I LOVE MY COUNTRY

I shouldn't need to say this, since I have served twice in the Army, both times as a volunteer, and would gladly serve again if needed. (Not likely at my advanced years.)

When logic fails in a discussion of public policy, and facts fail to support a particular view, the dissenter from an official position may be accused of "hating America," or "defending terrorists," et. cetera. Such ad hominem attacks commit fallacies of irrelevance, we were taught in logic 101 (which I taught for 20 yrs., by the way.) They are admissions of defeat, as far as arguing a point on its merits. (Some of our citizens may actually hate the country, though I can't figure out why or how. Or why they would stay here, if that was the case.)

When I speak of loving this country, I'm thinking of the land, its people, and its legitimate institutions (properly administered.) I love New York, where I lived and worked for three years. (I was a caseworker for the NYC Welfare Dept.) New York has a giant, truly awsome public library, great museums, opera, Broadway, Wall Street, and the best newspaper in the country. (Not always accurate, but still the best.) As a caseworker there, I learned a lot about poverty, and the myths surrounding it. I expect I'll be getting into that more fully here at a later date.

I also love Washington, D. C. It's beautiful in the Spring, with its national buildings, monuments and memorials. I love West Virginia, where I spent 10 yrs. and where my kids grew up. I hate to go back there now, because its once scenic mountains are being removed to expose their treasures in coal. The "overburden" is pushed into once fertile valleys below, burying the fishing streams under tons of rocks. That
"mountain mama" is being raped, robbed, and ruined.

I have great affection for the people of W. Virginia. They are the salt of the earth: hard working, God fearing, decent and devout. In the last election, the Republican National Committee flooded the state with mail warning the the dems, if elected, planned to ban the Bible! In W. Va. that would be worse than legal gay marriage and flag burning combined (both of which would also be seen as unthinkable.) It's a lie, of course. No politician in his or her right mind, of any influence at all, would ever dream of such a stupid, self-defeating bunch of nonsense. But it worked nevertheless in Bible Belt West Virginia (and Arkansas as well). God, guns, and gays
will trump jobs, education, and health care every time, no matter how badly the latter are needed. Most of the money from the coal goes out of state, by the way.

Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all the people some of the time." We've yet to learn whether you can fool all the people all the time, but the attempt is definitely in the works. My guess is "no."

Its a great country, and will come to its senses one of these days. The pendlum will swing back toward balance and sanity. And you can take that to the bank. Of course, the bank may be broke by then! That's life.

Let me know what you think: jgoodwin004@centurytel.net