There's a murder in Prince George's every day

Re: "Tucson memorial was turned into a political pep rally," From Readers, Jan. 19

Lt. Col. Dominik Nargele used well-chosen terms to describe President Obama's "self-congratulatory" lecture of the American people while exploiting the tragic shootings in Tucson by a crazed murderer. The ongoing homicides in Prince George's County have been going on for two straight weeks; the body count is nearly one per day. But this tragic toll was buried inside "Local News."

Edward Abramic

Washington

Democrats dust off their Bush-era Nazi metaphor

Re: "Hope & change: Rep. Steve Cohen compares Republicans to Nazis during health care debate," Beltway Confidential, Jan. 19

The Nazi metaphor used by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn, to describe Republican attempts to derail Obamacare was the exact same paradigm the Democrats used to slander President Bush, saying that he lied us into an unjust, illegal, immoral and unnecessary war. With no evidence to back up this slanderous claim and never daring to lift a legislative finger to prosecute or impeach Bush for the worst accusation ever levied against a sitting American president, Democrats droned on and on -- and their left-wing media accomplices were more than happy to go along for the ride. As Cohen said, "You say it enough, you repeat the lie and eventually people believe it." From the deepest depths of hell, Joseph Goebbels must surely have been toasting and saluting the Democratic Party during the last decade.

Eugene R. Dunn

Medford, N.Y.

Neither Bush nor Obama unified the country

Re: "Palin's Wild West rhetoric should be blamed," from readers, Jan. 18

Rosalind Ellis is far from the first to accuse those who strongly oppose the president of destroying the "unity Barack Obama desires." The terms "unity" and "unifier" have been used many times in connection with Obama. It should be clear by now that Obama's own use of the terms reflects his monumental arrogance and certainty that everyone will do things his way. George W. Bush's presidency was divisive, and many, many people were vehemently opposed to him. But the same is now true for Barack Obama. Neither Bush nor Obama (so far) were consensus builders.

While there are probably many people who opposed both presidents, it's safe to suppose that their respective supporters are two almost completely different sets of people. It's easy to see the politician you dislike as "divisive," and to view the one you do like as a "unifier."

Stephen Kosciesza

Silver Spring