Letters to the Editor

Plaza ducks neglected

Editor: If you and I were responsible for a number of fowl, and we openly admitted to not feeding them, totally relying on their food from strangers, knowing full well that the food selected by these strangers was not healthy and was causing poor nutrition, and giving these feathered creatures no protection either during the day from teasing and chasing, or at night from four-legged predators, with the brutal outcome of bird and baby-bird carnage, you and I would be facing animal cruelty charges.

Dale B. Schieser
Sonoma

Celebrate
Sonoma youth

Editor: Our town has a long tradition of celebrating. We are a fun town. We produce fun people who know that a good glass of wine at sunset matched with good company and a front porch is priceless. We know the value of celebration, and it is evident by the plethora of festivals, fundraisers and balls we throw each year. We embody the laid-back California mentality and it shows.
Thousands of people travel from all over the world to get a little slice of our heaven. We should be proud, and we are. Amongst the proudest, in my opinion, are the Valley’s youth. I don’t know if everyone knows this, but our young adults have a pride for Sonoma that far surpasses any other citizen in the valley. They show their love in many ways, but it’s usually through good old-fashioned bragging. Anyone who’s been out of town and runs into another Sonoman knows that there’s a camaraderie felt through the bond of growing up somewhere truly special.
I write this letter because I feel that Sonoma Valley does not adequately give this love back to its young locals. It’s no secret that it’s been a longtime complaint that our teenagers and young adults don’t have much to do around town, and unfortunately it’s true. Now we all know there’s no master conspiracy to keep our youth bored, but sometimes it can feel like that to them. Rather than conspiracy, I think a more realistic cause is the fact that the financially secure, mature demographic of our community is having a grand old time celebrating at any one, or all, of the balls or roasts or festivals, as they should be. Perhaps they’re too busy having well-deserved fun to notice the rest of the town is feeling a little left out.
I write this letter in hopes that some of the organized merriment can be shared and focused on the most proud and spirited of the community: our young adults. I realize this is a broad and general plea, but there are young, ambitious citizens all around us that are putting their blood, sweat and tears into the efforts of creating a better Sonoma for us all. In writing this letter it is my intention that when you come across these people and their constructive vision, each one of us should support their efforts and do what we can to help them give back to our community in one of the most important ways, the effort to celebrate.

Patricia Petersen
Sonoma

Editor: In her column of June 19, “What do Europeans think of America?”  Joan Huguenard  interviews a Sonoma resident with close family ties in Europe. The Sonoman, Christine Von Rosen, voices the question that she hears Europeans ask, which is: Why is it that Americans are not asking questions about the attacks on September 11, 2001? Along with this question, Von Rosen shares her observation that Europeans have lost the sympathy they once felt for Americans just after 9/11 because of our perceived complacency and failure to question the things that don’t make sense, like the unexplained collapse of Building Seven. Von Rosen says that Europeans wonder if Americans are afraid to ask,  “Or could they be so naive they’re just buying the unsupported story that came down from Washington?”
In pondering her questions, I thought back to what I experienced after 9/11. I recall that there was a frenzy of patriotism. Flags decorated the windows of homes, automobiles and shops. I felt that people who might be skeptical of what they saw happening might also be afraid to criticize the government. President Bush enjoyed unprecedented popularity. The Senate resolution to give Bush the power to proceed with military action without a declaration of war was unanimous. In the House only one member dissented – Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland. So, in commenting on her question, I would say that many of us were afraid to be identified as unpatriotic, not because we feared being arrested, but because we feared the censure of our friends. The naive label also fits. I recall that many of my friends felt a powerful resistance to, and ultimate rejection of, the idea that our government could deliberately allow innocent people to die in the planes and the twin towers.
As to Von Rosen’s belief that our consolidated media is censored by the government, the Pentagon and corporate interests, I think recent events attest to the truth of that. For example, in spite of repeated assertions by the administration in Washington, DC that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, none were proved to exist, and it turned out that we did not need to destroy Iraq to preserve our freedom and our safety after all. Further, although it was a fact that none of the 19 hijackers were Iraqis, I recently read that as late as 2006, our troops in Iraq were still being told that they were there for payback for 9/11.
I am impressed by the comments of Robert Bowman, a former combat pilot in Vietnam, now a Catholic bishop. Writing in the National Catholic Reporter, he says, “Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sands, we should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children . . .Who would try to stop us?  Who would hate us? … That is the truth the American people need to hear.”
Catherine Beatty
Sonoma