Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to the letter “E Pluribus Unum: Out Of Many, One” by Andrew Rosen, published Aug. 25.
I cannot believe the tripe that Mr. Rosen is spitting out. First of all, Trump never said he agreed with the Nazis, Klan members or white supremacist groups, etc. What he did say was there were good people on both sides; and I believe he was referring to descendants of Confederate soldiers who fought and died for the south. I believe he also meant people on the other side were truly offended by these statues. Not all the people, but some in both cases.
Now I’d like to point out that all those groups don’t get along with each other either, and can get very violent, etc. etc. etc.
We have something in this country called the First Amendment, Mr. Rosen. Are you familiar with it? It says anyone is allowed speak whether you, Mr. Rosen, agree with them or not. Those groups, the Nazis, Klansmen, etc., had permits to demonstrate and should have been allowed to do so, whether you or I agree with them or not.
Now the Antifa mob that came with no permits to demonstrate, and hats and bats, attack and cause riots, should have been locked up.
Funny you didn’t mention them, Mr. Rosen, a radical group of left-wing thugs. They attacked the demonstrators first, and the silence was deafening. And who even heard of the police being pulled out of a violent, riotous melee.
You attack Trump, but not a word about the left-wing mayor, or governor, who should have called the National Guard. That was their city and their state, but oh no, let’s not blame them.
Your outrage should have been demonstrators being attacked for exercising their lawful right to protest. This incident looked more like Nazi Germany than America. You should read that First Amendment, Mr. Rosen. You are obviously not up to speed on that one.
Now let me conclude by saying I was a police officer in New York City for 22 years in the Midtown area. I was sent to the United Nations many times regarding demonstrations. I was at antiwar demonstrations, racial demonstrations, gay rights demonstrations, legalize marijuana demonstrations, etc. And in many of these events, fights broke out between the two opposing sides, and we broke them up — before they became a Charlottesville.
Now, Mr. Rosen, if I can let Bernie Sanders speak, and even hold office, a card-carrying socialist, and the late Robert Byrd, a Klansman and recruiter for the Klan at one time, alas a senator for many, many years, I think it’s pretty one-sided for you to attack Trump. So, stop being a hater. Trump could never bring people like you to the table anyway, so, I have to chuckle when you say he should bring us all together.
And as for World War II, I had two uncles in that war, one in the Pacific, and one in Europe fighting the Nazis. And I was in the Marines. So, spare us with your utter left-wing tripe. If you want to blame anyone for Charlottesville, lay it at the mayor’s feet (a Democrat) and the governor (a Democrat), where it belongs. After all, the mayor gave the hate groups the permits in the first place.
Thomas Euell, Wellington
This note is in response to the above letter by Mr. Euell in response to my letter of 8/25/17. His invectives (“tripe”, “utter left-wing tripe) and his tangents (his family’s military service) are pointless to his arguments. These things only take away from spurious arguments in which he shows off his utter lack of education, knowledge of the first amendment, history, and current events. This probably comes from only listening to FOX News. His arguments are a sad indication of our educational system, of how people follow some news channels and yet do not do further research on issues, of how some people are followers and not independent thinkers. So sad for this country.
While these discussions should not become personal, the diatribe by Mr. Euell has made the writing of this note inevitable. Mr. Euell is stuck in a right-wing mindset that will have students of history look back at his ilk and shake their heads. They will wonder how people like this can so consistently be on the wrong moral side of issues and ideas. How blind thinkers can exist in a world where resources are made available at an all-time high, yet some make no use of them nor can they distinguish what is real and not real.
And by the way, sir, I am liberal in some issues and conservative in others, trying to keep an open mind until I have the facts. And when situations change my views can also change. Both Democrats and Republicans make valid points on a lot of issues. Mr. Euell only sides with whomever FOX News promotes without thinking deeper about the issues. So sad.
Mr. Euell, I extend an offer to discuss how to research issues, how to objectively look at what has been written or said and separate the wheat from the chaff without ideological biases (I give the editor of this publication permission to give Mr. Euell my phone number to contact me). I have been trained in the Scientific Method and am someone for whom research, behind the obvious sound-bites, means something. I urge you to contact me for a calm, frank (and maybe even fun) discussion of many issues.