Guns, radicals, drug prices, Trump campaign

GOP and the safety of our U.S. family

Re “Senators reject gun proposals” (Page 8A, June 21): I have an artificial knee. A lot of my friends do as well. When I travel, I am always subjected to a complete pat-down, even though I let them know about the knee. I once watched a woman with cerebral palsy braces patted down as well. I get it. You never know what else an elderly, physically restricted woman might have on their bodies.

And yet, after a horrific attack on our American family and psyche in Orlando, Fla., the Republicans in Congress are refusing to restrict an automatic weapon from a known possible terrorist? Oh, come on. I get a pat-down, and the guy on the terrorist watch list gets an automatic weapon?

It seems to me, the normally “Blow ’em all away” GOP would consider defending Americans from terrorism. Or maybe not.

How to deal with gun violence

Enough already! We need to change the conversation. Stop talking gun control. We are dealing with an epidemic, an epidemic of gun violence.

We know how to deal with epidemics. Traumatic deaths are a medical issue. Congress needs to be allowed to refer the issue of gun violence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tell this nation what has worked for other countries and make medical recommendations for dealing with our epidemic of gun violence. Why does Britain have 50 gun deaths a year and the United States has our 8,000 deaths a year?

Is ‘radical Christian terrorists’ OK?

The cry goes up: “Why won’t they call it radical Islamic terrorism?”

Being old, I try to recall whether anyone called the Ku Klux Klan, marching with their burning crosses as they committed lynchings and other atrocities, “radical Christian terrorists.” If they had, would Christians have been offended? I am one, and I would have been.

Just as I am offended that a professed minister who claims to be Christian openly celebrates the murder of victims and calls for the mass execution of gays. This, too, would sound like “radical Christian terrorism.”

Friends of mine who are Muslims resent that their religious faith takes the blame for unspeakable acts performed by those who spuriously claim religious motive. Just as I say the KKK and religious hate merchants are not truly Christian, my friends say al-Qaida and ISIS and homegrown terrorists do not represent Islam.

High drug prices are a scandal

Re “Let’s shed some light on the high price of drugs” (Editorials, June 20): In 1978 I was taking Zantac, a prescription ulcer medicament sold by Glaxo Labs. Each pill cost me $6.40. In 1979, I lived in Morocco where a pill cost me 87 cents. Glaxo had a plant in Morocco, where Zantac and other drugs were produced to the same exacting standards as they were here.

I asked Glaxo’s local British manager why the astronomical price difference between pills in New York and Casablanca. He told me that the United States is the only major country in the world without price controls on prescription drugs. Consequently, Glaxo, like all its brethren with monopolies on particular drugs, charges whatever the market will bear. No wonder drug companies are the most profitable businesses in the United States.

A ‘yuge’ theft of federal funds

Re “Trump’s paltry fundraising worries GOP about impact on national ticket” (Page 1A, June 22): The article misses an important point. By winning the GOP nomination, Donald Trump will qualify for federal campaign matching funds. He can loan his campaign millions, spend it on Trump branded merchandise, then get repaid from our tax returns, which should say: “Check here if you want $3 to go to fund a bunch of overpriced Donald Trump merchandise.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Guns, radicals, drug prices, Trump campaign."