David Bowles

To the editor:There are three things that are very important to me, high morals, my right to work where I want to work without belonging to a union and my right to keep and bear arms without any restrictions.Barack Obama says he is for the Second Amendment, but he has never seen an anti-gun bill he did not like. In my opinion, you are lying if you say you are for the Second Amendment and then vote for anti-gun bills. Obama supports handgun bans, opposes self-defense in ones home, supports banning certain ammunition, supports raising the federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition by 500 percent, supports banningsemi-autos and magazines, opposes right-to-carry, supported a bill to shut down any gun store operating within five miles of any park or school, supports funding the anti-gun lobby and finally he voted against two Supreme Court nominees that support the right to keep and bear arms. So if you are a gun owner, you better vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.Obama is much too friendly to unions. I do not know of any national union that does not take its members dues and put the money toward political purposes. It has been proven in the U.S. Supreme Court that it is illegal to do such without first getting written permission from each member, but they continue to do it unless taken to court. This doesn't seem to bother the Democrats because they like the unions money.Something that really bothers me is the fact that Obama doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played. According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171, during rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform (they salute) are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. "I don't want to be perceived as taking sides," Obama said. "There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, I might salute it." This is quite an affront for those of us who have worn the uniform and those serving in uniform presently.