4A Mar. 1, 2008 Mountain Messenger - The Weekend Paper for the Greenbrrier Valley
www.mountainmessenqer.q0m
OPINION
By David Cottrill
Loving Our Enemies
Actually, this is not about lov-
ingour enemies so much as about
our loving to have enemies. Maybe
it's something in our collective
psyche. We think of ourselves as
good--and we are. But, like all hu-
mans, we also have an imperfect
side. However, we seem to reject
that part of our nature and project
it onto enemies, real or imagined.
Who doesn't remember 'q'he only
good Indian is a dead Indian"? So,
it was okay to exterminate them,
and, of course, to take their land.
We didn't have much choice
but to take on the Axis powers in
World War II. We bad to create an
enormous military complex in or-
der to prevail. Then, that complex
sort of took on a life of its own.
Conveniently, there was another
enemy-in-waiting, the USSR. Had
to keep those rascals In check.
And so, we developed the ca-
pacity to annihilate them eight or
nine times over. Churchill chided
the Allies for spending so much
on missiles. 'q'hey will only make
the rubble bounce," he lectured.
When the Soviets tried to out-
spend us, it ruined them; it was
more than likely the primary rea-
son, for their collapse. We wonl We
cheered and waited for the peace
dividend. It never came.
See, Congressman "Smiley
Smart's" District had profited
mightily from the manufacture of
"XOX" missiles. If there were only
some new antagonist on the hori-
zon, those tax dollars could be
made to keep flowing into his Dis-
trict.
Since communism was no
longer a threat, how about--that's
itf--rogue states, nations that
didn't bend readily to the will of
the North American Colossus,
countries with leaders who some-
times thumbed their noses at us:
Ghaddaffi, Noriega, Saddam,
Chavez, Ahmadinejad? And
Granada; don't forget Granada. We
had to invade that two-mile-wide
island before they invaded us.
Ike had tried to warn us about
the costs of an out-of-control mili-
tary-industrial behemoth. Those
'who took Ike seriously were
drowned out after 9/11. Terrorists
were everywhere, and we must have
state-of-the-art submarines, car-
riers, bombers, tanks, etc. Forget
our crumbling infrastructure,
schools, health care, and energy
independence. Billions more must
be appropriated for weapons that
are totally irrelevant to any
threats against us. You combat
terrorism with police work and
allied cooperation.
The military-industrial profi-
teers and the "Smiley Smarts" in
Congress exploit our obsession
with enemies. They also take ad-
vantage of our national amnesia.
We've already forgotten how the
USSR collapsed doing exactly what
we're doing--spending ourselves
into military oblivion.
We keep building systems of
unprecedented sophistication and
cost to use against--whom?
There's no nation or group of na-
tions threatening us. China?
China, with a population four
times ours, spends less than ten
percent of what we do on its mili-
tary.
Actually, they're pretty smart.
They're spending on economic de-
velopment. At the current pace, by
comparison, we'll soon be an eco-
nomic backwater. History is lit-
tered with nations and empires
that over-extended militarily. We
now maintain 800 military bases
around the world. Why?
"Our vaunted nuclear arsenal,"
wrote Gene Lyon, "has become the
economic equivalent of the Egyp-
tian pyramids: fantastically expen-
sive but useless."
Using the threat of terrorism to
milk the taxpayer for $700 billion
in defense spending (not even in-
cluding the money we're borrow-
ing from China for the wars in the
Middle East) is madness. Instead
of blowing trillions on pointless
defense systems, shouldn't the
priority have been body armor and
armored personnel carriers to pro-
tect the troops we sent into a
senseless quagmire?
Sure, I want an adequate de-
fense, but does "adequate" mean
spending more than all the other
nations in the world put together?
Our priorities are so screwed up
we may already be headed for
history's "dust bin."
As Pogo said, "We have met the
enemy, and it is us."
Wright to the Point
By Jonathan Wright
[
Slow drivers--they're every-
where.
Well, that might be a bit of
an overstatement, but it seems
that every time I'm in a hurry
and running late, I just hap-
pen to gel behind a slow driver
whose only care in the world is
to examine every fencepost,
driveway, and parked vehicle
along the way. I know that's
what he's doing, because I see
his head turn to look at stuff
every ten seconds or so.
And if it just so happens that
he's not doing that, he's doing
the next-worse thing: carrying
on a nonstop conversation
with his front-seat passenger,
turning his head to the right
every few seconds to Catch ev-
~.ery word or to direct his own
words to his companion.
It never fails--you pass doz-
ens of passing lanes with not a
slow car in sight. But as sure
as you enter an area of crooked
roads where there's not a pass-
ing lane for 10 or 20 miles--and
that describes most of West Vir-
ginia, of course--that's where
you'll encounter 95 percent of
slow drivers. That is, you'll en-
counter them almost exclu-
sively along stretches of road
where you can't pass them.
Oh, the agonyl Creeping
along behind a slow poke at a
seeming snail's pace while the
clock is ticking away on an im-
portant engagement you're
probably going to be late for--
it's just too much.
I deal with this nerve-rack-
ing situation in two different
ways, depending on my frame
of mind at the moment.
First, without actually tail-
gating the offending vehicle--
which is much more danger-
ous than it's worth--I at least
get close enough to make a
statement. That statement is
basically "You're going way too
slow. Could you speed it up a
bit? You're inconveniencing
meF Of course, I would never
say this to the person first-
hand. It's rude and insensitive.
But at least by my driving rela-
tively closely enough behind
the driver to make myself no-
ticed, and hopefully under-
stood, the driver will hopefully
get the message.
I don't know why I say "hope-
fully"---because it never hap-
pens. Well, maybe once in a
blue moon, but not enough to
get excited about. In 99 cases
out of 100, the driver contin-
ues his turtle pace, seemingly
oblivious to the agonized driver
behind him. But at least I'm
satisfied that I've done the only
thing possible short of honking
my horn, which I'm not about
to do for fear of being the hap-
less victim of a road-rage inci-
dent.
The other way I deal with this
problem is something I do
much more frequently, espe-
cially when I'm not in as big a
hurry. I simply look for a good
place to carefully pull off the
road, park the car for a minute
or two, and then proceed, hav-
ing allowed the slow driver time
to get far enough ahead of me
that I don't have to deal with
him anymore.
I like tbis second solution
much more. Other than the
inconvenience of waiting
around a couple of minutes, it's
simple and easy--and it effec-
tively and efficiently removes
the source of the stress.
Slow drivers have been
around since automobiles were
made to go more than 20 miles
per hour. And they'll be with us
way, way into the future, I feel
sure. So we might as well learn
to deal with them with as little
stress as possible. Life's too
short to get all messed up from
tailgating.
Michael Showell, Editor & Publisher
David Cottrill, Writer
Kathy Hunter, Business Office
Tanya Sizemore, Front Office
essen
Jeanette AIbaugh, Typesetter
Debbie McClung, Ad Design
Julie Sweet, Ad Design
Marti Marshall, Customer Service Mgr.
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By Nan Issenberg
I've had a love-hate relation-
shlip with Wal-Mart for a long
tirme; prices are low, so is
wcarker's pay. Especially for all
thtose Chinese and other folks
w[ho make a pittance for a hard
dmy's work. I love to pay a dol-
lalr less for the infrequent
splurge on Ben and Jerry's.
Who doesn't? But how do they
do that? Did you ever wonder?
Tlhis isn't a business lesson;
don't worry.
It's surprisingly about some
positive news I read in The State
oK the World, 2008. The World
Wfatch Institute puts out a well-
researched annual report on
topics about different aspects
off our world. In the 2008 issue,
they describe the greening of
Wal-Mart. I wouldn't have be-
lieved if I didn't know these
people are straight, and their
work is respected throughout
the world.
The reason I'm excited about
Wal-Mart going green is they
are the biggest company in the
world with tremendous buying
power, and a great deal of in-
fluence on how a lot of other
companies do business. If Wal=
Mart says the toys can't be cov-
ered in lead paint, and can't
contain plastic chemicals that
effect children's endocrine sys-
Items, then all the companies
tthat work for them will have to
(change their production meth-
(ods. If Wal-Mart buys energy
~efficient lighting systems for all
iits stores, it brings down the
]price of production for the light-
iing company. Then the rest of
,Call to men
Dear Editor:
Enough is enough. It is time
for Gov. Manchin to step up
and take a firm and public
stand against domestic vio-
lence. West Virginia holds the
distinction of having one of the
highest domestic violence mur-
der rates in the country. In fact,
it is time for every compassion-
ate, loving father, husband,
brother, uncle, partner, signifi-
cant other, domestic partner to
step up and say enough is
enough, Last weekend four
people died from domestic vio-
lence incidents in West Vir-
ginia. One case involved a man
killing his wife at their home
(even though she was escorted
by law enforcement to collect
her personal belongings. Law
enforcement left thinking her
The Right Perspective
By Tom Holbrook
Mention the name Castro in
most social circles and one
automatically thinks of Fidel
and the Republic of Cuba. From
this point forward, however, the
name spoken in the same
breath as Cuba will not be
Castro, but Raul. Raul is also
a Castro, but he is not his
brother and there will always
be only one (Fidel) Castro.
We should look a little closer
at the change that has taken
place in Cuba's administration.
Questions are arising about
potential changes to the Cu-
ban government's now that Fi-
del Castro has in essence re-
signed his position as Supreme
l~ader of the country. Conjec-
ture is being thrown out that
Raul will begin reaching out to
the United States in hopes of
repairing the rift that has ex-
isted since Raul and Fidel
Castro overthrew the Batista
Government In 1959.
Prior to the taking of the
country, Fidel had flirted with
and visited the Communist
Soviet bloc of nations leaming
their ways and yearning to ap-
ply the same ideology to his
country, given the opportunity.
Several times he and Raul were
thrown into prison only to be
released by President Batista.
His apparent compassion to-
ward the brothers and other
would-be "saviors of the people"
would ultimately lead to his
downfall in 1959.
Although Fidel was the ap-
parent mastermind behind the
infamous Revolution, it was
younger brother Raul who put
I
II the teeth in Fidel's bite for con-
trol over the people. It was Raul
who first met one of Fidel's most
famous comrade in arms, Che'
Guevara, and was responsible
us can better afford these en-
ergy saving lights.
Wal-Mart has about 60,000
suppliers. They are starting to
teach their suppliers to pro-
duce "affordable, sustainable':
products and become green
businesses at the same time.
In one candy plant in Brazil,
Wal-Mart "enabled the factory
to install a waste management
program, which in turn let the
supplier ,generate $6,500 a
year in new profits." Why do
they want to do this? Other
than the world needs it now,
Wal-Mart expects to save bil-
lions of dollars by reducing
packaging alone.
If Wal-Mart cuts packaging
so much that millions of bar-
rels of oil are saved, fewer trees
are chopped down, less plastic
goes into American landfills,
and the number of container
ships sailing from China are
cut, then Wa1-Mart could actu-
ally take us to a much needed
tipping point.
What tipping point? The
point where all of us start liv-
ing like we only have one
planet, when we remember we
need the trees to clean the air,
and where we know there is no
"away" to throw things tol The
point where our government
stands up and says we will
start cleaning up our country's
planet killing pollution today.
America still leads the world
in causing climate change, it
looks like Uncle Sam needs to
take a lesson from Wal-Mart. All
I can say is Go Greenll
husband was gone; he was hid-
ing, waiting to kill her after the
police left). He then killed him-
self. The following day an al-
most identical incident oc-
curred, A husband, estranged
from his wife, shot her in their
home, killed the family pet and
then turned the gun on him-
self. The suicide attempt failed
leaving him in serious condi-
tion at CAMC.
During the month of October
2006 there were 12 domestic-
related murders in West Vir-
ginia. Where is the outrage?
During a three week period in
November 2007, two people
were murdered in Monroe
County resulting from domes-
tic-related violence.
'Gov. Manchin is a genuine
leader, compassionate, nation-
for bringing him into the inner
circle of the revolutionary fight- '
ers. Raul was also, as the news
media called him, an "ardent
executioner," meaning he
seemed to take pleasure in
meting out the 'Justice" of Fi-
del on those whom Fidel
deemed traitors.
It was Raul who personally
oversaw the execution of hun-
dreds of members of the mili-
tary and police units after the
victory over Batista. During the
pre-victory days while fighting
in the mountainous regions of
Cuba, Raul gained a reputa-
tion as a short-tempered, quick
to shoot and ask questions
later commandante of revolu-
tionaries that fought on a sec-
ond front in the Sierra Cristal
Mountains of Northern Cuba.
He was especially violent to-
ward anyone suspected of be-
ing friendly with the Batista
forces or showing themselves
to be pro-American. He sup-
posedly hated America and
what it stood for at the time.
According to a Time Magazine
article Raul's justice against
suspected collaborators with
Batista security forces was
"swift and severe" using firing
squads to quickly remove them
from this earth.
1960 vintage newsreels out
of Cuba in the '60s show Cu-
ban civilians and military lined
up in front of deep trenches or
walls and being done away by
a shot to the head. The bodies
were then buried in mass
graves. As I watched I was
mentally transported back to
Germany and Poland of the
1930s and '40s and the mil-
lions of Jewish lives that were
taken using the same vicious
techniques.
After power was consoli-'
dated, Fidel began the purging,'
via the bullet, of anticommu-
nist revolutionaries and Raul
was the man that carried out
the purge. Fidel appointed Raul
to the head of the Armed Forces
of the country and he reorga-
nized the Army after the pat-
tern of the Soviet military. That
which had been the "Rebel
Army" became the FAR or
"Revolutionary Armed Forces."
It was in this position that he
came up with the FAR's motto
and insisted that all his sol-
diers adhere to it--"At your or-
ders, commander-in-chief, for
no matter what, no matter
where, and under all circum-
stances."
Raul's past would indicate
he will continue to run the
country as his brother has in
the past. However, there are
many who think age, 77 years
old in June, has mellowed
Raul, which he somewhat evi-
denced with recent comments
about the amount of money the
average Cuban worker makes
each month--S15. Raul has
stated in written and spoken;.
words that this is a "paltry"
sum and complained publicly
that Cuba's production of food
staples needs to increase by
over two-thirds. These are not
iron-clad guarantees that he is
"mellowing" but it is a good in-
kling that he might just want
to start a dialogue with the
United States.
He has alluded to the possi-
bility that once the "exile
friendly" administration cur-
rently in the White House has
been replaced, he might sup-
port a "coming together on
trade and tourist issues be-
tween the two countries." Who
knows, maybe we'll someday be
able to travel to and fro from
old Havana as many of our pre-
decessors did in the '40s and
'50s. I wouldn't be running out
and buying your tickets yet,
however.
ally respected and effective
when taking up a cause. I am
asking you, Governor, to take
a hard look at the statistics and
make a call to all men in this
great state to say, "No more,
enough is enough. Men, do not
abuse your partners and chil-
dren. It is no longer acceptable."
We all recall the generation
that saw nothing wrong with
getting drunk then jumping
behind the wheel. Thanks to a
determined group of mothers
who lost children to drunk driv-
ers, driving drunk is no longer
acceptable. It is time that bat-
tering and abusing your part-
ner is no longer acceptable.
The laws are intact. Our com-
munity is blessed with sup-
p0rtive and conscientious law
enforcement and a very gener-
ous citizenry that supports the
Family Refuge Center's efforts
to end family violence.
It is time for the Governor
and Legislature to support pre--
ventlon and back it up with a
meaningful and consistent
budget commitment to ensure
domestic violence programs
around the state can imple-
ment what we do best: advo-
cacy, safety planning, shelter,
crisis assistance, counseling,
prevention, etc.
Ellen Allen, Director
The Family Refuge Center
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Lewisburg, WV 24901
304-647-5724 * FAX: 304-647-5767
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