Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this? Email deisen@valleyadvocate.com and put “BackTalk” or “letter to the editor” in the subject.
What ever happened to ‘Give us your tired, your poor’…
In response to “Separation Anxiety,” published June 21 – July 4, 2018:
I guess this means nothing anymore:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The reason we’re even here, as a country, is because of people fleeing from their home country. The fact that we are willingly ignoring that is sad.
—Stephanie Rigazio, Facebook comment
The United States has a lot to answer for regarding the drug war
In response to “A shot at federal legalization is in the offing,” published June 21 – July 4, 2018:
Drug lords like MS-13 and “El Chapo” Guzman are the direct product of the failed “War on Drugs.” Just more fruit of the poisoned tree called cannabis prohibition!
Alcohol prohibition in the U.S. was responsible for an increase in alcohol consumption and a massive expansion of organized crime in our nation. In the wake of alcohol prohibition: murder, mayhem, lawlessness, and destruction. Once the damage was done we were smart enough to repeal the idiocy of alcohol prohibition. Our government was stupid enough however to go forward and repeat the exact same mistake regarding other vices like cannabis, further strengthening the crime lords we were trying to rid ourselves of.
The “War on Drugs” that was launched in the U.S. is still being forced on other nations and has been a complete global disaster. Shooting ourselves in the foot wasn’t bad enough; we then held a fiscal gun on other nations like Costa Rica, Colombia, Israel, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, etc. and forced them to repeat the exact same mistake. This total debacle has resulted in the creation of huge powerful global crime cartels and a crime wave of epic proportions destroying the lives of people it was supposed to protect.
Time to end the failed war on cannabis and legalize nationwide!
—Ben James Yokel, website comment
Homesick for Cape Cod wine
In response to “Monte Belmonte Wines: The potential of Massachusetts wine,” published at valleyadvocate.com on June 26, 2018:
Monte getting ready to drink from the bunghole. Monte Belmonte photo
I grew up on the Cape. I’ve been in the wine business for about 15 years. I visited Truro Vineyards a few years back and was delighted to find the wines well made and enjoyable. Thanks for writing this piece and highlighting this unique business on the Cape. Your article made me a little homesick. Cheers.
—Karyn Howard Smith, website comment
