False accusations
LEIGH POMEROY
A letter today in the Mankato Free Press (unfortunately, they don't post online letters to the editor anymore) raised the ire of a number of Tim Walz's students at Mankato West High School. The writer, Karl Struck, accused Walz of using West students to further his political aims.
It's unfortunate that Struck, apparently a student himself and head of the Bethany Lutheran College Republicans, didn't research the issue further. Walz, a 24 year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, was helping Project Homecoming, an effort by southern Minnesota citizens to help men and women serving in the National Guard to come home for Christmas. (The government doesn't pay for transportation for such visits.)
The effort was spearheaded by the American Legion Post 11 in Mankato, and included community leaders, citizens from all over southern Minnesota, and Mankato West High School students in a service learning class. The total raised was $78,000, with the student efforts contributing about $1,000.
We applaud Mr. Struck for being engaged politically, but he should be careful before he makes wild accusations. The student participation in Project Homecoming had nothing to do with Tim Walz's campaign for Congress. Rather, it had everything to do with their service learning classwork and helping out the families of the Minnesota National Guard. To accuse such well meaning intentions of being "political" means that Mr. Struck needs to act less like an aspiring politician himself and more like a student of accuracy and fair play.
For more on Project Homecoming:
A letter today in the Mankato Free Press (unfortunately, they don't post online letters to the editor anymore) raised the ire of a number of Tim Walz's students at Mankato West High School. The writer, Karl Struck, accused Walz of using West students to further his political aims.
It's unfortunate that Struck, apparently a student himself and head of the Bethany Lutheran College Republicans, didn't research the issue further. Walz, a 24 year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, was helping Project Homecoming, an effort by southern Minnesota citizens to help men and women serving in the National Guard to come home for Christmas. (The government doesn't pay for transportation for such visits.)
The effort was spearheaded by the American Legion Post 11 in Mankato, and included community leaders, citizens from all over southern Minnesota, and Mankato West High School students in a service learning class. The total raised was $78,000, with the student efforts contributing about $1,000.
We applaud Mr. Struck for being engaged politically, but he should be careful before he makes wild accusations. The student participation in Project Homecoming had nothing to do with Tim Walz's campaign for Congress. Rather, it had everything to do with their service learning classwork and helping out the families of the Minnesota National Guard. To accuse such well meaning intentions of being "political" means that Mr. Struck needs to act less like an aspiring politician himself and more like a student of accuracy and fair play.
For more on Project Homecoming:
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2 Comments:
In regard to the "Your View" letter to The Free Press by Karl Struck, it was refreshing to read an alternative point of view in The Free Press editorial pages. I find it sad that I have to use the word "alternative" to label a writer who comes from the "right." But then, historically speaking, the Conservatives have become the "new" Liberals and visa versa. Anyway, the steady stream of DNC crafted form letters from the shrill shouting "left" is becoming a real bore-fest. I demand more diversity of thought! Listen... wait.. yep, a Liberal's mind just exploded somewhere. Seriously, I could give a hoot if Karl did'nt privately investigate Walz or track down Walz's students to get their side of the story before submitting his letter. All he did was ask a question. I usually gauge how important the content of any letter in the editorial pages is by how much heat the writer takes from follow-up ranting and frothing at the mouth from hysterical people. The foam got pretty darn high, so Karl must have poured a little heavy for some tastes. All to often the hypocracy of the "left" reaches epic proportions when confronted with getting to the truth. They believe only they have the right to ask the questions I guess. If there were more folks like Karl writing in his founded opinions, the editorial page might be a scounch more interesting... and diverse.
P.S. - I really like this blog site. It's like The Huffington Post meets a Tom Clancy novel. Yikes!
The Equalizer - Mankato, MN
Equilizer,
Thanks for your note. We've received a handful of negative responses to our blog. We're thankful that yours is at least literate!
I guess one day I'd like to see someone who shares your point of view write a piece without using the words "liberal" or "left". I think it would be a challenge since so much of this kind of opinion relies on generalities and name-calling rather than specifics and solid evidence.
Neither Tom nor I consider ourselves "left" or "liberal" -- as a matter of fact, we're not even sure what those words mean since their definitions are broadly dependent on who's using them. In many ways we're both traditional conservatives -- to use another word whose meaning has evolved greatly, even over the last ten years.
As for your comments about Mr. Struck's letter: I'm sure if Mr. Struck knew Walz either as a Guardsman or a teacher he would not have made the comments he did.
That said, we encourage your ongoing posts as we firmly believe that dialog is the essence of democracy.
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