Viewpoints

To the Editor:

You’ve heard that saying, “Silence is golden.” This may hold true in some cases, but today, more than ever, citizens need to stand up, speak up and tell the truth!

After reading the article in The Standard by Jodi Peake about her presence at the January 6 rally in Washington. D.C., we cannot, in good conscience, remain silent. Peake described her experience as “joyful and peaceful,” and also stated “the energy was filled with light and love.” That may describe her own experience, but we would be willing to bet that our elected leaders and their staff would disagree when they were forced to flee for their lives as insurrectionists stormed the Capitol.

To the Editor:

The new year is a great time to make positive changes in your life, as one of life’s chapters close, another begins. Lasting positive change doesn’t typically happen overnight. In fact, the most impactful resolutions often are a journey.

Quitting tobacco is undoubtedly a very rewarding resolution but can also be very challenging. One way to initiate this change and increase your chances of success is by creating a “quit plan”. Quit plans help assist you on your journey to becoming tobacco free by establishing your underlying motivation for change, identifying your support options, understanding factors that can lead to a relapse, and learning how to address them.

To the Editor:

Donald Trump was the most untruthful president in American history. Fact checkers have documented 30,573 false or misleading statements made by him during his term in office.

The lies ranged from unimportant ones - like the size of his inauguration crowd, to serious ones - like the COVID virus would simply disappear on its own and we need not worry about it. His pandemic lies and mismanagement contributed substantially to the more than 400,000 COVID deaths.

His most dangerous falsehood, however, was the Big Lie:  that our national election was not fairly conducted and that he, not Joe Biden, had won the election. This lie was the worst, because, if true, it would destroy our democratic system. Democracy only works if the voters decide who will lead us.

To the Editor:

Slime molds are fascinating creatures. They have no hands, no feet, no eyes, no ears, no voice. And no brain. And yet they move through nature with purpose. They make decisions, solve problems, move toward preferred foods and away from danger. Slime molds learn.

Human mobs are kind of like slime molds. Oh, they keep their hands, feet, eyes, ears and voices. What they surrender to the mob are their intellect, education, reason and conscience.

Mobs move forward as one being and on January 6, 2021 that mob moved, flowing into sacred ground, our Capitol building. But here’s where the mob differs from the slime mold, they were controlled by insurrectionists. Violent, mostly white men (and a few white women) who stormed our Capitol building, battering down doors, smashing windows, attacking the overwhelmed Capitol police.

A choice of direction

In Jeremiah 18, the prophet recorded how God sent him to watch a potter at work. As the potter worked, the first vessel was “marred in the hand of the potter.” So he crushed it down and shaped a new form to his pleasure.

Then God said to Jeremiah, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” (Jeremiah 18:6-10)

To the Editor:

Dear Senators Grassley and Ernst,

Again, I urge you to consider the evidence against former President Trump and, based upon the legal precedents from President Grant’s administration (impeachment trial of Secretary of War William W. Belknap held after his tearful resignation), take the opportunity to convict Trump, strip him and his family of expensive Secret Service protection and a pension, and effectively purge him from the Republican party so it can return from sedition to the stance of a loyal opposition.

Sincerely,
Mary Jane White
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

The data is going in the wrong direction. While life expectancy has been on the rise since the 1960s, its sharp decline over the last several years is a sign that something is fundamentally broken in the United States.

It’s 2021, and we are losing more lives to preventable causes than ever before. Death due to drugs, alcohol and suicide are at an all-time high, and our country is hurting in ways that are multifaceted - attributable to overlapping issues and circumstances.

For some, it may be access to affordable health care. For others, it may have more to due to with social and economic factors. Loneliness, worry, isolation and issues of belonging are key drivers of despair, and we must be bold in our vision and courageous in our decision making if we are serious about making a difference in our country’s health.

To the Editor:

In times like these, some things bear repeating. Remember, God is not to be omitted from the 2020 election of the leaders of His country. God has plans and purposes for this nation, the United States of America, for His glory. Our faith is in God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The Great Creator of the heavens is displaying His power and glory, and divine orchestration in His heaven above us. December 21, we saw the “Christmas Star” conjunction of Jupiter (The King) and Saturn, last seen 800 years ago. Now, January 9 and 10, we had on display an amazing “Triple Conjunction” (Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury) and this rare triangular trinity “Triple Conjunction” appears soon again February 13. All that, plus a total eclipse of the sun, meteor showers, and a comet on January 20, 202’WON’!

To the Editor:

Have we been taking Democracy in our country for granted? Have we become too complacent, not participating in positive, non-violent actions to improve what we view as wrong? Are we relying on unsubstantiated media information to inform us? Are we assuming good intentions, honesty, truthfulness and capability in our elected officials? Do we vote on a well-informed basis after educating ourselves about the people and issues involved? Do we try to share information and viewpoints in a non-judgemental way with others, in spite of differing views?

To the Editor:

We have entered a period in the United States I never expected to see in the greatest country ever created. We have arrived at the point where speech is now controlled by social media and not the Constitution.

We are beginning to look like Communist China or Cuba where only government-approved thought is allowed!

This phenomenon has developed because social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and others, are owned and controlled by Liberals who are not going to allow any kind of Conservative ideas to be presented on their platforms. The owners of these platforms are protected by “Section 230” which gives them pretty much free reign on choosing what can be posted.