Government has no right to force values on anyone

Editor,

Why are some people jaywalkers while others are inveterate corner crossers?

I am an inveterate jaywalker. Why, you may ask.

Because, in my opinion, it has become a far safer mode of transit. Pedestrians versus automobiles, bicycles versus automobiles - in every case, the automobile wins.

Now that the majority of automobiles do not appear to bother with the old "stop before the crosswalk, then proceed to the corner and stop again, and if the traffic is clear you may proceed" pattern, but rather just bull their way through corners, the paved-and-civilized world has become a lot less safe.

And I won't even talk about cell phones, except to mention I was very nearly hit twice last year by drivers who were talking on their cell phones while making a turn.

I'm sure the stop-first-and-go rule is still in the driver's manual - good law, like not stealing from people and not running over people with gigantic vehicles.

Now, oddly perhaps, the above seems to resemble the practices of our federal leaders today. Why are "We the people" being driven so hard by fear and down a crooked and dark street, may I ask? Does anyone remember the Tammany Hall or the Teapot Dome scandals?

You may already know that a principle holds that all legitimate power derives from the people and that the government has no right to tell people how to live their lives. The present federal government has no right to jam its top-heavy, centralized and monopolistic-oriented values on anyone.

The people are often spoken of as the fourth branch of government. Why then have we been given a constantly differing story out of Washington?

I won't go further into how the past elections were won or ballots that disappeared. But many throughout the world have been asking a difficult question: "Where are the terrorists?"

Recently, former Attorney Gen. Ramsey Clark stood up in Washington and emphasized that the people have the right, that there is a legitimate tool, that we don't have to wait three more years, that the Constitution provides the citizens a way to remove incompetence, dishonesty and thuggery. Do you feel where I am going?

Compassion, huh? Fairness, huh? Seems to me it has become a state of affairs where the Chevys and the Fords must give everything to the Cadillacs and Lincolns. All pedestrians beware.

Richard Letnes

Daily Lobo reader