TO THE EDITOR: Last week, President Bush kicked off his 2004 presidential campaign in a "made-for-TV-special" from the USS Abraham Lincoln. Carefully mixing together the al-Qaida attack of Sept. 11 and his justification for the Iraq war, he continued his strategy of deliberately deceiving the American people about the threat to the United States from the now destroyed Iraq regime.

He stated, "We have removed an ally of al-Qaida and cut off a source of terrorist funding" and "the battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11 and still goes on." Of course both he and Colin Powell failed miserably in presenting this story to the U.N., to the world and to many Americans because there is no substantiation for these statements. It appears that Bush has adopted the Wag the Dog strategy, keeping attention on his war on terror as a way of diverting American attention from his failed domestic and foreign policy agendas. Expect to hear his 2004 campaign theme of "Don't switch horses while we are engaged in this war to defeat (insert target of the month)" as the election approaches.

Jim Guion, Liberty Township

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Since when is UC a white-only school?

What's up with Cincinnati's double standard?

Well, it's not as bad as some would have you think.

A reader wrote May 7 claiming the city had a double standard for, as he saw it, condoning the events on Stratford on May 4. He makes the claim these events were "no big deal" to the city because those individuals involved were white, and if they had been black, the city would have reacted in a harsher manner.

To assume that all of the people involved in any riot are of only one race is preposterous. All of the students and partygoers on Stratford that night were certainly not white. I cannot understand why someone would assume they were; don't people from all races attend parties? Or just white people?

One of the great things about UC is its diverse student body. What is this reader trying to say?

The events on Stratford that night have nothing to do with race. We should be trying to promote equality and racial harmony, not creating a racial rift where there is not one.

Nathan Kerr, Clifton

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Fix lead problems before they poison

Tim Bonfield's article on May 4 on lead poisoning in the Cincinnati area is focused on screening children for lead to determine if they are poisoned. If a child is poisoned, the owner of the building must eliminate the lead hazards.

The Cincinnati Board of Education is learning this painful lesson after Heberle School was blamed for poisoning a child. Cincinnati currently has inadequate lead regulations so the Cincinnati Area Advisory Committee spent two years developing new lead regulations and spent an additional two years trying unsuccessfully to convince the Board of Health and City Council to adopt this modest proposal.

These regulations would require owners of buildings that are occupied by children less than seven years of age and built prior to 1950 to eliminate peeling paint and leaded dust. Adopting these regulations would cost the city little or nothing but would have a significant impact on reducing childhood lead poisoning.

Bill Menrath, Chair, Cincinnati Area Lead Advisory Committee

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Catholics have free speech, too

In his May 4 column, Richard Cohen seems suspicious of any role for religion in the public square. But he is especially contemptuous of Catholics who allow their faith to inform their views.

Cohen condemns Rick Santorum, the Catholic Pennsylvania senator who warned against a slippery slope leading from cases involving sodomy to other forms of criminalized sexual behavior like incest and bigamy. Santorum's remarks were almost word-for-word quotations from the Supreme Court's decision in the Bowers vs. Hardwick case, still the law of the land. No one questioned the "Protestantism" of Justice Byron White, the author of the majority opinion in that case. Why is it fair to attack Santorum's Catholicism?

Regardless, the influx of millions of new immigrants from Catholic countries in Asia and Latin America is going to make life difficult for those who would consign Catholicism to the margins of American public discourse.

Cohen concludes his piece by airing ancient fears of "divided loyalty," claiming that President Kennedy, who famously muted his Catholicism, "didn't run as a Catholic, but as a Democrat."

Evidently for secular liberals like Cohen, the only good Catholic is a quiet one.

Rich Leonardi, Hyde Park

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Flying Pig didn't need to be so loud

It is a good thing for our community to hold unique events like the annual Flying Pig Marathon. We need to have events like this that have the potential to bring the whole community together. This year's event, however, fell far short of that potential because organizers and participants of the marathon exhibited tremendous insensitivity toward the residents of the West End.

Without any warning or input from the citizens, at 6:30 a.m. organizers set up a very loud music stand at the corner of Liberty and Linn streets, jarring many people from a sound sleep. This music was loud for four solid hours. Residents of the senior apartment complex across the street were disoriented, and other members of the community wanting to go church or work found it difficult or impossible to do so because of the police barricade and runners.

Adding insult to the above insensitivity was the grinning disk jockey in the Afro-wig. What possible positive impact could his minstrel act have upon the residents? Would this kind of behavior be tolerated in other residential neighborhoods in the city?

If a citywide event is truly to be inclusive, then the organizers of that event should go out of their way to not insult members of the community. Nothing less than an apology to the residents of the West End and particularly to the elderly apartment dwellers is in order.

Carol Bray-Johnson, West End

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What are shorts doing in schools?

This letter is in regard to the new dress code for Lakota Schools. Good for them on cleaning up the attire. However, I was concerned about the problem of length of shorts.

Why are shorts allowed in school? Second, if they can't find long enough shorts, either they aren't looking hard enough or the fashion industry needs to listen up and provide them. For several years I was able to find shorts that fit the criterion, but I haven't been able to find them. Here is another reason to go to uniforms.

Janet B. Jehn, Taylor Mill

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Blacks want real police reform

I almost feel like I'm watching something from Alice in Wonderland when I read the May 7 Enquirer's opinion on the "hard hands" policy with the police ("Ashcroft should help"). Don't the newspaper and Mayor Luken realize that Cincinnati has been taken to court to change from the ways of the past, to a hopefully better way of the future? It looks like no one wants any change at all.

If I had a child who misbehaved, would I tell that child he must change his misbehaving ways or else?

The police have been told to change many things, and a monitor has been appointed to see to those changes. The community has looked on as promises of change have come forth, and the stubborn boycotters are anticipating failure. To this scenario, our mayor asks for the right to do what has been done in the past. Namely exactly what started the whole mess in the first place? The Enquirer is cheering him on. I can hardly believe my eyes.

Sure a riot can be the exception, but that's not what Luken is asking for. He wants what the police want, the same old 50-year-old procedures. This is not change. It's no wonder the black community doesn't believe anything will change and the boycott continues.

Terry Murray, Monfort Heights

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Ohio's elderly, poor need Medicare help

It is hard to believe that in the year 2003 the state of Ohio is threatening to cut medical care for Medicaid recipients. Those services that are listed as optional under Medicaid are not optional for those who need them. I fear that those who represent us in Columbus do not understand the desperate needs of our poorest residents, or those who work but do not have medical benefits.

As a former member of the Ohio State Dental Board, I have seen, first-hand, the problems of access to dental care across our state. As a practitioner for 26 years, treating many of our poorest residents in southern Ohio, I have no idea what they will do if their Medicaid dental coverage is taken away. Dental problems, left untreated, will result in infections that will be treated by repeated trips to the hospital emergency room.

As a Christian, I support many elected officials based on their pro-life stances. Is complete medical care for our citizens any less of a moral issue?

Howard D. McCleese, Portsmouth, OH