Letters to the editor
Case in point
My thanks to Gallagher-who-is-not-the-commissioner (GWINTC for short) for revealing himself as the living, seething poster child of the Bush-hatred I was lamenting in my recent letter.
And in his letter of 5/22, he even expands his universe of loathing to include little me. The hate-filled unfortunate, having abandoned reasoned argument, always resorts to name-calling and scathing irrational attack on those who disagree with them politically. GWINTC is, alas, a classic case study, branding me a hypocrite, a liar and even a non-Christian for my views.
To answer: our military was indeed finding what they thought were chemical weapons when I wrote my letter, and even prominent experts like GWINTC admit they are there or were destroyed by Saddam.
Clinton did indeed ignore the terrorist bombings of U.S. interests all over the world and the threat to America for eight long years. Then as the Clintonians were walking out the door (after trashing the White House offices), they warned the embryonic Bush government that they really should do something about those pesky terrorists. Talk about hypocrites.
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Of course there was a possibility that all kinds of dire things would happen during the war. Obviously. There’s also the possibility you will get hit by a truck when you step off the curb.
My point was that the same people who now refuse to give Bush any credit for the stunning victory he achieved also refused before the war to have any confidence in his government and our military’s competence, and thus in their ability to save the oil wells, to avoid hand-to-hand-combat in the cities, and to pull off this spectacular victory. They avoided these perils with a brilliant plan, which even many military experts against the war now admit, they achieved a wondrous triumph with minimal loss of life, and they still are getting nothing but grief. “The result of careful planning often looks like luck to saps” – Dashiell Hammett in “The Dane Curse.”
Another tactic of hate-mongers like GWINTC is to deliberately twist and misconstrue one’s words. I trust the local citizens reading my letter had a higher score on their reading comprehension tests than did my attacker and therefore understood my meaning even though he obviously did not.
So out of touch with political reality is this confused unfortunate that he seems to be under the delusion that I have run for elective office. I have not done so, though it may not be a bad idea if it means inspiring people like GWINTC to such nonsensical rantings.
Suffering under this delusion, one of his multitude of delusions, he then accuses me of “using religion for political gain”! The only reference to religion in my letter is when I wondered whether the Bush-haters are all fired up against GW because he is an admitted born-again Christian. In contrast, GWINTC uses the words “religion” or “Christian” a total of five times in his letter, and even drags Jesus into it, desperately scrambling somehow to indict me on moral grounds for my opinion. He is, of course, an expert on un-Christian behavior as well as politics. I guess in his world it is un-Christian to deplore hatred, as I do in my letter.
My thanks once again to Gallagher-not-the-commissioner for his sanctimonious ravings which so perfectly make my point about the tragic and debilitating sickness of Bush-hatred. The ability to reason is negatively affected; then the hair starts to go. Although this local hater has my best wishes for a speedy recovery, rumor has it that he already bears a rather alarming resemblance to that star hater, James Carville.
Joy Overbeck
Mark my words
According to Thoreau, there are orators, politicians and eloquent men by the thousand, but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much vexed questions of the day. “We love eloquence for its own sake.”
Now we have a president who is not the most eloquent speaker but calls it as it is – and does it! His personal involvement in the Middle East is going to bring peace and prosperity to the region and disarm the hatred in the Muslim world for the U.S. Mark my words.
Ernst Larese
First marathon
Five months ago I joined an organization called Team In Training, sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In exchange for me raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, they have been training me to run my first marathon.
On Sunday June 1, our Team in Training group ran the Steamboat Springs Marathon and I’m excited to say that I was able to finish the race in 5.5 hours! I want to thank all of you who have generously supported me by enabling me to help the society and to run my longest race to date. My goal was to raise $1,500 and you guys went all out and we raised $2,200!
You are all so awesome! Mara Mactaggart, Old Dog Galloway, John, Kacy, Duke and Cristine (Lee) Gerber, Terrie Schuler, Ben Aguilar of Eagle Design, Lyn and Margaret Merrick, Ramsey Flower, Farrow and Bridget Hitt, Suzanne Wilson (for Jordan, survivor!), Gordon and Jean Flaherty, Jade Brink, Jimmy Madril, Gabe Shalley, Joe and the brothers S Beck, Tim and Melanie McMichael, Mike Frailing, Carol Frailing, Linda Lillion, Stuart Satsky, Darrell and Colette Prellwitz, The Pope of Mountain Pedaler of Vail, Gerry Olesen, Vail Resort Property Inc., Janice Gerber, Tee and Thunder, Darell and Valerie Wegert, Duane and Elvira Gustafson (in loving memory of Leo Barela), Gerry and Debbie Wollam, The Saloon’s infamous Ernie, John and Cara Readle, Tom and Deb Cary, James and Ann Overlease, Vickie Foral, Andrea Vesque, Kathy Scriver, Mel and Marlyne Preuser, Teri Madigan, Tom and Loret Davey, my brother Billy Smaller, Dennis and Ruth Johnson, Donna Jo Long, Stewart and Sue Eves, Debbie Kline, Karl and Valerie Fauland, Rob and Gayle Steinke, Vandaye Mallow, Mark and Margie Stephens, Bob and Julie McLaurin, Georgette VanBuren of Eagle River Trading Company, Donna King, lovely 1st Bank ladies Hazel and Leslie, Jim Cotter, Mary Ingstad and lest I not forget my personal trainers that kept me going, Anna, Jesper and my beloved Chico! To Mara and Yarmony for their happy faces at the finish line! Also, my husband, James, and brother, John, for being the best road support for the whole team!
Stephanie Lucero
