Traficant a victim of trumped-up charges

Traficant a victim of trumped-up charges
EDITOR:
I have lived in Youngstown for 38 years and have seen many cases of injustice meted out to various people. However, nothing can compare to the travesty being inflicted upon Mr. Traficant. Even if he is guilty of some of the charges leveled against him, he has done nothing that every elected official in the Congress has not done.
I just find it hard to understand how the Justice Department can assign all these FBI agents for all these years to try to trump up charges against Mr. Traficant.
They give people like Mr. Strollo a slap on the wrist for providing supposedly honest testimony against other people. Then they coerce associates of Mr. Traficant to testify against him for trivial charges.
Was Mr. Traficant not recently elected to Congress by a large majority of the voters in this congressional district? I voted for him, but I do not remember having voted for Mr. Morford for anything. Why doesn't he take his FBI stooges and root out some real criminals and leave our congressman alone?
I have always been a proud American but am starting to lose my faith in the justice system in America.
GEORGE GRIM
Youngstown
UAW union officialdeserves local respect
EDITOR:
Your recent editorial about Lordstown sending GM a wrong message was a slam against our regional director that was unfair and wrong by your staff at The Vindicator. Just because your newspaper is anti-union and company friendly doesn't give you the right to knock Warren Davis from Cleveland who happens to be on the executive board of the International UAW.
Warren Davis is responsible for many local unions of the UAW in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. Between him and his staff, some of whom live in the Mahoning Valley, he watches over our local union as well as our sister Local 1714. I for one, am very thankful that we have a true leader who happens to believe 100 percent in what a union stands for.
Warren Davis takes a stand on an issue such as outsourcing of jobs by GM because it is his right to speak up when he thinks that GM management might not be abiding by our contract.
It is his right and duty to his members to question any politician who might be knowingly or unknowingly encouraging GM management to outsource jobs and thereby violate our agreement. Apparently, you don't realize that Warren Davis represents the UAW in the Mahoning Valley and does care about our future at Lordstown. To think otherwise is simply ridiculous.
Your reference to Mr. Davis as "a Cleveland union official" is a slap in the face to this UAW member. You owe me, as well as Mr. Davis and the entire UAW membership, an apology for your actions. His position in the international union of the UAW deserves respect.
BILL HOUK
Austintown
X The writer is a member of UAW Local 1112.
Hospitals, workers must reconcile differences
EDITOR:
As of last Saturday, most patients in our Valley needed to cross picket lines to receive their medical care at either of our hospitals. While both hospitals have brought in qualified replacements to continue to operate, this is neither a stable nor long-term solution. It is just a matter of time before we have a tragedy occur either inside or outside the hospitals.
I'm sure our legal colleagues are salivating at the prospects.
Both the hospitals and the nursing association are trying to strengthen their financial and political positions while the nurses and patients are simply being used as pawns.
If the nurses are truly concerned about providing quality care and the hospitals honestly concerned about the health of the community as they both claim, they will quit their attention seeking media games and get to the bargaining table to get these strikes resolved. How about it, guys?
JAMES SMITH, M.D.
Youngstown