To the Editor:
Non-American Values
HOWARD – Every day, I become more and more aware of our America being shattered by non-American values. The writers of our Constitution were very aware of how majority rule, oligarchy rule and a direct democracy would undermine the intent "rule by the people"; and that anything other than a "Republic" would lead to tyranny. The word "democracy" is not in the Declaration of Independence nor in our Constitution. The term "Republic" is in the Constitution. I invite everyone to research the difference. Our founders recognized the power of the majority, government and corporations would have in order to control the people. Which leads to the importance of total representation of the people, thus the Electoral College. The opinion of the minority matters! All people need to have a voice and representation.
Each day, something else happens to crumble America's foundation; and every day, I feel more and more hopeless as to what one person can do. I have no children, but I am appalled — and frankly scared — to see what cancel culture is getting away with in indoctrinating our young people, much less our adult population. It amazes me how people tend to believe what they hear. Without true teaching of American history, how will anyone ever hear what really happened? How can we be proud of what we as a people recognized to be wrong and made right? Cancelling anything or anyone is wrong. I am not naive to racism. It does exist and we will never be a perfect people. However, racism is racism, no matter what race it is coming from or to who it is directed at. It is wrong. I celebrate Black history as well as ALL history. If history tells us anything, it is we need each other.
The great Martin Luther King Jr. put it so well:
"When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Even if I disagree with what I see or hear, I will always defend your right to express it, as long as it does not impede on all of our American rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I will always be a defender of our United States of America, the land of the free, and I expect nothing less of our elected officials. Your job is to represent "the people." All of us.
Dana Stulka
Howard
To the Editor:
Tree Removal
MOUNT VERNON – The Mount Vernon Shade Tree Committee has recently decided to remove several mature trees from Public Square. The article in the News on this subject by Bob Pepalis on March 1 states that the trees have been deemed "diseased" and "dangerous." However, nowhere in the article does it state that the Shade Committee consulted with a qualified arborist on this issue. The "reporter" did not think to elicit this information (another example of the passive approach to "news" that now characterizes this paper), and the public is left with the impression that the decision was not based on expert advice.
If the reporter — or possibly the Committee — had thought to investigate the matter more deeply, we might have been told that needle cast in spruce trees is a treatable disease and that it is normal for sweetgum trees to have roots that show above the ground. In addition, spruce trees can live to be over 200 years old and sweetgums over 400 years old. Finally, both trees are highly wind-resistant — and thus not likely to fall over because of the many low branches in the case of spruce trees and the deep central tap root in the case of sweetgums.
Like others, I have enjoyed sitting under and near these trees for many years and seeing them, while walking or driving, as part of the composition of an important public space in our town. They enhance the beauty of the square and the downtown as a whole, and in their age and scale underscore Mount Vernon's historic past. While tree health and public safety are legitimate reasons for cutting down mature and handsome trees in public spaces, a stronger case needs to be presented for their removal.
Martha Morss
Mount Vernon
To the Editor:
The Right To Vote
GAMBIER – Don't strip people of their right to vote.
LaRose claims that HR1 will create a major upheaval in voting practices. Not true, unless you're happy with fraudulent attempts to prevent registered voters from voting. This proposal came in response to the state legislatures all over the country trying to keep people from voting. One of the legislators even said it was to keep Democrats from voting. Precisely. They, the Republicans, do not want a repeat of 2020, where the Democratic candidate clearly won.
Every time voting rights are expanded, Republicans have found ways, not noble ones, to curtail those rights: poll taxes, lynching, in early days the beating and threatening of minorities, Jim Crow laws, the jailing of African Americans for minor infringements so they'll lose their voting rights, the moving of dates and polling places, purging and the spreading of misinformation about the safety of voting by mail. Nazis studied and followed some of our tactics for reducing citizens' access to polls and ways we dehumanized people. These they used to threaten, dehumanize and kill Jews. Do we want to be role models for democracies or for autocrats without souls?
In 2020, we had the fairest elections in history. Do we really want to roll back to the dark ages?
Jill Grubb
Gambier
.webp){kind=tracking}