THANKSGIVING
Pardon a turkey; govegetarian this year
With his recent re-election, President Obama has won the power to pardon more turkeys on Thanksgiving. But so does every one of us, by choosing a nonviolent Thanksgiving observance that gives thanks for our good fortune, health and happiness with a life-affirming, cruelty-free feast of vegetables, fruits and grains.
And here are more terrific reasons:
Æ You will stay alert through the entire football game.
Æ You are what you eat. Who wants to be a “butterball?”
Æ Your vegetarian kid won’t have to boycott the family dinner.
Æ You won’t have to call Poultry Hotline to keep your family alive.
Æ Fruits and vegetables don’t have to carry government warning labels.
Æ You won’t sweat the environment and food resources devastation guilt trip.
Æ You won’t spend a sleepless night wondering how the turkey lived and died.
Æ Your body will welcome a holiday from saturated fat, cholesterol and hormones.
Our own dinner this Thanksgiving will feature a “Tofurky,” lentil roast, mashed potatoes, corn stuffing, stuffed squash, candied yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. An Internet search on “vegetarian Thanksgiving” got us more recipes and other useful information than we could possibly use.
IKE SCHNEIDER, Boise
Employees deservea holiday break
My heart goes out to all of the employees of Wal-Mart who are being called away from their families on Thanksgiving Day. But it is not just the employees who are being disrespected by Wal-Mart: it is also their customers who will suffer loss. It is their Thanksgiving Day that will also be interrupted by the promise of unbeatable deals and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. A day set aside for being thankful for what we already have will be turned into a mad dash for the newest gadgets and trinkets.
The tragedy is not that Wal-Mart is opening on Thanksgiving; it is that people will shove aside their loved ones to line up in the cold. Wal-Mart is simply doing its job and making money. They know that our generation will quickly throw out tradition for a cheap deal. Does this make it right? No, but who is really to blame: Wal-Mart for opening its doors or us for walking in?
Ultimately, we have a choice to make: will we give up honoring our ancestors, our families, and our traditions, or will we wait and pay $10 more on Friday?
MARK A. ZARR, Boise
No need for early shopping
I wish I were as adept at getting my opinions out online as Samantha Rasmussen, the Boise blogger who was profiled on Nov. 16. I would post this online and hope that it made a difference for employees working retail:
Dear Retailers:
If you agree to let your employees have the entire Thanksgiving holiday with their families, we the consumers will agree to flock to your stores at whatever hour you open on Black Friday — even as late as (gasp!) 8 a.m. to snag the deals we just can’t live without.
I know you say that you’re opening earlier and earlier because the consumers want it; but we know you’re doing it to get the jump on the other guy. It has nothing to do with what the consumers want.
So show a little compassion — even a little Christmas spirit, since ostensibly that’s what this frenzy is all about. We’ll still buy your wares — we promise.
MARGARET GOODMAN, Meridian
REPUBLICANS
Far-right mediaaids liberal cause
Are Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Fox News and other far-right conservative voices millstones around the neck of the Republican Party? Or do they speak for the Republican Party? What they all have in common is their inability to face reality. They don’t let facts get in the way of their message. They tell their audiences that President Obama is a socialist, Marxist or fascist. They constantly use racist dog-whistle depictions to describe our president and minorities.
They repeatedly sell lies, fear and loathing. They say President Obama wants our guns; he doesn’t. They tell us that Democrats want to take and want stuff. Stuff? What kind of stuff? Stuff such as first-rate affordable health care, affordable educations, safe roads and bridges, safe food, clean air and water, collective bargaining, safe workplaces and equal pay for women? As a progressive liberal I want this kind of stuff.
This nation needs to encourage far-right conservative media voices to remain on the air 24/7. They are speaking to a small faction of the nation and as long as they keep preaching lies, fear and loathing, they will continue to isolate conservative Republicans and help elect Democrats.
MALCOHM MCGREGOR, Boise
ELECTIONS
Win or lose, name-callers never go away
It’s finally over and big money and big business spent millions of dollars telling us why we should do what they said we should do. In the process, here in Idaho, they doctored videos, printed half truths in space they’d paid for in the newspapers and still we used our heads and voted no where it made the most sense and yes when once again common sense outweighed hype.
Election time always brings out the name-callers that only have one idea, they’re right and you’re an idiot if you don’t agree, and of course, you should get out of this state or country if you don’t like it. Are they for real? Maybe now they’ll crawl back into their holes until something else comes up that needs common-sense input and they’ll be back name-calling again. Win or lose, they’re still ranting and raving.
ROB STRONG, New Meadows
An act of God?
If Karl Rove thought that Hurricane Sandy was an act of God and that’s what helped Obama win, then God must have wanted Obama to win.
GARY FAIRCHILD, Boise
ECONOMY
The golden goose
I see by letters that people are starting to realize that elections have consequences. Like Nicoli Ferrell (Nov. 9), who is distressed that workers have had their hours cut. Where did they think the money would come from to cover all those people who didn’t have insurance? Out of the sky? Read taxes.
Some of that sky money came from a chunk ($816 billion) out of Medicare, which was established to care for the old, the disabled and others who really need it but has been stretched to handouts for many others. Companies have to make a profit, or they cannot hire anyone. Somebody has to figure out how to make a profit, hence CEOs (the brains). Selling stock will not help the workers, nor the stockholders, but will only contribute to the recession. Companies who go out of business can’t hire anyone.
All you who voted for more of the same, please reference Aesop and the fate of the golden goose.
MARTHA WENDT, Boise
