Friday, October 2, 2009

Black man to the rescue....again!

Once again, and for the nth time, thinking about the disaster President Obama inhereited--two wars, a devastated ecomomy, unemployment near record levels, financial system in total disarry, dozens of bank failures throughout the country, a nation no longer respected anywhere in the world....all of this and more--it occurs to me that in some ways this is an old story: Black man cleaning up the white man's mess. This is what it;s about, this is what is happening. And....white man not happy about this at all.

BJH--Oct 2, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Maureen Dowd makes the call...

To The Editor:

After all this time, and all the many clues, signs and signals, why did it have to be left for Maureen Dowd to make the call and the diagnosis: much of the country cannot stomach even the thought that a black man is now President. Everything else, all the other noise, is filler. The problem is race. How sad, how very sad, all of this is. Shame on all of us.

Yours truly,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305

Joel Osteen--the latter day Elmer Gantry

To The Editor:

What has happened to our beloved Queen City? Is it something in the water? First it was Wachovia and the disastrous purchase of Golden West. Next came B of A and the acquisition of Merrill. And now Tim Funk reports (Sat., Sept 12) that Joel Osteen arrived in town and delivered his spiel on Friday to thousands of unsuspecting souls at the Time Warner Cable Arena!

No slur on Mr. Funk intended, but had Sinclair Lewis been reporting the event, Osteen would have been skewered. He is your latter-day Elmer Gantry--a total charlatan, nothing less. How else to explain this guy, who has the audacity to stand up there and with a straight face tell his adoring audience that God is just waiting for the right moment to come to their rescue, etc.,and so be patient......but in the meantime, we're passing the hat, folks, and would you please let me have all your spare change? He then finishes off with an I thank you for that, God thanks you, and God bless you!

Folks, if this is advertised as a winning ticket, I say consider the lottery as a very attractive alternative.

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305

Saturday, September 12, 2009

letter to observer--steven brown review--9/12

To The Editor:

Looking for that reporter who can file an A to Z story with a "take-no-prisoners" deadline? Then look no further than your own Steven Brown. It is baffling to pick up Saturday morning's Observer and be able to read all about last night's Charlotte Symphony concert, which had ended only a few hours earlier. And, it was an excellent review, I thought! Kudos and three cheers for Mr. Brown.

Yours truly,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305

Monday, September 7, 2009

Dump Carlos Krauthammer

To The Editor:

My thanks for your lead editorial yesterday (Take a deep breath..." ), which while mild, nonetheless was timely and very much in order. Nonetheless, it hardly compensates for the tirade offered readers on the following page--yet another hateful column of bile and repetitive ranting, by Charles Krauthammer. He loathes President Obama, as all of us have learned weeks, if not months ago. He writes of nothing else of late! We understand now, we get it...Obama is evil, a loser and already a failed President. We don't need to be told this any more! Away with you, Carlos!

Yours truly,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Letter to Charlotte Observer--Time's 'Awastin'

To The Editor:

Time's awastin'--someone has to come out and say it and I figure it might as well be me: Republicans want no part of health care reform, let alone universal health care. Protestations to the contrary are balderdash.

Thus, if these (more or less) United States of America are ever to have anything resembling universal health care, Democrat lawmakers must bring it about. There will never be another time and so, Democrat lawmakers: On Your Mark, Get Set. Go!

Sincerely,

Bernie Hargadon

Letter to WSJ--Senator Kennedy

To The Editor:

One can have hoped that the Journal might set aside just one day to lay off Democrats, but no, "Rules Eased on Bank Buyouts" is your day's lead story and headline--and not the passing of Senator Kennedy. The Journal must be the single newspaper in the country able to make this case. You have accomplished nothing by this, save to dishonor this man and, in so doing, embarrass and further cheapen an otherwise pretty good newspaper.

Sincerely,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704

Letter to Taylor Batten--Editor--Charlotte Observer

Taylor--Should you be looking for material for your next op-ed piece, this would be a worthy one. Brother Fred has been pounding on this for a long time. He served as Dean of Admissions at Stanford U for many years and afterwards at Princeton until retirement a few years ago. (Both he and I served in the military long before entering college--in fact, that was the only way the two of us, like many thousands of others, were able to go to college (GI Bill)).The topic --universal military (or other kind of civic) service--only gets an occasional airing any more, and rarely by an newspaper's editor. Anyhow--for what it's worth. Regards, Bernie -----Original Message-----From: Fred Hargadon <hargadon@Princeton.EDU>To: Bernie Hargadon <bhargadon@aol.com>Sent: Tue, Aug 25, 2009 11:32 pmSubject: NYT op-ed: The Ultimate Burden
Bernie,That I couldn't agree more with this op-ed is obvious from my Letter to the Editor in the NYT four years ago.FredTo the Editor: Allowing college deferments during the Vietnam War and then subsequently doing away with the draft altogether was terrible public policy. The result has been not only to exacerbate the socioeconomic inequities of our society but also to render political decision-making about the uses of our military completely untethered from any broad national consensus on which objectives are worth our making what kinds of sacrifices - including, if necessary, our own lives or the lives of our children or fellow citizens. No law passed by Congress could more effectively democratize this nation of ours than one requiring some sort of universal military service. Fred Hargadon Princeton, N.J., Aug. 18, 2005 OPINION August 25, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist: The Ultimate Burden By BOB HERBERT If the war in Afghanistan is fundamental to our defense, as President Obama stated, then we shouldn't be leaving the entire monumental task to a tiny portion of the population.

Letter to NYT--Obama and Michelle

To The Editor:

This "debate" about health care has gone on too long. Much as I think the world of President Obama, it seems clear now that he's just too nice a guy to be leading this charge.. We need to get this wrapped up--how about his turning the job over to Michelle for a few weeks?

Yours truly,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St. #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305

Letter to Charlotte Observer--What Has Happened?

To The Editor:

This reader is in very bad humor and again anxious to try to find out just what in the world President Obama has done to the Charlotte Observer to deserve the harsh treatment, the terrible pounding he is subjected to several times every single week, when you feature, front and center, the writings of Charles Krauthammer and Cal Thomas--both of whom have a serious, if not pathological obsession about the President. They seem now incapable of producing a single column which in one form or another, does not deprecate, demonize and denigrate yours and my President. Does no one at the Observer ever read these columns? Is there anyone at the Observer able to successfully argue that there is any longer ANY redeeming value to be found in these columns? Yes, I think you owe your readers a full-fledged ecditorial, explaining why you continue to do this.

Sincerely,

Bernie Hargadon
435 S. Tryon St #606
Charlotte, NC 28202
704 377 5305