Seniors meals site should remain same
This is what the senior meals site in the Cobleskill Community Center means to one senior citizen who goes there: It's a place where I can go to be with my friends. To laugh and joke and enjoy each others' company for a few hours.
It gives us seniors something to look forward to. We (seniors) were so proud of how we decorated our walls in our room and made it look like our home away from home.
The children would come in to play bingo with us and we would have fun with them. At Christmastime, the children loved the way we decorated for the party and we loved having them come to sing with us and for us. We also loved it when they did their little skits for us.
When they took the tables away and made us walk farther, did they forget that some of us are on oxygen and walkers?
They are making it harder for us seniors and destroying our beautiful room. Please stop.
Esther M. Miller
Cobleskill
Good reason why we are a republic
Someone once said that a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. That is precisely why the Founding Fathers constructed a constitutional republic with a federal government having limited and clearly defined powers with all other powers being reserved to the states or the people.
It is obvious from his letter to The Daily Star that Jim O'Leary doesn't understand the concept of the nation as originated by our forefathers and, sad to say, his conception is shared by many of his fellow Americans. Think of how democracy is practiced in Africa.
In almost all instances democracy is one man, one vote, one time. Robert Mugabe was democratically elected president of Zimbabwe and has since declared himself president for life. The country is in complete disarray and the people are far worse off than when they were ruled by the British.
Mr. O'Leary rails against the United States Senate because of the disparity of the population in the various states. But that is exactly why the Senate was formed that way, to protect the smaller states from being overwhelmed by the larger ones. Regrettably, Mr. O'Leary's point of view seems to be winning.
Prior to the 17th Amendment, senators were chosen by state legislatures. A good case can be made that the quality of the senators before the amendment was superior to those after. Where are the Daniel Websters, John Calhouns and Henry Clays in the modern era Senate?
Our government was set up to have a House of Representatives to represent the people, the Senate to represent the states and the president to represent the federal government. How far we have come since that was true and the federal government was a small part of legislation enacted in our country.
Robert C. Beckman
Otego
