Letters to the Editor
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huh!?
... whether or not Titanic was a great movie or absolute crap...
This is actually open to debate!? As Groundskeeper Willie would say, "It's complete crrraaaaap!"
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Closed-Minded is Closed-Minded, No Matter What The Political Bent
Well, see that I came late to the party – I’d started mentally drafting my response yesterday morning, but work, traffic, and an incontinent old Basset Hound impeded my getting around to it. :/ Now that I’m here, I see that most of my main points against the piece (liberal smugness, NYC-centricity, the “grass is greener” lauding of France, the “religious/country folk are rubes” and anti-military attitudes, etc.) have already been covered quite well, but I still have some bones to pick…
I feel it is right to oppose religious indoctrination in public schools, but I also believe Ms. Burleigh shouldn’t have run to the ACLU over what was a relatively minor matter, and especially in the manner in which she did it. No wonder she was slyly referred to as “some people” and wasn’t looked on as warmly as before – what she did was thin-skinned, reactionary, cowardly, and sneaky.
She is obviously prejudiced against veterans, and I seriously doubt she has ever had a family member or close friend serve. Further, she probably doesn’t know of anyone who has ever served, other than what she’s read or seen in the media. I expect the school's annual Veterans Day program was the first she’d ever attended, and only then because her son was involved in it. As such, I suppose she was unaware that Veterans Day is a celebration of veterans and their service to our country and its citizens – it is not an appropriate venue for anti-war political demonstrations. I’d say the silence after the Vietnam veteran’s statement was not one of shock, but silence of assent. As for her derision of "God Bless the USA" as a “trucker anthem” and smarmily quoting some lyrics, I’ve seen the song bring not only white folks, but also people of color to tears, and in a positive way. As a veteran and as someone who has friends and relatives who are veterans or are currently serving, I know and feel these things – she has no clue about them.
She didn’t explicitly state it, but I’m going to assume that besides her other opinions about the Iraq war, she probably believes it was a “war for oil.” I think that argument is not without its merits, but her desire to “complete (their) metropolitan existence” and go off on intrastate and international jaunts while keeping multiple households has probably consumed more resources than the unworldly country folk she derides. Many of you letter writers should consider that as well.
I find it frustrating that she perpetuated a number of stereotypes about country folk without getting to know any of them to see if her prejudices rang true. It appears that her negative opinions were not confirmed through actually mingling with them (gasp – the horror!), but by mostly internal rationalization.
I’m dismayed that her son’s new school neither has a US flag, nor allows the Pledge of Allegiance. Folks, this is the United States, and being allowed to say the Pledge is as much a right as it is to not say it.
Overall, I feel sorry for her son. Five years old is too young for heavy indoctrination of any ideology.
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Stereotypes of country folk
This is somewhat OT, but I get mightily bugged when "country folk" are depicted as more simple, simple-minded and close-minded than urban residents. I've lived in big cities and I've lived in very small towns. Those small-town residents are just as educated, sophisticated and complicated as their urban counterparts. Life in small towns has the same nuaces. Many small towns are ethnically diverse and, more importantly, ideologically diverse and tolerant of differences. In fact, my experience has been that small-town residents -- even in red-voting areas -- can be as open-minded as anyone would want.
For example, though it's a big city by in-state standards, I don't think that the residents of Homer, Alaska, (unofficial nickname: Cosmic Hamlet-By-The-Sea) are any more yahoo than anyone else.
Otherwise, I have to second what Shawn said about indoctrinating 5-year-olds.
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The hick vets who liberated Paris
I wonder if Nina Burleigh thought to thank one of the WWII vets at the unfashionable Veteran's Day program for saving her beloved Paris, the city whose "cheap medicine" and "generous welfare," among other delights, made Narrowsburg seem like the dark side of the moon. But she's the one living on the moon, as her panic (her word) over her son's exposure to anything patriotic or Christian makes clear. Ironically, I think the combination of flag-waving Narrowsburg and George-Bush-hating Nina Burleigh might have given her son the best chance of growing up thinking for himself.
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Burleigh - Onward!
Companera,
I greatly appreciated your article. Truly, your experience in upstate NY applies to parental struggles across this pit of vice and corruption called "America". Why just yesterday my 11 year old son commented that he felt he could accomplish anything in the USA through hard work and education. HA! I tried not to yell when I pointed out to him that apparently he ACTUALLY BELIEVED his "teachers" who wanted to instill him a "hope" for the future. I was emboldened by the Burleigh article - note her attempting to raise the conscienceness of a 5 year old! ( "F*** you patriot boy! Amerikkka sucks! I hope you are happy America is blowing up little Iraqi kids into bloody piles of shredded meat! And that war was for nothing! Yep , they were living in "peace" until we decided to kill them ALL!") Never to young, Companera, to educate our children to the falacy of our modern existence! Just like her, I sought to crush optimism in "the future of this country" in our very young. By the time I was done, my son was lighting up a french cigarette and glaring at me with unrestrained hatred - he was also muttering about turning me in to the people's authority for living a middle-class lifestyle while third-worlders suffed! I was so proud! Truly, my joy will be complete when he and Ms. Burleigh's son march their elders at the point of a bayonnet to our concentration, er I mean "re-education" camp so we can get out of the way of our collectivist socialist future! Uh, unless we are all killed and the survivors capitulate to the Islamists - then we should turn on the remaining Jews and give them up in a vain attempt to appease our Muslim overlords. (Hey, that means vacancies in New York City! Something I am sure Ms. Burleigh can support!)(I debated adding this last part, but I believe Ms. B is a "fellow traveler" - stint in france, fleeing the city, return to the city with the "right" kind of people - yep, don't worry, I am not a jew either.)