Dear editor:
”
Liberal
– excessively free or indecorous in behavior; licentious.
”
Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language,
1951
Dear editor:
“Liberal – excessively free or indecorous in behavior; licentious.” Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, 1951
Ms. Pampuch and Ms. Hockemeyer, I hope you will forgive me for being so late in reply; I have been exceptionally busy at work.
Ms Pampuch, to refresh your memory, I took the position that defense was the fundamental spending priority of government. You placed transportation public works projects, government directed air traffic control, state controlled education, police protection, and a state controlled judicial system on an equal or higher footing.
I will place the question in stark terms. Ms. Pampuch, to preserve those services would you be willing to see the United States lose a war such as WW II with the lives of tens of millions and the freedom of hundreds of millions of people at stake? Would you be willing to watch the Gestapo goose step down Pennsylvania Avenue as they did down the Champs Elysees?
With a complacency born of a lifetime in a powerful nation, you may say, “That cannot happen.” With an eye toward a history that has seen nations far more powerful than we are crumble into dust, I would reply, “Why not?”
Ms. Hockemeyer, 58 years is a ripple in the river of history. Ignoring your truly excessive self promotion, your position seems to be that non-violence is a growing trend in international politics since WW II and that we don‚t really need to spend tax money on military stuff.
Were you, perchance, incommunicado at a Zen retreat on 9/11? Did you miss the conquests of Mongolia, Tibet, Katanga, Cambodia, and South Vietnam? The little dust-up in Korea? The formation of Israel? The creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh? The numerous Iraqi invasions? The civil wars in Cuba, China, Angola, Burma, Sudan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Indonesia, and a hundred other places I can‚t even remember, many of which are still fighting?
I find it ironic that you have chosen what has been, in absolute terms, the bloodiest half century in human history to support your peaceful position. If you are thinking of the growing power of the United Nations, you may want to review the pivotal role played by the League of Nations in preventing WW II before placing your eggs in that basket.
On another subject, Ms. Hockemeyer. You apparently felt free to express your personal opinions on politics in your civics class. How many adult opinions in favor of the Iraq war were expressed in that same classroom? If the answer is zero, then you are not teaching critical thought; you are engaging in propaganda.
You, and all public school teachers, have been entrusted with a responsibility to teach subjects to students in accordance with California curriculum guidelines. Your personal political opinions have no place in a government classroom.
Stuart Allen, Gilroy
submitted Tuesday, July 1, to ed****@****ic.com
