Why would you publish a cartoon about a port-a-potty on a dead grandmother’s grave?

Not a laughing matter

I strongly disapprove of “The Argyle Sweater” comic by Scott Hilburn on Feb. 8. (6B) This cartoon is inappropriate at many levels and is especially offensive to individuals who have a deceased grandmother (or any relative) buried in a cemetery. The graves of departed loved ones are sacred to their survivors and should be respected. The Star-Telegram should apologize and remove Hilburn’s cartoons from its comics pages.

- Hans Wasner, North Richland Hills

Editor’s note: The comic strip depicted characters using a portable toilet in a cemetery.

GOP leadership we need now

One especially important race on the Parker County primary ballot is for county Republican Party chair. Rachael Watson is getting my vote. She owns her own business as a paralegal who works with attorneys in family, criminal, civil, probate and estate law. Watson also serves on the board of the Fort Worth Republican Women organization and is active with the American Legion.

Despite all she has to do, she has decided to run for an unpaid volunteer position because she sees the critical need for someone to lead our party. She sees how important this job is as we prepare for the upcoming elections.

We need a leader like Rachael Watson as our next Parker County Republican Party chair.

- Darrelyn Derden, Weatherford

Only books that look like my life?

Ignorance is sometimes bliss but always embarrassing. Nicole Russell thinks the answer to the banned books issue is to push students to read “classic literature.” (Feb. 6, 5C, “In the roiling debate over parental control of school libraries, here’s a better way”)

She was happy when her ninth-grader read “Of Mice and Men” but, oops — that was also banned at one point. Other banned “classics” include “Little House on the Prairie,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Harry Potter series and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

The problem is that one person’s classic is another person’s pornography.

I can’t believe Russell opined that students don’t need to read about someone with their same problems to feel less alone. That would mean that in her book, students can read only books about others who are white, straight, Christian and upper middle class.

We live in a minority-majority state. Students should have access to literature that helps them navigate the mine fields of adolescence.

- Virginia Jentsch, Arlington

No tax money for religion, period

As a dutiful taxpayer, I strongly object to faith-based institutions receiving federal grant money to “fortify themselves” against terrorist attacks (Feb. 9, 1A, “Colleyville rabbi in hostage standoff asks Congress for help”).

Places of worship are already exempt from paying federal income tax. This would be nothing more than yet another federal subsidy — social spending for a special interest under another name.

This is my tax dollars going to support a faith that I do not share. What about separation of church and state?

- Owen Daniel, Fort Worth

Paying too much on this parkway?

I would like to know how the public can see how the fees being collected on the Chisholm Trail Parkway are used. It seems that those in charge are spending a lot on maintenance and landscaping. How will they ever pay for it? The North Texas Tollway Authority put down new striping on the inside and out with rumble bumps, then scraped them off during the winter storm.

The Chisholm Trail is one of the nicest toll roads, but it is the most expensive and too highly maintained.

- Stuart Smith, Crowley