Interesting reading in the local papers the other day. As is my want, a good cup of coffee and thirty or forty minutes just sets the pace for the day. Over the years I have gravitated to reading more of the letters to the editors and OP-ED sections as much of the news I may have heard previously on the telly or radio.
It is still wonderful knowing we have freedom of speech in this country. Unfortunately much of that speech is nonsensical and myopic. The 'letters to' had multiple scintillating opinions which at least when put to paper were laughable. One wrote in a very racist style in response to a column by Thomas Sowell. Mr. Sowell is an African-American who is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute. I have begun to read his columns when they appear as he seems to be a regular in the rotation. I believe he has strong opinions and he often gives me pause to think. He tends to be on the conservative side which you don't find often from the black community. By the tone of the letter I was surprised it was published. It borders on inflammatory which is something my local paper usually hesitates to print. Opinions are one thing but racist letters don't fall into that category for me. To give it back to the author, you're just a red-neck racist, one who feels more at home with Jim Crow.
On the same page was another 'letter to' that is always one of my favorites to poke fun at. This author quoted the Bible (as it is always taken out of context) concerning the uproar in Arizona; which he writes you should give shelter to the alien in your land and love the alien as you would yourself. (Not a direct quote). Those who taught the Bible always seem to have little insight into the way scripture needs to be applied in the real world. Just let 'em come on in, problem solved. It doesn't work that way. Let the LEGAL ones in and give them comfort as they try to make a better life for themselves and their family. I would propose letting the author house anyone from the mid-east who wants a free pass. Gosh, hope he doesn't turn out to be a radical terrorist.
There is a saying that goes; if you say something out loud and it sounds wrong it likely is. That same practicality goes for writing down your thoughts. If you read it and it sounds stupid...
Ramblings of a 60 Year Old Man - My thoughts on just about anything, in no particular order; Robert Thomas - author.
A skimming of the title and first sentence is usually enough to put me off most letters.
ReplyDeleteSowell usually publishes one or two columns per week at townhall.com, and is always a good read, one that makes you think.
We've been following the whole Arizona issues, and it comes down to - did they get here legally or not? If we have the laws on the books, then they need to enforce them and not pooh pooh them as not being relevant. If it was good enough for Grandpa, it should still be good enough for today.
ReplyDeleteThat and do away with the "you're a citizen if you're born here = doesn't matter that that's the only reason your parents snuck in, just to get that free citizenship and any benefits that go with it". They do have allegiance to another country, so why do we have to ignore it and they can take advantage of the US until it's time to show where their true allegiance is, to the country they snuck in from!