Column Full Of Exaggerations, Designed To Breed Fear

Re: Frances Earl's Call to Patriots in the July 10 edition of Hernando Today.

Luckily, most patriots can read between the lines of context statements, "many exaggerated, misapplied," woven into a resulting stretched/technically untruthful assertion. Your e-mail address begins with fear and that was the misdirected closing statement of the article. It was Bush who did or didn't do that and the government. But what about the illustrious Democrat-controlled Congress that has done nothing for two years and has a rating of less than half that of the president?

The only possible energy source repeatedly stated was solar. Why no mention of nuclear plants, which safely produce most of the energy in many other countries? Why no wind? Not in my backyard by a Democrat. Drilling will take 10 years for results. Why not drill now to help take care of those years? Ignored was the mention for the need of refineries, which the Democrats ignore. Stated were taxes to oil companies, which will just be passed on to "us patriots." Have you worked for a large company that has to invest large amounts of money into producing a new product? Obviously, no, which in this case is energy.

For the record, I grew up in the Depression era. I lived on a farm where there were no electric lines. In the late 1930s and through early World War II, my family got most of our electric power for lights, livestock water pumps and more from a backyard65-foot tall wind charger tower, the rest from a gas motor generator. I remember the sound of the windcharger and gurgling, charging batteries at night. I remember World War II gas and food rationing, the doctors making house calls, paid in cash. As a teenager, before enlisting in the Navy, I worked on a farm, harvesting pea and grain fields for 25 cents an hour from sunup to sundown.

I'm not a wealthy Republican or a politician. I am a World War II enlisted Navy veteran, who after discharge, contributed to doing designs for things you use daily and take for granted. What real-life experiences do you have?

Your column was a lot of context woven statements without substantiation meant to arouse fear when, in closing, you accused Republicans of trying to instill fear.

You stated that 160 oil platforms were damaged or destroyed. Actually, there were 58 damaged and 30 destroyed. Valves automatically shut off oil. Only that stored on platforms was released, not the quantity you stated for Katrina. None reached shore causing damage or had to do with 1 million evacuees, which you blamed Bush for. What did the Democratic New Orleans mayor do to help? For all practical circumstances, nothing. Five times as much oil leaks from underwater faults than from oil wells or transportation sources. Don't believe it, look it up. Why bring up Valdez? What did that have to do with Bush or the subject?

Walter H. Neumann

Spring Hill