A man of true excellence

A man of true excellence

What a great article on the Rev. Kenneth Wright (“Called to community,” Aug. 12 news story). To be pastor of a church for 40 years is quite an accomplishment.

He certainly has contributed much to the community in many ways during that time.

I particularly liked his observation that “the word of God never changes,” but that one must still change with the times.

He is a rarity these days: a man who truly lives his faith.

May the Rev. Wright have many more productive years ahead of him before “the stop sign appears.”

FRED WAY
ROANOKE

Congress is in need of true laborers

I enjoyed Andrew Yarrow’s commentary in Sunday’s paper (“Wacko birds fighting in the sandbox,” Aug. 11), but I believe he is amiss when he says that we need “some new ‘lions’ ” in the Congress, referring to former legislators of note.

I believe that what we really need are not more lions, not even fewer lions. We need no lions.

We need fewer folks concerned about wielding power and being in the spotlight and worrying about what their legacy will be, and more members interested in doing their jobs by solving national problems.

Another writer in your paper recently wrote that the wrong people ran for office and that only the egomaniacs were interested in running.

If you think about it, there’s a wealth of facts out there that supports such a theory. (Does the name Carlos Danger ring a bell?)

It just seems that everything would work better (and be much fairer to the populace) if all members (House and Senate) were equal, that longevity didn’t count.

How about having members sit as juries, required to work a regular eight-hour day and a five-day week? (By the way, I already have the moniker “Pedro Peril” locked up, so forget about using it.)

JIM SECRIST
BLACKSBURG

Don’t blame the competition

I guess poor Leonard Pitts couldn’t figure out how to blame George W. Bush for the continuing demise of the nation’s newspaper industry, so he did the next best thing. Blamed it on the competition (“Here’s hoping Post sale can save journalism,” Aug. 12 commentary).

Many years ago, the little comic strip opposum “Pogo” often said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Failure to understand that you are your own worst enemy seems to be the basic mantra today, from the lowest levels of society to the highest levels of government.

How does Pitts expect his industry to remain successful when half of his potential readers are at odds with the opinions predominantly expressed not just in his column, but the entire Opinion page?

Not only is there a lack of balance, but a lack of reporting or underreporting of major news critical of their personal political slant.

Any successful business leader understands that when your competition steps up its game, you better get your head out of the sand and step up yours.

Blaming others won’t fix Pitt’s problem. He has to fix his problem.

R.W. GARLAND
BOONES MILL

Turn to clean energy is creating jobs

Jane Van Ryan (“Climate-change zealotry will cost jobs,” Aug. 11 commentary) complains of supposed “climate change zealots,” and says we should basically ignore climate change because “people need jobs.”

Though she fails to mention it, Van Ryan has worked for the oil industry’s powerful trade association, the American Petroleum Institute.

Through the communications firm she currently owns, she is paid by corporations to handle their public relations tasks.

Knowing that, I’d say that Van Ryan’s real concern is not so much jobs but rather keeping oil industry profits and oil executive pay sky high.

There are lots of good jobs to be had in many industries as we are beginning to address climate change and convert to clean energy.

Let’s not let oil industry apologists hold us back.

SETH HEALD
RIXEYVILLE

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