There is always the hope that truth will win out but the steady stream of “factual” nonsense that fills this section of the newspaper would tend to negate that maxim.
On my short list we have a flagrant rewriting of American history, a contempt for science and a pompous attitude that God is only found in conservative households.
During the ratification of the Constitution, a few state delegates wanted to insert into it the statement that this is a Christian Nation. Such amendments were voted down. The Constitution is a secular document for a secular government and that suits this Christian quite well.
Every year we dump billions of tons of pollutants into the earth’s atmosphere as well as onto Mother Earth. Are we so ignorant of science not to think that it has an effect?
The “cleaned-up” oil in the Gulf suddenly reappeared when Hurricane Isaac churned up the water. Would you feed your children gulf shrimp on a regular basis?
Would you fry up two-headed trout caught downstream from a copper mine in Montana? Would you trust a Chicago meat-packer to market its product without inspection? Why do the Koch brothers want to abolish the EPA?
Why after a century do we still propel ourselves with gasoline engines and why have oil companies bought and trashed patents that could have made a difference?
In church on Sunday, count the number of seniors. Could your congregation meet their basic needs for food, shelter and medical care? No! And it couldn’t in the 1930s when Social Security was established to make sure every American can have some dignity in their retirement years.
Prefer the private market? Better get to work. At a modest pace you should have the equivalent of a year’s salary parked in a retirement fund by age 35 and triple that by age 45. I wonder how low-wage workers are doing with that guideline.
Don’t believe in government involvement in health care? For those lucky to have employer-based insurance, the average premium for a family of four is $16,000.
Maybe the single mom with two children could barter with a doctor or hospital like a Republican senate candidate once suggested. Maybe it’s OK that an 80-year-old man gets knee replacement surgery but not an uninsured father of two who can’t work without it.
Why ration care when you can just shut 47 million Americans out of its reach. Why are private equity czars like Bain Capital buying up hundreds of hospitals? Must be gold in them thar hills.
We are the biggest consumers on planet earth. Other countries salivate over the prospect of selling their goods here. So why do we allow our own companies to give the shaft to American workers, set up shop in China and then sell the goods here.
It’s our country, not Apple’s or General Electric’s. We set the rules. Oh! But that would require we the people, government, telling the “job creators” how to manage their business. A big no in tea party circles.
The far right wants to make the federal government so small that you can drown it in a bathtub.
If they achieve that get prepared to see the privatization of everything: private toll roads, schools, parks and recreation, access to drinking water, retirement if you can afford it, healthcare if you can pay for it, the whole nine yards.
Remember: Romney and Ryan will have your back on Nov. 6 and will be standing on it the day after.
William Tunney
Grantsville
Letters
Would you really want to eat these things?
- Letters
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War.” My generation remembers the Battle for LZ X-Ray at Ia Drang, The Tet Offensive, and Khe Sahn of the Vietnam War.
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Organization needed to help utilize the Potomac River
I am a committee remember on the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway which stretches from Palmetto to Venice, Fla.
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Reducing meat consumption can help ease climate change
A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15 issue of “Environmental Research Letters,” found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities.
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Save the Bridge Program
Please do not close the Frostburg United Methodist Church Bridge Program. The community and many families need this program. Let me enlighten you about a few things.
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Town of Westernport needs a police force and a curfew
Since the consolidation of Bruce and Valley high schools the town of Westernport rapidly deteriorated from what was once a quite respectable community to a community in a decline in residents, and along with that came a collapse in local government due to lack of knowledge and bad decisions that set the town of Westernport back 60 years.
One bad decision was to give up their police force, and with no constant visual law enforcement it has created an open range for drug dealerss, addicts, thieves, drunks and speeding vehicles that choose to ignore our city laws and speed limits and have totally disregard for the safety of the citizens who are on the streets, especially the children who are like deer, you don’t see them until their in front of you. -
Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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Outside water customers pay for town’s mistakes
The following is the opinion of the individual and in no manner reflects the opinion of any other person or organization.
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We’re twisting the meaning of the Founding Fathers’ words
I really had to chuckle when I read a recent comment someone made in a northeastern publication: “I’d like to suggest that Congress make a tiny change in our Second Amendment that would more accurately reflect the Founding Father’s intent (to wit): “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear muskets, shall not be infringed.”
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
