Letters to the Editor, September 29 to October 5

Vegetative state and more

Posted 9/28/22

Regarding Councilor David Nilsen’s remark at a June Honesdale Borough Council meeting that he shouldn’t be referred to as a man because he identifies “as an eggplant,” perhaps I have the solution.

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Letters to the Editor, September 29 to October 5

Vegetative state and more

Posted

Regarding Councilor David Nilsen’s remark at a June Honesdale Borough Council meeting that he shouldn’t be referred to as a man because he identifies “as an eggplant,” perhaps I have the solution.

I believe Eggplant Nilsen should tender his resignation.

Surely there’s a clause in the Honesdale Borough Council’s bylaws prohibiting any vegetable from holding office.

Carol Montana
Grahamsville, NY

Where are the real Republicans?

Calling all conservatives. The real ones. Not the phonies. Ones whose cornerstone values are the Constitution, the rule of law and institutions that make those possible. When are you going to take your party back?  

Yes, you who used to call yourselves Republican before your brothers and sisters swallowed the Kool-Aid of Putin’s puppet. And you, who still hold onto the Republican label, just because you have no place else to go. A political party without a moral core grounded in reality, not self-delusion, eventually self-destructs. 

I am no fan of Joe Biden. But he did identify Vladimir Putin as a war criminal. Donald Trump called him a “genius.” What do you think? 

The big lie that Trump won the election worked well. Now it’s a litmus test for “real” Republicans. It didn’t matter that when it came time to produce evidence in open court, there was none. Believing mattered more than evidence. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. 

Why was selling the fraud so easy? Because the lie was aimed at minds who want to be lied to. Even Donald Trump was booed when he told people to get vaccinated. When you invite people like that into your party, the lunatics eventually take over the asylum. The ones who know better, but are in the game to get power, have no choice but to bobble their heads along with loonies. 

Courage only makes you a target. Just ask Congresswoman Liz Cheney. That is why the Republican Party today has so few moral leaders. Who’s following them? 

The joke is that anyone who challenges the delusion is called a “RINO.” The fact is that many real Republicans have already left. 

James Tweed
Ocean City, NJ

Seeing through the babble 

Infamous politician “tough guys” have always had a visceral appeal to a significant segment of the population. Bold audacious words and the willingness to insult and berate “the other” can be attractive to observers who might have grown tired of the decorum and the sometimes-banal platitudes of what are normally acceptable exchanges between political rivals. Nevertheless, mostly it is not the snappy words, but rather the intentional actions of our political leaders that should define who they are and what they stand for.

For example, during his presidency, Rodrigo Duterte, the one-time president of the Philippines, famously talked boldly about the rule of law and being tough on crime. However, he is most known for a notoriously lawless and unchecked military crackdown on supposed drug trafficking that led to the violent deaths of upwards of 6,600 uncharged alleged traffickers. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Duterte) Tellingly, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigated Duterte’s government for crimes against humanity, Duterte’s Philippine government withdrew from that court’s voluntary jurisdiction. That sounds more like criminal evasion than someone who is “tough on crime.” 

Recall that Nixon insisted, “I am not a crook,” and Tr**p famously told the country he would “build a wall” (on the southern border), and that he would “lock her [Hillary] up.” Instead, Nixon resigned in disgrace and admitted guilt via his successor’s pardon. The other, a twice-impeached president, faces multiple likely indictments that may yet lead to his own lockup, behind quite different walls than the one he never built at the border.  

Certainly, I believe we should all listen carefully and critically to what politicians say, but what they do is still the most salient and revealing of their essence. Are you going to believe your eyes or their words? And always act in all of our interests; be sure to vote—it is the engine of democracy.

John Pace
Honesdale, PA

Coverage beyond Highland needed

One of the consequences of the economic distress of the local newspaper scene is the contraction of any given paper’s ability to cover a wide geographical area.  Point in case is the River Reporter’s in-depth coverage of all things Highland, but little of the same for Tusten, Callicoon, Lumberland and Forestburgh. This makes it appear that Highland is a hotbed of activity, when the only thing it really shows is how little is being reported about in the other towns it used to cover.

It’s a publisher’s quandary for sure, but doesn’t change the fact that stuff is happening elsewhere as well, with winners and losers, planning-board dramas and the imperfect sausage-making friction of the civic process.

Chuck Petersheim
Milford, PA

news coverage, highland, politics, voting, conservative party, honesdale

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