The right thing

By: Letters To the editor | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: February 08, 2010

The Journal's editorial "A losing cause" (Jan. 31) got it right -- almost. Ending the practice of sectarian prayer before public meetings is not about money; it's about doing the right thing. It's not about what the Constitution requires; it's about our politicians resisting the "tyranny of the majority."

Shame on those whose principles, if they exist at all, are so shallowly rooted that they will abandon them if someone else is willing to pay the bill. Shame on those who need a federal judge to tell them what is the right thing to do.

No profiles in courage will be written about most of our public leaders.

GUY M. BLYNN

Winston-Salem

Held to standards

While corporations live for profit, the rest of us live for our families and our communities. While we are individually held accountable for our actions and choices, corporations are held to no standard of behavior, hide behind cadres of lawyers and often use vast sums of money to lobby Congress to create laws for their own benefit -- laws that often cause harm to the majority of the American public.

The changes to banking laws over the past 12 years that directly led to our recent economic meltdown are a case in point. Bankers know that boom-and-bust cycles are a detriment to the vast majority of citizens, but they generate huge sums of money for those with large amounts of capital and hedge funds. They bet our entire economy on these leveraged gambles, won vast sums of money for themselves and left the American taxpayer cleaning up after their party.

To allow for an entity that exists primarily on paper to have constitutional rights is an affront to our country and our Constitution.

KIMBERLY STONE

Winston-Salem

Well-written and informative

I would like to add a few words of appreciation along with Toby Bost ("Creative weekly feature," Jan. 30) in regard to the Friday gardening column by David Bare.

I believe I speak for most serious gardeners like myself who follow his advice each week with interest. I find his columns well-written and informative. Also, he is more than willing to share his horticulture knowledge and expertise with visitors to Reynolda Gardens.

I look forward to another year of gardening gems.

TOBY HAWKINS

Mocksville