Thanks to “native vermont” (blech – to the name not the individual) for pointing out the following:
(Note: I am publishing the full text of the letter to illustrate an important point – this is fair use and does not constitute copyright infringement. The issue I’m delving into is about communication and the creation of pretend populism.)
From the Times Argus letter to the editor section of Sept 16, 2010:
Published: September 16, 2010
Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?
Let’s see, if we lie to the Congress it’s a felony and if Congress lies to us it’s just politics. If we dislike a black person, we’re racist but if a black dislikes a white person, it is a First Amendment right. The government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims. In public schools, you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word “God.” You can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer. We don’t burn books in America, we rewrite them. We get rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming them progressives. We are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea. If you protest against President Obama’s policies, you’re a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy, it was your right.
You can have pornography on TV or the Internet, but you better not put a Nativity scene in a public park at Christmas. We have eliminated all criminals in America; they are now called sick people. We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don’t want to work. We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political theology. We still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct. Parenting is being replaced with Ritalin and video games. The land of opportunity is the land of handouts. The similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill was that neither president did anything to help.
How do we handle a major crisis? The government appoints a committee to determine who is at fault, passes a law, raises taxes and tells us the problem is solved, so they can get back to their re-election campaigns.
What has happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Peg Coutermarsh
Now see if you find any similarities below – hell, see if you find any DIS-similarities:
From Bakersfield.com, posted Sept 17, 2010:
Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: if we lie to congress, its a felony and if congress lies to us its just politics; the government spends millions to rehab criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK , but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but its wrong to kill a mass murderer; We dont burn books in America we now rewrite them; we got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming it progressives; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but we have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if we dislike a black person we become racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; if you protest against Owebamas policies youre a terrorist, but if you burn a flag or an effigy of George Bush it again was your first ammendment right.
You can have porno on TV or the internet, but you better not put up a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called ‘sick people’; we can use a human fetus for human research, but its wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who dont want to work; we all support the Constitution but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are politically correct; parenting has become replaced with Retalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between hurricane katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a commitee to determine whos fault it is, then threatens them,passes a law then raises our taxes, tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their re-election campaign.
What has happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Do the Google/Ask/Yahoo/Bing/Whatever work:
Pensacola, Fla News Journal, Aug 25th (minor difference in next to last paragraph)
West Virginia University “The Journal”
The list goes on and on and on ….
And it’s not just the plagiarists who are spreading this:see here. Apparently Ms. Coutermarsh’s letter appeared in a Michigan paper as early as the beginning of July!
PS. To the Times Argus – why don’t you at least google a few lines of some of these letters?