Floyd Woolever stated we should have combat-action veterans at each of our schools, and if you’re a veteran of any kind you should automatically receive a concealed weapons permit. Later, he states that we “need to get rid of the homeless.” Well, Mr. Woolever needs to make up his mind, since the fastest growing populations of homeless are combat-action veterans from the Iraq war. Is this another case of “supporting the troops”?

Mr. Woolever also suggests putting SWAT teams at all hospitals. I’m sure that will discourage even the most determined uninsured person from trying to get medical care. The nerve of them — they think they have the same right to equal treatment as the rest of us who have insurance.

Allen Shirley tells us that we need to believe every word from W’s mouth about the Iraq war because the only people saying anything contrary are of course “liberals.” Now I hate to burst Mr. Shirley’s bubble, but the first person to let the cat out of the bag was W’s first secretary of the treasury, Paul O’Neill. He stated unequivocally in his book, on CNN, and on “60 Minutes” that at the very first Cabinet meeting W told all of his loyal henchmen to “find me a way to get a reason to invade Iraq.” Paul O’Neill was a very good friend of W’s, a lifelong Republican, a millionaire and upset about the constant tax breaks for the rich because he knew the deficit would balloon and cause economic collapse if carried to the extremes that W and his backers were suggesting. Secretary O’Neill is many things Mr. Shirley, but “liberal” isn’t one of them.

I keep reading letters from the elderly about having to live on a “fixed income” and how rough their lives are. I’m sure a lot of people who have lost their jobs and homes would love to be on a “fixed income” or any income at all once their unemployment has run out.

Patricia L. Grantz

Columbus, Kan.