Trucker fired, because pickup rammed his trailer

I wrote Dr. Senator Coburn,

Dr. Coburn, An unfortunate traffic accident occured a few miles from my home last week. A local Ponca City man and neighbor drove his pickup into the trailer of an 18 wheeler leaving a local construction company yard. There were no skid marks, and there was speculation the deceased, the pickup driver, might have intended the consequences.

I was told that the driver of the semi rig was fired on the spot.

I have several concerns about what turns out to be a knee-jerk reaction in many industries, to fire someone when something unfortunate happens.

Every driver has someone giving instructions, directions -- orders where to go, what to pick up and deliver. If the driver were to be found impaired (I don't believe that was the case, here), then possibly the driver is at fault -- but the dispatcher, or the driver's supervisor or lead, must surely be criminally negligent for not assuring that their driver was alert and unimpaired, and competent to operate the assigned equipment for the assigned task. Yet companies successfully fire the lowest-ranked people involved to evade responsibility.

Second, this driver was involved in a death related to his assigned task. The semi driver did not *choose* to be in that location, nor to be there at that time. And yet he was left with the knowledge that his presence with his rig caused the death of another person. Anyone in this position, regardless of other circumstances, must surely need some emotional support, transport, and likely supportive care. I find firing this person at the same time to be a horrible vilification of what may turn out to be entirely the fault of the deceased. But we now have a fired semi driver, being treated as if he *deliberately* killed the pickup driver. This has to have been crushing for the semi driver, and an insurmountable social indictment in front of his friends and family, as well as to him.

Third, the trucking company now has no driving reason to understand what went wrong, no outstanding reason to review whether the people that sent their driver on that task that day made mistakes, no reason to review the readiness, alertness, competence, and lack of impairment on the part of other drivers and supervisory and dispatch people.

Please consider whether an employer should be penalized for firing someone, contractor or employee, without due notice and reasonable process, without reasonable discovery of what happened and who all was responsible for creating the situation.

Thank you, and my heart goes out to the family of my neighbor, and to the driver of that semi,

The Boston Maraton bombing -- thug

I wrote Dr. Senator Coburn,

Dr. Coburn,

About the bomber from the Boston Marathon.

I would like to stop putting petty thugs like this in the news. And to put the crime in perspective.

I would like the US Government, at all levels, to stop grandstanding, to justify suppression of civil rights of communities, and to stop justifying massive budgets.

I would prefer to have the City of Boston file charges against the bomber for -- malicious mischief and manslaughter. These charges should be simple to prosecute, and adequately deal with what happened.

I do *not* consider the injuries and deaths to be insignificant, but I also do not see the bombs as part of an orchestrated effort to influence a nation or state. No social change, or conquest, is involved.

History has shown, clearly, that making the headlines, prosecuting the horrendous charges, getting the horrendous sentences, only rewards the miscreant, enlarges the Federal presence, and encourages copycats. It is time to rein in Federal intrusion into the antics of minor, local thugs.

Please request that the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, etc. all recommend that the City of Boston file charges of manslaughter and malicious mischief against the bomber, and all Federal offices, agencies, etc. withdraw from the case.

Let's try something cheaper. It might even be more effective. And let those harmed by the kid's actions sue the parents and religious teachers that taught him bombs and intolerance are OK.

Senator lies about black powder use

Senator Lautenberg, trying to jump on the PR bandwagon pulling the crime at the Boston Marathon into a media and politician's event, proposes background checks for black powder.

I wrote Senator Coburn.

Dr. Coburn,

Please oppose Senator Lautenberg's proposal for background checks for black powder and black powder substitute powders. His misuse of the terms "explosive", while possibly appropriate, conceals the fact that literally tons of black powder and black powder substitutes are consumed in America annually, and during season, at times monthly, during re-enactments and other recreational uses of black powder for recreational shooting.

I am shocked that his background checks don't include purchases of nitrate fertilizers and diesel fuels, and please don't suggest that to him. My point is that misuse of explosives and firearms is primarily suppressed by healthy communities, healthy economies, and vigorous social institutions -- and only exacerbated, as history demonstrates, by government regulations.

The good Senator's PR release on his proposal is at
http://www.lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=341435&

Again, if the Second Amendment is to have virtue, then the government *cannot* know who might or might not own or use a weapon. Background checks create a trail that is used today, and has been used since using them was illegal when first instituted. Any claim that background checks or registrations of guns or ammunition, including powders to reload ammunition, is a breach of faith with the American people.

Thank you,

Brad Kruse
Ponca City, OK

Another immigration bill

The presence of millions of people living in America, working jobs and paying bills, without the benefit of citizenship and protection of the law they are funding, is an affront to all Americans.

Because the government failed to protect the security of our borders is no reason to hound those living in America -- citizen or not.  My community isn't responsible for the border; the government isn't responsible for who lives and works in my community.

I wrote Senator Coburn,

Dr. Coburn,

Please support extending citizenship to people that have lived in the US as law-abiding people, regardless of whether they crossed the border against the law.

Please do deny legal protection to anyone [citizen or not] involved in orchestrating illegal border crossings; predators like that need to be pursued relentlessly, until the ends of time. Exile and deportation should be the first and most prompt response.

Please rescind penalties on employers and property owners for hiring or renting to people living in their community. Let us return to assuming our neighbors are Americans when they act as if they want to live and let live.

The security of the borders of the United States are the proper concern of the US Government. Policing our communities for failures to protect our borders is not. Those in our communities, until and unless they violate the law, are the proper concern of civil authorities.

Please accept any state or community recognition of residence in their state or community as prima facie evidence of citizenship, permitting those so identified to act, and be treated in good faith, as citizens of the US.

Please, please do address the human rights violations of Mexico and the northern tier of Mexican states, that have made people fleeing from their homes such a massive problem for the United States. I still contend that the US needs to extend an offer to those northern Mexican states to leave Mexico and become American states. At the least it would reduce the length of the US southern border.

Prohibition still has lessons to teach America today. Rescinding restrictions can be more effective in reducing threats to America. At the least, rescinding restrictions removes funding for criminal enterprises.

Thank you,