I read your paper online from Texas. We happen to love the city of Cincinnati and its great people and had lived there for more than 40 years but could no longer bear to watch such a lovely place continue to be destroyed by the "powers that be." While reading about continued protection for bad cops, racism, nepotism, cronyism, rigged, fraudulent and non-elections, our hearts sink.

Cincinnati could be a world-class city, but radical change is desperately needed from the top of its political structure to the bottom. We had hoped that with the election of Todd Portune and other supposed "by the people, for the people¨ politicians change would come. Hope is now dead for us after reading the many unholy alliances made by Tim Burke, Portune and their other Democratic friends in Republican clothing (Porkopolis, issue of Jan. 9).

Deters, Streicher, Burke, Leis, Hartmann, Portune and other politicos are rapidly destroying and further damaging any hope we had of change. Every last politician who has sold his or her soul for political gain in Hamilton County should be run out of town on a rail.

They promised change, fairness, equality and accountability in their campaigns. They lied, then they lied again, again and again. They promote bad cops, they lobby for unnecessary jail space, they reward only their cronies and they do immeasurable harm to the good city of Cincinnati and its people.

Out west, just the mention of Cincinnati brings scowls and groans of displeasure. The city's bad reputation precedes her. In any conversation we have ever had with Texans, the perception is that Cincinnati is someplace no Texan would ever want to go. They cite bad cops, rigged elections and racism as just a few of the reasons they'll never visit there. Now we're not talking about liberal San Francisco or some other leftist stronghold -- this is west Texas, the home of George Bush.

The only way change is ever going to come to Cincinnati is for every long-term politician currently in office to be voted out and replaced with a contingent of common citizens. The lawyers, which most of the politicians are, have got to go.

For the love of the good people of Cincinnati and all that is good, decent and right in this city, we pray that the citizens there will wake up and start running for office and voting for housewives, scoutmasters, computer techs, hairdressers, teachers, car mechanics, nurses and other Average Joes. Until then, the lawyers and their cronies will continue to destroy a beautiful city.

We won't be coming back to Cincinnati until the people wake up and get rid of theses liars, thieves and crooks. Please, if not for yourselves, do it for your children and grandchildren. The mess these politicos are continuing to make now will take decades to undo. Please don't leave future generations this network of lunacy, because it's going to take decades, if not more, to undo the wrongs that have been done in your beautiful city.

-- Patsy Kline, Midland, Texas