Coles was a dishonest scumbag: Total crook, and New Times should win an award for its reporting [on Mortgages Ltd.]. Fraud is fraud ("The Tangled Legacy of Scott Coles," John Dickerson, September 18).
He was a dishonest scumbag who took advantage of many people. I know many people who wouldn't do business with him and are hardly surprised.
Seth Goldberg, Paradise Valley
Wrath of God for Scott?: Wow, taking advantage of a church, a house of God? Boy I would not want to be him on Judgment Day!
Susan White, via the Internet
Ouch: Scott took the easy way out and took hundreds of regular working-class people with him. His actions caused my company to close down. I am out of a job with two kids and a mortgage to pay.
I can't tell you how much I hate this man. I, and the rest of the people who were hurt by this, will move on and rebuild our lives with our wonderful families. That is the good news.
The other good news is that when we all look back and realize we have pulled up our bootstraps and fixed our lives, he will still be dead, and the world is a better place because of it.
Name withheld
PALIN PATROL II
Fenske and Palin — two peas in a pod: After reading Sarah Fenske's article, ("Sister Sarah," September 18), it becomes painfully apparent to me that Fenske and Palin are two peas in a pod.
Both Palin and Fenske make a mockery out of Barack Obama's work as a community organizer. Both women act as if Palin's stint as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (a city of 9,000 people), was comparable to the responsibilities of a mayor of a large city or a governor of a major state.
Sadly, both believe that you can be a good mother to a big family and still maintain more than a full-time job.
Just how solid is the judgment of a college-educated woman who gets pregnant in her mid-40s when it's a well-established fact that the chances of bearing a child with Down syndrome become so much higher?
Who made the decision to drag Levi Johnston to the Republican National Convention? Who is advertising his "engagement" to Bristol Palin? Who forced him to remove his revealing MySpace page from the Internet? Who flip-flopped on the "bridge to nowhere"?
TV reporter Charles Gibson's interview with Palin proved two major things about her. First, she doesn't answer questions honestly but chooses to dance around issues to hide her obvious ignorance. Second, clearly she's honing her skills on her way to becoming a major bullshitter. So very modern Republican.
We're about to conclude eight years of a disastrous presidency headed by a bottom-of-his-college-class president and a conniving vice president. Do we want to top that idiocy with another bottom-of-the-class president and an inexperienced loudmouth BSer?
The citizens of our nation need to wake up now before it's too late.
This letter was not written by a die-hard Democrat. I would have liked the opportunity to vote for Ron Paul. With him out of the picture, the next viable candidate became Obama. The McCain/Palin ticket is a dangerous political combination threatening the security of the United States, the financial/economic status of our country, and our foreign relations.
The Sarah Fenskes of our nation just don't get it. For the rest of you planning to vote, let's not make the years following January 20, 2009, another Jerry Springer Show.
Coni Cabot, Phoenix
Wendy lives up to her name: What the heck is up with you liberal women?! You constantly bitch about rights of women and how the playing field needs to be even and fair. Now you're bitching that a woman [Sarah Palin] has made it ("Mommy Dearest," Amy Silverman, September 18)!
What's it going to be?! You want it even or you don't? Tell you what, when you figure out what you want, then come to the world with your feminist plans. Otherwise, shut it.
When you bitch and scream about unfair sexism rampant in our society, anyone with common sense hears only the sound of the adult voices in the Peanuts cartoons: "Mwah-mwah-mwah. Mwah-mwah. Mwah, mwah-mwah, mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah."
Wendy Whiner, Tempe
Worse than Cheney? Is that even possible?: After reading Sarah Fenske's article about Sarah Palin, I had a sudden bout of vomiting. I'd always thought Fenske wore blinders, but now I'm firmly convinced that she must have a bag over her head. How can anyone defend Sarah Palin with a straight face?
In her recent interview with Charles Gibson, Palin stated that she would have no reservations about the United States invading Pakistan. Charlie showed a tape of Palin ranting in a church before a congregation: "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."
How can Palin lead a country when her own 17-year-old daughter's running around having sex and producing illegitimate offspring, while Palin's ranting about abstinence?
How about the ongoing investigation into Palin's trying to get the Alaska State Police to fire her former brother-in-law? How about Palin's [at first] backing the $485 million boondoggle "bridge to nowhere? What our country doesn't need is somebody worse than Dick Cheney as vice president!
Bill Demski, Glendale
There's that double standard thing again: I just have one question for Amy Silverman: If Mr. Palin were running for vice president, would you have written the statement: "And what the fuck does this man think he's doing; does he have any idea what it takes to raise a kid with Down syndrome? He thinks he can be vice president and take care of that baby?"
Hmmm. I think not. Can you say double standard? I know I can.
Christine Hippeli, Tempe
Plenty of puke sessions ahead?: I hear you, Amy! I have a 1-year-old daughter with Rett's syndrome (take cerebral palsy, autism and epilepsy, stir well, and add a shortened lifespan). At five months, a disabled baby is not much different from other babies. But Palin has no clue what's in store for her in regard to properly raising her Down syndrome son.
Palin's son will need her and her husband and an army of medical specialists to get through life. Ever heard of speech pathologists, medical specialists in every field, occupational therapists, physical therapists, behavioral therapists? Somebody needs to handle these specialists. Mrs. Palin, has someone told you that there could be serious heart complications later in life with a Down syndrome patient?
Did anybody tell you that having a special-needs child affects your other children, and that they will need their mom and dad? Oh, and I am sure all of the people of Alaska who live with a disabled family member have big love for you after you cut the state's funding for caring for the disabled by $60 million dollars.
Oh, but this was before your son was born. Now, you pledge your support for us, telling us during your GOP Convention acceptance speech: "If you have a child with a disability, you have a friend in me."
That's when I puked! I'm sure you're going to bring America plenty more puke sessions. Well, that would be a good way to solve our obesity problem. (Just kidding!)
Trisha Cullen, via the Internet
Any woman should applaud Palin: It was so clever of McCain to get Palin to have a Down syndrome baby — just to drum up more votes. Nothing tugs at the heartstrings like a POW holding a Down syndrome baby.
I mean, come on! How ridiculous can you get? If Palin were a man, there wouldn't be any mention of how this child's needs would be met. Perhaps Sarah Palin has a nontraditional family in which the man provides more of the childcare, which any woman should applaud! Shame on Amy Silverman for being so closed-minded!
Erin Giles, Phoenix
So, what's your point again?: Look at all the help Sarah Palin would get by being vice president. Where else should a baby with Down be, hidden in a dungeon somewhere?
How would her pregnant daughter feel if she didn't take the job? "Well, my mom could have been the first female vice-president, but I got pregnant, and she was ashamed of me and turned it down."
Caren Fife, Tucson
Ethics and openness are lacking in Palin: Many are asking: "Can Sarah Palin meet her responsibilities as a mother and serve as vice president?" I don't care. Neither should you. Quite simply, how other parents perform isn't our business — at least not unless they are abusing or neglecting children. Clearly, she is not going to do either.
So let's get to the real question. Is Sarah Palin who we as a country need?
We need political leaders with an ability to weigh both science and religious beliefs. While there are many who would support her views on abortion, how many Americans think that it's a good idea to have a political leader who believes in creationism and doesn't believe in global warming?
I don't care what kind of mother Sarah Palin is. I care greatly what kind of national leader she would be. There is nothing in her record that reassures me that this candidate is fit to lead. More importantly, she appears to lack the ethical values and openness to others that are critical.
Kenneth A. Weene, Phoenix
JOE ARPAYASO
Excuses are all we ever get: I haven't walked in their shoes, but I know plenty of cops who: a) know what the word restraint means, and the difference between compliance and revenge, and b) haven't killed anyone in their custody, even if the suspect ran [at] and/or attacked them ("Dead Again," John Dickerson, September 11).
I'm sick of hearing excuses and reasons that make [Maricopa County detention officers'] actions somehow okay. It's time for accountability. But more importantly, ask yourself how would you feel if that was someone you knew, or a loved one?
David Saint, Phoenix
His handle says it all: I invite anyone to come take a tour of the Lower Buckeye Jail — or of any of our jails, for that matter. What you see on the news or read in New Times (which has a known bias against the MCSO) is utter bullshit.
I promise that the full facts of the Juan Mendoza Farias case haven't been released. As far as not releasing the video, it's policy, not hiding. I honestly wish the video of this man's actions toward officers and staff were released. He was not only going through alcohol withdrawal, he was also on about every known street drug under the sun.
Alcohol withdrawal is a bitch, and it kills. A lot, if it's bad enough. This man's actions warranted the exact level of force that he received. He was not "beaten," I assure you. He was, however, restrained — aggressively.
The bruises you see are from altercations with other inmates who threatened to kill him. The two officers who used the exact same report were probably doing so out of fear. At any rate, it's obvious that whichever officer wrote it can't write reports for shit. I hope they are punished for their actions.
I'm sure the insurance company will pay out [to the victim's family] again, and this won't go to trial, which is a shame. Seriously, folks, come on down and have a look. I really wish people didn't believe everything they heard, but then again, I don't know why I'd expect more from sheep.
Big Bad D.O., Phoenix
Above the law? Sure appears that way: In a state where Eric Clapton would probably be arrested for singing, "I shot the sheriff," the murders at the sheriff's hands are beyond appalling. Is there no accountability?
John McCain runs for president, but he has no pull or jurisdiction to rein in a rogue sheriff? J. Arpayaso (beautiful Spanglish and appropriate). In Stephen King's It, killer clowns are fairy tales. [Not] in the real world. Can it be that Nickel Bag and his thugs are above the law?
What is the worst Arpaio can face? That Sun City might not re-elect him. Early retirement? Incarceration for being criminally senile? Is the killer clown accountable to anyone besides his bingo companions?
It's only a matter of time until Joe kills someone with a six-figure income and a suit and tie. Then the proverbial fan will get hit so hard it won't be able to rotate. Meanwhile, keep up the good fight so we don't have to wait for him to roast in the fires below with an apple in his mouth.
Name withheld
