Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    The problem with our political system isn’t so much that individual members of Congress are corrupt but that the system is corrupt. Sure, there are bad apples in the barrel, but the real problem is that the barrel is rotten. No matter how honest you are, when your ability to get elected depends on collecting millions of dollars from special interests, there’s no way you can be objective. And having to spend so much time fundraising just discourages good people from running and prevents those who do get elected from doing what we sent them there to do: Solve the problems of everyday Americans. It’s time our elected officials started listening to the voices of everyday Americans, not their corporate sponsors. We need to clean up our elections, and do it now.
    The Fair Elections Now Act has 156 congressional co-sponsors but only six from Texas. Convincing Rep. Ron Paul, in particular, would make a big difference.

Dear Editor,
    Indeed, ridership on the Austin-Leander rail line is low [“Empty Seats on the Red Line,” News, July 2].
    Imagine for a minute, how many people would buy cars if the only road available had one lane running from Downtown Austin to Leander. No way to get to Houston or Dallas, or even Barton Springs or Lake Travis. I doubt if many would be buying cars in such a situation.
    The same is true of mass transit. The current line lacks synergy. However, additional lines will allow riders to travel to more destinations, increasing ridership exponentially.
    A second factor keeping ridership low is cheap gasoline. Cheap gasoline reduces the incentive to use mass transit but comes at a price – BP oil spewing into the Gulf, global warming, Middle East wars, etc.

Dear Editor,
    Due to the ongoing rash of "cars are bad/good" and "bikes are bad/good," I've decided to write you for the first time in my life, which for 98% of my 27 years has been spent living in Austin. I drive and cycle, depending on mood and distance, and have done so for at least 10 years on these bumpy but lovable roads I call home. When I first started riding Downtown as a fresh adult, I'll admit I was fairly careless with my actions, but I'm not sure we even had a “no bikes on sidewalk” law yet. I've never been hit while on my bike (except by another bike) or even come close to hitting another rider while driving a vehicle, nor have I had any collisions with pedestrians while cycling (but have been hit when walking by a bike going the wrong way down Lavaca). My point is, my bike bears a sticker reading "Don't give bikes the right" and is not intended to be inflammatory but to shine light on the fact that you as a biker have to take your safety as an individual and your responsibilities as a citizen into your own hands. I ride on the sidewalk when it's empty of pedestrians, I at least slow way down before blowing stop signs, and even though I wear black and have nothing but the reflectors that have worked for us all since the 1960s, I make do just fine. If I do get hit, I damn sure won't be filing lawsuits or crying over the "injustice" I've been dealt. I would not trust my life to the cell phone generation of drivers while on my bike any more than I'd give up my personal privacy for security from "terror."
    These are the risks we take living in a free society. Keep your eyes open, think for yourself, and try to care for others as you do yourself. Amen.

Dear Editor,
    If I’m not mistaken, this is the second or third time that Cary Jones has gone headhunting after Tony Millionaire’s brilliant Maakies strip in the Chronicle [“Postmarks,” July 2]. While of course it may not be Jones’ cup of tea, I should hope he (she?) is aware that Tony Millionaire is a multiple Harvey, Eisner, and Ignatz award nominee and winner and has been published in The New York Times, The Believer, The New Yorker, and McSweeney’s. Most of his critical success derives from his ability to recapture the craft of early 20th century American cartooning greats such as E.C. Segar, George Herriman, et al. The only Austin cartoonists with careers even approaching that level of prestige would be Jack Jackson (who is dead and isn’t a humorist) and Gilbert Shelton (who hasn’t lived here in years and whose best work is far behind him). Unless, of course, he (she) is trying to claim Chris Ware or Berkeley Breathed, which hardly seems appropriate considering the short time they lived in Austin and the fact that they did the vast majority of their best work elsewhere. Either way, none of these cartoonists work in weekly strips anymore. I truly doubt even Austin’s cartoonist community would consider themselves superior to Millionaire, and I’m sure they’d be smart enough to recognize scatology as an ancient tool of humorists and dramatists alike. I’d suggest a good Ziggy compilation as something more up to Jones’ speed. In the meantime, maybe the editors could suggest more jokes about lasagna-eating cats to Millionaire.

Dear Editor,
    I’m moving again. For some of us, moving itself has become an American tradition. While packing I stumble upon my old cowboy hat which somehow looks better with every move. I can’t help but put it on even though I don’t wear it much anymore. After accepting Islam Ahmadiyya, I’ve kept a more sober profile. Yet every time I see that hat, it reminds me not to let culture get mixed up with religion.
    I’m an American, and for that I’m darn thankful. My family arrived more than 100 years before our great nation declared independence. As another Independence Day passes, I cannot help but be thankful that I live in a country that grants me religious freedom. My particular Muslim community believes in secular government, equal rights for women, tolerance, love for all and hatred for none, and a God who still speaks. For this we are murdered, maimed, tortured, widowed, and denied even the right to call ourselves Muslims. So God bless America, a country where its citizen will die for the right to worship the Good Lord as they see fit.