Dear Editor,

To the citizens of District 57:

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

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Benjamin Franklin’s immortal words ring truer with each and every passing day.

As our finite liberties undergo a daily assault from a government grown out of control, it’s long past time for every American to question where this path will inevitably lead.

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Citizen spies; intrusions into our private communications; unwarranted, secret searches; budget-crushing “Homeland Security” bureaucracies; and endless attempts by government, at all levels, to prevent law-abiding citizens from defending themselves.

While the states surrender sovereignty at every turn, the federal government runs amok. Local budgets explode, as regulation and dictates flow unimpeded, forced upon the people by nameless bureaucrats in Washington.

So how might we fix the problem?

1) Support citizen candidates, elect them, and hold them closely accountable to the people.

2) Review all current laws for constitutionality or relevancy, and purge the books of any which do not meet this very narrow criteria.

3) Defend all constitutional protections, favoring the private citizen over government, as the Founders proposed.

4) Stop expecting government to be all things to all people, and end all programs not explicitly provided for in our state and federal constitutions.

5) Dramatically and permanently reduce taxes in conjunction with item #4, including the end of all income taxes.

6) Elect candidates and support judges who favor citizens over big government.

Thomas Jefferson’s own words define what the Founders envisioned and clearly depicts my convictions of the role of government, “A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”

Amen.

During these troubled times, as government requires we surrender our rights, supposedly, in order to defend them, it’s time we revisit our legacy as a free people.

Either we defend our God-given freedoms and liberties, or our almost infinitely metastasizing governmental bureaucracies will devour our very heritage.

If you believe in a live and let live form of government, as the Founders intended, and you truly desire less government and lower taxes, please allow me to represent you in the Colorado House of Representatives.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

For Liberty …

Mike Plylar

Libertarian candidate

Colorado House of

Representatives – District #57

Kremmling

Dear Editor:

I am writing this letter in regards to the letter in the Sept. 26 issue of letters to the editor titled, “Sunny outlook on war with Iraq.”

I would first like to say that I as well as many people I know do support freedom. I support it to the fullest extent. We are extremely lucky for the amount of freedom that our country has.

What about the freedom of the Iraq people? They have little to no control over what their government is doing. So why should they have to suffer because of the actions of their leader, Saddam Hussein? They don’t have freedom of speech. They have no say whatsoever as to what the future of their country may be. They are innocent people. If we start a war against Iraq, many people will lose their homes, their family members and the things they worked very hard for.

Sept. 11 was a horrible day for many Americans. Thousands of innocent people died and we as a country were absolutely enraged. We immediately put out the word that whoever did this would pay for their actions and anyone involved would suffer as well. Why would we want to do the same to another country? The people in the World Trade Centers were innocent people who had no idea what was about to happen and we still mourn for them, but if we attack Iraq no one in America will see the suffering that we have put them through, therefore no one will care. That’s the plan. Out of sight, out of mind. It’s time to stand up for what we as Americans believe in.

After Sept. 11 we waged a war against Afghanistan. Our government said that no innocent civilians would be harmed and yet thousands of innocent civilians who hate the Taliban just as much as we do had their homes and villages bombed and many lost family members.

If the deaths caused by U.S. bombs really were accidents, they were huge accidents. Our country has made huge, careless mistakes. No one does anything about it. When we were attacked as happened on Sept. 11, remember how we reacted? Why aren’t their deaths as important as ours? Is it because the media in our country, which is owned by a handful of big corporations, is censored by our government during a time of war? We don’t really see what is going on.

Why do we think we have the right to tell everyone what to do or else?

We tell Saddam Hussein to give in and allow the United Nations inspectors to inspect or else we will invade. He gives in and yet our government is still fighting for a reason to invade without even considering what other nations have to say about it. We wonder why other countries hate us so much.

It is not a battle between good and evil, and if it is we are just as evil. You say that evil people flew planes with innocent people into a building with the intent to kill. We have dropped bombs and will continue to drop bombs on innocent people with the intent to kill. When do two wrongs make a right?

An intelligent person would ask, exactly when and how did Iraq threaten us? Saddam cooperated and recently agreed to let United Nations inspectors in without any contingencies. He is not stupid; he knows that if he even attempted to attack the United States our military would have his whole country blown up. He just wants the United States and Bush to leave him alone.

I do not support the war against Iraq. I also do not support the Bush administration and it is time to do something about this. Our president will proceed to invade Iraq if Congress votes in favor of it even if we don’t have support from other countries. If that law gets passed, it will allow the president to justify future military attacks on virtually any country in the Middle East without the support of any of our allies.

Please call your senator and voice your opinion. Help prevent a horrible war where many will die. Do something.

Call this number and the Capitol switchboard will connect you to your senator: 1-202-224-3121.

If you have already called, call again.

I will continue to fight for what I believe in. I will continue to oppose the war against Iraq as well as any other war without a just reason. I will continue to be righteous and sensible and I will continue to read the Aspen papers.

Respectfully,

Erin Williams

Yampah Mountain High School

Dear Editor,

Back in 1700, pirates roamed the seven seas.

Black-hearted men would cruise the coastline in search of fat merchant ships, pull alongside, and scare or fight their way aboard. Motive? Money. Every child knows the results.

Three hundred years later, history is repeating itself right here in Garfield County. For the past four years, the pirates have weighed anchor in our harbor. It’s a rich, 44-gun galleon armed with planners, lawyers and developers. The plunder has been superb. Tens of thousands of acres handed away without regard to negative impacts or the voices of safety and sanity.

What makes this so sad is that our county government has never fired a single cannon. On the contrary, we’re a haven, a friendly port in the storm. By a vote of two to one, the Royal Commission has given way the Realm. Ask the Duke of Westbank or the Earl of Chenoa.

It’s time for a mutiny.

It’s time to discriminately and meticulously select only the development that survives a legislative whipping. Keel-haul the plat. If it survives, put it on the plank. Everything must be perfect or it swims with the sharks.

Our new Royal Commissioner should strengthen the law of the land. She should lead legislative initiatives to protect this spectacular valley. She should put the safety and well-being of everyone in this district above all else.

Mutiny!

Michael J. Sullivan

Spring Valley