Obama made right call on immigration
In the letter “Pitts enamored with Obama” (Readers write, March 4), Leonard Pitts is taken to task for supporting President Obama’s executive orders regarding illegal immigrants, apparently citing such unilateral action as being unconstitutional. Of course, these orders were temporary but legal, and will expire when the president’s term expires. The writer seems to have conveniently forgotten, or doesn’t care, that we turned a blind eye for decades to lure and exploit these desperate people for their cheap, reliable labor.
I remember years ago Sen. Saxby Chambliss warning the Immigration and Naturalization Service to leave Vidalia onion growers’ illegal migrant laborers alone. These millions are not a plague; they’re people. Obama acted only (and reluctantly) in response to a Republican-controlled Congress refusing to take on important issues, such as illegal immigration, for fear of allowing the administration to claim progress at something, or anything.
BIRNEY A. MONTCALM, WINSTON
Columnist misses Netanyahu’s point
Jay Bookman seems much more concerned with things Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2002 than what he said Tuesday (“In Netanyahu’s mind, any deal on Iran is a bad deal,” Opinion, March 4). Bookman clearly missed the main points of Netanyahu’s speech. The sunset clause in the proposed plan will guarantee Iran’s developing nuclear weapons and will spark an arms race in the Middle East.
In contrast to Bookman’s dismissal of Netanyahu’s warnings, voices in the Arab world, including Ahmad Al-Faraj of the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Jazira and Faisal Abbas of Al-Arabiya English, have expressed complete agreement with Israel’s prime minister. In accord with Mr. Netanyahu’s words, we should realize that Iran needs an agreement more than we do. We should keep sanctions in place and work to further decrease oil prices, until Iran stops sponsoring terrorism, stops threatening Israel and the West, and permits full inspection of its nuclear facilities.
TOBY F. BLOCK, ATLANTA
Cut out middle men on car, beer sales
Years ago, if you wanted to purchase a casket, you had to purchase one though a funeral home. The law changed, and that was a good idea. Today, if you want a car, you need to pay a middle man, a dealer; you cannot purchase from the manufacturer. If you want a 12-pack of beer, you need to pay a middle man, a wholesaler; you cannot purchase from the brewery. “Government governs best which governs least.” These and other three-level systems need to be abolished, not just modified to a level acceptable to car dealers and beverage wholesalers.
TONY V. PARROTT, FAYETEVILLE
