Letters to the Editor
Congress should consider arguments for impeachment
Regarding the Feb. 27 Opinion piece by Jay Rockefeller et al., "Protect America – and the law": It's good to read that some leading Democrats drew a line in the sand that might limit the president's contentious legislative action.
However, the enthusiasm about being "united in [their] determination to produce responsible legislation that will protect America and protect our Constitution," turns grim when realizing that John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have shirked defending the Constitution by their refusal to open impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney and President Bush. Impeachment inquiries would determine whether or not the United States Senate should try Messrs. Bush and Cheney for charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors."
Both the House leadership and the mainstream media have been keeping impeachment "off the table" and under the rug. The fourth estate, which is rapidly becoming the "real estate" of some of the world's biggest corporate conglomerates, has turned its back on impeachment while exploiting the presidential horse race for all its financial worth.
By blacking out impeachment from the halls of Congress and from the minds of the American populace, the leadership in Congress, with the cooperation of the news media, has betrayed America and our Constitution.
Fred Duperrault
Mountain View, Calif.
Worker verification system is flawed
Regarding the Feb. 29 article, "Worker status with a click of a mouse": The article states that 7 percent of job applicants cannot be confirmed as authorized to work by our government's E-Verify system. But, like the two immigrants mentioned in the article, many legally authorized workers are included in that 7 percent. There are millions of legal immigrants in this country, and most of them have experienced firsthand the delays and errors in our bureaucracy.
No database can be perfect, but E-Verify isn't even close. And what happens when an employer decides that a "tentative nonconfirmation" from the database is an ironclad signal that the worker is not authorized? Job applicants may not even know why they are being rejected nor have a chance to fight back with accurate information.
The United States has a legitimate interest in ensuring that the workers who contribute to our country are who they claim to be. But we're shooting ourselves in the foot if we set up a system that can't handle our own demands.
Amanda Bergson-Shilcock
Fort Washington, Pa.
Freedom to change religions
Regarding the Feb. 26 article, "Many Americans switch denominations, study finds": I was somewhat relieved to find out from the article that Americans switch denominations with "extraordinary dynamism" and "fluidity." As a young adult, I converted to Catholicism. After drifting from the church and getting married, my wife joined a Lutheran church before we started a family.
Now that we have 3-year-old twins, we are on the verge of joining a nondenominational church with small ministries that address the needs of our family.
Perhaps the changes in denominational patterns are reflecting a strong desire for religious communities that touch us on a deeply personal level.
I am thankful that we live in a society where we have choices along our divergent walks of faith.
Sean Fields
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
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