Opinion : Letter to the Editor: If we aren't happy is it our fault? Or...

By Vinton Today · December 18, 2022, 5:23 pm

Editor:

In the opinion page of the C.R. Gazette and the D.M. Register today Nov. 27 there is nothing right with the world. Someone is always downtrodden or mistreated in some way. Perhaps – just perhaps it is their fault, but not recognizing that they want someone else to solve their problem; likely one they can solve themselves with their own effort. It was in the middle 80’s that I first heard this phrase – “the government should do more”. Again a problem was recognized, but the individual was too lazy or too inept to attempt a solution on their own. So it would be up to someone else to solve the problem --- with a new government program, bureaucracy and a further confiscation of money from an already overburdened taxpayer. Am I getting close to the real problem? People complain, but they do not have the gumption to get involved on their own or with a group of like-minded individuals who are willing to give some of their own effort and capital.

One writer mentions the alphabet soup community. It is not my fault they not happy with the sex God gave them at birth. LGBTQ or whatever, that’s their identity problem not mine, but still I must fund their whatever through yet another expensive government program or a bunch of protective laws. Good Lord save us from this madness.

I think of all the years that women and girls wished for recognition for their sport; they got it through Title IX. But now guys that say they are female want to compete in that women’s sport. I say that’s not right, that’s not fair. But I am the villain because I make sense.

Some of you may know that for at least the last 40 years I have on occasion written opinion articles. About the last 20 or so I have been published by a local outlet. I appreciate the fact that the editor appreciates the 1st Amendment to not only allow my articles to be published but also to allow rebuttals. What I do find fascinating is the viciousness, intolerance, bigotry, and in most cases adherence to radical progressive/Communist/Marxist ideology of those that chose to respond. There are a few, however, that offer agreement and encouragement to continue, but it remains that those who disagree rarely address the issues I raise. They slander me and many times have doubted my patriotism and truthfulness. I find they are cowards for they can not or will not say these vicious things to my face.

Our people have gotten to the point that they are afraid to voice their opinion because it is outside of the “WOKE isness” of a vociferous minority. They fear being ostracized, fired, shunned or somehow canceled from obtaining operating capital or access to retail sales for their product or some other spite. I guess this is the land of the free only if you are on the right Progressive side, and politically correct.

Well as long as I have breath and a keyboard I will continue to voice my opinion, and I don’t particularly give a damn if you agree or not. The Constitution and its many amendments are the law of the land, and I will continue to support and defend that document against all enemies foreign and domestic until the end!

Sincerely,

John Stiegelmeyer

Comments

Submit a Comment

DE December 24, 2022, 11:07 pm The Civil War was about "state's rights"? The state's rights to do what, exactly? What changed, or was attempted to be changed, that the Confederacy so desired that they were willing to dissolve a country formed less than 100 years before? Why could they not support, nay, couldn't even give a single electoral vote to the fine "Republican" president of the United States? As far as Lincoln being a "Republican", he was. And the party, even 100 years later, was not so different than the party Lincoln was a member of. Homework time: read the Republican Party Platform of 1960, the year of Kennedy vs. Nixon, and compare that to the Republican Party Platform of 2020, the year of Trump vs. Biden. You can Google both. You'll find that the Party of 1960 was far similar to the Democrats of 2020 than the traitorous, ignorant mess that "the Party of Lincoln" has become.

GB December 24, 2022, 5:36 pm Merry Christmas, everyone, and you to DL and NG. I hope everyone finds peace during this Christmas season and that we all remember our service members who can't be home because of their sacrifices and commitment to defending America.

TF December 24, 2022, 12:06 am Newspapers generally require full names instead of initials when signing letters to the editor, and those names are published as part of the letter. Two reasons for this are to avoid slanderous statements and personal attacks. Doing so also illustrates the integrity of the author and the publisher. Any publication credits the author of any printed article. Seems letters to the editor should be included in this practice. Sincerely, Todd Frank

GB December 23, 2022, 8:59 pm DL, you seriously have psychological issues you should seriously seek professional help for. You seem to live on some altered and perverted version of what would be considered "reality" for the rest of us. We used to have funding available on a federal level which would give you the help you need and the attention you desperately seek. I am not a psychologist or a mental therapist. What I am is a red-blooded American and a Christian. I absolutely will pray for you. It is my hope that you choose a path of faith and repentance. My hope is that our God will bless you and guide you in everything you do. AGAIN... Merry Christmas! Please remember our troops serving and protecting our rights as Americans. May God bless you.

DL December 23, 2022, 2:35 pm G.B. You confuse my passion for truth, with what you call "Un-American". It's truly amazing that I'm the only one in this comment section that is opposed to the bigotry that was in the opening letter. You are supporting that bigotry more than anyone. You bring up slavery in Ancient Egypt, from 1500 years ago, and you say I'm living in the past? Can you not understand there's a difference between talking about history, and "living in the past". Most, if not all of the things that you call me, are completely inconsistent with what I write in these comment sections. This "mass majority", that you speak of, must be referring to Benton County only. I am in the majority opinion on damn near every one of the current issues, on a national basis. It doesn't bother me a bit, when someone disagrees with me. EXCEPT, when that disagreement is about Human Rights! Those of you that I disagree with on here, only care about White/Christian/Fascist rights. You thinking that I endorse "civil unrest" is more proof that you can't read anything without making it mean what you want it to mean. I have never promoted anything that could give you a reason to say that! As for my comparison of Anti-Fascists of today, to our soldiers in WWII, is an exact comparison. Our Greatest Generation was the first generation of Anti-Fascists. If you can't understand that, well... you just can't understand what WWII was all about. Our country is, once again, battling Fascists. Only this time, it's right here on our soil. Your cult leader had one over for dinner a few weeks ago. Your inability to accept that, and your support for it, shown in your writings, speaks volumes. NOW, YOU S.O.B. You need to give examples of everything, in my writings, that prompts you to call me "Un-American!!! You make all of these brave statements, but you never address what gives you that impression, to back any of that up. You make up that list, and I'll meet you in any public space you see fit, for you to share them with me! Invite your buddy John, too.

GB December 22, 2022, 7:34 pm Lindsey, it must be miserable to be you. You appear to be filled with hatred and obsessed with anything un-American. As hard as you try to force the dark views you cultivate within yourself, you will never succeed in your efforts. The most you can ever hope for is to attract a small following to make you feel better about the cold and lonely darkness within you. You live in the past and this perverted view you keep of anyone who disagrees with you is not the reality with the mass majority of everyone else. That pretty much makes the fiction and hate you spew irrelevant. I have read your comments for a long time. You consistently seek conflict with anyone with a different view. I have read the comments you wrote where you idolize civil unrest and even compare Antifa to our troops who stormed the beaches on Normandy. You have falsely misquoted case law to fit your agenda for gun control. You are not the scholar that you claim. You truly know so much that just isn't so! You appear to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. It's one thing to give an impression to anyone who does not know you that you have some level of knowledge on something, it is entirely a different outcome when you start spewing hatred and anti-American garbage leaving no doubt as to how radical you really are on so many topics. You can't possibly be a happy person with so much hatred for anything and everyone who does not bow to you. I think I will pray that our God will soften your bitter and cold heart and guide you to a path of righteousness and repentance. Blessings and Merry Christmas!! https://youtube.com/shorts/9ywA7WcAtWY?feature=share

JS December 22, 2022, 4:37 pm Lindsey, Nothing is right or correct in you view, well lets see some solutions? The history in your rant has nothing to do with the issues I raised. Your comment on the Civil War was really wrong. In the Southern eyes this was about States Rights in the Northern eyes it was about ending slavery. Period. Some time ago 1964 when I was in Undergraduate USAF Pilot training a number of students came from Southern Universities. Each said an believed that the War was only about "States Right". You are wrong in that analysis as you are on so-many other things. You are only showing how ignorant you really are. Blessings

DL December 22, 2022, 2:46 pm J.S.& G.B., According to G.B., I left a lot of things out of my comment that you say is more reading than you can handle. If your writings weren't so far off base, I wouldn't need to remind you of so many facts. You know what, JS? It is awful to be me. But, I don't COMPLAIN about it. It must be horrific to be you, as you admitted to writing these complaint letters for 40 years. I do not put others down. I just give you facts, and share my opinion of the words that you write. I certainly won't sit back as you write your admissions to your bigotry. G.B., you say "I slant everything". I say that you need to give up the ghost on this one. Publish a list of everything you believe I slandered in my first comment on this letter. Or, you can't just STFU! As I've said before. Neither of you can actually read words (or at least the ones I write), and understand what they mean. You read them and add or subtract words to make it mean what you want them to mean. That has been something I notice all of the maga party members have done, for the last 7 years. I DID NOT say that I was going to educate myself on the issue of Transsexuals! I said that I recently discovered that a long-time friend, who I've always known to be a heterosexual male, has begun the transition from a man to a woman. And, although I've never understood this issue, I would be getting educated on it, as soon as possible. The fact that you slanted that, to fit your tactics, speaks volumes about who you are. About all of the things that you think I left out... If you want to learn about World History, you'll need to go somewhere else. This was only concerning U.S. History, and current events taking place on our soil. I DID NOT make America out to be "the evil empire"! You added words to what I wrote, and made my comment mean something that it didn't. I was ONLY speaking of things that have happened, or are currently happening on our soil. I might've placed blame on some people. But, I didn't blame anything on America. You stated that I ignored things that happened in Ancient Egypt and 20th century Germany. Neither of those had anything to do with my writing, so I can only guess that you had a hard time trying to read those things into my writing, to make it fit your tactics. I think you were trying to express your opinion that; since Ancient Egypt and Hitler did it, it must be okay. I understand how you would make that mistake, since that's the view of the mega party. YOU NEED to tell me exactly where you believe I was "pushing" a race on you! Your comment makes it obvious that YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE YOU! That should disqualify you from the "laws of your Bible". IT WAS NOT "MY" Democratic Party that enslaved people with dark skin, in the Southern (confederate) states. You can't change history. But, your programmers can certainly make you ignorant of it. There were 2 distinctly different factions of the Democratic Party, at that time. There were the Democrats in the North, and the Southern Democrats in the South. Slavery was in the Southern states! It was the Democratic Party that passed The Civil Rights Act! Congress does keep those records. But, surprisingly, they don't keep them at Mar-A-lago. Lastly, you really believe that the Civil War was fought between Democrats in the South, and Republicans in the North? You're not qualified to be an American. G.B. you should've walked away from your comment, with your head held down in shame.

GB December 21, 2022, 7:41 pm John, the response you posted was very well put. The "Jester" always slants everything to fit into his wolf-crying tactics. He claims to not live in the past and then writes a book talking about the past. He brought up slavery but skipped right over the first 1,500 years of slavery and somehow America became the evil empire in his view of reality. He missed (or ignored) facts that did not apply to any other race except what he tried so desperately to push on others. What about the Jewish people who were enslaved by the Egyptians and most recently in Nazi Germany. Yet he ignores these facts. Slavery was and always will be wrong! If the Jester was truly concerned about human rights and freedom for everyone, he would not leave out the fact that it was "his" Democratic Party who tried to keep slavery and even block civil rights legislation. It was never the Republicans. It must fester in some like an infected boil that eats at their soul just knowing (but seldom saying) it was a Republican President who stood up to the Democrats and had to fight a Civil War to do so to put an end to slavery in this country. "Sumer or Sumeria is still thought to be the birthplace of slavery, which grew out of Sumer into Greece and other parts of ancient Mesopotamia." Then he moves on to transsexuals, men wanting to be women, and guys playing women's sports. He plans to "educate" himself on these. One would assume before he starts lecturing others, he would have already done that...I guess not. Most people do not become confused with what is male and what is female. You can never, ever naturally take two roosters and come up with an egg, let alone a chick. Now I am sure there is some scientist somewhere that could change the natural sex of a rooster to make a name for himself but that is not natural science. They used to have laws against those things. So I say the Jester can believe what he wants. He can remain (with a couple of others) the most miserable person in town. Most know how foolish his statements are and even laugh. Most do not even read his comments except for entertainment purposes. When I read his comments, I walk away feeling pretty darn good about myself. John, please never be discouraged in writing the truth and never allow anyone to silence you.

jS December 21, 2022, 4:44 pm Lindsey, Aw usual, I write a few lines you write a book. Nothing is ever good there is always something to complain about. It must really be awful to be you. You live to put others down. It should be obvious from the first few comments - these people ain't buying what you're selling. It is time to re-think your ideas. Regards,

DL December 20, 2022, 4:45 pm JS, Do you know the difference between being downtrodden/mistreated and abused and oppressed? Let's have another History class. In the beginning, there were slaves. Human beings with darker skin than others, we're bought and sold by those with the lighter skin. Those darker skin human beings were only considered 3/5ths of a person, by the authors of our Constitution and the first of its Amendments. It took the first Republican President to begin remedying that situation. But, only after 250 years of this treatment, on the soil that we now call The United States of America. Eight generations later, it's still not fully remedied. Through the first 150 years of The American Experiment, married women were under complete servitude to their husbands. They were considered a full and complete person, but they were most often used as a stress relieving punching bag, by their husbands, and weren't allowed to vote for someone that might grant them the freedom and liberty that our Constitution granted them. At the end of the first paragraph of your letter, you wrote "People complain, but they do not have the gumption to get involved on their own, or with a group of like-minded individuals who are willing to give some of their own effort and capital". Are you referring to something like an insurrection? Or maybe the online planning a starting a civil war? That's seems to be the way the people you support, go about it. Most of your first paragraph is made up of you complaining about other people, that you don't like, complaining. Your second paragraph, well, quite frankly I'd like to shove a large can of "Alphebet Soup" where your sun doesn't shine! What's in a name? Add the "N" word to your soup! Add a huge "J" for our friends of the Jewish faith! Add a letter for all non-white, non-Republican, and all other people that aren't programmed by the people that program you. If you don't like "Alphabet Soup", DON'T "EAT" IT! Don't worry about any of the people in the "soup". If these "Alphabet" human beings weren't being killed and or oppressed, those laws wouldn't be necessary. You love your Bible, but you couldn't read it without the "Alphabet". Your God created your "Alphabet Soup", and all of those that get to "eat" it.Your God told you not to judge any of the letters in your "Alphabet Soup" or the "Alphabet Soup" must judge you. You make a very rich statement that your tax dollars go to funding those others, just because they demand the same rights as you. Stop putting your Bible on top of our Constitution! Take the rights that our Constitution grants you, to worship as you like, and quit complaining about others that won't let you force them to worship beside you! I don't know why a couple would want a business owner to make a wedding cake for them, if that business owner doesn't want to make it for them. But, I do understand that the couple has the right to let the whole world know that the business owner has so much hate in their body, to turn away business. I don't like the guys(?) getting involved with girls sports. I don't understand the whole transsexual world. I've never had the pleasure of talking to someone that is in the situation. But, just recently, a long-time friend of mine, that I've always known as a heterosexual male, has begun the transition process. So, as soon as I have a chance, I'm going to get educated. As for guys in girl's sports,... it doesn't affect me, as a 56 year old man, so I'll let the people that are affected, worry about it. I've only seen your FACE, once in my life. That was 30+ years ago. My FACE isn't hiding from anyone or anything! It's you that is celebrating 40 years of being behind your pen or keyboard. I'm not one of those people that cannot or will not make the choice to not speak to your face. I have not had an instance to make that choice! I'm now letting you know, that I'm a Democrat (recovering Republican), and a political Progressive, as it was first defined as looking forward, into the future, for the search of a more perfect Union. I don't know what the "perfect" Union looks like. But, I do know that we can't find it by reliving the past. I AM NOT, a Communist, Marxist, or even a Socialist. Every one of those ideologies are also Deplorable and disgusting. Neither, the Republicans that like to call Democrats those things, nor the Democrats that think they are those things, have any idea what those ideologies represent. "Your People" being afraid to voice their opinions, is only a factor if they choose to say anything about other people (derogatory), mostly about certain groups of people. That's not acceptable in any developed society. If they're not breaking any laws while they're expressing their opinion, the only thing for them to be afraid of, is someone replying with a different opinion (sticks and stones). They can't be arrested for saying something. If "Your People" feel threatened by the possibility of someone pulling a gun on them, for expressing their opinion, I find that quite ironic. It's also ironic that "Your People" fear being... "Ostracized... or somehow cancelled from obtaining operating capital or access to retail sales for their product... " May I remind you of the cake decorator that believed in human rights.? Then, your laughable, if not reprehensible, last paragraph. The fact that you can say that our Constitution is the law of the land, when have, so many times, including in this letter, put your religious beliefs above our Constitution, doesn't make sense at all.

WC December 20, 2022, 10:07 am Thanks John well said.

GB December 19, 2022, 9:55 pm Thank you, John. It is always good to read logic and common sense in the comments you post. Amen!

JD December 19, 2022, 1:44 pm Very well put! I agree 100 percent!

TP December 19, 2022, 1:25 pm Times have changed. On last evening's replay of a MASH TV program, Hawkeye told Radar "There's only males and females. I'm a doctor and I otta know."

mh December 19, 2022, 12:48 pm Thank you John for saying what most are thinking. I love reading your articles and have yet to disagree with any. Keep typing. SH

MD December 18, 2022, 9:13 pm THANK YOU JOHN . Well said.