By Mayor Dan Williams for The News Courier
I have been very frustrated the past couple of days because my computer will not operate properly. I am out of town at a National League of Cities meeting, and can get online only with great difficulty. Pop-ups appear constantly reminding me that the laptop is infected with spyware, and they try to sell me anti-virus software for $49.50.
I have become dependent upon the computer to keep up correspondence with my employees and constituents while I am away from the office. My frustration level increases when it doesn’t cooperate. I believe, however, that my frustration level is on the rise due to more than computer malfunctions. I can get the computer repaired, but the other frustrations are not so easy to fix.
My generation never thought as we reached retirement age our savings and investments would take the hits they have taken, and leave us with much less than we thought we would have to enjoy our golden years. We never thought that we would have to worry about our children losing jobs and homes, and our grandchildren’s pre-paid college plan going down the drain. We never thought that entire industries would pack up and leave after providing jobs within our community for 50 or more years.
My frustration level increases when I listen to the news from Washington. Who should we believe about the proposed health care reform? I think it may be true that no one from either party has read it. If no one has read it, then who wrote it? If it all passes, who will administer it, and how much will it cost me? USA Today has opposing articles, one saying that everyone benefits if illegal immigrants are insured, and the other saying, “Don’t let them buy policies, because it will mean longer waits and higher costs.” Some say having a flawed, imperfect bill is better than doing nothing. Who do we believe?
My frustration level rose sharply last week when the news reported that U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan shot and killed 12 fellow-soldiers and one civilian, and injured more than 30 others at Ft. Hood, Texas, while being processed to ship out to Afghanistan to fight in the war against terror. The news now reports that he is suspected of Internet postings on suicide bombers and equates them to soldiers who throw themselves on grenades to save their comrades. It is reported that he said the war in Iraq is a war against Islam, and that he was a Muslim first and an American second. The news reports that all of this was known by the people with whom he worked, and his problems had been discussed by them.
Why didn’t his superiors do something to remove him temporarily from his duties, especially since one of his peers said he wouldn’t want him in his foxhole? Maybe they were afraid they would be seen as racial profilers or anti-Muslim. I understand that our nation tolerates those who do not care for the freedoms we allow them, and gives them every right that other citizens have. I know his peers and superiors were unsure about what action should be taken with Major Hasan, but their inaction leaves 13 dead and more than 30 wounded. This really frustrates me. I don’t want to be intolerable to anyone because of their religion, but Major Hasan was reported to be shouting Allah is great as he shot his fellow soldiers. I hope he is just one-of-a-kind and does not represent other Muslims. My frustrations increase again when the news show the radical Muslims on the streets of New York recruiting others to their cause, and saying that Major Hasan is now a hero. I say, turn the major over to a Texas court for a fair trial and a just disposition of his case.
I am frustrated, but I am not depressed. I am sure other generations have felt the same frustrations that I feel. America has gone through the wars and troubles that foreign governments, presidents, Congresses, Legislatures, and other levels of government have placed upon her, and survived. She has taken criticism from all sides about her capitalistic ways, and her independence, and survived. America is still strong. She is battered and shaken from time to time, but she shakes off those who would destroy her, from within and without. God bless America, again and again.
