The Rejected Windfall

A26 Ø N THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIALS/LETTERS TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2011

Bin Laden Aftermath: A Rush of Emotion

TO THE EDITOR: On rare occasions the death of one’s Re “Killing Evil Doesn’t Make Us blood enemy may be a justified cause of ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., Publisher Evil” (column, May 8): celebration. While I did not join the un- Thanks to Maureen Dowd for getting derstandable public celebrations of Bin Founded in 1851 The News Sections The Business Management it exactly right. Those who bemoan Osa- Laden’s death, they brought me consid- BILL KELLER, Executive Editor SCOTT H. HEEKIN-CANEDY, President, General Manager erable satisfaction. ADOLPH S. OCHS ma bin Laden’s death as unjustified are JILL ABRAMSON, Managing Editor DENISE F. WARREN, Senior V.P., Chief Advertising Officer, Publisher 1896-1935 naïve at best, or may be far removed WILLIAM WINSTON NEWBILL JOHN M. GEDDES, Managing Editor General Manager, NYTimes.com from anyone who experienced a loss on Dallas, May 8, 2011 YASMIN NAMINI, Senior V.P., Marketing and Circulation, ARTHUR HAYS SULZBERGER WILLIAM E. SCHMIDT, Deputy Managing Editor 9/11. Publisher 1935-1961 General Manager, Reader Applications Assistant Managing Editors ALEXIS BURYK, Senior V.P., Advertising That September morning neither I nor TO THE EDITOR: ORVIL E. DRYFOOS DEAN BAQUET GERALD MARZORATI ROLAND A. CAPUTO, Senior V.P., Chief Financial Officer my children knew whether their father, Re “Killing Evil Doesn’t Make Us Publisher 1961-1963 TOM BODKIN MICHELE MCNALLY THOMAS K. CARLEY, Senior V.P., Planning who worked at 7 World Trade Center, Evil,” by Maureen Dowd, and “Why We SUSAN EDGERLEY JIM ROBERTS TERRY L. HAYES, Senior V.P., Operations and Labor ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER was alive or dead. A woman I worked Celebrate a Killing,” by Jonathan Haidt GLENN KRAMON Publisher 1963-1992 MICHAEL VALENTINE, V.P., Human Resources with rushed home because her daughter, (Op-Ed, May 8): The Opinion Pages knowing she was about to die in the con- As someone who experienced 9/11 MARTIN GOTTLIEB, Editor, Global Editions flagration, had made an anguished from my home about a mile from the ANDREW ROSENTHAL, Editorial Page Editor phone call to say goodbye. Children of a World Trade Center, I can honestly say I CARLA ANNE ROBBINS, Deputy Editorial Page Editor family I knew were left without a father. TRISH HALL, Deputy Editorial Page Editor felt no jubilation when I heard the news Thankfully, mine were not. of Bin Laden’s death. Instead, all the While the eruption of spontaneous cel- sadness of that dreadful day came back. ebrations after Bin Laden’s killing may The killing seemed to me yet another have disturbed many, I believe that the part of what Robert Klitzman, the broth- outpouring came from a sense of pro- er of a 9/11 victim, has called the “never- The Rejected Windfall found relief that someone who had threatened their lives every day for 10 Some governors, like Florida’s Rick Scott, are turning their backs on federal dollars years had finally been dealt a measure of justice. After Gov. Rick Scott of Florida thoughtlessly reject- sions. Some of those states are led by Republicans: Gov. So please let us stop the collective handwringing and thank those responsi- ed $2.4 billion in federal aid for a high-speed rail line, he Rick Snyder of Michigan happily stood beside Transporta- ble for removing Bin Laden from our claimed last month that he was doing a huge favor for the tion Secretary Ray LaHood on Monday to accept nearly midst — the Navy Seals and President national Treasury, which he expected would give away $200 million to upgrade the rail line between Dearborn Obama, who made a brave decision. the money in tax cuts. That was nonsense, of course; Mr. and Kalamazoo, the bulk of the Chicago-Detroit corridor. DOLORES SOFFIENTINI Scott was really doing a favor for train passengers in the The difference between states that want better infra- Holmdel, N.J., May 8, 2011 Northeast, Midwest and California, which were given $2 structure and those that do not is likely to grow in coming billion of his money on Monday for better service. years. Some states will accept federal aid and tax them- TO THE EDITOR: Florida voters might want to think about that deci- selves to pay for better trains, upgraded roads and Killing evil does not, indeed, make us sion as they sit in traffic jams, burning up $4-a-gallon gas- bridges, and effective water systems. Others will not. evil, but could we not have reached this oline. In fact, some of them clearly have thought about it In the Northeast, several Amtrak corridors will be up- same end without leaving so many bod- ies strewn along the path to justice? because Mr. Scott now has some of the worst approval rat- graded, including a sliver of the Acela line and the Empire Measured intelligence and leadership ings of a Florida official in the last decade. line through upstate New York. The Chicago-St. Louis cor- from President Obama were key. Just as HANNAH K. LEE He has joined other newly elected Republican gover- ridor will be improved, and $300 million will be invested in important were intelligence gathering in nors so rigidly opposed to the Obama administration that the high-speed project between Los Angeles and San the field and synthesis of that knowl- ending cycle of destruction” (“My Sister, they are willing to harm their states to score points. The Francisco. Texas is accepting $15 million to start work on a edge. Finally, precision by a small team My Grief,” Op-Ed, May 4). Whether or in carrying out the surgical strike en- not the killing of Bin Laden was a good result is a crazy quilt of state relationships with Washing- fast line between Dallas and Houston. tactical move, or a moral act, you have to ton, stitched more with ideology than reason. Transportation is not all that is at stake. Last year, abled by that intelligence brought fru- ition to the 10-year manhunt. wonder at the depravity in the way hu- None of the money in Monday’s announcement will Utah Republican lawmakers tried to refuse $101 million in One can only wonder, however, if after man beings deal with one another. It’s nothing to cheer about. be going to Wisconsin, for example, where Gov. Scott federal money intended to save teachers’ jobs; they 9/11 we had focused exclusively on the Walker has also decided that his strapped state could do backed down when it was clear that Washington could criminal investigation— including the MARY LYN MAISCOTT without rail improvements and the construction jobs that send the money directly to school districts. Oklahoma and gathering, sharing and synthesis of in- New York, May 8, 2011 go with them. Nor will it go to Ohio, where Gov. John Kas- other states have rejected federal dollars connected to formation — could two wars, about 6,000 ich preferred rejectionism to the improvement of rail serv- health care reform. Earlier this year, Missouri nearly re- American deaths, over 30,000 casualties, TO THE EDITOR: ice among the state’s largest cities, which could have pro- jected extended jobless benefits for 10,000 residents after and many more Afghan and Iraqi deaths Jonathan Haidt fairly distinguishes have been avoided? patriotism and love for country from a duced 16,000 jobs. a handful of Republicans said the money was wasteful. Did we really need to obliterate Af- more racist and hostile brand of na- Instead, it will go to 15 states that have more farsight- Refusenik Republicans glorify shopworn principles ghanistan and Iraq to get the guy who tionalism. It may be that the flag-waving ed leadership, who understand the important role federal like smaller government and states’ rights. They will have committed mass murder on Sept. 11? college students in front of the White dollars can play in stimulating the economy, moving peo- to defend them to their voters when the public hears the JOHN E. COLBERT House and in Times Square were simply ple quickly from place to place and reducing tailpipe emis- passenger trains whistling from the next state over. Chicago, May 8, 2011 rejoicing in their “desire to show solidar- ity with fellow citizens.” The line between patriotism and nationalism is, TO THE EDITOR: however, much thinner than Mr. Haidt As a lawyer who takes the rule of law implies. New Attacks on Women’s Rights quite seriously, I was thankful that Mau- We must remember how quickly the reen Dowd showed common sense in her common purpose that followed 9/11 — The House passes a sweeping bill to deny access to abortion thoughtful discussion of the killing of the flags, the memorials and candlelight Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden was a vigils — quickly devolved into an envi- With the help of 16 Democrats, House Republicans bill imposes no such restrictions on large corporations. proud, self-appointed mass murderer of ronment of fear, an erosion of civil liber- passed a bill the other day with the narrow-seeming title The measure also eliminates the medical-expense de- civilians, including women and children. ties and an ugly rush to invade a sover- He proclaimed his own guilt for crimes of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. eign nation on the basis of shoddy intelli- duction for most abortions and ends the availability of re- against humanity and openly planned to The measure, which came just weeks after the furor imbursement for abortion costs from medical savings ac- gence. continue these heinous acts. What kind Those who were unnerved by the cele- over failed Republican attempts to defund Planned Par- counts — changes that could invite intrusive inquiries of society, what kind of morality, leads us bratory reaction to Osama bin Laden’s enthood, is a slightly modified version of a terrible bill pro- from I.R.S. auditors trying to confirm whether an abortion to question the necessity of ending such death are not only moved by their moral posed last year by Representative Christopher Smith, a procedure fell within exceptions for rape, incest or when a person’s existence? conscience, but also recall just how fast Republican of New Jersey. It is far more sweeping than its the life of the woman is endangered. our patriotism can lead to paranoia, xen- title suggests. Over all, the bill treats tax benefits as the equivalent ophobia and war. ADAM ESRIG In fact, the bill is not really about federal financing for of public expenditures for abortion. This equivalency is at Coca-Cola in the Hide-Out Brooklyn, May 9, 2011 abortion or even preventing insurers from offering any odds with a reality in which individuals can deduct dona- TO THE EDITOR: TO THE EDITOR: abortion coverage on the insurance exchanges created as tions to religious institutions without running afoul of the Re “Bin Laden’s Secret Life in a According to Jonathan Haidt, those of part of federal health care reform. The federal Hyde constitutional bar of government support of religion. Shrunken World” (front page, May 8): us who were appalled by the celebra- Amendment has long barred federal financing of abortion, Beyond the insurance realm, the Smith bill would per- You report that Osama bin Laden’s tions of the killing of Osama bin Laden and the burdensome rules for segregating an individual’s manently extend the prohibition on the District of Colum- entourage of bodyguards “was down to have got it all wrong. The revelers in premium payments from government subsidies already bia from using locally raised revenue to provide abortion one trusted Pakistani courier and the these gruesome spectacles were not ex- seems destined to discourage insurers from offering abor- care that was imposed through fiscal 2011 as part of the courier’s brother, who also had the job pressing hate, he says, but altruism, of buying goats, sheep and Coca-Cola tion coverage on the exchanges. budget compromise struck last month. The bill also would which is to say empathy and love. The for the household.” The Smith bill imposes new limitations on abortion eliminate the yearly renewal of the Hyde Amendment’s basis for this surprising claim is that hu- Coca-Cola? After Old Glory itself, is man beings share with certain insects — access by driving to end abortion insurance coverage in denial of abortion services for poor women and others there an image more emblematic of the bee, the ant, the termite — the re- the private market using the nation’s tax system as a who rely on the federal government for their health care. America than a can of Coke? Did they markable capacity to sacrifice self-in- weapon. A provision would deny tax credits to small busi- The administration has signaled it would veto the also play baseball out back? terest for unity and group defense. nesses that offer private health plans that cover abortion Smith bill. It should be on guard for attempts to sneak I’ll wager that no other single detail I wonder where that leaves all of us services, as some 87 percent of private plans now do. The parts of it into the debt limit talks. yet to emerge from the cache of intelli- who did not rush out to join the crowds of gence heroically swiped from the Ab- mostly college students that night, but bottabad compound will do as much watched at home with embarrassment damage to Osama bin Laden’s anti- and dismay. Selfish, I guess. But are we They Should Be Condemning Syria capitalist bona fides. Now we know that more or less like bugs for thinking that, he was not only an evil mass murderer surely, there is still a difference between Syrians have shown extraordinary courage, defying a from the United States and Europe, Syria is refusing to but also a craven hypocrite. justice and revenge, and human and ani- bloody government crackdown to demand greater politi- abandon its candidacy. DAVID D. TURNER mal behavior? SEAN KEILEN New York, May 8, 2011 San Francisco, May 8, 2011 cal rights and freedom. Their courage, and their blood, Mr. Assad knows no shame. But shame on the Asian should shame the many governments that are cynically bloc for not insisting that Syria withdraw. India, Indonesia supporting Syria’s election later this month to the United and the Philippines would be a lot more credible candi- Early Child Care A Carbon Fee, Not a Tax Nations Human Rights Council. dates if they refused to run with Syria. Shame, too, on the It is outrageous that Syria is even being discussed for Arab members of the United Nations that reaffirmed sup- TO THE EDITOR: TO THE EDITOR: membership. Since the uprising began more than seven port for Syria’s election even after Mr. Assad turned his In “A Real, Unnecessary Crisis for “A Charge on Carbon Use” (letter, May 4) listed five reasons that it makes weeks ago, President Bashar al-Assad’s security appara- guns on his people. Families” (editorial, May 3), you rightly point out the lifetime benefits of good sense to impose an “emissions charge” tus has repeatedly responded with deadly force, including The Council nearly destroyed its credibility from the early child care and education. on carbon and pointed out that calling it firing live ammunition at a funeral and seizing critically start when some of the worst abusers were immediately New York City has a generous pro- a “tax” would be politically unwise. wounded demonstrators from a hospital. Hundreds are elected members. Its record had been improving. It gram of free or subsidized child care, The term to use is “fee.” It should believed to have been killed, including 14 on Sunday. ousted Libya from its ranks. Two weeks ago, it adopted a and its costs are rising sharply in the start small and rise gradually over several years, and all of the revenue raised Thousands have been arrested or are missing. On Mon- resolution urging Syria to “put an end to all human rights face of declining federal dollars to pay for it. should be returned as rebates to Ameri- day, the government boasted that it had gained the upper violations” and calling for an investigation of abuses. can households. By definition this is not Earlier this year, Mayor Michael R. hand over the protesters. Electing Syria would make a mockery of the Council a tax. At the same time, the huge sub- Bloomberg announced that because of sidies our government pays to support Along with India, Indonesia and the Philippines, Syr- — one from which it might never be able to recover. And it rising costs and declining reimburse- ia is on a consensus slate to take one of four seats set aside would make a mockery of all the countries that voted for the fossil fuel industry should be with- ment, the city would lose more than drawn. for nations in the so-called Asian bloc. Despite pressure Syria. Syria must be dropped from the slate. 16,000 slots of service, which primarily As the costs of fossil resources rise, support after-school care for school-age the costs of alternative resources will children. fall. Within less than a decade, ours can On Friday, with an investment of $40 be a clean-energy economy. Continuing Questions About Chernobyl million, the mayor presented an execu- ELLIE WHITNEY tive budget that ensures that no child East Windsor, N.J., May 4, 2011 It has been 25 years since the worst nuclear power ac- among people who were exposed as children, mostly by will have to lose care and that services cident in history at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, and drinking contaminated milk. Only a handful have died. are preserved for the future. This is an we still aren’t certain what health damage it may ulti- Critics have long contended that such estimates amazing success for early care and edu- mately cause. That gap needs to be filled by a vigorous re- downplayed the dangers. Now a panel of experts assem- cation programs that should have hap- search program — both to improve readiness to cope with bled at the request of the European Commission is also pened with the leadership of our federal partners, not despite them. ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., Chairman another bad nuclear accident and to enhance understand- calling for a wider look. It cited scattered reports, many LINDA GIBBS JANET L. ROBINSON, Chief Executive Officer ing of the long-term effects of low doses of radiation. appearing in leading scientific journals, suggesting that Deputy Mayor MICHAEL GOLDEN, Vice Chairman Although Chernobyl is rightly synonymous with dis- Chernobyl’s radiation might be increasing the risk of for Health and Human Services JAMES M. FOLLO, Chief Financial Officer aster, international health authorities have found the dam- breast cancer, various other cancers, and immunological New York, May 6, 2011 R. ANTHONY BENTEN, Senior V.P. age from fallout downwind to be far less than originally abnormalities, among other effects. ROBERT H. CHRISTIE, Senior V.P. feared. The latest evaluation — a United Nations commit- The panel suggested that a research foundation be TODD C. MCCARTY, Senior V.P. tee in 2008 — concludes that emergency workers who established to conduct long-term studies much as a foun- MARTIN A. NISENHOLTZ, Senior V.P. ONLINE: MORE LETTERS KENNETH A. RICHIERI, Senior V.P., struggled to bring the plant under control suffered great dation in Japan has been studying the long-term effects of Frances Howell, executive director of General Counsel harm but the wider public was barely affected. the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a very JOSEPH N. SEIBERT, Senior V.P. DES Action USA, responds to a news LAURENA L. EMHOFF, V.P., Treasurer In the three countries hit with the most fallout — Be- good idea. The continuing uncertainties should be a warn- article, “Hormone Is Said to Cut a Risk DIANE BRAYTON, Secretary larus, Ukraine and parts of the Russian Federation — the ing to Japanese authorities to begin studies of the health of Premature Birth.” committee found that the only significant harm was sev- effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident while the evi- nytimes.com/opinion 620 Eighth Avenue eral thousand cases of highly curable thyroid cancer dence trail is still fresh. New York, N.Y. 10018