Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 16, 2013 Politicians against Americans! Remember the first time you saw the Grand Canyon? I do. It was during the recession of 1958. My father had just gotten dusted from his job in New York City, but he had negotiated a similar job in the San Francisco area. We pulled up stakes for what we hoped would be a temporary move, rented the house to a family friend, and drove across the country to see America as a sort of left-handed oppor- tunity. We made a list of the things we wanted to see, and the Grand Canyon was the last big goal before we reached California. We spent the first night and the next day of the trip in Gettysburg. My buddies in the sixth grade had formed a regular Civil War army, with blue kepi-style hats and inap- propriate popgun rifles. I had read up on the topic, and seeing the battlefield brought history to life -- up to a point. Before the battlefield became part of the National Park System, the various states had set up monuments to their regiments and favorite sons. The effect was to make the battlefield into a vast cemetery or memorial track for brave men on both sides, though one could conjure up what hap- pened by looking over the lay of the land and the exhibits. Being there made American history emotionally palpable and honored the courage of the soldiers. Many say the battlefield is haunted and, in an odd sense, that spectral presence brings the battlefield alive. Some friends were driving through a rainstorm there once and passed a water-logged Confederate courier on a galloping horse. When they came to the gate, they commented on the accuracy of the Confederate’s uniform. They were told that no such person was in the park, because it was long past closing time. They waited at the exit but the Confederate on the galloping horse never rode past them. Perhaps he is still there. The Grand Canyon was the penultimate stop on the trip. I remember the old dull-red road surfaces, but when we walked to the rim, I was awestruck to the point where I almost fell over backward. No photograph can do justice to the vast sweep of the canyon. One could gaze for hours at the rock formations that crop up like ruined palaces and pagan temples of a mythical forgotten race, or analyze the striated geology of the deepest cut in the Earth known to man. To see this spectacle is to ponder it profoundly. The stop before we finally landed in the reality of the real estate market was Muir Woods. The giant redwoods, protected through the influence of John Muir, had the same effect on me as they did on their namesake: The inspired absolute reverence. Muir said many times that Nature was a wonderful place to pray. The idea that anyone would have wanted to log those trees for a quick profit was a form of blasphemy. Cutting one down anywhere, not just in what became the National Park System, should have instinc- tively been recognized as a crime. Some people have different instincts, and some have political instincts. In order to make the population take the government shut-down seriously after a half-dozen flops that did not come off, the instigators had to find something to shut down that would be annoying but not threatening. The National Parks were the perfect soft target. Try cut- ting off Social Security. No politician who voted for that cut would ever be elected again because the people who receive Social Security, or expect to, know it is actually their money by a contract with the government. Any party held responsible for an attack on Social Secu- rity would go the way of the Bull Mooses, the Mugwumps, or the Know-Nothings. Cut Welfare? America’s cities are still standing. A week after a Welfare elimination, the responsible political leader could climb to the top of the Washington Monument and play his lyre above a sea of fire as the citizens of the nation’s capital burned everything in sight, possibly including the lodge they could no longer afford. When a confused, unarmed black woman tried to broach White House security with a baby in her car, she was shot from five different angles based on a very dubious threat. We will see no cuts to Welfare. Remember what happened when somebody suggested that we might want to suspend the Super Bowl during the first war against Iraq? That idea did not last very long. Politicians are survivors. They learn not to offend vola- tile communities that can be polarized by their economic foolishness, but they also learn that respectable people are slow to take up arms for purely aesthetic reasons. The polit- ical football cannot be football, and it cannot be Welfare or Social Security. The political football, by default, becomes the National Park System. The appeal of the parks to people from this country and those of every country tend to be intelligent, reflective, and reasonably thrifty. They attract a different audience than the gambling casinos that waste enough electricity to illu- minate all of Mexico, or the huge spectator sports events that reinforce people’s sense of their own national prowess even as their jobs are being moved to overseas locations and the U.S. infrastructure collapses. The parks attract decent people who think -- and who think hard and long before they resort to violence. The parks are now the victims of America’s schoolyard. The politicians are the bullies. The politicians also think long and hard. Attacks on programs that render people depen- dant on Big Government are the last things they would touch because those people could become strident in short order and some of them have very little to lose. The edu- cated middle class used to get tapped for real wars against perceived enemies, but we could not prolong the wasteful misery in Iraq and Afghanistan with a conscripted army, because educated people draw the line at being killed in dubious battle outside the national interest. The guy who planned the 9/11 attack is dead, and the attackers are dead. We did what we had to. Enough! Politicians keep telling us that the troops are over there defending our freedom. They say it, but nobody believes it anymore, though they pretend to, so as not to offend the veterans and their long-suffering families. When some- body proposed a third invasion of Syria, there was ZERO support, even from the American Legion commentators. Who wants our soldiers fighting overseas? The people who pay the politicians. I regretted that I missed Vietnam due to a training injury when I volunteer for Airborne. Two of my friends, both decorated for valor, and a third guy who learned Vietnamese and served in counter-intelligence, said they would never serve again unless the Soviets invaded the Western Hemisphere, in which case they would bring their own guns and drive their own cars to the border. Enough was enough then. It still is. The middle class is also tapped to the point of anemia by taxes. The over-taxed members of the middle class are the nerds, geeks, and wimpy kids who get beat up in the schoolyard by the bully politicians, though in their private lives they are also the doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, and business people who keep day-to-day America func- tional. Speaking of function: Has anybody noticed that good- paying jobs are not coming back? Did anybody notice that a large number of the people who visit the National Parks are European and Asian tourists? In New York City, a young Asian family was recently pursued and run off the road by some punks on cheap motorcycles. The video of the chase and the photographs of the beating of the Asian man went viral. You think tourists will come here for that? The civil- ity of the National Parks is a fact, the guides are informa- tive and entertaining, and the travel to the locations draws tourists through America’s heartland where travelers spend money on food and accommodations and gasoline and come to realize that most Americans are neither thugs nor empty-headed celebrities, but real people. Nobody who has seen Tokyo, Seoul, or Singapore is particularly impressed with the New York skyline. The history of London or Paris is not there either. Mexico City is twice as big and has older monuments. Ditto Beijing. Nobody is impressed by America’s urban life. We should reopen the parks and see that they stay open. They are the best advertisement for the goodness and greatness of America that we have left. Remember which politicians voted to close them. See that not one of them is ever elected again. Letters to the Editor (Editor’s Note: The following letter from Susan Winton was incorrectly added to Joel Winton’s letter, which ran on Oct. 9. Villadom TIMES regrets the error and any inconve- nience it may have caused.) Opinion offered Dear Editor: It is unfortunate that civil discourse is no longer used by many who do not respect someone else’s right to an opinion other than his or her own. To quote Dr. David Nash, a physician who represented the liberal perspective on the Affordable Care Act, “A civil discourse begins with the premise that there are different points of view on a topic. It is better to understand those with whom we disagree than turn off the sound.” The purpose of government is not to protect the environ- ment. It is to protect the inalienable rights of its citizens. Sustainability is the latest disguise government is using to control its citizens. Susan Winton Wyckoff Support for Schwartz Dear Editor: I have lived in Franklin Lakes for over 40 years and during that time, I have been very involved in the school community -- first, as a parent of three children and active member of the PTA and then as an employee of the board of education for 17 years. During these years, I reached the conclusion that board members need two-to-three years of experience before they fully understand the dynamics of the Franklin Lakes School District and, therefore, become truly valuable mem- bers of the board. Being successful in a chosen career is not enough. Having a child in the school district is not enough. Being involved in the sports program is not enough. Even being involved in another school district is not enough. We need people who know the Franklin Lakes School District and who understand education. We need people who are willing to put aside their egos and who will listen and learn. This is why I watched in horror as the recently-elected, inexperienced board members recklessly made decisions that almost undermined our excellent school district. We desperately need to bring our board of education back to the path of responsible and experienced governance. We need board members who can work in mutual respect with all constituencies of our school district – the adminis- tration, the teachers, and the parents – to help achieve the very best educational experience for our children. We need Kathie Schwartz. We need her experience, her proven track record in dealing with the tough issues, and her deep respect for the school community. We need to put aside politics and focus on bringing the best and most expe- rienced people to the board so that Franklin Lakes can once again shine with pride. Please join me in voting for Kathie Schwartz for the board of education. Linda Leeder Franklin Lakes Election Day opportunity The voters of Franklin Lakes have an opportunity to elect an outstanding individual, Tony Zolfo, to our board of education. I know firsthand that Tony has the ability to effectively work with others, and can facilitate discussions in order to problem solve and build coalitions that will foster environments where teachers continue to inspire our children every day. Tony has the personality and demeanor to continue to build on the collaborative efforts this board has established and to address the challenges we will face. I believe that success is determined by character, and Tony has outstand- ing character. He’s disciplined, hardworking, ethical, loyal, (continued on page 19)