Al Gore can win –
for the 2nd time
I am so excited that Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope he now runs for president. He is smart, experienced and has been right on the important issues (the Iraq war and global warming). But, another important reason is that he is electable. He won once. He can win again. Even without considering Florida, in 2000 he defeated George W. Bush by more than half a million votes, receiving the second largest number of votes ever cast in a presidential election. For the past seven years, Gore has been freed from politics and we have come to know a side of him that most us didn’t see when he was in Bill Clinton’s shadow. Gore is the strongest and most qualified candidate for president and if he runs, he will win.
Louise Roy
Hollister
Gore’s Nobel prize
cheapens award
What’s next? A Nobel in physics for Bill Nye the Science Guy? The Nobel selection committee sent the political message it intended. But the selection of Al Gore, who glamorized others’ work, diminishes the substance of the Nobel and trivializes the true sacrifice and struggle of past Nobel Peace Prize winners such as Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel and Mother Teresa.
Byron Henderson
San Jose
Legislators duck
their responsibility
The California water proposals are likely to be sent back to the voters to make a decision in the November 2008 elections. I have always been under the impression that we send our representatives to Sacramento to thoroughly study the issues, debate and then come to a decision. We have given them a full-time job to do what the average voter has neither the time nor the resources to do. Once again, these august leaders appear ready to duck another “hot” one. Perhaps a better measure for the ballot would be a recall vote for the whole bunch.
James W. Love
San Jose
Nurse staffing
must be adequate
The nurses are right. Sutter Hospital is wrong. Not to provide enough nurses so that they can take breaks and lunches without leaving patients unattended is absolutely wrong on the hospital’s part. The hospital argues that it costs too much, but that argument carries no water. The goal is to make sure that patients are always attended to by nurses, and any argument to the contrary has no credibility. If nurses take breaks and have lunches, there must be nurses to fill in during those times. Any reason that goal cannot be reached is worthless. The hospital is obligated to use one or more methods to achieve that goal. I heartily endorse the strike.
Kevin R. Fish
San Jose
Illegal kids don’t
deserve extra help
With international business, embassies, couples marrying from different countries, and the U.S. military forces based overseas, there are millions of kids who are brought up in foreign countries and only move to their own country when they turn 18. They are not whining for free college money and special treatment to obtain citizenship for themselves and their families in their host countries. Why on earth the DREAM Act-back-door-amnesty folks think illegal kids (up to the age of 30) are entitled to take college financial aid away from low income American kids, then jump in front of legal immigrants, is baffling. If they want to be American, do it the American way. Legally. Leave the country and apply like everyone else.
Elaine Brown
San Jose
Big politicians
make big mistakes
I was surprised and somewhat mystified to see the Mercury News devote so much space and attention to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (Page 1A, Oct. 11). But what surprised me even more was Newsom’s comment, “We should have the most audacious politicians in the world. We should have politicians that make bold decisions and make big mistakes and embrace that.” In addition to Newsom, we do. The most flagrant example of such a politician: George W. Bush.
Jan Woods
San Jose
49ers don’t know
how to run park
There is no way that allowing the San Francisco 49ers to buy Great America will serve the citizens of Santa Clara. The team is totally incapable of running the park, and by the time they’ve paid a premium to Cedar Fair, a qualified park operator might not be willing to buy it later. If Great America sits unsold, we’ve endangered that revenue stream from Great America, and we will still have nothing to show for the stadium efforts. Cedar Fair is playing a shrewd game, but both the 49ers and my city’s government have lost their way. This stadium idea is out-of-hand, and it is distorting the life of our city.
William F. Bailey
Santa Clara
