toledoblade.com --

In 1963 at American University, President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would unilaterally stop the atmospheric testing of nuclear warheads. Coming on the heels of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he realized that someone had to show leadership and say enough is enough, countless lives hang in the balance, someone has to stand up and say stop, we need to talk.

That same dynamic exists today between the people of Gaza and the state of Israel. Someone has to say enough killing; countless lives hang in the balance. Implement a cease-fire now. Then we can talk, even if the talking has failed before, we need to try; children are being blown up.

It would be gratifying if President Bush would show the kind of vision, leadership, and humanity that President Kennedy showed in 1963. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has vetoed every cease-fire resolution that has recently come before the U.N. Security Council.

We can only hope President-elect Obama can feel the pain of millions of Semites and be the leader we so desperately need now.

Steve Miller

Scottwood Avenue

So 'Cartyville' is not really a good idea?
I just cannot help but write about Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and the controversy that surrounds him. I've always felt that his head is much larger than his hat size. He demonstrates this frequently in his dealings with the public as well as with local government personnel.

A grim thought came to mind recently, as I could imagine that our mayor would love to change the name of Toledo to "Cartyville." Can you visualize his demeanor if that were to happen? Our saving grace to this is that it will not happen. And the mayor should decide to retire away from "Frogtown."

Charles Ellenberger

109th Street

Don't blame victims of sexual slavery

It's about time that Ohio's elected officials take a stand on fighting human trafficking. But here in the city where sexual slavery is so prominent, where is the local support? Time and time again, Toledo leaders ignore the problem of sex trafficking and its roots.

Homelessness, drug use, dropouts, and neglectful parenting all lead to a high rate of teens being trafficked. Yet Mayor Carty Finkbeiner insists the problem is being handled because victims are being arrested and charged with prostitution.

Why are we still blaming the victims, when the underlying problem in prostitution is slavery? Sex trafficking may be good for tourism and the local economy, but turning a blind eye is not acceptable from our politicians.

Lives are in danger; our sisters, our daughters, and our mothers are being enslaved.

Our local leaders need to work towards ending sex trafficking by putting public programs together to help with homelessness and runaways, to educate young people about sex trafficking, and to encourage other public officials to take a stance on this as well.

There is a possibility of rehabilitation for sex workers and victims of sex trafficking for those who need it with programslike Second Chance.

We need to show support for them and fight this horrible problem as a community.

Allison M. Dow

Sylvania

Citizens don't want legacy appointments

The idea of seating United States senators based on "legacy" is not the way our government was designed.

The only equitable way to place a person in the Senate, or House of Representatives for that matter, is through a special election.

I am amazed that we continue to see letters to the editor justifying the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as a U.S. senator from New York. If Ms. Kennedy desires to be a senator representing the people of New York, then she should go through the work and participate in a special election to let the voters of New York make their choice.

If we go down the slippery slope of legacy senatorial seats, who is next? The Roosevelt family has a strong case for a set-aside legacy seat based on the well regarded presidencies of FDR and Teddy.

The Lincoln family heirs would be a no-brainer to deserve a seat in their name.

And heck, I forgot the Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Adams families.

And I am sure the Republicans would advocate a special seat for the Bush family.

Oh, I forgot. Should we just limit it to past presidents or should we include long-standing influential senators like Jesse Helms, Robert Byrd, and Claiborne Pell's families also?

By the time we "appoint" all of the legacy seats the Senate, voters will only have about 60 seats up for election to members of the general public.

Is that the way the citizens want this branch of government chosen?

Or is the American way to give any citizen a chance?

Eric A. Horvath

Martin, Ohio

Better think twice before you switch

To anyone thinking of switching to Time Warner Cable, think it through again. This system has turned into one of the most unreliable cable systems in the area. The only part of this cable that you can rely on is that one or two channels will be missing, never the same ones, on any given day.

If you pay for the special sports packages, there is also problems and the packages will just not come on. When you call the out-of-state number to complain, all they say is that there's nothing they can do by phone but will send a tech out, usually three to five days later.

Outages always seem to occur on weekends and holidays when the local office is closed. Then the next day the package will come back on. It's like playing cards. You never know what you are going to get when you turn the TV on.

Carl Zellner

Waterville

St. John's swimmers are among the best

Surely there has been a mistake. In the article titled "Top 10 performances" somehow the St. John's Jesuit swim team is not listed. Supposing that you did not deem their district win worthy of the top 10, surely it is worthy of "The Best of the Rest" list?

St. John's Jesuit swim team succeeded in defeating the team that has won the district meet for 42 years, and they won by 75 points. At the time, The Blade called it "A Titanic upset."

Sherri Sellick

Holland

This is only the start of the Bush legacy

Sum total of the Bush legacy: we're safe. In the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill, stated so eloquently many years ago, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Thank you, President Bush, the American fighting men and womenin uniform, and especially those who paid the supreme sacrifice in fighting the global war on terror.

We owe you for our freedom and liberty as a nation and are forever grateful. This is not "The End" but only "The Beginning" to a legacy that started Sept. 11, 2001.

We must never, ever forget that day.

Gary Stechschulte

Perrysburg

Please, the sky is not falling

Once again I pick up the paper to read another article about how hard it is to get an auto loan. I am a fi nance manager for a local auto dealer and let me share that money is there to be borrowed. Only the very bottom-tier borrowers may have diffi culty getting a loan, but the money is still there. It’s not like somebody shut off a faucet. We have local lenders, local credit unions, and subprime lenders who are still willing and able to offer credit at very reasonable rates.

If the media want to see the glass half empty, that’s their business. I prefer to see it half full. So no, Chicken Little, the sky is not falling. Don’t believe everything you read or hear. If you want or need a car, your metro Toledo dealers have the ability and capacity to accommodate your needs.

GREG OEHLERS
Dave White Chevrolet
Holland

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