Letters to the editor

Honor them — by voting

On Nov. 11, we will honor veterans who gave of their lives, and had comrades who lost their lives, so that you and I may live in freedom here in America. Honor them by voting on Nov. 6.

On Nov. 1, the saints were honored for their faith, many of whom were killed because of their faith. Honor them by voting according to your faith on Nov. 6.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta wrote: “It is a very great poverty to decide that a child must die that you might live as you wish.”

One can only wonder what sort of poverty our nation will have to experience before it realizes the true sanctity of all life.

Please vote! You won’t receive a Medal of Honor, or be canonized, but you may find favor with Our Heavenly Father. And that is all that really matters anyway . . . in the end.

Melessa Russin

Stephens City

Friend and enemy

Barack Obama is the friend and benefactor of Big Labor and an enemy of union members.

That he is the benefactor is obvious from the amount of campaign contributions directed to his reelection campaign by big unions. That he is the friend of Big Labor as well as the enemy of union members was demonstrated soon after he was sworn in, when he issued Executive Order (EO) 13496 revoking George Bush’s EO 13201.

The Bush EO 13201 of Feb. 17, 2001 required federal contractors and subcontractors to provide notice to employees of their statutorily protected “Beck” rights — including their rights not to join a labor union and to object to the use of their agency-fee payments for purposes unrelated to collective bargaining. The Beck rights of workers have existed since the 1988 Supreme Court ruling in Communication Workers v. Beck.

Not every member of a union is a Democrat. Those who are not, yet have had part of their dues put at the disposal of Barack Obama have been done an injustice, if not a crime. In my mind, a class-action suit for recovery of diverted dues should succeed.

If this issue arises in the media, look for Obama to avoid “the-buck-stops-here” by pointing to the Department of Labor Office of Labor Management Standards which — at Obama’s bidding — did the actual rescinding of the Bush EO requiring that workers be informed of their Beck rights.

David C. Greene

Frederick County