Hookers are up-front about screwing you: I liked the article ["Little Brown Man," September 7]. It gave me hope that maybe a decent person will someday be in a leadership position in state government.
My one objection is to comparing our state leaders to prostitutes. As a state employee for many years, and having seen up close how the current leaders operate, I think such a comparison is a terrible insult to and slander of prostitutes.
The moral superiority of many prostitutes to Ohio politicians is one reason I advocate the legalization of prostitution. Unlike prostitutes, our state leaders deserve to be investigated for serious and extremely harmful legal violations.
Joe Sommer
Columbus
In Ohio, it's honesty vs. dollars: It is exciting to read "Little Brown Man." Can there truly be someone who is willing to be honest? I'm looking forward to hearing and reading more about Chandra. Thanks for not being afraid to tell it like it is. Now we have to figure out how to make honesty win over dollars.
Ruth Costakos
Columbus
Don't diss the good guys: While I appreciate humor and hyperbole in getting a point across, last week's profile on my race for Ohio Attorney General had a few problems. First, the writer's characterization of the Cleveland Law Department before my tenure there as a "refuge for the unemployable" was a flat-out, untrue insult to the wonderful lawyers who were there when I arrived. They were -- and remain -- some of the finest, most creative, most dedicated lawyers with whom I had ever worked.
Second, the discussion of the attorney general's outsourcing of work and receipt of campaign contributions might leave the misimpression that Ohio's law firms are somehow doing something wrong by accepting work from the attorney general. They are not. From my review, it appears that the firms are doing good work at reasonable rates for private practice.
What I respectfully question is the attorney general's decisions to outsource some of that work, and whether he could have saved taxpayer dollars by keeping certain projects in-house, as we did in Cleveland.
Finally, as someone born and raised in Oklahoma, I do object to the characterization of those in southern Ohio as "rednecks." The Democratic Party would be wise to learn that values do matter and that, unless we start discussing them, we will be, and deserve to be, in the wilderness forever.
Subodh Chandra
Cleveland
Bitter Aftertaste
And it's not just the espresso: After reading your article last week, I was outraged ["Coffee Clash," August 31]. The Leneghans are scummy people. Don't eat their sandwiches! They keep them for days sometimes to cut corners. Their espresso is subpar; they treat their workers like shit.
When I first got a job with them, my cousin and sister told me to write down every hour I worked, because they were notorious for cheating people out of money on their paychecks. They did, and there was nothing I could do about it.
To sum it up, the Leneghans were the most treacherous, rude people I have ever met.
James Orlando
Lakewood
Schools for Scandal
Charter schools + false promises = travesty: I loved your article about charter schools [“Dream Killer,” July 27]. I think charter schools are evil. They are often run for profit, not accredited, and provide a false promise of hope to poor people who are in search of a better future for their children.
Charter schools are the J.D. Byrider of education. No money? No problem. We'll let the government pay for your education and not deliver on our promise. We'll let you believe that you can have something that you really can't afford.
I keep hearing the phrase, "Come on up north. There are good jobs up here." Of course, they are low-paying jobs that other workers won't take, and you'll be herded into ghettos where your family will live for generations. False promise, false hope, true travesty.
Martha Moore
South Euclid
Won't Hold Water
Swift Boaters bounce on a sea of opinion: Mr. Daniels' criticism of SwiftVets is pretty typical [Letters, August 24]. There are thousands of stories on the internet, and if you search for "lies," you get articles about lies, not necessarily facts or the truth.
More to the point, John Kerry has admitted that his statements to Congress about "Christmas in Cambodia" were not true. Mr. Daniels moves the target by complaining about John O'Neill's statements about Cambodia. The point was the behavior of a presidential candidate.
Our efforts were never about us. We were the messengers and were the target of many attacks. We wanted the American people to know what we saw in Vietnam and in Kerry's support of the North Vietnamese. We were successful because we told the truth.
Tom Wright
Savannah, Georgia
