Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

Dear Mr. Fowle, Within this email I have written a mammoth a letter. I hope you will forgive me for any headaches or eye soreness induced if you humor me and read it. I started writing and did not, and frankly could not, stop. Then I edited, and rather than excising content like any good editor would, I added even more. A previous letter in your paper by a self-proclaimed “doctor” about the ineffectiveness of mask-wearing combined with recent reports of conspiracies, fraud, and violence from little boys who call themselves “proud,” triggered a flurry of words and emotions that I, for whatever reason, felt …

Read more

Dear Editor: In the 1980s we had a made-for-TV movie, “The Day After,” about nuclear exchange between Russia and the U.S. Now we are at the day after the 2020 election. Out-of-whack President Trump is making up and distorting what happens with a democracy’s election. He wants vote counting stopped in some states but continued in others, depending on whether that would help him stay in our White House for another term. That nuclear exchange movie woke up a lot of people, though we still maintain, with the other nuclear nations, such destructive power that our planet could not survive. “Wake up, America.” This time …

Read more

To the Editor: After watching a several minutes long tribute to veterans on WWE’s Monday Night Raw, it occurred to me that yahoos who parade around in camo toting assault weapons are disrespecting military veterans who wear that garb and carry those weapons into combat. One wonders how many flag wavers think that’s all there is to patriotism, and how many who wear the flag are aware that they’re in violation of the Flag Code and thus disrespecting the flag. A tip of my civilian hat, and a curtsy, to the Flag Police for their unremitting vigilance. One wonders if the Flag Police t-shirts might …

Read more

Dear Sir: In a recent interview regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Governor Sununu said, “The State could be looking at 500 to 1,000 new daily cases by the end of the month.” He further stated, “I am assuming we’re beginning the phase of a very aggressive spike.” Dr. Benjamin Chan, the New Hampshire State Epidemiologist warned, “This is a virus that likes to take advantage of crowds, groups of people gathering in close contact and indoor spaces, and it’s these settings which are going to pose a challenge as we enter the colder months.” Clearly, the Governor and Dr. Chan understand the coming tsunami of …

Read more

Forest ranger at Yosemite National Park, explaining why it is hard to design the perfect garbage bin to keep bears from breaking into it: “There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.” – @mathematicsprof –=≈=– Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious. – Ambrose Bierce

by William Cooper American politics have become criminalized. A steady drum beat of words and deeds—from “lock her up” chants, to prosecutions of President Trump’s associates, to Trump pushing for Joe Biden’s indictment—has eroded the bright line between politics and the criminal law. This is deeply troubling for several reasons. First, criminalizing politics conflicts with the bedrock principle that the rule of law applies equally to all people. Entangling the passions of politics with the criminal law leads to treating people differently based on their political affiliation—instead of on their guilt or innocence. This is antithetical to even-handed justice. The examples of this criminalization are …

Read more