Dear editor:
I recently received at my home an unsigned letter with no return address. The letter was a reply to my "letter to the editor" that appeared in The Sentinel-Record on Thanksgiving Day. My letter was entitled "A metaphor for today." In my letter to the editor I quoted a poem attributed to Abraham Lincoln entitled "The Suicide's Soliloquy," which I presented as a metaphor for the situation that we now face with the election of the president-elect and what will probably lie ahead for us. The "unknown writer" of the letter I received at home said, "It is well known that Abraham Lincoln suffered from depression." Even if that is true, Mr. Lincoln's mental condition has nothing to do with his poem being a metaphor for the situation we now find ourselves in. The First Amendment to the Constitution, affords me the right to voice my opinions in print or otherwise.
The "unknown writer" complimented me using glowing verbiage such as: "unfounded assumption" and "dark undocumented prediction." The "unknown writer" went on to heap praise on me saying that I have a "hateful attitude" and my letter was not "remotely redemptive." I really don't understand what the "unknown writer" means here. My letter was not attempting to atone or compensate for anything.
Then the "writer" says, "I observe you as you attend your church" and "nothing" is offered to "attract me to join you there." Gee, I didn't know that we Methodists were such a bad lot. Do you not know that Methodism is the root from which sprang The Salvation Army and the Church of the Nazarene. Or, do they have no attraction for you either? I also really appreciate being told to "stand up and be a man." I did sign my letter and I believe that is standing up and being a man.
I could go on with the other warm words of approval, with which you favored me, but I will stop with the best one of the lot. I gladly accept the office of "chief" of the "liberals" that the "unknown writer" bestowed upon me. I will wear the title as a badge of honor. Thank you so much.
I still hold, in your word, my "gloomy" conviction that when the president-elect assumes the presidency, we must call him to account when necessary and also give him credit if it is due. However, it gives me pause to know that this president-elect will occupy the same office held by Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and his kinsman Franklin D. Roosevelt or even my ancestor's kinsman, James K. Polk, who led the United States into the war against Mexico, which Rep. Lincoln fought so vehemently against in the House of Representatives.
As we know, the course of politics is not always a smooth One. S0, chill-out "unknown writer."
John S. Polk
Hot Springs
Editorial on 12/06/2016