Public Comment

His Views; Republican Claptrap; Pancreatic Cancer Awareness; Give New START floor time in the lame duck session 

His Views Matt Lauer will interview Mr. Bush on a prime-time broadcast Nov. 8, one day before Mr. Bush’s book, “Decision Points,” is released by Crown Publishers. Mr. Lauer will interview Mr. Bush again live on the “Today” show, the country’s highest-rated morning show, on Nov. 10. It is easy to see why he and his cohorts would have done everything in their pernicious power to get their nefarious names and dastardly deeds off the telly and out of the papers for awhile! But now after two years of being out of office, he is still defending his views. Germany's justice minister found herself in hot water for saying that "Bush wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It's a classic tactic. It's one that Hitler also used." She later denied that she had compared Bush to Hitler, but did say that their methods were similar. German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was reelected but found himself in the bad graces of the U.S. for his own stance against a U.S. invasion of Iraq. Hitler was an expert at distracting his people's attention from their real problems and his own mistakes by dragging the red herrings of Red Jewry across his hell-bent trail of national destruction, and conjuring foes without to divert their attention from their much more serious affairs within. 

Ted Rudow III,MA 

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Republican Claptrap 

After two years of recovery clouds are again darkening America's horizon. We're going to hear all the same claptrap that we heard from Republicans during the eight years of Bush. Americans traded in the splendid ideals of President Obama for the worn out spin of House Minority Leader John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Wall Street financiers will be raking in billions again with Republicans ascending in power. "Power to the People" is being sacrificed to the greed of corporations and special interests. The stated GOP goal for the next two years is "no compromise" and to block all legislation proposed by the Obama administration, and probably, Republicans will go back to attacking Social Security and Medicare. Does this sound like democracy to you? Republicans will also try to dismantle all that Obama and Democrats accomplished in the last two years. What a waste! 

Ron Lowe 

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Pancreatic Cancer Awareness 

I would like to thank the Berkeley City Council, and Linda Maio especially, for proclaiming November Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. 

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cancer killer in the United States, and in 2010, an estimated 43,140 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease. 

Scientific understanding of pancreatic cancer lags far behind that of most other forms of cancer. In fact, pancreatic cancer research is where breast cancer research was in the 1930s--little understanding of the causes, no early detection, few effective treatments, and a five-year survival rate of just six percent, the lowest of any major cancer. 

Shockingly, only 2% of the National Cancer Institute’s $5 billion annual budget is spent on researching the disease. 

My wife Mary Hammerschmidt received state-of-the-art care at the Alta Bates and UCSF Cancer Centers, yet still died of this horrible disease at the age of 40, only seven months after diagnosis. 

We need to make research into pancreatic cancer a priority. The Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act (S. 3320/H.R. 745) would do that. It has been cosponsored by most members of the California delegation, but not yet by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. You can learn more at www.KnowItFightItEndit.org. 

Ben Paulos  

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Give New START floor time in the lame duck session 

As a health professional, I call on Senators Boxer and Feinstein to help secure our future. It is time for the Senate to work to cut bloated nuclear stockpiles and restore inspections of Russia's nuclear arsenal by approving the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. 

Since it was signed in April, a vast array of experts--Republicans and Democrats alike--have lined up in favor of the treaty. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has noted that New START has "the unanimous support of America's military leadership." 

Treaties require careful consideration, but at this point Senators have all the information necessary to reach a decision on New START. The Senate has held 21 hearings and briefings on the treaty and the White House formally answered more than 900 questions from Senators. In September, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommended ratification with a strong and increasingly rare bipartisan vote of 14-4. Let's put politics aside and national security first by ratifying the treaty this year. 

Dr. Fred Strauss 

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