we need an upstate governor

With great anticipation I read Artvoice’s interview with soon-to-be Governor Eliot Spitzer (“His Great State,” Artvoice v5n41). It was a great interview and covered many topics important to people living in Western New York.

However, I was dismayed by the same rhetoric. For too many years Western New York and Upstate as a whole have been ignored because of the needs of New York City and its environs. Spitzer will not be the answer Upstate seeks—not that Faso will be, either. It is sad that again in the gubernatorial race it is a Downstate vs. Downstate affair.

What Upstate truly needs is a visionary from Upstate, from either party, who finally does what needs to be done in New York: Destroy the Downstate monopoly on power. Legislators in New York need to focus on the important task of getting Upstate more in line economically with Downstate and it will take politicians with the courage to make that their sole message to do so. We need politicians from both parties to say no to sending tax money to New York City, and to say yes to giving all of Upstate a break.

New York City will never have to worry about a truly poor economy, but with people like Spitzer and Faso, Western New York will never [achieve] a great economy. Western New York is a great place, Buffalo a beautiful city, but with the tax structure the way it is and with the cost of living so high, businesses won’t ever locate there and no one will ever move there seeking opportunity. Hopefully in the next few years someone will emerge to take New York and change its government in Albany from working for New York City to a government responsive to New York State.

David A Wishinsky

Farmington Hills, Michigan

(Formerly of the City of Buffalo)

A foreign vendetta that’s destroying America

Like most Americans, my wife and I worked very hard to protect our future. But now, no less than America is threatened by a very dangerous vendetta between Jew and Arab. Semite people, they spring from two brothers named Isaac and Ishmael, with one father but different mothers.

The vendetta centers in the Middle East but threatens world peace. Politicians are afraid to touch it. Private individuals who do are immediately attacked to silence them. I wrote about it in the Buffalo News as a hedge against World War III. My essay drew two critics—and many more who supported me, two of whom wrote letters. The News did not accept rebuttals. “Let it die!” they said.

I wish it would die—meaning the vendetta! It has now been used to make America change the Geneva Conventions. This was first attempted by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who called them “quaint.” But in what context and why?

As a former British major in World War II, I take strong exception. In her Buffalo News column, Friday, September 29, 2006, Molly Ivins called the detainee bill an atrocity. I salute this lady. “This is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies,” she wrote.

Who are these “helpless human beings” who are most likely to be tortured? And who else but our own troops could face torture, if captured, while defending us against an enemy in some future war where the Geneva Conventions are no longer valid?

There’s a better and more ethical way to stop terrorism due to turmoil in the Middle East! Especially since America, the architect of Israel, has obviously failed as world leader. We the people must fix that by demanding an equitable and honorable settlement of the long-standing Israeli/Palestinian conflict!

That’s much better than war without end.

In 1984, I was asked to become a charter member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. I remain a charter member in good standing.

Those who attack America must be caught, tried and punished. But let us insist on a fair trial for them, because freedom in America for us is in danger of being lost.

Terence S. Underwood

Buffalo

family values

The fact that the Republican House leadership knew of allegations against Representative Mark Foley and did nothing about it shows the blatant hypocrisy of the GOP trumpeting “family values.”

Would the US be less safe under a Democratic president and Congress? In answer to my own question, may I paraphrase a well-known quote from President Franklin Roosevelt: “The only people we have to fear are the fearmongers themselves.” After this November’s elections, GOP fearmongers will become a vanishing minority and homeland security will be maintained.

God willing, on election day, 2008, the US presidency will receive a much-needed makeover of a woman’s touch from New York State. God bless America!

Robert J. Parton

Kenmore