We certainly do need government in our lives

In my view, Ronald Reagan did this country numerous disservices, but the most egregious one was selling the idea that government is not the solution, but the problem. He was wrong.

We need the government to protect us from enemies abroad, but also from enemies within, and there are many. We need the government: to protect us from manufacturers who would pollute our waters and environment; to protect us from employers who would exploit workers; to protect us from those in power who would discriminate on a minority basis; to make sure our medicines are safe and effective and that our food and water are not contaminated; to fund our research labs so we are forever finding cures for disease; to regulate banking and securities activity to make sure our economy doesn't collapse as it did under George W. Bush; to provide a safety net, medical and social, for senior citizens. (Can you imagine if seniors were left to their own devices for medical care at their stage of life?) And we need the government to protect us from health insurance companies who drop us when we are sick and need them the most.

There are those who say government involvement takes away our freedoms. My question is, what freedoms are they referring to?

Without these protections, where would we be? If the government doesn't protect us, who will?

JEFFRY HARRIS
Squirrel Hill

Lost my vote already

My home telephone just received a robo-call from a politician who is campaigning for governor of Pennsylvania -- Dan Onorato. I did not have any specific opinions in that race yet, but now I will be voting for whoever is running against him.

MICHAEL HOLSINGER
Green Tree

Why cut the 13G?

Regarding Port Authority route cuts and the 13G route in the North Hills ("Port Authority's New Transit Proposal Worries Many Residents," Sept. 16):

The proposed cut of the 13G route is thoughtless. If cutting a bus route that is almost always full and sometimes standing-room-only makes fiscal sense, then the inevitable course is to completely get rid of mass transit, just paring it back over time until it's gone.

What this cut does is put 100 more cars, per workday, on the road. This means wasted gas, time and money for higher parking costs, all the while putting more pollution into our already strained environment. All of these costs are on a daily basis, 220 working days a year, over many years. Not a very "green" policy, would you say? And don't forget that home prices will suffer from losing the mass transit appeal as well.

WALT WHITE
Ross

This letter was received with a petition signed by 98 other riders to keep the 13G bus route.

Yes, equal justice

Kudos to Tony Norman on his fine column in Friday's PG ("Love the Artist, Hate the Criminal," Oct. 2). Equal justice under the law is one of the cornerstones of our republic.

The rich and famous already have the advantage of purchasing superior legal talent, which in Roman Polanski's case led to reducing an actual rape to unlawful sex with a minor. The fact that he has avoided justice for more than 30 years, paid off his victim and had his lawyers sow confusion by portraying him as a victim instead is as sickening as the rape of the young girl itself.

It beggars belief that anyone would defend him, least of all because he is an artist.

DAVE BUCHANAN
Wilkins

Not those Lutherans

Regarding articles such as "Lutherans Pass Gay-Clergy Plan" (Aug. 22) and "Local Reaction Mixed on Lutheran Vote Accepting 'Monogamous' Gay Clergy" (Aug. 25): We are not those Lutherans.

Rather, with the Holy Bible and universal Christian practice, we affirm God's will for human nature and sexuality. His will speaks to humanity's sin and his forgiveness and transformation for us all. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has set aside God's Word and rejected his will; in so doing, the ELCA is condoning and even promoting sin and its consequences.

However, we local pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod welcome all who seek to be formed for new life by Jesus Christ and his spirit, and not by the faddish "spirit of the age."

REV. ERIC R. ANDRAE
First Trinity Lutheran Church
Shadyside

The letter was signed by 21 other pastors of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod churches in the region.

Postal illusions

Contrary to Pittsburgh Postmaster Rocco D'Angelo's belief ("Neither Wind, Nor Rain, Nor G-20," Oct. 1 letters), the public did in fact notice the "work" of the U.S. Postal Service during the G-20.

We first took notice on Tuesday, two days before the start of G-20, when Downtown businesses were abruptly informed there would be no mail pickup beginning that day and continuing through Monday (a full six days). True, the Postal Service did deliver mail, but it did not pick up anything outgoing. It somehow managed to move half its volume -- good job!

We took notice a second time when all the mailboxes magically disappeared from our streets and the lobbies/basements of our buildings. Few people actually witnessed this; it was truly an amazingly efficient operation (someone other than the post office must have done it). Seriously, one minute it's there; the next -- poof! -- it's gone! That was more than two weeks ago.

Postal "service" has been on a continual decline and we, the "public," out of necessity and hopelessness, simply adjust. Our mail (Grant Building) arrives between 10 a.m. (wishful thinking) and noon, with final pickup at the end of the workday (theirs apparently) of 4:15 p.m. This was not always the case; not that long ago mail arrived before we did and was picked up at the end of the "normal" workday.

Please, stop patting yourselves on the back, at least long enough to return the mailboxes. They have to be somewhere over there on the North Side.

PAMELA WILLIAMS
Bethel Park

Naive criticism

It very much bothers me that so many people wrote to the Post-Gazette denigrating the excellent work of all the police and other services (FBI, Secret Service, state police, etc.) who did nothing but their jobs during the G-20 summit. I have to laugh to myself how naive these people are.

They blame the police and protective forces for keeping rioters and looters (and maybe worse) from the Downtown area. Of course, the angry protesters do what they do best: break windows and cause damage (clearly shown on video). I strongly feel that the Pittsburgh police, et al., did a fantastic job keeping the riffraff from doing damage to our growing Downtown. As far as the students are concerned, they had no business being around the "real" protesters. When an officer tells you to get out of the way, get out of the way.

The other thing that I absolutely know is funny is those who condemn the police are usually the angriest when the police don't show up immediately when they need them.

Remember, regardless of what happened or did not happen, the G-20 summit went off without a hitch and we didn't have another Seattle on our hands -- all because of our great law enforcement force in Pittsburgh.

STEPHEN ARCH
Findlay

That G-20 shine: Here today but gone tomorrow?

Flashback -- to May-- the G-20 summit is to be held in Pittsburgh! The powers-that-be start scrambling to get the city in shape for this event.

Sure, we've come a long way from the steel mill days. The beautiful new buildings, the stadiums and new arena, along with now a spectacular casino, have helped to make Pittsburgh what it is today. But this was only "surface cleaning" for the city.

The terrible road and pavement conditions, potholes, condemned buildings, vacated houses that had been eyesores for decades and the tons of litter everywhere were still there! Suddenly, the city wanted to clean this up, too -- to impress the world and the G-20 leaders.

What about us, the people who have lived here all our lives, paid taxes and have paid the salaries of those in control? The city needs us, and the thanks we get was being asked to "volunteer" to go out and clean up!

The money spent on this project was ridiculous. If the money was available, why was it not used for this purpose before now -- for the people of Pittsburgh -- not the rest of the world? The G-20 summit lasted only two days and then it was gone. We, the people of Pittsburgh, are still here.

Can the city promise to keep Pittsburgh clean and beautiful as it is now, or will it let everything go back to how it was -- cleaning up only when someone else comes into town?

KATHY DOWNS
Carrick

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