September 25, 2019 818 PM
Dear Editor,
President Trump proposes that we 1. Kill the Iranian people and 2. Send our own soldiers to defend the oil field of the nation that helped attack us on 9/11, Saudi Arabia. (By the way, for those who don’t like socialism–our soldiers are being deployed because an oil field owned by the Saudi government was partially destroyed.)
Neither our soldiers nor Iran’s people deserve to be harmed.
I wonder why the USG stands with the Saudis. In addition to sending our troops into harm’s way, Bill Barr is working on the Saudi’s behalf to deny vital information regarding the names of those in the government of Saudi Arabia who gave material support for the attacks in the US on 9/11. Instead of standing with our 9/11 families and our first responders, those who deserve the truth and need that information for a lawsuit against the Saudi government, this administration is hiding that information from them.
USG stands ready to send our soldiers into harm’s way over what appears to be a false flag or at worst, an attack on an oil field which is already nearly repaired. What is going on with our nation?
When did we forget diplomacy and staying out of other nations’ problems? We are going to kill our soldiers and the Iranian people on behalf of an absolute monarchy that beheads people for being gay and crucifies its dissidents, to include children.
I urge everyone, including Trump supporters, to write the president and tell him this behavior is not acceptable to our people. Not any of it.
Trump needs to start negotiating solutions to world problems instead of always moving to war. He needs to order Bill Barr to release the names of Saudi government officials who supported that attack, so that the families who were harmed on 9/11 can obtain the compensation they deserve. Nothing less is acceptable.
Jill Berkana
Ft. Davis, TX
Dear Editor,
I would like to correct a miscommunication printed last week regarding the article “Marfa Public Radio arriving in Presidio.” In that article it was stated that Grand Companions donated $10,000 to help secure the license. The $10,000 donation was a private donation and had no connection to Grand Companions. As Treasurer of Grand Companions, I would like to assure our donors no funds were donated for the radio station, and indeed, all our donor funds are used for the care of our pet rescue, shelter, and adoption programs.
Neil Chavigny
Marfa
Dear Editor,
On Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported that the statue of Robert E. Lee that had been in Lee Park since 1937 was removed from storage and reinstalled in the Big Bend, specifically on a putting green at the Lajitas Golf course. The golf course is directly on the Rio Grande and a long nine iron shot from an historic crossing that dates back hundreds of years; facing the other direction, just as close, is Big Bend National Park.
With the possible exception of placing this statue South-facing at the entrance of the Laredo land port, I can’t imagine anywhere in Texas that would be a more offensive resting place. At a minimum, it’s extremely tone-deaf to all manner of Texas politics whether it’s about the border wall, immigration or, more importantly, the inherent and deeply bilateral communities of the borderlands.
Some sides point to the value of preserving history, but the south, unlike in Dallas, doesn’t have anything to do with the Big Bend. So, what we are left with is the importation of bitter ideas that are foreign to the Big Bend and the borderlands. Does anyone truly think that residents of the Big Bend will simply separate the racism (rightly or wrongly) embodied by Robert E. Lee as it was applied to black people in the 19th century from how it might be applied to brown people who live and work in the Big Bend today? Consider this ironic fact of history: A young Robert E. Lee was stationed at Rio Grande City, Texas before heading south with American forces to occupy Mexico City in the U.S. Mexican War. Mr. Lee has a history with both black and brown people and it’s not particularly flattering.
Others point to the value of preservation of art and that Far West Texas is a good and quiet place to do that. The statue indeed has unique artistic value, but its heroic depiction of Mr. Lee casts a dark shadow on Lajitas.
Lajitas is off to a bad art start. The busty babe above the bar at the resort is great for a shot or two of tequila, and it’s too bad that the only other option for art-minded tourists and residents will be a sloppy stroll to the putting green.
I am a native of Dallas and I played in Lee Park as a child. Now I play in the Big Bend and, once, was a registered voter in Presidio County. The statue belongs in a museum, not in the borderlands. If it’s just got to be in the Big Bend, singer songwriter Gram Parsons showed us how to commemorate in the high desert. The statute should be removed to a piece of property deep into the South County Road and placed facing West. It’ll instantly become a cult classic and provide a way for the public to pay its respects (tequila in hand) and watch a glorious West Texas sun set on some toxic old ideas. Now that’s art.
Lawrence Collins
Austin
Dear Editor,
Since 9/11, we’ve lost so much – not just the people who died, and responders that continue to die or suffer ill health. We lost some constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Our First and Fourth Amendments rights have been hardest hit, and not too many people worried about this because of threats to our national security. In a way, Bin Laden scored a victory.
Since that fateful day, laws haves been enacted to allow ethnic profiling, the criminalization of free speech, warrantless searches, sneak and peek searches, storage and access to documents and electronic communications, and compelling banks and Internet service providers to reveal personal information. We have watch lists, where the interpretation of who is considered a threat is often arbitrary. So we’ve lost First Amendment protection of free speech. As for the Fourth Amendment, we are no longer “secure in our persons, homes, papers, and effects from unreasonable searches and seizures.”
I believe that many who oppose stricter gun laws do so because they feel that if you give an inch, they (the government) will take a mile. Look around – they already have! I respect those who defend the Second Amendment, but I think a lot of people are missing a very important point –that is, they sacrifice rights under the First and Fourth Amendments and preserve a poorly interpreted Second.
Red-flag laws are inevitable after so many mass shootings. Firearms will be seized from people considered dangerous, which is all well and good, until you question who makes the decision. What rules will be in place? Is there a one-size-fits-all solution? Could I call and get someone on a list?
I urge people who are solidly against any type of gun reform to compromise. Let’s get rid of assault weapons and high capacity magazines. They are the biggest threat to safety and are the common denominator in mass shootings. If they are going to remain legal, then why aren’t pipe bombs and IEDs legal? How about armed drones? They can do the same amount of damage in seconds.
Be the good guys and make a sensible sacrifice for safety.
I would love to see the NRA replaced by a group that uses common sense and doesn’t listen to the Hitleresque speakers who preach fear, instead of promoting the safe use of weapons for home defense and hunting. Wouldn’t it be great to join a club that promotes camaraderie instead of hate?
It’s either that or raising the price of ammunition by 1000%.
Let’s not forget what our founding fathers promised us in the Preamble to the Constitution (emphasis added): “We, the people, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Arguably the finest words ever written.
Sincerely,
Catherine Crumpton
Alpine
Dear Editor,
Big Bend Enquirer?
Writing about Mr. Crowley’s tax issues as a front-page story two weeks in a row seems more like gossip than news.
James H. Evans
Marathon
Dear Editor,
Not Well
Trump’s not well, he’s exhibiting 8 signs of malignant narcissism. Among them:
Lying: He’s a perpetual motion machine with 12,000+ lies on the wall, 12,000+ lies. If one of those lies – “Mexico’s paying for the Wall” – just happens to fall 11,999+ lies on the wall. 11,999+ lies on the wall, 19,999 lies. If one of those lies – “Grease crayon Hurricane targets Alabama” – just happen to fall, 11,998+ lies on the wall. Lots move verses for rounds!
Grandiosity: The “Chosen One,” encompasses knowing better than everyone about everything.
Delusional: “Energy efficient light bulbs” create his orange appearance”? If it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.
Manipulative: He’s considering giving Iran a $15 billion line of credit if they come back into compliance with the deal Obama negotiated – until tearing it up. His bailout to farmers could force the U.S. to borrow more from China to maintain an ill-conceived trade war with them! Winning or gaslighting us?
Assorted: Unconscionably, the public’s blocked from attending asylum hearings. Suddenly, “Constitutional due process” becomes a matter of expediency having re-instituted the English Star Chamber! This bedevilment disrespects our Revolution and subsequent sacrifices of so many to have homegrown despots treat us worse than King George III.
When the Despot-in-Chief’s supporters knee-jerk “Fake news” about recorded public deeds, and GOP enablers claim to LUV the “Original intent of the Founding Fathers,” respectfully tell them “You’re not well, either!”
Sincerely yours,
Rev. Barry Abraham Zavah
Alpine, TX
