Letters to the editor for Monday, April 1, 2013

Case shows system works

Legal strategies of many court cases are combined to save "the court time." The current case in the Supreme Court over marriage definition is no different.

The right of a "gay couple" to be treated, "tax wise," equal to married couples to avoid paying "estate taxes" is a valid one. Seeking to overturn at the same time the voter-determined "Marriage law — Prop 8" in California is a slap in the face of all who voted to contain the elected governing entities.

Voicing that "40,000 children of legal gay couples in California" is always a "tearjerker" for many who where once a "child." Yet now the voice of the other 2.5 million children (under 5) or the 9.1 million children (under 18) is somehow meaningless in the court's eyes?

I think the wisdom of the Supreme Court has much more to chew on, constitutionally, than just "gay couples" that in reality want the same "tax rights and deductions" that "natural marriage" laws have defined through local, state and federal tax laws.

The Supreme Court, rightly, may put off a determination. Bold moral judgment could address many more issues that Washington is clearly failing to address. Our system works.

Kip W. Kroeger


Danger in public opinion

Words are powerful. Smart people learn to understand how to use them and their ability to protect us or harm us. Webster defines opinion as a belief not based on certainty or knowledge but what seems true or probable. Opinions can be public, private and even spiritual.

The "media" keeps trying to redefine or move "boundaries" that have protected our social well-being for centuries. Public opinion assumes it can determine what is or is not harmful to individuals or communities. Public opinion is often dangerous because private opinion is bullied into silence and spiritual wisdom is deemed "out of date."

Historical lessons from human history must not be ignored. The Holocaust and our Civil War must be remembered. Dangerous "public opinion" caused deadly social harm. Redefining marriage and gun ownership rights beliefs without considering the value of private and spiritual judgment is truly dangerous also.

Pastor Leo Jaloszynski


Time to dump mayor

When are the residents of Monticello going to wake up and get rid of the person who believes he is above everyone else and can do anything he wants? He was removed from the position of "temporary manager," so he gets nasty. This seems to happen whenever he loses any position he has in the operation of Monticello government.

This time he complained that the board was "vicious and vindictive" and he "thinks they are not competent enough to hire a dog catcher." In my opinion, the only person who is "not competent" is the "mayor" himself. According to the picture with the article, he seems to be one heck of a crybaby.

I personally believe that a person who was arrested twice should not be a member of any type of government of any town, village, city, county, state or municipality.

I said this before and I am repeating it: He is making your village seem like "podunk" (an imaginary place in the cartoon section of a weekly newspaper).

Dump him and hold your heads up high.

Donald Janus Sr.

South Fallsburg

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