To the editor: I read the first seven or eight paragraphs of E.R. Bills’ “Bigots’ Last Stand” with mild amusement and some anticipation for his inevitable, befuddled connection between the disgusting, bigoted behavior (some idiot yelling the N-word in a passing car) he witnessed and “right wing operatives” (i.e., political commentators). Apparently, he couldn’t help himself.
I especially enjoyed his use of the Shirley Sherrod debacle to illustrate his point. Granted, Andrew Breitbart may be guilty of hasty, selective video editing (like that’s never happened before), but I’d like to know Mr. Bills’ opinion on the feds’ knee-jerk, panicked firing of Sherrod before they had all of the facts surrounding the video in question. Did “left-wing operatives” indiscriminately slinging the “racist” epithet help create such an environment?
Maybe racism and bigotry are exclusively the characteristics of “right wing operatives.” … Oh, wait. Harry Reid once described President Obama as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” There are too many examples of similar hypocrisy to list here.
While I do agree with the general theme of your editorial, please don’t allege that racism and hatred come solely from the right. Some intellectual honesty would be welcome, Mr. Bills.
Max Pfiffner
Arlington
Self-Policing or No Policing?
To the editor: We greatly appreciate Eric Griffey’s continuing updates on the drilling industry and its total disregard for people’s health (“Moving the Mud Elsewhere,” Sept. 8, 2010). They apparently feel that they are free to dump their waste illegally, anywhere, no matter the consequences. They generally get nothing more than a fine, and it’s business as usual, disposing of radioactive materials and other carcinogens via the method called landfarming. “Self-policing,” which the Texas Railroad Commission allows for these drilling and dumping companies, simply has no regulatory teeth. You might as well hire the fox to guard the chicken coop.
It all starts and ends with money, of course, and the leader of the folks with a vested interest in oil and gas profits is Mayor Mike Moncrief. Do you think he would allow landfarming on his vast oil and gas properties? When cows fly!
Don and Edna Maskell
Fort Worth
The Ultimate Poverty
To the editor: Jeff Prince’s latest exposé (“In Whose Best Interest?” Sept. 8, 2010) about the elderly and guardianship, is a must-read and should be saved as a reference article. The elderly are the most vulnerable to scams, fraud, and theft of their life savings and dignity, sometimes at the hands of those appointed by the courts to look after them. Without a comprehensive review by doctors, they are simply tagged as “incapacitated persons” by court protocol. In their sunset years, they are too often exploited by their friends, kin, and even their attorneys. Loneliness is the ultimate poverty, and folks who are unable to fend for themselves particularly need compassion, friendship, and caring.
Betty Lou Raines
Fort Worth
To the editor: “In Whose Best Interest” by Jeff Prince illustrates why Adult Protective Services and the probate courts need revamping.
Prince painted a masterpiece of all the pitfalls of probate: interference by friends and kin, misdiagnosis, and the giving of too much power and credibility to those who want others’ wealth for themselves. This article should tug at our heartstrings and serve as a reminder that this could be you in a few years, isolated from loved ones, parted from your money, and then just being handed over to an institution — out of sight and out of mind. Such a shame.
Fred Ream
Fort Worth
Correction
In last week’s cover story, (“In Whose Best Interest?”), a probate court judge was incorrectly described as clearing the courtroom of everyone except court-appointed players. In fact, an attorney for Rebecca Madden, who was seeking to be appointed as a guardian, was included in that behind-closed-doors discussion. Fort Worth Weekly regrets the error.
