People With Common Sense Will See Stephenson's Letter For What It Is

To the editor,

This is in response to a recent letter concerning Barack Obama, that states "some of us thought that he was the same as most USA negros,"

1. Do you realize computers have spell check and the word "negros" is misspelled. The proper spelling is Negroes. This is a term long in disuse, by the way, and that statement also shows how bigoted you are. To state that "anyone" is the same as "all" black people, white people, Asian people, is denying that anyone can be an individual or different than all in their ethnic group. You cannot clump everyone into one group.

2. You also misrepresent his position on the issues we are all concerned with. Do you believe all the ads you see on TV against him?

3. You insinuate that Obama has stolen the title of "world's best liar" from Clinton. I assume you mean Bill Clinton for you go on to say everyone should try to elect Hillary Clinton in order to have a fair election.

I firmly believe that people who read the letters to the editor and read the newspapers have enough knowledge and common sense to see that letter for what it was/is.

Elaine Seibel
Hill

Living Under A Rock

To the editor,

Clearly, Mr Stephenson has been living under a rock for years. I suggest he crawl back under it and keep his racist, small minded, uninformed views to himself. He is spreading hate and he is spreading lies.

Betsey Phillips
Franconia

Stop Playing at Being Outraged

To the editor,

I am responding to a letter-to-the-editor by Mr. Jack Stephenson (below).I am not sure where Mr. Stephenson is getting his information about Barack Obama and his position on various issues. The Obama Energy plan, for example, includes:

1. more renewable (solar, wind, and geothermal) research and use
2. crackdown on oil speculation
3. energy rebate to American families
4. increase automobile fuel economy standards
5. use-or-loose it for existing oil & gas exploration leases
6. develop & deploy clean coal technology
7. create millions of clean & green jobs
8. reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an industry-wide cap-and-trade program

A full summary of the Obama plan can be found at Barack Obama.com.

Senator Obama has been consistently against the illegal, immoral, and unnecessary war in Iraq throughout his public career. He has not vacillated on this issue. He, as well as, Mr. McCain have adjusted their stance on many issues, as facts change. After all, it was not long ago that McCain was categorically against off-shore oil drilling. I could go on refuting each of Mr. Stepehnson's fallacious assertions about Barack Obama, but we there would not be enough room to print them.

What might the real reason be for Mr. Stephenson's tirade against Senator Obama? I believe Mr. Stephenson is really a conservative McCain supporter playing at being an outraged Hillary fan. We all see through your shannigans, Mr. Stephenson. We know Barack Obama is an educated 'African-American' and the best candidate running. He will be our next President.

Ray Iannuzzelli
Amherst

Thank You Mr. Stephenson For Reminding Me of How Lucky I Am To Be An American

To the editors,

I know that most read Mr. Stephenson's letter of the other day and dismissed him as an oddball or was offended by his inappropriate language.

For me, I want to thank him for it. It gave me the perfect opportunity to reflect on why I chose to be in public life. There is nothing about my life story that is special but it does remind me how alive the American Dream is today.

When I was three, because my Dad was looking for work, my young parents and I packed up and left New Hampshire for Detroit, Michigan We happened to find an apartment in an area where my school, my church and my neighborhood were all integrated. Skin color meant nothing to me in nursery school, kindegarten, first grade, the playground or in Sunday school.

We returned the summer of 1966 and in second grade I learned of Abe Lincoln, slavery and the Civil War. I was stunned and horrified to learn that my former friends' great grandparents were slaves. Lincoln's childhood of poverty, commitment to justice and willingness to put his values into action inspired me to find a way to make a difference too. In the next election, just months after the assassination of Dr. King and Sen. Kennedy, I organized my friends to help with Democratic candidates and I haven't stopped since.

This week I, just a kid from a poor family without any ties to power or wealth, will travel to Denver, Colorado to lead New Hampshire's delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention where, forty five years to the exact date of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech, Senator Barack Obama will be nominated to be the next president of the United States.

Forty five years ago when Dr. King said "let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire" little did he know that a little boy of a Kansan mother and Kenyan dad would grow up and mark his historic anniversary with such a significant history making occurrence. Nor did he know of the young poor kid from NH who would grow up to join 80,000 other proud Americans to witness the event or the estimated billion across the planet witness his dream come true.

When Dr. King dreamed of a day where people were judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin. He was dreaming of 2008 America. Dr. King's Dream is truly the American Dream. A dream for all Americans and for all members of the human race.

I am sure Mr. Stephenson wanted to inspire animosity and divide but for me, he reminded me of how lucky, and how proud I am to be an American. Let freedom ring indeed.

Sincerely,
Raymond Buckley, State Chair
NH Democratic Party

Beyond Hope, Deserving Pity

To the Editor,

Jack Stephenson of Gilford has tragically revealed himself to be beyond hope. One would have thought that his 75 years of living would have taught him something about decency and civility. Clearly it has not.

Stephenson wrote a letter to the editor that was published Monday in both the Laconia Citizen and the Laconia Daily Sun that was offensive and provokes pity. In it he said, referring to Barack Obama, “Back then some of us thought that he was the same as most USA negroes, but he is not, and he has become a total insult to our great successful negroes in the USA.”

Left to the reader’s imagination is how Stephenson defines most “USA negroes“, or “great successful negroes in the USA”. One can only assume that the aging curmudgeon believes such a definition would be superfluous given that clearly his views must be conventional. Perhaps they were five or six decades ago, but the world has moved beyond such uncomfortable and unsavory stereotypes.

Sadly, Jack hasn’t. Somehow he’s avoided any evolutionary thought.

That doesn’t come as a surprise. Having read his letters over the years, a number of which I refused to publish when I was an editor at the Daily Sun, I’ve always been struck by how miserable Mr. Stephenson is. Seventy-five years of life and all he does is complain.

That’s tragic, and deserves pity. If after 75 years one hasn’t found at least a modicum of happiness and good cheer one’s life must seem a complete waste.

Ron Tunning
Laconia

For Some People There Is No Hope

This letter to the editor was published in both the Laconia Citizen and the Laconia Daily Sun on Monday, August 18. It was submitted by Jack Stephenson of Gilford and has prompted outrage throughout the community.

Many have vowed to write letters in response for publication in the two newspapers. As I receive them, I'll be posting them on the blog.

Meanwhile, feel free to leave your comments. I realize that it requires a good deal of restraint to remain civil in light of these kinds of attacks, and I'm hardly one to lecture people about responding with anger. As many of you remember, I was quite forceful in my rebuke of local talk show host Niel Young a couple of years ago while I was still an editor at the Daily Sun.

Nevertheless, I ask that you avoid profanity and consider the source. His message sucks, but not nearly so much as he does.

The Letter

To The Editor,

It is clear that IF we all had the knowledge about Obama which we have heard since he got the "nomination" (not confirmed until their convention), Hillary would be the Democrat candidate. But back then we didn't know that brilliant Obama could not speak intelligently without his staff prepared cue cards. Back then we didn't know that he opposed any increase in safe, clean, cheap energy sources (long proven nuclear, wind, solar and clean coal). Back then we didn't know that he would propose the biggest tax increase ever in the US! Back then some of us thought that he was the same as most USA negros, but he is NOT, and he has become a total insult to our great successful negros in the USA. Back then we didn't know that he was both against the Iraq war and for it, both against battles in Afganistan and for it, and wants to greatly increase number of our troops in Afganistan (the most dangerous place on earth). He is totally for WAR and totally against war, totally for outrageous taxes and totally against taxes, totally for 100% control of all medical care, and totally oppossed to government control of health care.

It is absolutely clear that Obama is totally for and totally against every issue which Americans are concerned with. IE, he is the ultimate politician, as his Church Pastor long ago told us!

Honesty, practicallity, need, usefulness, has nothing to do with Obama. Clearly, Obama is trying to steal from Clinton the title of the world's best LIAR! Hillary tried that, but Obama beat her out for that title.

We must encourage Hillary to take the nomination away from misleading Obama, and give the nation a chance for a fair election. It can happen, and if it doesn't, we are in for a "Hollywood style" president!

Jack Stephenson

Gilford

No Regard For Truth or Integrity

Last week John McCain ventured into Rochester, N.H. for a Town Hall Meeting and before a crowd estimated at 700 people managed to embarrass himself, his party, and his country by accusing his opponent of being a traitor while pretending that his own unremarkable record qualifies him to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of our military and as the Chief Executive Officer of our government.

Senator McCain has earned the respect of a grateful nation for his having endured 5 ½ years of imprisonment and torture in a Vietnamese prison camp. Aside from that, however, he’s done little to deserve the esteem being heaped upon him by a compliant press, although one cannot fail to appreciate how he’s managed to parlay that life-changing experience into a life-long career on the public payroll.

Not quite as flattering is that his military career included the loss of five naval aircraft – one in combat, three during training exercises, and one in an explosion on the deck of the USS Forrestal; or his having graduated 894th out of 899 mates in his 1958 class at the Naval Academy. Nor especially distinguishable was his retirement at the rank of captain after having served over 25 years in the U.S. Navy, a departure prompted by his dim future prospects for promotion.

Although McCain is among the wealthiest members serving in the U.S. Senate, his accumulation of a vast fortune hasn’t been through the dint of hard work, nor derived from the wise investment of his $58,000+ in annual military disability payments and $161,700 annual salary as a U.S. Senator. Rather, he married a wealthy heiress after dumping his first wife, a one-time beauty queen whose physical allure had waned as a consequence of physical injuries sustained in an automobile crash.

As a U.S. Senator, McCain earned attention early in his tenure as the heir to the Arizona seat long held by Barry Goldwater who retired in 1987. By 1989 McCain was embroiled in the Keating Five corruption controversy and admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for having accepted $112,000 in contributions from Charles Keating, Jr. and his associates. Keating ultimately served five years in prison for his role in the collapse of Lincoln Savings, one of the major institutional failures that led to the $125 billion taxpayer bailout of the Savings and Loan industry, and McCain had twice met with federal regulators to discuss the government’s investigation of Keating and his company.

While McCain today admits an error in judgment in the Keating affair, and earned enmity among fellow Republicans and a reputation as a “maverick” for his support of campaign finance reform, he seems to have learned little from the experience. His presidential campaign is run largely by lobbyists and financed by special interest money. According to the Washington Post, over $1.1 million was contributed to his campaign last month by oil and gas industry executives and employees, a propitious windfall that he claims had nothing to do with his recent high-profile split with environmentalists and reversal of his position on the federal ban on offshore drilling.

In an editorial published on Monday, The Citizen was effusive in its praise for Senator McCain’s leadership and “straight talk”. It lauded the senator for his support for the “surge”, neglecting to mention that the senator supported the blockheaded invasion of Iraq and was unwavering in his endorsement of the Bush administration’s execution of the failed occupation of the country.

The editorial offensively repeated some of McCain’s most insidious remarks, showing neither a regard for truth nor integrity. Its purpose was consistent with that of Sunday’s editorial in Foster’s Daily Democrat which attempted to portray Obama as arrogant and imperial. “Obama's grand tour of Europe and the Middle East was the most presumptuous and pompous act in the modern history of American politics,” it claimed.

What appears to be troubling to The Citizen and its sister publication Foster’s Daily Democrat is that Barack Obama emerged from his week abroad looking presidential, while McCain managed only to look pathetic when left alone on the domestic stage. From cruising around in a golf cart with former President Bush to looking befuddled in a grocery checkout line, McCain’s image was hardly senatorial, much less commanding.

One understands The Citizen’s fear that an Obama administration might actually require an increase in taxes to cover the costs of eight years of Bush’s perfidy. With over a half-trillion dollars added to the nation’s credit card to support the failed Bush war policies, an untoward and unconscionable shift of hundreds of billions of dollars of the nation’s wealth to Middle-Eastern nations who are purveyors of terrorism, a crumbling infrastructure too long neglected, a housing crisis that’s wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of family wealth, and a financial crisis that may end up costing taxpayers a half-trillion dollars, higher taxes do seem inevitable.

The Citizen has no one to blame but itself for having relentlessly supported the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress which conspired to create this mess. Now it whines because the Democrats, in their less than two years of having a majority in Congress constrained by the President’s veto pen and Republicans in the U.S. Senate, have not been able to repair the damage.

Contrary to The Citizen’s conclusion, John McCain is not “the kind of leader who can restore the trust and confidence of the American people.” Quite frankly, he’s been a major part of destroying that trust.

Update:

Contrary to what the anonymous commenter asserts, I greatly respect John McCain's service to his country. However, he was not a stellar leader, he did not exhibit even an average intellect, his record suggests that he was reckless with aircraft - each of which cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and nothing in his military record recommends him for promotion to commander-in-chief.

Anonymous is entitled to his opinion regarding Senator McCain. However, he is outside his realm when he attempts to impugn the character or integrity of people about whom he knows nothing.

I've never been one to tout my military experience. Indeed, I was quite happy when it was comfortably behind me. As were my two brothers who served along with me, both of whom suffered serious injuries in Vietnam, and one of whom in spite of being severely wounded twice on the battlefield in Vietnam, returned to the country for two additional tours.

My father and grandfather, along with numerous uncles and cousins were/are veterans, so believe me, I have tremendous regard for those who don the uniform of their country. I don't, however, have much respect for those who attempt to parlay a marginal military record along with sympathy for wounds and indignities suffered into an entitlement for promotion to the highest office in the land.

Most veterans I know, and I know many, served their country proudly and humbly, quite aware of their sacrifice, yet also cognizant of the millions of others who've shared their burden. They really don't talk much about their combat experiences, realizing that their stories are not all that unique. Okay, I admit that I love regaling people with the tale of the woeful indignity I suffered being treated for a piece of shrapnel lodged in my ass. But that only occurs on the rare occasion when someone presses me on my military experience.

Anonymous, for you I'm posting a couple of photos. One is of quite good quality because it's scanned from one of those portrait photos taken during basic training. The other is of poor quality because it's scanned from a well-worn, not well-preserved snapshot.

You may not share my views. But you certainly cannot tell me that I know nothing about serving my country.