Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 7-25-18

6 I OPINION I
July 25, 2018
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
@MIDRIVERSNEWS
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Responding to ‘Is it patriotic
to protest?’
To the Editor:
In response to the editorial in the July 11
issue, “Is it patriotic to protest?”
I think you picked out two pretty poor
examples to make your point. You picked
out individuals who clearly made poor
judgement calls. However, I would not
refer to the mother and her son as a protest,
just bad parenting. I am offering examples
of real protest movements.
Technically, wasn’t the founding of this
country rooted in protest? Many of the first
settlers who came here were leaving their
home country in protest of religious persecution,
risking their lives and the unknown
for what they believed in. Yet, they still,
to some degree, remained loyal to their
homeland. The Boston Tea Party was a
protest against taxation. In a sense, wasn’t
the revolutionary war a protest for independence?
Might I say the first example
of successful protest in this country. And
since the founding fathers seem to be who
everyone views as the original patriots, I
am going to assume that you see their protests
as patriotic.
Moving on through our history, I see the
abolitionist movement as a form of protest
against slavery. Was it not patriotic to
see all men as created equal and to find it
wrong for one man to be able to enslave
another?
I am going to skip over a lot of history
here, but [what about] the Suffrage
movement, a protest that brought women
together to fight for the right to vote. They
fought a long, hard, passionate battle but
believed in their cause. Women banded
together again in the 1960s to protest for
equality in pay, reproductive rights, protection
from domestic abuse and sexual
harassment, etc. Were these women not
patriots?
In this Issue
10
Envision I-70
Officials unveil their hopes
and plans for the Interstate
70 Corridor from Wentzville
to St. Louis.
[The list goes on and includes] the March
on Washington in 1963, a protest for the
civil and economic rights for all people;
the Women’s March in 2017, a protest for
many issues which we thought had already
been addressed yet are still under attack;
the March For Our Lives movement, a protest
for protection of our children in their
schools and homes against gun violence.
Just because you don’t agree with someone’s
ideology doesn’t mean that they are
unpatriotic. Each person has their own life
experience and reasons for the way they
view issues, it doesn’t make them wrong.
This is the USA where we have the right
to voice our opinion and, throughout our
country’s history, where if enough people
band together for a cause change is possible
and that change has most often made
this country a better, stronger, more unified
country. How can that be unpatriotic?
Lynda Toeniskoetter
Of Trump and NATO
To the Editor:
All Americans should be angry and
embarrassed by the level of arrogance and
ignorance displayed by Trump’s boorish
act of publicly lecturing NATO’s leaders
by repeating ad nauseam his inability to
understand Germany’s paying for Russian
gas while expecting America to press
Russia about NATO’s concerns with Russian
actions in Afghanistan Crimea, Syria,
Ukraine, etc. as well as blatant Russian
interference in American and European
elections – all matters of vital concern to
America, not just to Europe.
Surely, even a simpleton like Trump
would have been embarrassed if the NATO
Secretary had gotten down to Trump’s
level of “off the top of his head” diplomacy
by simply pointing out that Trump grossly
exaggerated the strategic importance of the
Russian gas deal [it supplies 9 percent of
Germany’s energy needs, not 60 percent
to 70 percent as claimed by Trump] and
showing Trump how “The Art Of The
Deal” applies to Germany buying gas. Germany
gets more from buying the gas than
Russia gets from selling it. Both nations
win, of course, but Germany wins more
– assuming that the relative performance
of the two economies counts for anything
[Germany’s energy driven economic performance
surpasses Russia’s by virtually
every known economic measurement].
We know Trump doesn’t read or listen
well but couldn’t he have first expressed
privately his fundamental ignorance to
the people who are supposed to prep him
for these meetings? Why didn’t he tell his
advisers of his confusion about Germany
sending billions to Russia? They could
have helped him get his facts straight and
understand German-Russian energy economics
in the context of NATO’s mission
and, hopefully, save him and us the embarrassment
of the display of ignorance he put
on at the NATO breakfast. Sadly, Trump
is living proof of the direct relationship
between arrogance and ignorance.
Bill Howard
Of football and anthems
To the Editor:
I am tired of hearing and seeing all these
pro football players complaining about
this country and having to stand and participate
in our National Anthem. All I ask,
is for one player to tell me where in the
entire world he can go and make the kind
of money that he makes here.
Further, I want that player to also tell me
where in the entire world he can go and
have the freedom he enjoys in America.
Bet none can or will come forward on
this. If they do, why do they stay here in
America?
Bob Weinshenker
Want to express your opinion?
Submit your letter to: editor@newsmagazinenetwork.com • 636.591.0010
14
Dardenne Creek
Officials from St. Charles County,
St. Peters and Drainage District
No. 3 plan to co-develop a canoe
route on Dardenne Creek.
29
PGA Championship
The eyes of the golfing world
will turn toward Bellerive
Country Club Aug. 6-12, the
site of the PGA Championship.
36
Election Preview
From candidates to Prop
A, here’s a look at who and
what is on the Aug. 7 ballots.
Founder
Publisher
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Writers
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