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Confederate symbol of pride

I read with interest your column “Ignorance greases the wheels of thought” on March 19. Apparently you are a very bright fellow to choose this title for your article and have certainly given ample evidence of your wisdom, providing separation from yourself and the many ignorant people who apparently read your paper.

I was however offended by your inclusion of the Confederate flag (well actually I believe you meant the “Confederate Battle Flag”) among the many examples of ignorance espoused by an ignorant public. In fact, a great many intelligent people DO consider the Confederate “Battle” flag a symbol of pride, myself included. I happen to be college educated, employed in media and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I have many relatives that I have discovered through painstaking research who fought in the ‘War Between the States’ under the Confederate flag. None that I can tell owned slaves; most joined up as volunteers to defend their homes and their families. They fought in Confederate armies under the Confederate flag ” some lived, some died in battle, some died after the war of mysterious diseases, but all were honorable men and I am proud of their sense of duty and their sacrifices.

You may do yourself a favor to research the topic a bit more thoroughly. Had you done so you would have known that the Confederate flag is not the official flag of the Confederacy, but rather the flag adopted by the fighting men of the Confederate Army ” men who were white, black, Irish, Italian, Native American, French and many other nationalities.



It would seem in your case that ignorance, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Terry Ayers

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Federalsburg, MD

In his Vail Trail column, Alex Miller wrote: “Just as it’s easier to drop a bomb on a country than go in and negotiate a peace, so, too, is it simpler to rely on the tropes of accepted ignorance (the Confederate flag is a symbol of pride).”

The Confederate flag is a symbol of pride! The Confederates are widely regarded as among the greatest war heroes of all time. For example, who else had an outfit nicknamed “Stonewall Brigade?” No one expected the Confederates to get through 1862. Then no one expected them to get through 1863. And no one expected them to get through 1864.

Also, the Confederate flag is not just a symbol of pride. I see it as a symbol of tolerance, peace and national unity. I also see it as a fun thing and a kind of joke. You should loosen up a little.

Larry Fafarman

Los Angeles

The Confederate flag represents limited constitutional federal government, states’ rights, resistance to tyranny and Christian values and principles. Thus it represents the same principles as the Betsy Ross U.S. flag ” the principles America was founded upon. As America experiments with globalism, socialism and secular humanism, it is important for patriotic Americans to fly the Confederate flag as a reminder of these basic principles. America has two choices: 1 – Reclaim our heritage or 2 – We will eventually surrender our Constitution and sovereignty to the New World Order ” a Godless socialist United Nations.

Many black Americans have been indoctrinated by Northern liberal Marxist socialists to view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism and bigotry. They are being used and manipulated for political purposes to assist in the conversion of America to socialism and secular humanism. The infamous Communist Karl Marx said: “A people separated from their heritage are easily persuaded.” This is the real reason they want to destroy and ban Confederate heritage and symbols, which are 180 degrees diametrically opposed to socialism and secular humanism.

The communist Vladmir Lenin coined the term “useful idiots.” Many white liberals fit this category, as well as Southern politicians who are helping destroy Confederate principles, heritage and symbols. White Southern Christians who fly the Confederate flag are not the enemy of black Americans. It is true that KKK and other groups have misused, misrepresented and abused the Confederate flag, but this should not invalidate the true meaning of this honorable flag in the minds of educated, knowledgeable Americans.

James W. King

Antique Classic Collectible Firearms Inc.

Albany, Georgia

While vacationing in Vail last week with the family, I was both disturbed and amused by reading Alex Miller’s article on “Ignorance.” Here was an article on ignorance, and all the examples and points used were, well, ignorant.

Granted I grew up in a conservative family, educated in Catholic school, but I was taught not to “hate.” But we see from this article that there are at least two generations of Millers who “hated” their presidents ” Reagan and Bush. Hating Reagan clearly showed misplaced intellect, as so much of what Reagan did turned out to be good for the country, not to mention that 49 of 50 states re-elected him in 1984. Strategic Missile Defense, laughed at and labeled “Star Wars” by Ted Kennedy, turned out to be a great visionary strategy moving us from MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) to self-defense of our cities. Supply-side economics, tax cuts, nuclear disarmament, dealing with the Soviet Union, fixing the economy, amnesty, and getting Americans to love our country again after the Carter malaise were significant accomplishments. Ignorance is not believing in supply-side economics or believing in movies like “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which rewrite history or conveniently leave out facts to fit one’s agenda.

Ignorance is believing that people who listen to Hannity and Colmes or Rush Limbaugh get rants but no facts. The truth is, we hear about books such as “Unstoppable Global Warming ” Every 1,500 years” by Singer and Avery with over 500 footnotes of facts that help refute that global warming is a manmade problem. If you’d listen to those shows, you’d hear about people like Miklos Zagoni, a respected physicist and environmental researcher and original outspoken supporter of the Kyoto Protocol, who has changed his mind about manmade global warming after looking at actual research. Or that 400 other climatologists have also changed their minds because the facts in peer-reviewed scientific papers don’t add up to a manmade problem. It’s not Al Gore’s house we are mad at, it’s the fact that his net worth has gone up from $1.7 million when he left office to over $110 million today, almost solely from scaring or scamming manmade global warming. You can be “for” the environment without believing in manmade global warming.

Ignorance is also believing that “most of the Ten Commandments have no relevance in modern society.” Well, please tell me which six or more aren’t relevant. (You might benefit by putting back in the one about hating and bearing false witness.) Ignorance is not understanding that our country was founded on clear, Judeo-Christian beliefs, specifically identified by our forefathers. Even the atheist forefathers saw value in these principles and cherished them. Putting the Ten Commandments up on a wall isn’t about religion, it reminds us of our nation’s identity and purpose ” modern society or not.

Finally, I have spoken to soldiers who spent time in Iraq and have listened to open-minded journalists. They don’t dispel the notion that we can win over there. The facts are that things are changing for the better in Iraq. Shiites and Sunnis are working together to dispel terrorists ” just not fast enough for liberal thinkers. By the way, it’s not easier to drop a bomb than to negotiate. The tropes of ignorance are from the left, Alex ” not one fact provided in your article.

Pete Roberts Sr.

Plano, Texas

I read Andy Stonehouse’s “Surviving the Storm” article. I have to ask: Why is a person who so bitter about life writing reviews? His disdain for all things American is overflowing in his article as he leaves no opportunity unrecognized to throw in a dig on virtually any topic. He insults people of the Midwest: “Apparently, Mr. Araya went and lived with a Midwestern family who already used a enormous SUV as their principal mode of transport”; He insults the maker themselves: “revamped 2008 Sequoia ” the car so big they had to name it after a Redwood tree” and countless others.

He apparently is also an expert in corrosion and metal systems as he blames magnesium chloride for the failure of the chrome on the bumper. He takes a free car to review, runs the company gas card to fill it up all in the name of reporting and then he pans it continuously with his venomous rhetoric towards all things he thinks are responsible for his view of the problems of the world. He complained that he was stuck just off Kenosha Pass, yet he failed to admit that his own stupidity and lack of proper planning put him there. Ever hear of a radio, Andy, or were you too busy hooking up your iPod to the sound system? Oh wait, no you couldn’t do that because you said “If I’d planned it right I guess I could have sat there and watched DVDs or rocked out to the 14-speaker, 660-watt JBL stereo system, but this was not a particularly fun occasion to do so.”

So right there you are admitting you failed to exercise the one thing the continuously kills people in the High Country: lack of planning.

Andy, I drive a Smartfortwo, not considered a gas hog, but I do have vanity plate on it that says exactly that so if you want to know who I am, just look for me ” I’m pretty easy to spot! I am not some tree-hugging enviro-nazi who lives in a gigantic mansion on the side of Brokeback Mountain with solar panels on the roof that never operate because I have the electric heat cranked all the time. In fact I am a businessman ” heavens to Betsy! I think if you want to launch an attack on something, then launch it at your government who rewards the auto industry with exemptions for big trucks which propogate the very SUV industry you are making a living on panning! Blame our government for allowing lobbyists from unions, steel industry, and the auto industry who ripped apart the very laws put in place following the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 to prevent us from being exactly what we have become: gas hogs!

Andy, I’m sure the next time you pack your granola bars and ultra-pure spring water for an outing, you will stop and look at the packaging of those items and remember to pan the plastics industry for their horrendous waste of oil in the packaging that keeps your all natural food fresh.

I’ll look for this letter in the next edition, but I’m sure this one somehow won’t make it in because you’ll need the room for your next zinger on some other innocent victim.

Robert S. English

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