Wake up, America, a reader urges

Letter to the Editor,

The controversy over the recent killing of Anwar al- Awlaki by drone strike illustrates a serious problem for our country in its dealings with the rest of the world.

Our goody-two-shoes approach to conflicts is being used to our great disadvantage by our enemies. Civil libertarians and human-rights activists would have us conduct due process before the trigger is pulled on anyone pointing a gun at us. These people don’t seem to realize that we are at war.

Even the killing of Osama bin Laden raised “wrongful death” allegations by these people.

While the rest of the world actively engages in a frantic struggle for dominance and resources, we throw away our hard-won advantage in a self defeating process of appeasement, trade agreements (always to our disadvantage), foreign aid packages, exaggerated concerns for the environment and other concessions to the point where our “super power” status is questionable.

While we concern ourselves with pensions, national health-care plans, drug interdiction, work place safety, gay rights, abortion issues, dust in the air, alleged endangered species and green energy, our competitors have quietly stolen our once premiere position in manufacturing, education, steel production, mining, and (perhaps most important of all) solvency.

I hope we wake up soon. I’m too old to learn Chinese.

— Bill Payne

Libby