This Labor Day, don't forget the unemployed

As many of us gather for parades, barbecues and festivities in honor of the many men and women past and present who toil day in and day out in hopes of a better life, let us not forget the 31 million who will be celebrating this Labor Day from the unemployment line.

Let us not forget that their burden is not theirs to carry alone. Let Labor Day serve as a reminder that the jobless are jobless through no fault of their own. They are casualties of the gravest recession since the Great Depression, and they deserve our help.

They deserve a hand in the fight to get back to work. They deserve a decent paycheck, not a meager unemployment benefit. They deserve to know where they'll be laying their head next month when the foreclosure notice shows up.

America's unemployed deserve policies such as the Union of Unemployed's "Hire US, America" plan, a 21-point strategy for reversing the jobs crisis. It includes policies that discourage the outsourcing of American jobs, demand the creation of a Works Progress Administration-style jobs program and extend unemployment for people who have been out of work longer than 99 weeks. All are imperative.

Lastly, they deserve victory come election day. On Nov. 2, incumbents better take notice. Candidates who are fixated on their own political agendas and not on economic recovery will not only be at the mercy of America's typical midterm voters, but also America's 31 million jobless. Many politicians are betting that the unemployed are too distraught, preoccupied or weary to show up at the polls this election. In a recession in which unemployed workers outnumber job openings five to one, and still it takes the Senate two months to pass an unemployment insurance extension, I'd say they'd better think again.

So this Labor Day, let us remember those who want to labor but who can't find a job in which to do so. Let them know they are not fighting alone. And let us pledge to do our part to help turn things around and get America back to work.

R. Thomas Buffenbarger • Marlboro, Md. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

Trivializing women

Regarding "'Personhood' theory endangers human rights" (Aug. 26): Colleen Carroll Campbell is anti-choice and doesn't believe in the right to safe, legal abortion.

Missouri's informed-consent process for abortion is more rigorous and comprehensive than any other medical procedure. At Planned Parenthood, women always are given the option to view an ultrasound and receive a copy. Questions about fetal development and about the procedure always are answered fully. Women always are given as much time as they need to explore all options — parenthood, adoption or abortion. Women always can change their mind, and we honor and protect their decisions.

The new law is intended to add more distress, costs, burdens and barriers to abortion. It will create unnecessary delays and increase mid-trimester abortions (which has happened since the first waiting period law was passed).

The law forces patients to receive state-mandated, non-factual material that says "abortion terminates the life of a separate, unique, living human being." Ms. Campbell took me to task by stating that these are not sentiments that all religions or citizens embrace. My statement is true; the story "At what point does life begin?" (Aug. 22) confirmed that. An embryo and the fetus, for most of its nine months in utero, is not separate from the woman. It is completely dependent on the woman for its growth and development. Anti-choice groups disregard the woman entirely; the woman's life, health and future do not matter. Elevating the status of the fetus over that of the woman is dangerous and dismissive of women, trivializes the issue and strips women of their integrity and humanity.

Missouri has more than 30 laws on abortion. Every year, more are introduced. Anti-choice groups never have worked with us on much-needed prevention programs for family planning or sexual health education. They openly oppose such bills and do nothing to address unintended pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood is the leader in providing reproductive and sexual health care. Nationwide, 97 percent of our services are preventive, not abortion. Our education programs teach skills and information so that teens and young adults can make healthy, informed decisions, decrease risk-taking behavior and increase communication between teens and parents.

All Planned Parenthood physicians are board-certified OB/GYN specialists. All staff members are courageous, committed health professionals. We've served our community for 80 years, and we are committed to ensuring for generations that everyone is free to make her own personal and private reproductive decisions and have access to quality care.

Paula M. Gianino • St. Louis President, CEO, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri

Inciting race relations

Bill McClellan's depiction of Glenn Beck in "Rights and wrongs at Glenn Beck rally" (Aug. 30) as a hateful, racist, fascist demagogue was way off base.

Mr. Beck's criticism of President Barack Obama and his administration is based on a deep disdain for their policies and not the color of their skin. Mr. Beck is rallying Americans to protect their constitutional rights and the quality of life and liberty in this country in the face of big-government elitists who will not be satisfied with anything less than transforming America into a 'socialistic republic."

It truly is deplorable that Mr. McClellan chose to attack Mr. Beck personally while chastening Mr. Beck for the same alleged offense. All this accomplished was a further inciting of race relations in our city and country.

While Mr. McClellan was within his rights to attack Mr. Beck, I hereby express my right to vehemently oppose the manner in which his opinion was conveyed.

B.C. MacDonald • Webster Groves

Time to speak out

I appreciated Bill McClellan's column "Rights and wrongs at Glenn Beck rally" (Aug. 30). His approach and insights are greatly needed in today's often vitriolic atmosphere. It is encouraging to be reminded that there are people in the media and out here who are aware of the principles embodied in our Constitution and who are committed to living them out for the betterment of the common good.

I may be offended and uncomfortable, as I was by Glenn Beck's unfortunate rally or by the negativity of those who attack Muslims as a monolithic source of evil, but I will continue to strive to keep my balance and peace by focusing on the certain existence of the many individuals among us who are committed to caring, compassion and community. And that they, like Mr. McClellan, will find the right time to speak out — in their daily lives and in the voting booth.

Mary Brauninger • St. Louis County

No commonality

Albert Pujols' mistake was in associating himself with Glenn Beck for any reason. Mr. Pujols is a big-hearted man who sincerely wants to help others, while Mr. Beck is just a small, hate-filled man who blames those in trouble for bringing it on themselves.

Mr. Pujols is a genuine humanitarian. Mr. Beck wants to strip all financial help and social services from those in need. There is no commonality there.

Albert, what were you thinking?

Virginia Preston • St. Charles

Turning back

Glenn Beck's alleged intent in his gathering at the Lincoln Memorial was to turn the nation back to God, Christianity and Jesus. Which nation is that? Is it the nation in which slavery was the business of the day by our presidents and landowners alike? Is it the nation of racism, lynchings as late as 1967, miscegenation and xenophobia, of the Christian Ku Klux Klan, of rampant anti-Semitism, of cruel and violent homophobia, of the subjugation of women and of the enormous distinction between the rich and the poor?

All of this was the product of "good Christian men" who lived and praised the Lord just as Mr. Beck does, despite his hate speech. Is this his idea of returning to our values of God and country?

Gene Dalton • Richmond Heights

Common interest

On Aug. 27, I had mixed emotions: Down at the Blues Fest in the shadow of the old Kiel Opera House, the street was filled with blacks and whites, young and old, urban and suburban, a variety of people enjoying a camaraderie we are finding rarer each day.

How appropriate, I thought, because we were all gathered beneath the words inscribed on the old building's exterior, part of which read, "For the whole process of modern life is a process by which we must exclude misunderstandings, bring men into common counsel, and so discover what is the common interest."

At the same time, I was digesting the news that Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols were going to stand with incendiary political talk-show host Glenn Beck.

The diversity of the crowd that I saw that Friday night was not duplicated by the crowds that Mr. La Russa and Mr. Pujols saw that weekend. It's a cliché that sports brings us together, but in 2006, after the Cardinals won the World Series, you could see it as fact.

Mr. La Russa and Mr. Pujols were part of a moment that brought a variety of people together in a celebration of what was "the common interest." It seems a shame that four years later they would be standing with someone who makes a living trying to emphasize what tears us apart.

Chuck Schneider • Florissant

Invited to be honored

Critics fail to mention that Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols were invited to attend the "Restoring Honor" rally. Mr. Pujols was recognized for his establishment of and work with the Pujols Family Foundation, which exists to honor God and strengthen families, to help those living with Down syndrome and to improve the lives of the imporverished in the Dominican Republic.

Mr. La Russa was invited and asked to introduce Mr. Pujols. In their short appearances, I did not hear one word that could be construed as political. I suspect that we would not have heard from Mr. McClellan or any other dissenters had the men attended the Rev. Al Sharpton's rally.

Carl P. Zey • Shrewsbury

Get back in the race

I disapproved of members of the Cardinals organization getting involved with the rally sponsored by Glenn Beck (and attended by Sarah Palin) in Washington, D.C., last weekend. Mr. Beck and Ms. Palin are two of the most polarizing influences in politics today. Many Americans, myself included, disagree strongly with most of their political views, but, more important, with the intolerant and accusatory manner in which these views are expressed. Bill O'Reilly is cast from the same mold.

Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols are free, of course, as private individuals, to express their political views as they see fit. The Cardinals organization should not censor or control their behavior in this regard.

However, to have prominent people who represent the Cardinals attend a political rally at the height of the baseball season, as well as to permit clubhouse visits by the likes of Mr. Beck and Mr. O'Reilly for the purpose of signing autographs, crosses the line — unless Cardinals management and ownership wish to engage in this behavior as a public endorsement of the kind of political views espoused by Mr. Beck, Mr. O'Reilly and Ms. Palin.

As a loyal Redbird fan for 50 years, I point out that we trail the Reds. I suggest to Mr. La Russa that, rather than attending political rallies, perhaps time might be better spent reviewing lineup cards, pitching charts and trying to figure out how to get back into the Central Division pennant race?

Niels Beck • Columbia, Mo.

Better use of time

I would be the first to defend Tony La Russa's attendance at Glenn Beck's charade at the Lincoln Memorial. Yet looking at the recent performance of the Cardinals, am I the only one who thinks that time could have been better spent trying to improve the performance of our Cardinals?

Francis Carr • Sunrise Beach