This is in response to Ms. Hale’s letter from last week. I’ve made it short and simple so people won’t get bored. I have three questions for you, Ms. Hale:
1. When did the Democrats take back the power in Washington, D.C.?
2. If we are not to watch Fox News and believe them, then can you please point me in the correct direction to the news station/network that we should watch and believe?
3. Lately, I’m not too happy with my Wrangler jeans size, can I blame Bush for this as well?
Shawna Eubanks
Former Meeker resident
Letter: Is Bush to blame for all our problems?
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April 10, 2024
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – March 21st, 2024
March 20, 2024
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – March 14th, 2024
March 13, 2024
Actually I am not sure anyone has power in Washington D.C. but the electric and gas companies. The party of “No” refuses to work for the people just against those they do not like. The other party is too worried about re-election that they have not stood up for any beliefs and the government seems more tepid than incomes.
Sure there have been a few reforms here and there, but really the Republicans and Democrats have not that much but fight each other, refusing to work together for the good of the people as far as I can see.
As for where to get one’s news? I choose a variety of sources–print and electronically–so I can sift through the BS, and somehow get a glimpse of the actual event, statement, situation and the truth.
1. The Democrats took power in 2006 (Congress) and 2008 (Presidency). I fail to see the significance of these events. I assume that you are trying to blame the Democrats for the downturn in the economy. A better phrased question might have been: “At what point did the state of the U.S. economy begin to worsen, and what policies, enactment of legislation, or idleness of lawmakers could have contributed to this?” This would have allowed an intelligent person to assess the economy in terms of legislation while also allowing them to discredit that theory all together and focus solely on the ‘invisible hand of the market’ or corporate greed.
2.I find it quite sad that you are only getting your information from FoxNews- a blatantly partisan news source. It’s like someone only reading MSNBC- it gets delivers you little information and further entrenches inter-partisan hatred in this country. Here are a few news sources besides FoxNews: The Atlantic, The American Conservative, The New Yorker, Harper’s, CNN, BBC, The National Review, The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, TIME, and Newsweek. If you’re looking for political-type blogs you might try: 538Blog, Gwynne Dyer, Eunomia, or The Monkey Cage. Those are just a few off the top of my head. You are certainly entitled to read partisan media, but it would be best to “sift through the BS” as Ms. Devore-Wedding so excellently put it.
3. No. I won’t even waste my time with this question.
Mr. Love- I am not blaming the Democrats. I blame politicians who are trying to turn our country into a Socialist country. Both Democrats and Republicans are to blame.
Never did I say that I only watch Fox News and I find it quite sad that you read it that way.
As for question #3, I was being a smart ass…………………
William Haviland http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/fghij/haviland_william.html
put it the best, “It is human nature to question that, that we do not understand, but when it turns to critisism it only shows your ignorance”
Mr. Love, you should try paying taxes and your own insurance for a few decades and then check back in. I’m sure as most 18 yr old students you have some very strong convictions.
Just no life experienes.
Ms. Eubanks: While I agree that both parties are to blame for our current debacle in Washington, I fail to see our country moving in the direction of socialism. This is the sort of argument promoted by a fear-mongering demagogue. Thankfully, for those of us who believe in the value of liberty, our country is far from submersion in the tides of socialism. The phrasing of your Fox News question implied that you were currently receiving your information from that source only- if I erred in my inference, I apologize. As for your last question, I realize you were only joking- I was only offering a similar response.
[email protected]: First, I’m older than 18 years old; second, I have life experiences. Now that those two issues are behind us: I’m struggling to understand what exactly you’re implying with your Haviland quote. I simply responded to Ms. Eubanks’ questions with the tone in which she asked them. Reviewing my responses, I did not find any ad hominem attacks which might have lessened the impact of my comments. If they existed at all, they were slighted and hardly noticeable, or a “response-in-kind” if you will. As for paying my own taxes and insurance? I do pay my own taxes (although I do not pay my own insurance). This is an “argument” (if one can call it such) that I think lacks significance and grounding. I think it’s fair to say that I understand the concept of paying taxes and insurance: you pay them, you have less money, and you wince each time your bank account balance drops for these reasons. And it’s most inconvenient living with the consequences of paying taxes and insurance. Taxes, for example, mean that you have to drive on maintained highways, have the opportunity to send your children to decent and free public schools, eat mostly-safe USDA inspected foods, have a protective military force to provide for the national defense, and can grow old and use the Medicare system for free or greatly-reduced healthcare costs. Blasphemous, I know! I appreciate the benefits derived from paying taxes. Do I agree with all expenditures by the United States government? Absolutely not. But, alas, we have surrendered our power of complete and direct control over things like taxes because of our Constitution. Having a weak central government without the power to tax failed for America (see the Articles of Confederation) and would have failed for any similarly-sized world government. When making arguments like these, I always find it laughable that people try (usually unsuccessfully) to paint me as a left-wing liberal Democrat. I find it funny because I am none of those things. I have grown tired of mindless “conservative” arguments that only scratch the surface of issues and fail to grapple with meaningful problems. (The same can be said of liberal arguments.) I became quite impatient with Ms. Eubanks (and Ms. Hale) because I felt that they were regurgitating these sorts of mindless arguments. Could both of them have articulated intelligent arguments that avoided inflamed passions rife with demagoguery? I have the utmost confidence that they could. Unfortunately, however, too many people today do not. One reason why I have been criticized in Meeker is for my supposed “liberal” beliefs (certainly some have even dared to associate me with socialism). Without putting my own political views directly in a public forum (which, unless you are a political figure, I find crass and distasteful), I can at least say that I long for an Edmund Burke or William F. Buckley for our generation. Intelligent conservatism (often ridiculed for its elitist undertones) has apparently grown unpopular in the United States. This is a national disgrace. I cannot cite a historical author, rational idea, philosophical doctrine, or make any sort of “high-minded” approach to a question without being dismissed as an inconsiderate, clueless liberal. Cannot conservatives have intelligent thoughts? Have Americans so vehemently rejected the most basic facets of intellectualism only to partake in the derision of the intelligent conservative mind? Reviewing our country’s most recent history, it seems so. Maybe one day, the American people will recognize that engagement with legitimate issues benefits our nation more than engagement with populist-inflated and unreasonable politically crafted ideals. Will this recognition come soon? For our nation’s sake, we can only hope.
The puppet string pullers above Obama are in power. Same ones that were in power over both Bushes, Clinton, etc, (how far back do you want to go?). The federal reserve system is not a government agency, but our taxes pay the interest on the money that they decide to print. That’s right, our government does not print the money or even decide how much to print…
There are so many facets to the downfall of our country. Look up who wrote the patriot act, and then read it to see who it protects, and who is having their rights and liberties curtailed.
Then look who wrote the health care plan, and see if it helps the consumers, or the health care industry and the insurance companies… Maybe the sections about practicing eugenics will hold your interest. (Who decides who gets to stay and who has to go?)
Instead of us attacking each other, I think we should all get together and sort out the propaganda from the real truth.
I don’t know if there is a label we can put on all of this: socialism, fascism, or what… ? But it sure is not a constitutional republic anymore if the words I am writing right now put me on a government list down at the fusion centers…
God bless our enlisted men… that does not give best wishes to the corrupt command structure.