Letters to the editor: May 12

Working for peace
To the editor:
   The Coalition For Peace Action of Monroe Township is an organization dedicated to advancing a peace economy and the global abolition of nuclear weapons through programs that advocate these beliefs.
   We are an affiliate of the Coalition For Peace Action based in Princeton under the leadership of the Rev. Robert Moore and through them to the national peace organization.
   At our inaugural event on April 24, our group had the distinct honor of hosting Daniel Ellsberg as our keynote speaker. Thirty-five years ago, Dr. Ellsberg, an American military analyst startled the country and caused a national uproar when he obtained and "leaked" the so-called "Pentagon Papers" to The New York Times. These papers containing the U.S. military’s secret history of the Vietnam War were prepared for the secretary of defense but withheld from Congress and the American people.
   The publication of this secret material in the Times substantially eroded public support for the war.
   Our meeting was held in the Monroe Township Municipal Building where more than 200 people listened intently as Dr. Ellsberg presented his beliefs of a troubled American democracy and the urgency in the need for the American people to protect the liberties guaranteed in our Constitution.
   He compared the policies of the United States of 2006 to those of Germany in 1933. In answer to a Monroe Township High School student in the audience, he said that a draft will be imminent if there is another 9/11 and even more ominous the use of "camps" for dissidents.
   He urged us to take positive action bringing our views to our elected representatives and to publicize these views in all our newspapers.
   At this meeting we sent postcards to U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and U.S. Rep. Holt.
   Since that meeting several of our members attended the peace march in New York City on April 29, joining hundreds of thousands of people on a walk down Broadway to Foley Square.
   Others went to the demonstration organized to stop the genocide in Darfur the following day in Somerville. At the courthouse steps, several religious leaders and people from Darfur spoke about the need for strong action from our government and the United Nations.
   The Coalition For Peace Action of Monroe Township will meet again on Wednesday, May 17, in the Monroe Township Municipal Building off Perrineville Road at 10 a.m. We will have a panel discussion on verified voting (a paper trail of all votes done electronically). The three panelists are Irene Goldman, chairwoman of Coalition for Peace Action and primary plaintiff in a law suit before the New Jersey Appeals Court to mandate verified voting in New Jersey; Michelle Mulder, counsel to Rep. Holt and author of HR 550 to mandate verified voting nationally; and Beth Freehan, citizen expert. Everyone is welcome.
Ellen Norman

Betty Kletter
Monroe
Illegal immigrants are the problem
To the editor:
   You are right Mr Kalet "Immigrants are not the problem" — illegal immigrants are. Funny how the American media has managed to turn that day into an immigrant issue, barley using the word illegal, and once again making Americans the bad guys because we are so mean.
   You are so typical of the left, your mission to make victims, because without them there would be no base for the Democratic party.
   Your xenophobia statement is an insult to the overwhelming majority of Americans who have no problem with legal immigrants coming into this country. It is, by most estimates, the thousands of people illegally coming across our borders everyday that there is an issue with.
   But it doesn’t end there. It is the fact that they are now demanding their rights. It is the fact that our elected officials on the left and right are pandering and allowing the illegals to run the show, because they are jockeying for a future voting block.
   It is the fact that the left and the "blame America crowd" thinks immigrants should not have to assimilate into our culture, instead hiring teachers to teach children in their native language.
   It is the fact that we broke our health care system by allowing anyone from anywhere, no questions asked, to use our emergency rooms like free clinics. Do you know how many emergency rooms and hospitals in border communities have had to close, Mr Kalet, because they went broke? Maybe you should take an extended trip to some of those border communities and see what those Americans have to live with.
   NAFTA, signed into law by President Clinton, should be helping to keep Mexicans home by allowing them job opportunities in the global market. The problem is the corruption in the Mexican government.
   Why don’t you put the blame on them? You and your brethren on the left need to stop trying to lay your white American guilt on the rest of us. We have nothing to be guilty of.
   We are the most welcoming country in the world. This is still the only country where immigrants can come and achieve great things, with endless possibilities, through hard work.
   But we are a country of laws and it is our right to regulate the flow of immigration as we see fit.
Cathy Speranza
Monroe
Cranbury needs bicycle paths
To the editor:
   We have requested that Cranbury include planning for bicycle and pedestrian paths as a regular consideration in land-use decisions. Planning can start by allowing space and rights of way. Building the paths can follow as money becomes available and experience is gained.
   Bike and pedestrian paths will provide multiple-use recreation for multiple generations as well as the practical benefit of allowing people to enjoy the small town atmosphere that is our great good fortune by walking or biking to town businesses, social events, and meetings. Providing designated paths should also allow for safer travel for pedestrians and bicyclists. Our children would also be more secure on their bikes if the entire town were connected with paths.
   We still have the opportunity to provide a network of paths of significant length through some very beautiful landscapes along Cranbury Brook. Plainsboro already has a long bike and pedestrian path that ends just across the street from Cranbury. Hightstown and East Windsor are also building paths. Both towns found state funding for at least part of the cost.
   When Cranbury considers recreational use and expense, please bear in mind a variety of possibilities for various age groups. We know that planning and execution take time, but we believe that now is the time to start including bike trails in our comprehensive view of our town.
Mary Kay and Bob Miller
Cranbury