12/24/2005

Copy of letter to Editor 12/23 BIT

Well anony, here is the letter so that YOU can state your answers to my liking or not. It would be nice though if you were to leave a name other than anonymous so that we can all differentiate you from all the other mice(mouses)?
Messer’s Spier and Wood et al,

What? Only two weeks to prepare? That is not enough time! It takes me that long to rub and massage a few disparate thoughts, and or ideas into some sort of a cogent reply. So I guess I am going to have to pass for now.

“Another blowhard”? Moi? A “blowhard” by definition is a “braggart”. I don’t think it exactly fits or falls in line with the content of your diatribe as I wasn’t bragging about anything. Was that intended to grievously lacerate my psyche? If so it only partially succeeded, as I have found no blood leaking from any mysteriously appearing cuts etc. After examining my psyche more in depth, I had a revelation and I became exultant as I realized I had been raised high beyond mere mortal men, raised to the heights required to join two of the most exalted in the business! As your sentence was constructed, it appeared to include you as the writer, and Herr Spier by inference, as one of this elite club also. If you are thinking of giving up your position, then I would gladly suffer to have you confer the mantle and title of Blowhard of Block Island on me! I will endeavor to do my utmost to uphold, and yea, to even supercede the exceedingly high standards of the office that you have set for yourselves!

I don’t think you can, with any sort of reality in mind, consign me to the trash bin where all the right wing whacko’s reside. Just how far Mr. Delay has journeyed in that direction I have no inkling and further, I have no inclination to find out. I know for a fact that deep in my withered and shriveled little heart and mind, that I do not adhere to, nor subscribe to their espoused line of craziness. I’ve never burned a cross, and I am not a John Bircher. If you accuse me of that because I believe in continued freedom for all of our citizens, safety from attacks by any and all enemies of our way of life, and backing our military to the HILT in any endeavor in which they are legally engaged, Iraq for instance, and it is a legal operation as virtually all the members of the House and Senate voted “FOR” the action. Albeit many of them are now experiencing severe memory loss as regards their vote. And if that accusation includes defending and upholding the Constitution of the U.S. as IT WAS WRITTEN? Then yes, I plead guilty to being some small distance to the right of center in my leanings.

Two last things. One: It is a damned good thing the “Bushie” government is not upholding the letter and spirit of the law concerning acts of sedition during a war, as that word was perceived and applied during WWII, or there would be a wholesale decimation of the population on the left side of the aisle in Washington. Two: Mr. Wood, we all know the high esteem in which you hold yourself as regards being the Scrivener, Arbiter, Guardian, and Protector of the English language here on old Block Island. In that vein, I hope you won’t skewer me too thoroughly and publicly for my poor sentence structure, syntax, spelling errors, and punctuation. After all, what more could you expect of a graduate of only twelve years of school starting and ending here on the Island along with Mr. Gaffett. We really do know how low on the ladder of erudition we are held by some folks of your ilk with a lot of letters after their names. Oh yeah, I just LOVE starting a sentence with prepositions and conjunctions and ending them with exclamation marks! WFB would be sorely tried.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you Sir’s, and to all my other detractors as well. Have a wonderful holiday and, ah, get well soon!!!!

As Ever, Everett R Littlefield

23 comments:

Sam said...

Obviously you don't have Writer's Blowhard to nearly the same degree as your beloved detractors.

[Was that funny or what?]

A diversion, if I may. A lot of people are concerned about the apparent loss of liberty because of US surveillance (Bush'd executive orders that by-pass warrants). This seems to violate the 4th Article (or is it a Constitutional Amendment, Everett?).

Anyway, I go to the bank and I'm on video and a transaction is sent to the bank headquarters and US government. I go get a six-pack of beer and the same thing happens. I buy a fishing license and they want my Social Security number. I renew the driver's licence and I get my thumb prints done - again. I get on a plane and they learn WAY too much about me! All my credit cards are monitored, and I even got a letter last week from our mortgage company saying they lost a computer tape, so now somebody else is probably ME, a case of stolen identity.

Face it folks, unless you're a hermit out in the boonies, there is more surviellance on you than ever. Your cell phone can tell the phone companies and cops where you are within 10 meters. Send an email or post something on a blog? That is screened by the US Government portal near Reston, Virginia.

All this was courtesy of a guy named William Jefferson Clinton, may I add.

But life isn't all that bad, is it? We never were all the private, starting with the tax appraisers raising money for the towns, counties, and states. Call me an On-Island, Off-Island Block Head if you must.

Merry Christmas
Sam
South Padre Island

Everett said...

Well here it is four days since I put up the latest post as I was requested to do. I guess the guy who requested it really didn't want to say anything after all.

Sam said...

Well Everett, I think the guy wanted to have a mano-y-mano debate in person, with an audience.

Anonymous said...

yAWN

the way eYe see it, you halve too much free time, E!

be sidesi only argue with myself
so you are going to have to figure out on your OWN, the many ways and resons for witch you are demonstrably wrOng!

you're an okay dude, E, just the possessor of some incredibly dysfunctional politics

Sam said...

You know Everett thinks as he thinks but he doesn't think any less of a person for disagreeing with him - he might respect you even more if you had some good thoughts you could put together. Just remember, if we were having this discussion in China or other media-controlled place, we might be in trouble because free speech is not as valued as it is here in America.

Personally, I think President Bush has some mainstream strengths and some serious weaknesses just as any other president - this one isn't my favorite but he does deserve the respect of his constitutional office. Plus, the economy hasn't tanked and my kids are doing great.

God bless America.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,
Surely you jest?
You can't spell 'reson', but you can spell dysfunctional?

Everett said...

Too anony 12/28,6:01
Thou does't try to hard to hide behind the intentional spelling, (C)apitalization and typing mistakes!
Well, I may hold some "incredibly dysfunctional politics" in my head, and I agree with the remarks by Sam about Bush.I also have a LOT of misgivings about many of his policies, primarily the enviromental ones as well as his collusion(sp) with all his old oil buddies. But on the main issue about Iraq, and the so-called "spying" on us is where I stand behind him 100 percent! BTW, It was the previous president who on three separate occassions,at least, instituted the internal spying on us. Check out operation "Able Danger" and "Etchalon"(sp). I forgot the other one, brain's wearing out fast! I'll admit readily that we were no where near ready to go into Iraq when we did. There was no good plan in place for what was to come afterward, and it is still a mish-mash of incomplete policies that put us where we are now. The Military in virtually every previous war of consequence had plenty of people who had been trained in the language of that country so that the guys could talk to the locals and be somewhat understood. There was no previous training for the troops this time, and so they have been trying to play catchup from day one. That is the main reason the "Training" of the new Iraqi Army is so far behind the curve!
Anonamystery! nice handle. I think the anonymous this is directed too is just yanking my chain a bit. "eye?" "halve?" "witch?" in combination with, "demonstrably?" "incredibly?" and "dysfunctionaly?" Just a little contrived wouldn't you say. Anyway, thanks for the comments all! Ain't nuthin' like stirring the pot as it were. TIFN

Everett said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Everett said...

The comment deleted was a double post of the one above. Those damn word verification letters all look the same to me!

Sam said...

My hope for 2006 is that we can learn to actually solve some problems and actually do something positive about it, and everything works out just like you hoped.

Folks, we can't solve international problems with words, debates, and like 8-year old boys, "putting up yer dukes." That's someone else's job.

Fix something real like the dangerous Old Harbor docks, summer overcrowding and Mopeds, better medical care, and some affordible shacks for the island workers.

Do something positive, man! Make something better even if it is a little thing.

Explain to me how some rants, raves, or rhetorical debates could do anything positive, besides make people feel bad? Is Global Warming from Global Trade next?

Y'all need a golf course on Block Island ... then you could blame everything on a little white ball.

Everett said...

Well Anonymous at 12/31 8:41,
If you are the same old cyber sniper of yore, apparently you cannot read or if you can, you don't comprehend just what it is you read. If you go back and read ALL the papers pertaining to this squabble, you will not find in there anywhere that I either proposed or agreed too a debate and then backed out, IN THE PAPER NO LESS! Get your head out of your ass and pay attention to what's going on it you want to make some sort of informed comment. Jeez, pathetic and a pussy, I assume you talk about the feline type. I don't know if my poor physche can handle such an assault so early in the new year. I hope you have a better year upcoming than the one just past as you appear to have some major problems. Oh yeah, two words for you, fulminating eukaryote!!
Sorry Sam, all the things you mentioned are to true. As you say it is better to do the good deeds rather than sit here and bitch about it, but I'm going to have to leave that to all the younger generation. Guess I just don't have the "un-pussyness" to fight it any more. TIFN. Oohh lookee, "heatle" for a word ver. letter! What can we do with that? The heatle get you? kill you?!!

Sam said...

Global heatle is just a theory, Everett! The more satelites and measurements they get, the more heatle they see. My hypothesis is that all these satelites and remote weather stations are heating up the environment - like measuring the temperature of a gallon of water so many times that the water temperature is affected by the thermometers. That's heatle, dude.
;)
Sam

Anonymous said...

Hey there anonymous.
Think ( if you can) of this posting as a boomerang.
I've got three words for you, since you just love to throw stones from the invisibility of cyberspace.
Your two words( right back atcha)
and then add puerile. Check it out it's in the dictionary. (The library has at least one if you don't.)

Sam said...

Dude, three p-words in a row is beyond the pale of civility! LOL.

Anonymous said...

Heatle(s) - didn't they have, like, the most top 40 songs ever? "Love, Love Me Do" and "8 Days a Week".

Ev, it's nice to know you don't let the "bullies" get you down. Unfortunately there are people in this world who just are too angry to be able to "get it" - we all know some. I would just like to take a moment and let all those people who are about to jump on the bash-the-idiot-anonymous bandwagon (not that they don't deserve it but, folks, they really won't get it) to use a little more pathos and empathy this upcoming year. Folks like our personal anonymous basher really need more sympathy than anger - they're already in an alienated place and are expecting that kind of backlash. Not that it's okay to be that kind of person. It isn't. But we all know it isn't and so do they. They're still the little four year old who gets attention any way they can, be it good deeds or bad. Please try to find forgiveness for those unfortunates who are more intent on bringing anger and hate to the world and perhaps we can counter-act that kind of social destructiveness with a little more love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of (don't worry, I'm not going hippy - just retro).

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

Sam said...

Honey you can drive my car! Well said.
s

Anonymous said...

After a lifetime( so far 30+years) of profound compassion and sympathy for the unfortunate alienated who are so sorely wounded that they need to take it out on others- I've made a New Year's resolution to let idiots know that they're idiots. Call it compassion fatigue or realism but that's my plan for 2006.

Anonymous said...

Anonymystery (love the moniker) - you're completely entitled. But let another ten go by and you might find yourself back on the other side. Who knows?

Anonymous said...

Maybe, then again, maybe not. Is compassion an unlimited internal resource? Is it something that should be extended to everyone who finds him or herself in a pickle? ( Some of those pickles are of our own making.) Maybe it's even 'unethical' to have compassion for some persons. Perhaps I end up squandering my compassion on folks who really do not warrant my compassion, who don't warrant that I become a co-sufferer (com-passion) with them?

The Warbler said...

Goodness, anonymystery, I'm not suggesting that you become a doormat or pat the heads of child molesters. I'm just suggesting that spending our pent up rage and frustration at those who neither benefit nor understand their role in it (nor care) is more destructive to oneself than the intended receiver. Not only that, but it panders to the whining, backstabbing nature of our "anon bashers" by giving them power over us that they neither deserve nor have the right to infringe...that's all. I'll stay on my side of the fence and you stay on yours and we'll both be right, shall we?

Anonymous said...

Warbler.
oops. Sorry about that. The tone of my posting was more of a musing than a proclamation. I'm wondering more about the idea of compassion and how is it part of our lives, than actually trying to make a definitive statement. So, I'm sorry if it sounded like I was dismissing your perspective because that was not my intent.
As someone who has been a "Compassion Fan" over the years, I'm just beginning to wonder if there are parameters, and if so, how do we identify them?
So my apology for not making the tone of my posting clearer. I didn't meant to 'push' you to your side of the fence.

Sam said...

That's right, by addressing spurious comments from the anonymous blog haters we give them the power, satisfaction and glory to their passive-aggressive imaginations. Just ignore 'em. Sure, you'd love to take 'em behind the woodshed or flush their heads in a poopy toilet or wash their mouths out with lye soap but let's just not go there (because they want you to dare to do that). Life is too short to live in Houston or have to deal with such screwed up people.

When something is so awful that you can't contain yourself, well let 'er rip with both guns. It is not much like what Jesus taught, but every person gets those feelings every once in a while. It is a natural human emotion.

Ninty-nine percent of the time, I try to keep it to myself. /sam

The Warbler said...

Houston...hehe.

Anonymystery, my apologies as well. Nuances so very rarely convey online *sigh*. But I find your musings interesting. I believe (and this is a personal belief only, one that can change at any whim or prophetic country & western song) that compassion is a powerful tool and resource for the giver more than for the recipient. Everyone is worthy of some speck of compassion, no matter how heinous or unloveable - because in our ability to find a moment of pathos for even the most sub-human among us, we have empowered ourselves to rise just a little bit above the fear, anger and apathy that are also all too human traits. So, in such, compassion can be and -I hope - should be limiltless so that our soul's ability to evolve is, also limitless. But I also (often) feel that too many of us (including yours truly) confuse compassion with co-dependency, martyrdom, guilt or lack of personal responsibility. Compassion should and must be extended to our own selves as well or the well will go dry - not of the pathos for the undeserving but exhaustion from the misdirected use of compassion. Compassion is not excusing one's acts or malice, it is simply a moment of "there but for the grace..." Anyway, that's what I think.

Really good questions anonymystery.