Does Dick Cheney know ``dithering'' when he sees it? I doubt it. He helped start a war in Afghanistan and rambled around with it for eight years. That is what I call dithering.

At least President Obama is gathering his advisors to formulate a way out of the dithering mess Cheney and President Bush left.

ALFRED SASIADEK, Miami

Which loonies?

In his Oct. 25 column, Fight the loonies, Dick Polman tells conservatives to ``stand up for sanity.'' I'm curious as to what his definition of ``sanity'' is. President Obama and his socialist regime? Self-preserving Democrats?

The loonies are the ones who agree with this left-wing administration and the pro-government media. Does Polman think by demonizing conservative talk-radio and TV hosts that conservatives will join the liberals?

America historically has been a two-party system of government. The Democrats want to eliminate that system by shutting down conservative views and demanding that their views be the only ones. Fight the loonies indeed.

CAROL COX, Miami

Cost of living?

A recent letter carried the headline Cost of living higher for county workers, too. Social Security recipients are receiving no increase this year because the cost of living is lower. This is especially egregious because the decline in the cost of living was caused by a drop in energy prices, which is less likely to affect retirees because they tend to drive less than employed people. In truth, many of them don't drive at all.

ARNOLD SLOTKIN, Hollywood

A divided America

I never thought that I would live to see the day when Americans would cheer because we lost the Olympics, that they would scoff at an American winning the Nobel Peace Prize and that they would hope the president fails.

Some even seem to want a terrorist attack just because they think that it will make President Obama look bad. This is a nation gone insane. What have we become?

MARK A. GINZO JR., Miami

Always bad news

The local television news shows should change their name to ``Bad News.'' Recently I watched the local news at 11 p.m. on Channel 4. The first four stories were: (1) Mother arrested for DUI and loses custody of her two children who were walking dangerously in the streets; (2) child killed by AK47; (3) hit-and-run driver who killed a pedestrian has not been found; and (4) student killed in school.

Why do our local TV stations feel that all the bad news about crimes against our residents are what should be the stories their viewers want to see before turning in? Maybe the general managers of local stations should take a poll to see what residents would rather see at 11 p.m than the horrid stories they continually air during the first portion of the show before a commercial.

My wife now understands why at 11 o'clock I normally would watch ESPN or any comedy rerun, as I find going to sleep a lot easier after watching those shows than the local news.

CRAIG D. SAVAGE, North Miami Beach

For healthcare reform

I pay almost $700 a month for my health insurance, AvMed. How many other people can afford that? I do not have a mortgage, and that is the only reason I can afford the monthly payments for a HMO.

I am at the mercy of this insurance company, which just denied Mohs surgery and a CT scan for me. I also just paid $615 that was not covered for an emergency room visit.

My husband is now on Medicare. Thank goodness because if he were younger, our health insurance monthly bill would be more than $1,400 a month.

Everyone should support President Obama's healthcare reform.

MICHELLE TEDESCO, Aventura

Eradicate pythons

The threat of pythons is real and growing and should be of major concern to responsible Floridians. Support Sen. Bill Nelson's bill, S-373, in the Senate and House bill 2811 to ban the import of pythons. This is the first step on a long path to control this menance.

Time is of the essence, and we need all the help we can get in facing what may be an insurmountable problem based on the numbers.

Pythons are going to be very difficult to eradicate -- if that is even possible.

ANTHONY TESTA,

Fort Lauderdale