It’s getting harder to read a paper around here without being nagged by Carl Mumpower. Clearly a man with too much time on his hands after being turned out of local government, he is becoming the print equivalent of a corner street preacher. I presume that local papers keep publishing his missives only to prove that Asheville remains tolerant, even of intolerant nags. We know, and Carl knows, that we have heard his message (“liberals bad, source of all evil, will destroy country”) many times, and that it will change our behavior not one iota. But yet he persists. I guess he just can’t help it.
He does demonstrate some truth in his assertion that liberalism is a prime cause of hostility in society, because he is certainly hostile to it. And I know that he is not alone in this; he speaks for a large number of sour old white guys, and perhaps for some women, who remain unaware they would probably not own the right to vote if men like Carl had been running the country. It’s been a long time since only white male landowners could vote or sit on juries, and we will not be going back there, despite the nostalgia felt by many conservatives for the good old days.
Hopefully, we will continue to progress toward equal rights and opportunities for all persons, using government to ensure that, just as was promised in the preamble to the Constitution. And reactionary old sourpusses will continue to gripe that leveling the playing field constitutes a giveaway of their rights to dominate others, and is leading to a nation of sniveling, greedy dependents. I just hate to have to read that tripe every time I look at the opinion pages.
But at least it gets me up off the couch, to respond with missives of my own. I guess that’s a good thing.
— Glen Reese
Asheville
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.