Disrespect for the democratic process

To the editor:

I would like to address this letter to the person or persons who has been removing and destroying my campaign signs. They have been taken down from the Narrowsburg school lawn three times; my neighbors had theirs pulled out and thrown in the wood; Tom Prendergast had his taken down and torn into pieces on his front lawn; and the one in front of my home has been taken down three times, two of which times it had been nailed into a tree. Several cardboard signs with my name, along with that of Tom Prendergast and Chuck Hoffman, have also been ripped down.

Each time that this happens I make a blotter entry at the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, and another sign is put up in place of the one torn down. I refuse to be intimidated by sneaky cowards who remove these signs in the dark of night and think that I will take it lying down. These signs are not free, and none of the costs have been donated to me, but again, I refuse to let these cowards get away with this. I promise that when they are caught I will press charges.

Many, many people have been made aware of this situation and are watching for whoever is doing this. If anyone has any information about this please email me at nanae6570@yahoo.com.

Who CARES?

To the editor:

Considering the recent news about the Lake Huntington facility, it seems that we should now learn what the Sullivan West CARES group really cares about. Do they care about the safety of our children or for the agenda they promoted during the last school board election?

CARES supported those who chose to hide their heads in the sand and pretend that everything in the school district is just fine. They supported those who are against accountability and for a continued cover-up of the circumstances that created this entire mess.

Where do you stand, CARES?

CARES doesn’t

To the editor:

The SW-CARES group’s claims to be advocates for the students in the last election ring hollow in light of the deafening silence coming from them as revelations of the lack of structural integrity at the high school have been revealed. Where are the cries of outrage over placing the palatial high school building over the needs of the students? They ran a campaign of fear that those who wanted accountability for and testing of our facilities were focused on trying to close the beautiful high school building, without any justification. Well, four years after its opening, the high school building has been exposed as flawed and structurally unsound. What unwanted surprises will it reveal to the community at five years? 10 years? 20 years?

Amazingly, many of the CARES members say, “Since the superintendent has declared the building safe it must be.” Some even say that they will not read newspaper coverage that does not fit with their notion that the building is safe. This infantile attitude towards the revelation of the truth of our predicament has led us to our current quandary. Every time issues with the building process have been noted, the community member bringing them forth has been shouted down as “not caring about the kids.” Apparently, “caring about kids,” includes sending them to a building, not built up to standard, that may have other problems that the engineers either haven’t discovered yet or have chosen not to divulge. Unless CARES stands for, “Citizens Advocating Rickety Educational Structures,” they have named their group incorrectly, since they certainly don’t seem to “care” at all.

A ‘freedom’ that’s tyranny

To the editor:

Our governor and the New York Legislature have recently chosen in their wisdom (fear) to pass a law called “The Freedom to Report Terrorism Act.” This bill protects anyone from litigation if they report someone who appears to be acting in the furtherance of a crime or an act of terrorism.

Does this make you feel a little uncomfortable? Me too. Someone can turn you in to law enforcement as being suspicious in your actions and not be liable as long as their intentions are good (what does that mean?) and not malicious (who defines and determines this?).

Our new New York bill uses the words “terrorist sympathizer” whereas, in the 1950s and on, the buzz phase was “Communist sympathizer.” It was a scare phrase of that time, warning us to be careful because there was “a Communist in every closet.” Even though that was not true, thousands of Americans’ careers were destroyed or badly damaged when unjustly accused of being, or sympathizing with, Communists. Earlier, the Hitler Youth Corps had been urged to turn in members of their family if suspected of opposing the Nazi regime.

So here we are again: dark history repeating itself in New York State. Instead of thinking about one of our neighbors turning us in for something they don’t like, let’s join with them in love and courage, and ignore the fact that this bill has been imposed upon us. Love is at one end of a spectrum and fear is at the other and indifference is somewhere in between. Dear friends and neighbors, in our wisdom, for the sake of ourselves and everyone, let’s act out of love and never out of fear. Let there be reason and peace.

Please join us from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. this Friday, September 21 in Hurleyville, for an evening of celebration of peace and nonviolence and truth. Call 845/434-1849 for details.

Barbarism returns

To the editor:

Today the world we once fought for is again a mess, with butchery and barbarism having returned all over the map—especially the Middle East.

We are sending military supplies over to Iraq where they are being used, all too often, to fire on unarmed adversaries who see themselves as giving up their lives for their freedom in their struggles with an intruder, who conveniently forgets that they, too, are human.

No peace in the Middle East can ever come about until the strategically entrenched Israelis submit, in some degree, to restraints on the aggrandizement of their power such as those submitted to them many times by the United Nations, and unless the United States stops voting in ways that politically sustain the current policies of Israel, whose existence is still being propped up by funneling our hard-earned tax dollars into Israeli armaments.

The right-wing quasi conservatives distort the truth with their misleading public relations campaigns and appropriation of the word “patriotism.” We have a presidential figurehead still mastering the politics of deception, attended by clinging con-artists committing themselves to the decisions of another. Meanwhile, the do-nothing “We The People” Democrats are playing a partisan game with the GOP in a clumsy, clamoring political circus.

History repeats itself, and nothing is learned by a general populace that has been brain-washed by the spouted, mindless slogans about” kicking butts,” or “getting the job done.”

Too many veterans of the past wars, especially in WWII, cannot stand to hear the Star Spangled Banner played any more, realizing what is happening to our country.