Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!

Remember in the Wizard of Oz when the munchkins were all hiding because of the bad witches appearance? Then when the good witch shows up she calls them out because it's safe with the phrase "Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!" Well it seems that this is a problem in Crookston too!! As of this moment there has been 1 response to my editorial in the Crookston Times (which I referred to as a "rag" which disturbed the editor and this is my public apology. In the radio business all newspapers are referred to as rags due to the rating or "rag content" of the material representing the percentage of scrap cloth that is combined with pulp fibers to make paper. Sorry Mike!)

Here's "Sam's" response. To bad he (or she?) doesn't have the courage to put their name on their feelings. It really invalidates their opinions. It's easy to hid behind a partial or fake name and shout obscenities at other people, but really, if you want to be taken seriously you need to be forthright in admitting who you are or everything you say is SUSPECT! I find out now that EVEN this VICTOR FRANK name is not a real person, but is a fake name of a human that I have found out 3 things about. 1. they are a Crookston area resident. 2. they are NOT in any media business. 3. they are not in any religious business. I WILL FIND OUT who it is.

In the mean time, it's only fair to comment on Sam's lame ramblings. First of all in talking to several of my associates, they do NOT feel that I used stereotypes let alone blatant stereotypes, I take their opinions as fact. Secondly, I was not basing my comments on two days of being there face to face but, decades of news following, dozens of books read, and uncountable interviews that I have done over 32 years in broadcasting. My comments were NOT something new or outlandish, even those who side with the fanatical Palestinian factions would exactly agree with everything I said. Wait, Wait, what's the sound? I'm hearing the strains of KUM BY YA coming from somewhere!

As for Sam's comments on health care. I'm really glad you had a good experience with the European health care system. Of course saying European health care system would be like saying North American health care system, but you must agree that the difference between the Canadian, USA and Mexican systems is quite different. SO it is in Europe. So if you're not willing to talk about which country, again anything you have to say has as much substance as a rain cloud. I have hosted 7 foreign exchange students. Six of them from Germany. Because of my ability to travel a lot, I got to know most of the families very well and often stay with them for long periods of time. NOT ONE of them has expressed pride and joy in their health care system. Four of the six purchase quite expensive supplemental policies so that if they get sick they don't have to try to recover in a room with 15 other patients. Are you 62 years old and have a heart attach? Sorry no coronary care unit for you, it's the ward, you've had a good life, that's all well do for you. Do your research that you accuse me of not doing. Apologies accepted between 2 and 4 pm weekdays.

Ironically we both agree on your last statement. It sure would not have been my choice to get into this without a strong contingent of other countries making a unified and controlled movement. However things didn't happen that way and to abandon our efforts now would be a disaster for our friends and even the more neutral groups in the area. Seems to me terrorists and folks who make accusations without others knowing who they are have a lot in common. It's easy to throw stones from behind a wall, COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE and lets have a meaningful dialog.

Sam wrote on Jun 19, 2008 5:12 AM:

" Perhaps you should do a bit more "research" when you write an editorial that uses blatant stereotypes of Israelis and Palestinians. Try spending more than two days with a handful of Palestinians before you state such obnoxious comments such as they want to kill every Jew alive.

While I agree that the Canadian healthcare system is by no means the best, perhaps Americans should look abroad at other systems in order to gain a little insight to how healthcare could be. We don't need to sacrifice excellence for crummy public healthcare, we need to be willing to help more than just ourselves and look at the bigger picture. Yes, it means higher taxes to keep the level of excellence we have, but it doesn't mean it comes out of everyone's pockets the same. After living in Europe for several years I can tell you that BCBS 80/20 policy is simply crap and is not the system we should be working to keep. Perhaps by not funding a war in a foreign country and putting some of that money back into our own education and healthcare systems could we be a better country. "