George Allen, Appalachian Power and Colin Powell in today’s letters to the editor.

Pick of the day: A silly flap over words

It should go without saying that all Americans admire people who have built their businesses, especially those who bring jobs and in other ways contribute to their community. But the recent flap over misrepresenting President Obama’s words during his visit to Roanoke is just as silly as the one over Mitt Romney’s words, “I love to fire people.” Most listeners, when hearing Obama’s whole statement, knew what he meant.

However, to disregard the government’s role in any endeavor for success diminishes the importance it plays in all our lives. Unfortunately, too many people have taken that importance for granted. They expect our roads will always be smooth, our bridges forever sturdy and our hospitals and schools to function only on prayer.

Yes, businesses pay more taxes. That’s because they are in a nation that helped them thrive with the infrastructure their government built with those funds. What kind of country would we have if every hard-working businessman had his own little fiefdom?

Instead of constantly repeating four words out of context in a political ad, we should have been hearing the rest of Obama’s statement, “somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system … that allowed you to survive.”

ROSEMARY HAWKINS

ROANOKE