The recent Chicago Tribune editorial published in the Valley News speaks of Barbara Bush as “the picture of what a first lady should be” (“A Foremost First Lady,” April 19). I can add to that picture from a personal experience with her, not long before she actually became America’s first lady.
It was June of 1984, and as wife of the U.S. ambassador to India, I took part in hosting the visit of Vice President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush to New Delhi. Early on their third morning in Delhi I picked up Mrs. Bush at the Taj Mahal Hotel. We were visiting a nearby village and I wanted to beat the looming heat. I was concerned that she was wearing a high-necked blouse, but she told me, with a shrug and rolling her eyes, that her team had expected this visit to be in air-conditioned spaces only.
At the village we were greeted with the usual garlands and Mrs. Bush was blessed with the tika mark, the red dot placed with a thumb against her forehead. There was the customary welcoming speech by the visit organizers, and I was amused when Mrs. Bush just moved them aside — it was the children she had come to see. And they were there, giggling and chattering on that small platform. A chair had been placed for her, but Mrs. Bush was squatting on the floor, her arms around as many children as she could hold, little boys and girls, washed and combed, their hair perfectly greased, and wearing what they had. This was no photo-op. Mrs. Bush was in her element.
When it was time to go she got to her feet and her face was wet with sweat and the red tika was running down one side of her nose.
Our return to the hotel was silent. When I left her, she said to me, “This morning I will not forget. Thank you.”
Betsey Barnes
Lebanon
I urge New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to sign the legislation to abolish New Hampshire’s death penalty. My mother was murdered when I was a child 49 years ago and I will continually be healing from that event. What gets in the way of healing is hate and fear.
My deep healing really began when I got to know other murder victim family members who did not embrace hate or fear or the death penalty, as well as many innocent individuals exonerated from death row.
I learned that the death penalty is not reserved for the “worst of the worst.” A defendant’s life will more likely depend upon what state and county the crime is committed in, the race of the victim and the financial resources of the defendant.
Joseph Nadeau, a former New Hampshire Supreme Court justice and judge of 37 years, refutes the claim that the death penalty is needed to honor law enforcement officers: “Its abolition does not dishonor those who serve in law enforcement because honor comes from personal pride and earned respect, not from the ability of the state to execute a human being.”
When a prison cell can be used to safeguard a community, yet the state argues to take a life instead, I believe all of society suffers from the increased violence and loss of our collective humanity. Do the right thing, Gov. Sununu: Deliver all of us from the death penalty.
Bess Klassen-Landis
Windsor
As a keen student of the gun for more than 50 years and one who fled Massachusetts to escape its loony gun laws, I have been following the recent events in Vermont with both interest and dismay.
For all of its existence, Vermont has had both the most lenient gun laws in the nation and one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. The new legislation is totally unnecessary and a burden on the lawful gun owner (and no, don’t talk about sportsmen. The Constitution does not say “keep and bear sporting goods”). As for universal background checks? Totally unenforceable.
Seth M. Vose III
New London
The Valley News recently featured holocaust survivor Thomas Buergenthal, described as a scholar and world-renowned expert on human rights (“Scholar, Survivor Speaks,” April 20). Of the holocaust, he asks the question, “Why did nobody speak up?” In that question there’s not a trace of irony, understanding or awareness.
So many obvious parallels exist between what happened in 20th century Germany and our 21st century America. Their Reichstag fire was our Sept. 11. Their Enabling Act was our Patriot Act. There is the constantly expanding surveillance state, the concentration of executive power, the wildly aggressive militarism, the scapegoating of religious and ethnic groups, the transparent desire to confiscate guns, the blind trust and worship of the state. It’s impossible to miss the similarities.
I just have to wonder: How long until the operation of camps? And when the camps were to come into operation, who would speak up? From what I’ve witnessed here in America since 9/11, not many. Hardly anyone has said a word since 9/11. And those who do are dismissed as conspiracy theorists. I know all too well. I’m one of them. So, why did nobody speak up then? It’s for the same reason that they don’t now. Like you, they were too afraid to acknowledge the truth of events as their country descended into madness.
Neil Meliment
Hanover