The current Alabama crisis regarding gay marriage reminds me of a provision in the Constitution of the Confederacy that gave states power to remove federal judges from office.

We are indeed still fighting the Civil War.

First I want to comment that I am very impressed with the good works you do, the intelligent dialogue on your radio program, and your consistent progressive outlook. I also very much appreciate your willingness to admit when you do not have adequate knowledge on a certain topic. I have learned alot listening to your radio program on WCPT and largely agree with your comments. Of course like any thinking person there are times I partly or totally disagree.

I am commenting on your extensive conversation yesterday regarding ISIS, their humanitarian works with the local populations in Syria and Iraq and how we should adjust US policy learning from their success. What I did not hear you mention is ISIS only provides help to those who blindly follow their ideology and those who do not they torture and massacre much like the Nazis did before and during World War II to populations under their control. Hitler and his gang of blood thirsty murderers also helped the local German population economically provided they showed the same hatred and brutality toward Jews, Communists, and Socialists.

I do agree US policy in the Mideast is way too skewed by thirst for oil and there are too many in the US who want to go down the path of war before giving diplomacy a chance. Since World War II and especially after the cold war we are largely guilty of being the Imperialists of the world and need to recognize how that affects how others view us. Where there is an opportunity to provide help to the local population and seek peaceful solutions we along with our allies and others in the Mideast region need to pursue that. With ISIS I feel there is no room for negotiation and compromise. Their motivation is total domination and those who fail to adopt their ideology must be put to death, most often in a very brutal and barbaric way. Undoubtedly our policies in the region helped lead to their growth. My concern is the US is not exactly trusted by the local population or governments in most of the Mideast. Who can we trust to partner with on the ground especially in Syria to provide humanitarion aid? Iraq is a different situation but good faith acceptance of our aid is still very uncertain, except perhaps for the Kurds. Also, much like we should not be policing the rest of the world, we alone should not be the one to always provide humanitarian assistance. Our allies, other mideast countries, and the United Nations needs to play a much larger role. We need to accept and respect their help.

To summarize I believe you are excellent making inciteful and strong arguments. In this case however my impression is you ignored the considerable down side of both the enemy and our opportumity for positive influence in the region given considerable cultural differences, hatred, and lack of trust. I do agree there are actions we need to take to break down those barriers.

Thank you for your great program and consideration of my comments.

Best, Don Baker