Kaine and Walton, settlements and Obama

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 17, 2008

Common sense is needed

To the editor:

Percy Walton’s execution should have been allowed to happen.

I think Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney William H. Fuller III should run for governor of Virginia. I am sure he is a man with all the requirements for the job, but most of all, common sense.

FAITH HYLER

To the editor:

During my research I have found:

 

• The first attempt to settle the mid-Atlantic section of the New World came in 1524, when 600 people from Santo Domingo arrived at a point near Jamestown and included some negro slaves; 150 people made it back to home port after one year;

• The second attempt in 1570 by Spanish Jesuit missionaries failed when they were massacred near the first location;

• The third attempt by English settlers at Roanoke Island in 1585 just disappeared; and

• The fourth attempt by English at Jamestown barely survived disease, starvation, accidents and Indian attacks.

In 1619, 20 negroes were brought to Jamestown by an Englishman who pirated them from a Spanish ship. Thirty years later, a negro named John Casor complained that his master, Anthony Johnson, one of the original 20 negroes, had kept him in servitude several years longer than he should have. That was a serious offense. Johnson, frightened, released Casor from all claims against him. Finding out that Casor had bound himself to a man named Parker who had aided him in obtaining his freedom, Johnson sued Parker, claiming that he was entitled to the lifetime services of Casor. He won his cases Johnson vs. Parker, Northampton County and Johnson vs. Parker, Accomack County, 1654.

Columnist Eugene Robinson in “Barack Obama has made history,” (June 8, page B7) wrote about the timeline from the “first Africans” (his words) in the New World at Jamestown until now, 389 years later. But I believe Johnson, a former indentured servant and one of the original 20 blacks brought to Jamestown in 1619, began slavery in Virginia through his court cases against Parker.

SAMUEL V. SHELTON

To the editor:

Barack Obama has admitted that he has no experience dealing with the kind of men the president must confront on a regular basis. He asks us to trust his judgment, which will somehow atone for his lack of experience.

Fair enough. Let’s look at his judgment.

Like most of America, the first I heard of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was the video of his “... GD America” and “...chickens coming home to roost” remarks. It took me less than 20 seconds to conclude that Wright was a raving racist loon. It took less than 20 minutes to Google his church and discover that it preaches Black Liberation Theology, which neither liberates nor is proper theology, but states the superiority of the black race and black culture. That makes Wright the black equivalent of David Duke, and makes Geraldine Ferraro’s claims about Obama accurate.

It took Barack and Michelle Obama 20 years to figure out what took me less than 20 minutes. And it’s not like Wright was trying to hide the fact that he’s a raving racist loon. A raving racist loon is apparently what the congregation wanted, judging from the reaction to Wright’s rantings. They seem to be pretty much down with his loony racist raving, not to mention his anti-American ravings.

But, “This is not the Jeremiah Wright I knew,” said Obama. He had no clue that his “sounding board,” his “moral compass,” his “confidant,” was a raving racist loon.

William Ayers, former domestic terrorist, and his wife, Bernadine Dhorn, both former members of the Weather Underground, hosted Obama’s “coming-out party” when he first entered the political arena. For those too young to remember, the WU was a group who got their kicks by bombing police stations and military recruiting offices, plus whatever other government offices occurred to them. Ayers says his only regret was that he didn’t bomb enough.

The recently convicted Tony Rezko, just a plain old crook, is not the Tony Rezko I knew, Obama might say.

How about Hatem al Hady, former fundraiser for Hamas, the Palestinian terror group? He went to work as a fund-raiser for Obama. Why would Obama want a former terrorist fundraiser on his campaign? Oh, I forgot. He probably isn’t the Hatem al Hady that Obama knew.

So how is Obama’s judgment measuring up? I’d say just about in a dead heat with his experience, which is to say, not nearly good enough.

ROBERT HUDSON

To the editor:

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s recent decision to commute Percy Walton’s death sentence shows a serious lack of judgment. This guy committed multiple murders and now we, the taxpayers, will have to pay to support him for the remainder of his life. We are being financially punished for his crimes.

As citizens, the only recourse we have is to make sure we all vote — and vote for Kaine’s opponent in any political contest.

MIKE JARMAN

Danville