America’s greatness defined by admitting fault
To The Editor,
Some Fourth of July reflections on the greatness of America: Certainly our greatness does not lie in the absence of fault. For so young a nation, we have a fairly shabby history: our enslavement of African citizens, the genocide of Native Americans, our colonial policies in the Pacific and south of our borders – not to mention more recent adventures in preemptive war, duplicity in high places, and the torture of prisoners.
The greatness of Americans is that we can talk about this. Somehow we have managed a system of government and public affairs that not only allows us to criticize our own actions, but in some instances actually rewards such criticism. Historians are now expected to discuss the bad with the good, investigative reporters are promoted for ferreting out corruption in high places, whistle blowers, often at risk of losing their jobs, are honored as heroes.
Not so elsewhere. You won’t find this degree of openness in China or Russia, in Burma or in most of the developing nations. Such transparency is not often found, and is something for which we can be justly proud.
We do have a ways to go, however. Our news media is still largely controlled by corporate interests involved in maleficent ventures resistant to full disclosure. But other forces, including Internet, now prod even the most biased of the established media toward greater public responsibility and transparency.
In short, the measure of our greatness as a nation is not that we are without fault, but that we are still able to publically admit even the worst of it.
David C. Duncombe
White Salmon
Barber honors servicemen
To the Editor,
Hats off to Paul, the barber!
My son, Josh Shirley, came home on leave from the Coast Guard on his way to another base. I told him I would treat him to a haircut as we both needed one.
While we were there, I noticed on the wall that Paul charged $10 per haircut. After he was done, I gave him a $20. He gave me a $10 back. I told him I was paying for both and tried to give it back to him. But he wouldn’t take it. He said: “He (pointing to my son) does not have to pay.”
I felt so proud at that moment. It’s great to see support for our sons and daughters who are serving our country in the armed forces.
Jim Woodard
Goldendale
Local teens are a credit to community
To the Editor:
Teenagers are often stereotyped as troubled and “bad news.” However, I just spent five days in Washington D.C., chaperoning 33 teenagers who were totally awesome kids. I was proud to be in charge of this group of students.
Everywhere we went from the airplane to hotels and restaurants, our students were complimented on their excellent behavior. The next time you hear some horrible thing on the news that involves a teenager remember that those stories are about a minority of teens.
Theresa Babler
Goldendale
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