Here's one recent headline in an area newspaper: "Shays praises Big Oil in Iraq." Service from Western oil companies "couldn't come fast enough," according to Congressman Christopher Shays.

But wait. These are same oil companies that were nationalized in 1972. Now do you believe we didn't go to war for oil?

Handing out no-bid contracts to oil companies headquartered in the two countries whose leaders conspired to mislead their people into a criminal war sends the wrong message to the world, particularly if you understand the word "fascist." Fascism is the seamless merger of corporations with national leadership producing a belligerent nationalism accompanied by suppression of citizen rights.

Fascism happens when the corporations call the shots and the government connives to let them do it. Why not let oil companies around the world submit bids to Nouri al-Maliki's Iraq government and let it work the way private enterprise is supposed to work? Why let our government put pressure on Iraq in the name of corporate favorites? Did we go to war for ExxonMobil? Should we fly its corporate logo instead of the Stars and Stripes? That's where Shays would take us. Twenty trips to Iraq to sew up a distributorship for Big Oil!

The burgeoning fascist regime in Washington has conspired with telecommunications giants to listen in on our private conversations. This is why Bob Barr, the Libertarian presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul and other conservatives are fed up with

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Cheney-Bush & Co.

Meanwhile, Shays holds hands and schmoozes with the president at every opportunity, fawning over the sleazy oil deal in Iraq and voting to gut our civil rights!

It's time to send Shays packing. Time to send Democrat Jim Himes, a real moderate, to clean up the mess in Washington and restore American values of liberty and justice for all.

Scott Kimmich

Norwalk

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I read some of the Democrats' letters in the Connecticut Post with amusement. They attack U.S. Rep. Chris Shays for being a Republican, and they support their candidate because he will bring "much-needed change." What they don't seem to offer, however, is anything in the way of substantive reasons for us to believe that their eventual candidate is qualified to do the job or, for that matter, any substantive platform on how he or she would address the issues if either one had the job. Say what you might about Shays, he's proven himself to be a responsive, caring and knowledgeable representative for the 4th District as well as a proven leader both on the national and international front.

He's a true moderate and a true independent thinker who has, time and again, broken from his own party's administration in voting on legislation. In fact, his overall voting record in Congress has been with the administration half the time and against it half the time. I haven't agreed with Shays on every position he's taken, but I've always respected him, and I definitely support him for re-election this November!

Norma Riess

Redding