Wait a minute, did I read this right? Sherm Packard, New Hampshire House speaker, tabled a bill that included an amendment to repeal the mandatory ultrasound prior to an abortion because it was not germane to the original bill.
Well, would he explain to us why it was fine for the house to pass last year’s budget bill with the abortion amendment attached to it??
Do as I say, not what I do!
Hypocrisy in all its glory.
Deb Clough
Grafton
I was very encouraged when I recently heard that, not long after taking office, President Joe Biden invited six American historians to spend two hours with him. They apparently were there not to give him advice but to help him see his presidency in historical context.
I was also delighted to hear a portion of the presentations made by American historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham as part of a conversation moderated by the librarian of Congress on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. As I understand it, Meacham came under some criticism after it was discovered that he has helped write some of President Biden’s speeches. My reaction to that is to say, “Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if the former president had enlisted some authentic American historians to help him understand American history and do some checking of speeches he gave that were wildly erroneous in terms of actual American history?”
Of course, everyone is probably guilty of making some factual errors about history, but the more concerning reality is how the former president and many of his supporters seem to not appreciate the meaning of American history and the importance of preserving our democratic institutions.
So many political leaders these days are not grounded in American history, or if they have been in the past, they seem to have conveniently forgotten much of what they learned.
I applaud President Biden for enlisting knowledgeable historians to help him. At this crisis point in American history, we need many more people to become grounded in genuine history instead of fabricated, whitewashed or blatantly false versions of our nation’s story. We don’t need to be professional historians, but we all can be much better in our understanding of the real narrative and meaning of America.
John C. Morris
East Corinth
I have been very disappointed in the deteriorating coverage of Dartmouth sports in your Sports section. I am particularly concerned with Dartmouth’s hockey program.
Dartmouth had a major win against the University of New Hampshire in its annual New Year’s tournament and an equally major loss to Boston College in the tournament finals, yet the only mention of Dartmouth hockey was the article that announced the postponement of this weekend’s games with Union and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
I realize that the change in your publishing deadline a few years ago put a strain on reporting hockey and basketball games because they do not end before your deadline, but you could feature pregame and postgame articles as you did so well for Dartmouth’s fall sports and currently do for all the high schools in the Upper Valley.
Mike Choukas
Dartmouth ’51
Hanover
In a world of inexpensive digital news content, I occasionally question the value of a print version of the Valley News. This sometimes happens on Sundays when the heft of our local newspaper leaves a bit to be desired. In today’s Sunday Valley News, however, Alex Hanson’s Reporter’s Notebook served as a reminder that serious journalism can come in small packages (“ ‘Hero dog’ coverage shows not every story is the full story,” Jan. 9).
Hanson’s front page article looked beyond recent national news coverage of a “hero dog” at the scene of a car accident in Vermont. He reported about his personal experience at the scene of the accident as well as his follow-up with many of the individuals involved. In addition to thoughtfully reporting facts, Hanson highlighted Joan Didion’s legacy of looking beyond conventional views in order to explore more nuanced perspectives.
Finally, it’s worth noting that I probably would have missed out on all of this if not for home delivery of the paper. Thank you, Alex Hanson and Valley News. Please renew my subscription.
Richard McNulty
Hanover