Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

To the Editor: In Vermont there is a signpost at Teagle’s Landing honoring Frank H. Teagle, Jr. It describes him as “steward of our resources, caring, dedicated, thoughtful and sensible, Frank was a humble and selfless servant of Woodstock—its people, traditions and institutions. He saw the overlooked and worked to make things better.” America is in crisis—its resources have been squandered to benefit the few, its institutions, traditions, and the rule of law have been trashed, its government is dysfunctional, its people are sick and anxious—our country is shunned and pitied by the rest of the world. We desperately need leaders like Mr. Teagle. We …

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To the Editor: While recently pondering things, the lyrics of a George M. Cohan song were rolling through my mind, over and over. You know…… You’re a grand old flag You’re a high-flying flag And forever in peace may you wave You’re the emblem of The land I love The home of the free and the brave Ev’ry heart beats true Under red, white and blue Where there’s never a boast or brag…. “Make America Great Again”…indeed! President Trump stands for, represents, and emotes nothing that has made and makes our country and culture great. Donald Trump may know the “cost” of things, but he …

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To the Editor: Despite their promises, Democrats rarely improve life for most people; they excel at keeping poor people poor, keeping dangerous neighborhoods dangerous, and destroying things, like beautiful and formerly safe cities and our peaceful tolerant society. Apparently expecting political benefit, Democrat [sic] politicians allow supposedly peaceful mobs of Democrat [sic] activists to cause hundreds of injuries, dozens of killings, and several $100,000,000 of property damage to their own law-abiding constituents, including many people of color whose lives apparently don’t matter to Democrats. When violent protestors, actually criminals, are arrested, Democrat [sic] prosecutors often release them without charges or bail. When needed, bail is …

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“It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.” – Thomas Paine The Age of Reason, Part I (1793)

To the Editor: You would hope that Congress would function in a time of a pandemic and deep recession. The House of Representatives took action to address these problems in May, but Mitch McConnell and his party in the Senate decided to ignore what they saw and wait until mid-July to see if the virus mysteriously vanished and the economy shot back as President Trump said it would. Instead the virus shot back, 30 million are out of work and as of August have lost the unemployment subsidies. Mitch McConnell says 20 members of his caucus do not want to spend a penny more on …

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To the Editor: After watching the first night of the Republican Convention, and all the talk about patriotism, I’m reminded of the quote by Samuel Johnson, known as the father of the modern dictionary, who in 1775 wrote the following: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” He’s also known for this statement, which is still all too true to this day: “Empires (or Democracies), are broken down when the profits of administration are so great, that ambition is satisfied with obtaining them, and he that aspires to greatness needs do nothing more than talk himself into importance. He has then all the power …

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