking or smoking something that is reducing your mental abilities. That, of course, is my opinion and you know what they say about opinions, “opinions are like alimentary exit points, everybody has one.”

The other day I was talking to a neighbor who reads my letters, and we concluded the people who need to read them aren’t. You who read them are usually educated and to various degrees have accomplished something with your life. Unfortunately it is the rest of the population that wants our money spread around among them (you are familiar with it as the Democratic platform plank — redistribution of wealth, right along side the one that says the people can’t be trusted with guns so they must be disarmed).

And now the government is bailing out the financial institutions, rich speculators and people who purchased houses costing over $479,000, creating an inflationary tsunami that may very well cause the downfall of America.

Obama recently hit a nerve when he accused some of us of clinging to our religion and guns. Those with whom I have discussed politics know that I vote for the candidate whom I feel is least likely to take my guns. That is my criteria. While I felt Huckabee was a scumbag, he was strong for the Second Amendment and Richards, a Democrat, was acceptable for his views on the Second Amendment.

I know they all lie to me, will pass laws that I do not like, will tax me and will then waste the money they get from me on pork barrel projects while ignoring the things that are in desperate need of repairing such as our bridges nationwide.

God help America.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne



Who else should be held accountable, CISD?



Taxpayers, the below statement issued by CISD along with the preliminary report can be confusing if you don’t pay close attention.

“During the three years (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06) selected for audit by TEA, the district was responsible for the administration of more than $10.7 million dollars in federal grant funds (“Funds”). At this time, TEA is requesting a refund by the district of $367,027.24, or approximately 3 percent of the total amount of funds awarded to the district, in expenditures which were found by TEA to be noncompliant under the definition of the grants, or as a result of inadequate documentation in support of the expenditure of the Funds.”

Taxpayers, CISD public relations keeps on putting out spin to make the amount of federal funds misused look insignificant by saying that only 3 percent of $10.7 million was noncompliant. What you need to know is that only $826,951.71, or less than $1 million of the $10.7 million, has been examined.

That leaves $9.8 million that has not yet been audited by the TEA to determine compliance or noncompliance with the federal rules and regulations regarding grants.

Writer’s opinion: Based on TEA’s finding of 44.4 percent error in the $826,951.71 examined that resulted in CISD owing TEA $367,027.24 then one could now speculate based on CISD’s assessment as a high risk that of the $10.7 million administered in federal grants between 2003-06 there is a possibility that a total of $4.75 million could possibly have been misused and needs to be repaid. This is why we need a complete forensic audit to determine the depth of all fund misuses be they local, state or federal.

TEA in the executive summary of the preliminary report recommends an audit of other federal awards during 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005 -06 and 2006-07 school years.

Some good questions to ponder are:

• Why is the school board now possibly not considering a forensic audit at all?

• Why has the board stopped short of fully resolving the issue by not taking any further disciplinary action against other central office administrators mentioned in the preliminary report?

• Is it political or community pressure on the board or both?

• What happened to the “quick and decisive” action needed?

•Should the superintendent be the only one held accountable?



Harold Gentry

Cleburne



Cody will be missed



When a notable of long standing retires in a relatively small city, he or she is probably known by the majority of local citizens and remembered by thought or vocally according to their experiences involving that person. I can’t imagine, because of my experiences with and observations of Jeff Cody, that anything but positive and good recollections of him could be had.

His 36 year tenure as CHS’s basketball coach with a win-loss record of 710-427 is good but his record as a teacher of character and sportsmanship, on and off the court, and as a role model puts those figures to shame. No doubt, the possibility of winning was part of every game plan but the most important part of his ongoing plan for his players was “their desire to win and their striving to perform above their abilities.”

It took a special person like Cody to come here in the early 1970s and build a system that would turn out young men of high character and ability, such as has occurred throughout these years. Certainly it is difficult to convince young men to have the desire to better themselves and their team by practicing long and hard with enthusiasm, take long bus trips to be harassed by alien student bodies in other gyms, make their grades to be able to play, lose work and study time, work through injuries and illnesses, work together as a team, follow the coach’s directions always, and even to put practice and team ahead of girls and loafing around.

It must have been difficult, although one with a calling such as Cody’s probably enjoyed most of it because he could see the daily- and long-term results both in each of his team’s play and in the future of the young men as good citizens.

My son, Jere, played for Cody in the early ’70s and he used to tell me about how hard practice could be but all of that was worth the chance to play on this man’s team. Jere always played with great enthusiasm and above his talent level in very aggressive fashion but according to Cody’s rules of fair play.

That team didn’t win many games but I have always felt that their excitement and spirit convinced the coach that there was something here worth his coaching life and as a result he has spent his career doing what he could do best and his best has been his influence as a role model for our boys and even for the rest of us. Thanks coach, time well spent. You are appreciated.



Monte Swatzell

Cleburne



What comes around goes around



An extraordinary thing happened this week at the Henderson-Nolan River Valero.

On April 11, my parents invited my family over for dinner. My mother, Sandy Snyder, and I were visiting in the kitchen when she told me I wouldn’t believe what happened to her that morning. She decided to stop at Valero and get gas and a cappuccino on her way to her Burleson doctor’s appointment.

When she went to pay, the male clerk told her that her coffee had been paid for by the lady in front of her. Instead of leaving it at that, and we all know how busy they get, he took a few minutes to explain to my mom that the lady told him she was a diabetic, and the day before she came in to get a coffee, and a lady had paid for hers without her knowing. The gesture was so nice that it made her day.

The whole time my mom is telling me this story, I open my eyes wide, start to open and close my mouth and rapidly point my thumb at my chest. That other lady was me! On April 10 I decided to stop and get a cappuccino on my way to check on my father-in-law in Alvarado. A nice lady was trying to decide what drink to get because she was a diabetic and I pointed out the sugar-free one. As I paid for my drink and started to leave the counter, as an afterthought, I pointed out the lady at the coffee dispenser and told the male cashier (a different one than the one on April 11) that I wanted to pay for hers, too. Then I hurriedly left. I didn’t give the gesture a second thought.

I keep thinking about the fact that so many people go into that store and with all the seconds in a day that could have rearranged the lineup of customers where someone else was the recipient. I hope that whoever this other lady was will read this, along with the two male cashiers at Valero’s.

My mom and I were simply amazed that a single gesture on my part would come back to bring some happiness to my mom’s day as well. So what’s the moral? What goes around comes around. Be nice to someone today and in everything give thanks.



Diana Maldonado

Cleburne



Cleburne ISD needs to apologzie



After Cleburne ISD misused federal money, I wish the interim superintendent had not made the statement, “It’s 156 pages, so it’s taking awhile, but from what I’ve found there’s nothing criminal in there whatsoever.” Is this man a lawyer? I will hold my judgment on whether something illegal has been done until after the state and federal law enforcement officials look at the report. As a taxpayer I am embarrassed and ashamed by this abuse of public trust displayed by the district. I also call on the board to make a public apology to the Access Cleburne members they publicly disparaged when calls for an accounting came out. I, for one, am proud that Harold Gentry stood up for the taxpayers.



Michael Simons

Cleburne



Health care in bad shape

It’s appalling that in a nation where we have so much we can’t seem to spend the money on our nation’s health care. In other countries they encourage their people to be healthy and live long lives. In America, the insurance companies encourage us to die so they can collect the check. This is truly a sad commentary on our society and it’s a horrible situation that we’re leaving future generations in.



Kristen Davis

Burleson

        

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