A friend sent me this "editorial" from the heartland. A local paper gave one of its pressman free reign to compose an editorial. It might be brilliant satire but it's probably just an ill-informed screed by an bitter old white guy from flyover country:
Can't you just feel the hate?
a Muslim, then a fundamentalist Muslim, than...I fully expect some asswipe to come up claiming an al Quaida connection soon, as we have a Democratic primary next Tuesday.
I sometimes wonder whether these people are hate-filled, or frightened so badly by events that their good judgment, shaky at best I'd guess, is gone.
What can you do? I just laughed and passed it along. Do you think he wets the bed?
I wish you'd titled your post "What's Up With Gary Sillett" instead of referencing Kansas.
We also have to put up with the likes of Fred Phelps, but the opinions of a few aren't necessarily held by the many. Instead, especially with Mr. Phelps (and I use "Mr." instead of "Rev.", deliberately), they are an embarrassment to vast majority of Kansans. I haven't been able to access the full story so I can't/won't comment on what Mr. Stillett may have said.
And, I might mention, Jeff, that use of the term "flyover country" is not only offensive, but says more about you than it does about Kansas.
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Whatever it is, there's plenty to go around.
Sorry. it was a play on the book title. What does my use of "flyover country" say about me? I've met several people from the midwest who used the term to describe where they lived. Perhaps they were being ironic and I had to be there to get the joke.
Jeff
Some people take pride in where they live, I guess.
Likewise Polish-Americans and "Polack" and any number of
Don't suppose you're interested at all in knowing the word Polack means one of Polish nationality or ethnicity _in Polish_ I guess. Or perhaps it's just some of that right wing propaganda from those Republicans who want to starve our old people and undereducate our children. Even worse, it might be from one of those fundamentalist CHRISTIANS!!!!!
I have a friend who is a retired Chief Petty Officer. I made the mistake one time of referring to him as a former Chief. He said, "hold it. Hold it. There are no former Marines and there are no former Cheifs. Once a Chief, always a Chief."
Apparently I was misinformed.
So would that say more about you or him?
Thank you for your reply. Of course I'm interested in learning new things. The only times I've heard "Polack" used, by persons, whom I assumed to be of non-Polish descent, it has been in a derogatory context. As a result, I avoid using the term.
I'm afraid I don't understand the references in the remainder of your post unless they're intended to be tongue-in-cheek..
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Po·lack (plk, -lk) n.
He is correct.
I consider myself to be still a Marine, even though it's been over 40 years since I served on active duty. However, in the interest of efficiency it is simpler to say "former Marine" than it is to say "Marine no longer serving on active duty" or some other torturous phrase which serves no purpose other than pedantry.
I don't know. What do you think?
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Interestingly, I can't see the article. I can read all the replies, but the page where the article he wrote is supposed to be......is blank.
Wish they were. Sadly, we are allowed to disparage certain groups, like the ones mentioned, or even encouraged to do so.
I'm descended from national Poles, but not ethnic. Depending on year, of course. Grandma was Austrian, due to the partition of the time, grandpa was "Russian" on his papers, which he, as an ethnic Ukrainian regarded as an insult. His village, as well as hers belonged to Poland as created in 1918. Hers still is, his is now in the Ukraine.
Things sure get complicated, don't they?
That was what I saw when I followed the link. Perhaps one is required to register with the site and login or something. 'Though if that were the case, there should be some message to that effect.
I would like to see what all the furor was/is about.
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
Usually interpreted to mean so desolate, barren, or otherwise unattractive that the only way it should be experienced is by "fly-over" on your way from one coast to the other.
And there seems to be a bumper crop of them. Much further west of Wichita, they are about the only trees you'll see. But, the big sky, the fields of grain, the rolling hills and tallgrass prairie, may not be as striking and dramatic as the mountains to our west, but they have a beauty of their own.
As do I. Now that I'm retired, I could realistically relocate to any other location here or abroad. For the last 34 years, and for the foreseeable future, here is just fine with me.
Then she probably lives within a few miles of me. I'm about 7 miles due north of Clearwater between Wichita and Goddard.
You know, Kansas does have a reputation for tornados. Undeserved, I feel. The last time I made the effort to search, the National Weather Service (?) listing of the most dangerous places to live WRT tornados had no place in Kansas within the top 10. The #1 place was where I lived prior to coming here, Huntsville, AL. While we were in Huntsville, tornados took out the block of houses across the street from us with only minor damage on our side of the street. Not saying they don't occur in Kansas, as you well know, but I can actually remember several consecutive days where I didn't see any tornados on the horizon.
Now that wouldn't surprise me in the least. The Wizard of Oz is probably the most famous tourist "attraction" Kansas has. After all, not many people come to "Ski Kansas" And no, Dorothy and the Wizard isn't the only tourist attraction in Kansas. We also have the world's largest hand-dug well and, even better than that, the world's largest ball of twine. (see above for "fly-over")
Would that I were. But if there is any family relationship, the tree branched prior to the War of Northern Agression.
Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA
My Dad was a "former Chief". Took a battlefield promotion from Chief to JG and retired full Commander.
OTOH, the above post disparaging a certain racial group in a specific geography seems somewhat offensive and exclusionary. Just try substituting "black" and "New York City" and tell me how much vitriol would be directed at a poster making such a comment.
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