TO THE EDITOR:

In regards to the May 16 Enquirer article describing an "angry congressman" Steve Chabot applying pressure to rescind the requirement that Cincinnati police report and justify any use of "hard hands" on civilians, I have two points:

First, if any private citizen laid hands, hard or soft, justified or not on another person, that citizen is liable to prosecution, imprisonment, and/or civil sanctions. Is it really too much to ask the police to document and explain instances where they have applied hard hands?

In other words, shouldn't the police be required to justify why they tackled, punched, kicked, arm-locked, piled on, or otherwise assaulted a private citizen? If the police take someone to the ground, should they not be required to articulate a clear and demonstrable reason for the violent action? The reason may be self-defense, mob control, or some other valid purpose, but surely such documentation of violent actions are not an undue burden on the police. If it is a burden, perhaps the police are too free with their hard hands.

Second, what business is it of Congressman Chabot to get involved in local police matters, especially when he is reducing the right of his constituents to be protected against undocumented police violence?

Walt Reep, Blue Ash

McKinney acted in others' defense

"But Harold McKinney was wrong to carry a firearm into a bar and take the law into his own hands." These lines, from an Enquirer editorial on May 15 ("Vigilante man: Hero or villain?"), clearly illustrate the warped view taken by many in public service and the media. What law exactly did McKinney take into his own hands?

A more accurate variation of this line would be "McKinney was wrong to carry a firearm into a bar and take one of his rights into his own hands." This is really what everyone is apparently afraid of. Certainly, "Policing is the job of the police," but McKinney was not "policing." He was simply acting in self-defense of himself and others. Even if the City of Cincinnati decided to pay for the police department at a level that will literally put a cop on every corner, citizens have not only a right, but a duty, to act in defense of themselves and others.

His relationship with the Citizens on Patrol has nothing to do with this incident at all, and is simply being used as a red herring to take away attention from the real issue of the right and duty of everyday citizens to act in self-defense when necessary.

For the Enquirer to be critical of this is shameful. Do you think that if the two miscreants knew that someone in the bar might be armed they might not have attempted the robbery? McKinney is neither villain or hero but simply a man doing his duty as an American citizen.

Don Rabold, Westwood

Heimlich paid tribute to officers

I carefully read the report of Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich's speech ("Heimlich blasts police reforms, judges," May 13) and the actual speech (as printed in pitcrew@philheimlich.com) given at Monday's police memorial ceremony.

It is very clear that the reporter emphasized only certain statements from Mr. Heimlich and ignored others.

I thought the last two sentences of the speech were the best: "Today, we refuse to see things in colors of black and white, or male and female, or rich and poor, because all we see around us is a sea of blue. Today is the day we honor you."

Instead of reporting Phil's statements of tribute to those who serve as police officers, the reporter chose to report the event in a way to depict Heimlich as the negative guy and to report CAN; the collaborative agreement (from which Judge Susan Dlott has dismissed the Black United Front); Ken Lawson, their attorney; and the Justice Department as the good guys with answers to Cincinnati's problems.

These entities have previously done negative things which weren't mentioned.

The Justice Department studied the racial profiling claim and ruled in favor of the police and said there was no real evidence of racial profiling. This is a positive fact to emphasize on a day of honoring policemen and women.

I hope the Black United Front, Ken Lawson, Scotty Johnson of the Sentinel Police Association, Judge Dlott and the Justice Department will communicate superbly and find the right solutions and work hard to solve Cincinnati's issues.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think they can do it by themselves. As citizens of Cincinnati we need to work together. In the end, if you and others continue to emphasize and report the negative, ignoring the positive, then Cincinnati will be run by negative people.

K.M. Hayes, Hyde Park

Democracy at risk in new corporate world

"Control a person's opinions and you control their actions." So wrote Thomas Hobbes, the great English political philosopher in the 17th century. How those words fit our own time. Over the past two decades the press, whose role in a democracy is to facilitate the people's right to know, has become less reliable. With only a few exceptions, the print and broadcast media have been taken over by mega-corporations more interested in the bottom line than in providing the public with comprehensive and objective news coverage. This situation could get worse. The Bush-appointed FCC chair is pushing to eliminate the last remaining obstacle to one corporation owning all the radio and television stations, cable systems and newspapers in one local area.

Conservatives have been very successful in convincing many Americans that there is a sinister liberal media out there. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed it is just the opposite.

The power of big money is perverting our whole political system. We are on the verge of total control by a corporate-controlled, one party state. Without a free, aggressive, challenging press democracy cannot survive.

Gerald E. Kerns, Loveland

Kids better off with child support watchdog

I strongly disagree with writer who thinks the government should get out of the child support system ("Government fails child support system," May 13).

I remember when the courts just assumed that divorced fathers would just send in their child support to the mothers of their children out of the kindness of their hearts. It just doesn't happen like you would like that.

Even though it may take a little longer to get the money owed to the children, and mistakes are made at times, at least it is tracked and "deadbeat dads" are arrested now.

I am sure there are plenty of fathers out there who would do the right thing and pay their child support without the watchdog, my ex-husband included; however, after seeing the system operated both ways, I can honestly say it is much better to have the government looking out for the children.

Tracy Shuttleworth, Colerain Township

Billion-dollar tax cuts not scary for retiree

As a member of the abused class of federal retirees, I thought it might be appropriate to respond to the letter of May 12 "Federal retirees to endure cuts."

I pay $58.70 a month for Medicare, which pays most of my medical bills.

The government pays 71 percent of my monthly Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Anthem) supplemental insurance premium. Sweet, huh?

The letter writer fears a frozen cost-of-living adjustment. It has averaged 2.5 percent the past three years, while it was a hefty 1.93 percent under Clinton the previous three years. What about the scary possibility of an increase in employee retirement contributions?

I've been retired for only 12 years, but I can't remember how long ago I recovered all of my contributions.

According to the year 2000 data for individual income tax returns provided by the IRS, the top 1 percent of incomes pay 37.42 percent of all federal individual income taxes; the top 5 percent pay 56.47 percent; the top 10 percent pay 67.3 percent; and the top 50 percent pay 96.09 percent. The bottom 50 percent pay 3.91 percent of all federal individual income taxes. It would be just awful to give those rich folks some of their money back.

Dick Stirsman, Union Township

Kilburn hindering progress in community

This is in response to the letter ("Kudos to Kilburn for growth control" May 13). I strongly disagree with him regarding the direction of Warren County and where we should head. Kilburn is standing on the air hose of our county. He would rather halt all growth and have communities turn into dried-up, blighted, vacant areas similar to what you see throughout more rural areas of this country.

When no effort is put behind strategically enhancing the water systems, road systems, and general development, the result is overused, strained facilities. Kilburn believes if he votes down every expansion, no matter how needed, that he would stop growth. That is like moving into a house and doing no upkeep or improvements to that house. Pretty soon that house loses its value and may eventually become condemned. The same can happen with communities. I have seen the growth in Warren County and admire the beautiful communities, schools and parks throughout.

I firmly believe growth can continue to enhance and improve this community. The commissioners are meant to help this growth enhance the community, not put a big fence around the community with a "no trespassing" sign.

Paula Steffens, Loveland