Having avoided the newspaper since Nov. 9, I picked up the Valley News on Monday morning and quickly flipped it over to the “A Life” column. I was rewarded with a thoughtful and inspiring reflection on the life of Charles Conquest. The tribute included two pictures of Charley, and while I never met him, I immediately recognized “the lanky guy with the fetching smile” from the streets of Hanover. The tribute also included this description of Charley: “He had no agenda, just gave without expecting anything in return.”
Thank you, Valley News, for a timely reminder about the people all around us who live life in such a generous and selfless manner.
Richard McNultyHanover
It is laughable to hear the liberal lament that if only there weren’t a “glass ceiling” obstructing the progress of women then Hillary Clinton would be our next president. Carly Fiorina would have won this election in a landslide no matter which Democrat ran against her. If Democrats want a women to be president, it’s actually quite simple: Stop nominating corrupt, lying criminals who want to use the government to enrich themselves while stripping the American people of their constitutional rights!
Jim NewcombNorth Haverhill
We were surprised and impressed by last Sunday’s Perspectives section. For the first time in memory, it gave welcome relief from years of constant annoyance. The tone and substance of so much in past offerings has been unrelieved preaching of liberal/progressive cant suggesting some unassailable received truth from the cosmos. But let us put all that aside.
Here is our praise. In the editorial “Farewell, Clintons,” you offered important messages. Your central theme makes the point that fervent wishes for a Hillary win failed to acknowledge the many “deep flaws” she demonstrated over 30 years in public life. Thanks for giving a clearer view of why she failed.
We must take you to task, however, for labeling the matter of how she handled her private email server as being mere “tone deafness.” Risking national security, lying to investigators and evading law are far more serious than tone deafness. Ask James Comey. As for your assertion that Clinton demonstrated “acknowledged mastery of governing,” that was campaign claptrap. Mere occupation of high offices does not demonstrate mastery of governing. To be fair, Donald Trump also has a lot to prove about mastery of governing.
Kudos also to Mark Lilienthal for “Consider the Other Side” (Perspectives, Nov. 13). He says, “But what I didn’t hear was … a deep acknowledgment that our new president won fair and square.” We hasten to say we hope President Trump can suppress his prodigious ego and not try governing by claiming, “Elections have consequences, and I won!”
Thanks also to columnist Steve Nelson that same day for “Rise to the Challenge.” We have been afflicted by his diatribes for years. He has hectored us relentlessly with sermons from Mount Lib/Progressive. But his latest offering deserves praise. His letter to his school community was superbly well put. He urged all to “practice the democratic art of disagreeing without being disagreeable.” And we thank him for saying, “The American experience has been a long arc bending toward justice.” As a nation we are trying to improve. And we all need to be reminded that, “No person or party can claim unique solutions to complex problems.” To all at the Valley News, well done.
Kenneth and Dorothy PurdyNew London
Your editorial bidding farewell to the Clintons (“Farewell, Clintons,” Nov. 13) reinforces the false narrative about Hillary Clinton’s faults that dominated her candidacy. What should have been in every voter’s mind was that she was the best prepared candidate for president we have seen in recent times. Instead what we heard was the litany of poorly understood allegations of misdeeds that pale in comparison to those of her opponent.
Regarding Benghazi, the State Department was not the only agency represented, but she was the only head of an agency pilloried for it. As for the emails, we seem to have forgotten the Wikileaks flood of State Department correspondence in 2010 that created temporary awkwardness as our foreign interlocutors could read how they were regarded but caused no lasting damage. The only email the FBI found with one paragraph marked confidential suggested talking points for a conversation with an African official. Other emails were classified after the fact by other agencies with different standards of classification. No harm resulted.
The Clinton Foundation, unlike the Trump Foundation, funded programs that served others and had lasting good. As the false narrative became embedded in voters’ minds, issues were neglected and little thought was given to the complexity of governance and the need for expertise in our public affairs. We would not want to be operated on by a cook, even a good cook. We should at least hold the office of the presidency to the same standard. We cannot afford government by bumper-sticker and tweets — too much is at stake. We should learn that lesson going forward, lest we find ourselves not wanting the consequences of what we thought we wanted.
Evangeline MonroeQuechee
As the temperatures drop and the nights grow long, more kids will be settling down with a good book thanks to BAM and its customers. The Sharon Elementary School was the beneficiary of a book drive that provided over 150 sparkling new books to the library for the kids of Sharon. Many thanks to BAM and its generous shoppers for lighting up kids’ lives and keeping the joy of reading alive.
Catherine Freese, LibrarianBarrett Williams, PrincipalSharon Elementary School