Another View, Author at Knox County VillageSoup

Another View

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Published
March 26, 2020

Walking through hell

There is a saying, “If you find yourself walking through Hell, don’t stop – keep walking.” In this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, we are, indeed, “walking through Hell.” Not since the horror of 9/11 have we been tasked with the urgent need for the entire country to respond in collective unity. I could not be more impressed than I am to see that, in a time of unparalleled political division, there is a …
Published
March 19, 2020

Keep calm and carry on

One of the few things older than I am is this bit of advice from wartime Britain in 1939, “Keep calm and carry on.” Another old maxim is that “Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” Both are good principles for dealing with the hysteria over COVID-19 and we all should take a pause from reading sensational headlines and running store to store, hoarding all the toilet paper and …
Published
March 12, 2020

2020 presidential issues No. 3: The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution just became a major issue in the 2020 presidential contest. In his victory celebration Tuesday night, March 3, former Vice President Joe Biden embraced Beto O’Rourke, and announced that Beto would be the point man for his campaign’s gun control policies and efforts during this election cycle. Biden stated that O’Rourke “will be the one who leads” his gun control …
Published
March 5, 2020

Galloping over the cliff

During the past several weeks people throughout the country have had the opportunity to witness the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of the remaining candidates for the Democrat nomination for president. Their abilities and levels of poise have been thoroughly exposed, much to the distress of many of their supporters and financial backers. The media has not received the performances of the candidates well, as MSNBC …
Published
February 27, 2020

An introspective view from New Hampshire

A few weeks ago, Karlyn Borysenko from New Hampshire, a knitter by avocation and a liberal Democrat by choice, began to feel very uneasy with her online peers as their political vitriol was pointedly and continually directed at anyone who made even the most seemingly innocuous statement in support — or even neutrality toward — Republicans, the president, and any of his supporters. She wrote a blog post about her …
Published
February 20, 2020

Purple Politics Primer

There are Boston Red Sox fans and New York Yankees fans. In New England, except for southern Connecticut, we lean toward the Sox. However, pretty much everyone, regardless of affiliation, loves baseball. In my salad days, I was very involved in coaching basketball at the elite high school and college levels. The competition was fiercely intense. However, all of us in that competitive world loved basketball. I use …
Published
February 13, 2020

Health care reform: It’s complicated

“It’s complicated.” That often means “I don’t know,” or “It’s none of your business.” But nothing significant is ever simple or easy and that is particularly true of health costs in America. We are again immersed in a quadrennial flood of promises to make health care and medications at once less costly and more accessible. Most propose simplistic solutions backed by assertion that the problem is “greedy doctors, …
Published
February 6, 2020

Part 2: The Constitution and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers

In Part 1 a few weeks ago, I questioned whether many in our country today have a good understanding of the constitutional basis of some aspects of our government, namely the election term of representatives and senators and also the basis of the Electoral College. One of my regular critics questioned my accuracy and suggested that I should read The Federalist Papers. It just so happened that I already owned a …
Published
January 30, 2020

Is patriotism important to you?

The subject of patriotism is not really discussed frequently by individuals or families today. Why do you think this is the case? Do most no longer care or do they really question the value of its importance or the necessity of passing this from one generation to the next these are the values that have made our country the most freedom loving country on the planet. A recent survey indicated that only 38% of …
Published
January 23, 2020

What do you call it when…

An acquaintance recently emailed me, in a sense of bewilderment after following the national news for the past few weeks, and his questions prompted me to write these down. With his permission I present some of them, edited for clarity and PG-13 audiences. He hopes that when Trump is reelected to a second term that the liars in the media will be fully exposed, and how things work (i.e., the coordination between …

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