Letters to the editor for Sunday, July 3, 2016

The Fourth of July

Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July?

It’s not for the fireworks, parades or picnics

For these are all fun things to do

We should be celebrating our forefathers

Who drafted the documents that gave

Freedom and liberty for me and you

To thank all of those who fought and died

To keep our country free and warning us

To be on guard and always aware

Of those who try to take them away

Never giving up or giving in

By falling into that snare

We are “one nation under God”

And we should never forget to see

That our independence and freedom

Came with a price for that liberty

We are the greatest nation on this earth

With many blessings to enjoy

But, they too can be taken away

If our firm resolve we do not employ

Pat Rikalo

Carson City

Show pride and make Carson flag capital

As I drove around our city over the Memorial Day holiday, I was impressed by the number of residents and businesses who displayed the American flag. Going into this coming July 4 weekend, I encourage even more people to do so, because ours is a grand nation of which you can and should be proud, whatever our flaws as a people have been in the past and still are today.

But there are those who don’t agree.

The “ruling elite class” deride the goodness of our country, espouse a world government, embrace political correctness, promote open borders and force social policies on citizens without due regard for local customs and culture. Just last week citizens of the UK voted to leave the EU for many of the same reasons. Their “elite ruling class” proclaimed that it was a “peasant revolt.” Had it occurred here, we’d appropriately call it patriotism.

Hopefully and with your help, Carson City will become known as the flag capital. Allow me to end this letter with the following refrain:

“Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave,

O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

Dan O’Donnell

Carson City

Happy Fourth of July

A little boy

A little man

Holding the American flag

In his hand.

When he grows up

What will he be?

Will he fight for this flag

And our liberty?

How little do we understand

The brave men and women

Who died for this land.

Go somewhere else

Check it all out

You’ll be proud to be an American

There is no doubt.

Let this 4th of July

The flag

That we see

In all the little children

They hold the future

That will be.

God Bless America and our children!

Jenny Schnabel

Carson City

Trump for president

If you want another Obama in office, then vote for Hillary. I for one want a change, so put in a good man who will give us a big change — Trump.

Patricia Kelley

Carson City

Retirement system is unsustainable

To all active and retired PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) members. I must on an ongoing basis remind all of its members the lack of funding for the future solvency of the PERS system of Nevada.

There is no mathematical way PERS will pay the so called “guaranteed promises” they have made to you under its existing structure. This won’t happen today, but some time in the future the money won’t be available. Not a scare tactic, but the math is inevitable and undeniable.

Experts far more knowledgeable than I know that PERS is unsustainable. I would encourage anyone to contact Ron Knecht, economist and Nevada’s State Controller, to verify my concerns.

The leadership of the retirement system can try to continue to bury their head in the sand. But eventually the “gig” is up. We still have time to correct the future funding of the retirement system. But difficult and necessary changes need to be made soon!

Timothy Jude Bauer

Reno

No wrongdoing done at state Democratic convention

In his recent letter, Bruce Comer complains that the rules for the state Democratic convention were “non-parliamentary, non-democratic, and dictatorial.” He specifically cites a rule that “all votes were to be by voice, with the chair ruling on the outcome with no recourse.” He then recounts instances of motions passing when “it was not clearly apparent that the ayes prevailed.”

Well, I was there too, and can state unequivocally that Mr. Comer’s complaints reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the process. The point was not to see which side could yell the loudest. As everyone there well understood, the state convention was the culmination of a three-stage competition in political organizing.

To review, Hillary’s campaign won the precinct caucuses on February 20. Then Bernie’s campaign won the county conventions on April 2. Finally, Hillary’s campaign won the state convention on May 14 when more of her delegates showed up at the Paris in Las Vegas. As a consequence, the two pledged national delegates still up for grabs went to Hillary Clinton, and the pro forma voice votes on the floor went her campaign’s way too. Had Bernie Sanders turned out more state delegates, the national delegates and floor votes would’ve gone his way. Party leaders conducting the proceedings maintained their strict neutrality, notwithstanding the disruptive and threatening behavior coming from the Sanders’ forces.

Anyone still interested in the various conspiracy theories surrounding the Nevada state Democratic convention should read Riley Snyder’s excellent and accurate account at Politifact.com.

Rich Dunn

Carson City