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Opportunities
Editor:
The upcoming election offers great opportunities! In every instance, we can choose to do what's best for our communities or, on the other hand, what's profitable, in the short term, for us as individuals. Our Founding Fathers had the same opportunities. Sadly, they opted for personal gain, taking land from Indigenous people and enslaving others. Fortunately, they gave us the power to learn from mistakes (theirs and ours), and we can choose to see how caring for others brings blessings to our selves.
Compassion is, according to the Dalai Lama and Bishop Desmond Tutu, the most reliable path to joy. I have talked with hundreds of Isle Royale visitors this summer, and those whose motto is "adventure before dementia," were chasing joy, but the ones who had found joy were those who, motivated by "service before senility," volunteered in their communities.
We Americans have used our freedom to pursue convenience, entertainment, and private ownership without acknowledging the way these personal quests have burdened our communities and planet. Americans have allowed the love of money to dominate our lives.
I will vote to pay for a new county jail because I care about people who have made mistakes and were caught. I believe in compassion and rehabilitation, processes that require space and personnel.
I will not vote for Jack Bergman. His values are evident in his voting record, big money support, and his refusal to speak to constituents.
I was raised in a strongly conservative home in the 1950s and was taught that FDR's policies ruined our country through programs like Social Security because they undermined an individual's freedom to save and invest their money. In the 1960s I learned that Presidents sometimes lie, and, in the 1980s, that small government is not possible in a large nation. I decided that equality is as important as freedom and left the Republican Party.
The problems that face humanity today will require compassion. The more we learn about this wonderful world we inhabit, the more amazing it becomes. We have overburdened it, by thinking small, however, limiting our compassion to self, family, and people who look and act the way we do. Compassion opens our hearts to strangers, even other creatures. The exciting, encouraging fact is that everything we do makes a difference, so when we act on behalf of peace with justice, we become the joyful people were were born to be.
Carolyn Peterson
Houghton
No honor, no courage, no dignity
Editor:
Our first district congressman, Jack Bergman, is a man of no honor. Jack Bergman is a man of no courage. Jack Bergman is a man of no dignity.
As an officer in the Marine Corps, and as a member of Congress, Jack Bergman has repeatedly made a solemn pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. On January 6,2001 Bergman ignored that solemn oath and voted with his Republican colleagues to disallow the duly certified votes from the states in an attempt to change the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election. That dishonorable scheme was suspended only because an angry mob, called to action by the loser of that election, Donald Trump, descended on the capitol of the United States, routing the Congress. A man who so cavalierly breaks his sacred oath is a man with no honor.
Jack Bergman has steadfastly refused to hold any open-attendance town halls for over ten years. He cannot bear to hear unvarnished criticism of his conduct and choices in office. He has cowered in the shadows of Congress, refusing to challenge or confront a president who fancies himself as an emerging tyrant, above the law and working feverously to amass personal wealth for himself and his family. A man who will not interact freely with the people who elected him is a man of no courage.
Jack Bergman is a tacit member of a conspiracy of silence and inaction. He and his Republican colleagues shrink from confrontation during what may be the most severe assault on our republic's values in our 250-year history. An elected representative who will not stand against a would-be tyrant stands, in undignified shame, beside the tyrant.
The upcoming November election presents three alternatives to Jack Bergman on our ballots. Research these people; my choice is Callie Barr.
Learn about the important local issues on the ballot. Vote as soon as you are able. If using an absentee ballot, plan to deliver it directly to your clerk's office. If President Trump illegally declares a national emergency, stand ready to take, peacefully, to the streets - too much blood has been shed in the last 250 years to let a madman take away that which we so cherish: our constitutional republic.
Bill Fink
Portage Twp
Appreciation of local merchants
Editor:
I just spent a couple of hours walking around Calumet, passing posters. “Will you post this poster? It’s a free event at the Calumet Library on October 14, all about the history of cars in Michigan, by a Michigan Tech professor. He really knows his subject. Larry Lankton’s new book, ‘Motor City Boomer’ will be for sale.” Every business I asked said yes! As usual. I asked Ace Hardware, Bucko’s, the Laundromat, Encompass, Jim’s Pizza, Figaro’s Pizza, Snyder’s, IGA, the BP gas station. Then I ran out of posters. I really enjoyed myself! Warm and sunny, bright changing leaves, gracious merchants. The Friends of the Calumet Public Library heartily thank all of you. The program starts at 6:30 p.m.
Phyllis Ramos
Calumet