Hillary Clinton out? I don't think so. Americans have to ask themselves whether we need a bulldog fighter in the White House or another glad-hander Democrat. America's future is in peril with the Iranians, Syrians and North Koreans waiting to put on the gloves and go a couple of rounds.
Big Medicine and Big Oil are laughing at the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency. They know that they can manipulate the junior senator from Illinois and maintain business as usual. Not true with Clinton.
On Tuesday, Obama not only showed that he can't close the deal, he showed us that he never will be able to seal the deal and win the White House.
FRANK ADAIR, Palatka
Dems' votes lost
In the May 8 story Counting Florida's votes won't close Clinton-Obama gap I noticed fundraiser Chris Korge's comment that, by moving ``the decision to May 31, Florida becomes irrelevant.''
We need to hold responsible all legislators and officials who rammed the early primary down the throats of so many Democratic voters. The consequence? Irrelevancy. It was a cheap political maneuver from the outset, a transparent move to give momentum to the early Clinton campaign, a strategic agenda not lost on many of us from the beginning.
Florida's Democratic Party chairwoman, Karen Thurman, should resign -- the sooner the better. Her lamenting the plight of the disenfranchised Florida voter seems hollow and unconvincing. Her posturing and the new collective whining we're hearing across the state won't legitimize lost votes.
PATRICIA SOWERS, Coral Gables
Felon released
Re the May 8 story Baby Lollipops defendant released from prison: For years I have heard people say ''I feel as if I have been kicked in the gut'' or ''I am seething with rage.'' But I never felt any of those powerful sensations until now after reading about the release of a monster, Olivia Gonzalez-Mendoza.
I also feel helpless and, for the first time in my life, understand what drives reasonable people to take the law into their hands to avenge a fallen innocent. Lady Justice once again has been mocked and scorned.
MIKKI CANTON, Coral Gables
Money the motive
Citrus-tree carnage authorized by Florida legislators; Everglades devastation approved by Miami-Dade County commissioners. Both decisions appear to be fueled by corporate financial interests. Even if they weren't, there is no justification for them.
We can only surmise that they either are intentionally disrespectful of our interests or that they have no conscience or consciousness.
SUE and GREG CESARANO, Coral Gables
Let's hear it for those fine, upstanding Miami-Dade commissioners who voted to allow development beyond the Urban Development Boundary. They deserve full credit for the traffic nightmares, water restrictions, environmental damage and strain on our school system that inevitably will result from their actions.
There's no doubt that we have the best commissioners money can buy.
RICHARD FREEDLAND, Palmetto Bay
WLRN at risk
The vultures are circling, looking to pick clean the bones of WLRN and fly away with one of this community's most valuable educational resources. Some School Board members are willing to bargain away WLRN, the licenses and services that every other board, in good times and bad, has held in trust for Miami-Dade residents.
Public-television and public-radio licensees serve as trustees on behalf of their communities -- not owners. The sale of WLRN would violate that public trust.
MELINDA CHEE-A-TOW, Miami
Haiti's future
The French say, Le plus c¸a change, le plus c¸a reste la meme -- The more things change, the more they stay the same. In Haiti, so much international pressure was put on the country to get rid of the Duvaliers' dictatorship that it only made it last longer. Dictatorships depend on the ignorance of the masses.
It takes generations to change a state of mind and the state of affairs. Those who have brought down a dictator often act, in spite of themselves, like the heirs of the dictator. They perpetuate the attitudes and the feelings of the era that they themselves have destroyed.
The private sector in Haiti could have played a major role. Instead, they are now mired in a country where the people do not control its politics. Crossing such boundaries is one of the most difficult tasks.
STANLEY URBAN, Lauderhill
Preaching politics
Jeremiah Wright is wrong when he accuses our government of creating AIDS to kill black people. It wasn't the government that spread AIDS, it was unsafe sex practiced by people of all races around the world.
It's a shame that this man has joined the small group of preachers who find it profitable to preach politics and divisiveness from the pulpit and on television instead of preaching the word of God. Are these the false prophets that the Bible talks about?
RAFAEL SANTANA, Miami
Buyers will pay more
Wake up, Floridians. Conservative legislators are going to do it to us again. The move to eliminate property taxes that fund education will end a partnership of residents, business and corporations that divide the cost.
We all have a stake in having a well-educated population. The cost of education will remain the same, but if this initiative is approved it will be paid by the working class. Businesses and corporations will get a tax break; residents will get a tax increase. Floridians who vote for this are voting for a disguised tax break for business and a tax increase for Joe Citizen.
JAMES CRUMPLER, Miami
Pay poppy farmers
Re the May 7 story Hands tied, Marines watch harvest of heroin poppies: If the average Afghanistan farmer only makes $2 growing poppies, why can't the U.S. government simply pay these farmers to not grow poppies?
The amount would be a mere drop in the bucket compared to the billions we are spending there and in Iraq.
PAUL OROFINO, Miami Beach
