Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.
I moved to Las Vegas in 2002 after living in Utah for 23 years. I am familiar with the conservatism of Utahns and understand political writer Richard Benedetto's concerns in his commentary in Tuesday's paper headlined, "Salt Lake mayor crosses the line."
Rocky Anderson, as Salt Lake City's mayor, spoke from his heart and participated in a demonstration against George W. Bush when the president came to Salt Lake City to address an American Legion convention last week. The president was there also to raise money for Sen. Orrin Hatch. Rocky spoke out against a president who has exhibited abysmal political leadership in thrusting us into a horrible war, has exhibited disregard for the environment, and has practiced a foreign policy that has alienated the world against America. Isn't speaking out against poor political leadership appropriate in our democracy?
It was lack of political leadership that thrust us into concentration camps here in America for three years during World War II. Two-thirds of us 120,000 were Japanese-American citizens, but we were deprived of all basic constitutional freedoms because we looked like "those guys" who bombed Pearl Harbor.
Rocky Anderson worked with us on civil rights issues in the 1997-2000 time period when we were going up against a very conservative politician, Hatch, who then chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rocky is not a nutso, wacko politician from the loony fringe. He is a thoughtful, sensitive public servant who feels genuinely that America has been ill-served by our president.
If there were more like Rocky in 1941-1942 to stand up against FDR and his executive order to throw us into concentration camps, perhaps I and my family would not have served "our time" behind barbed wires in Minidoka, Idaho.
Yas Tokita, Henderson
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