James Nagy – 8/24/07

This page was last updated on August 25, 2007.

A valorous adventure; James Nagy; Beaver County Times; August 24, 2007.

You probably recall most of Mr. Nagy’s letters are simply vehicles to bash Republicans in general and President Bush in particular. In a recent letter, Mr. Nagy lobbied for impeaching President Bush.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Some wounds are too painful to reopen.

“But once reopened, they need the disinfectant of truth to bring the body politic back to health. Iraq and Vietnam both were begun because military strategists, who had gaining enough clout to promote their agenda to the executive branch, blundered. (They were also lost on moral grounds.)”

[RWC] Mr. Nagy seems to have a thing for what he calls “truth.” Please read my critique of Mr. Nagy’s letter entitled “Simple truth” for context.

I wasn’t aware we’d lost in Iraq. Did we surrender in Iraq and I missed it? Comments like Mr. Nagy’s tell us far more than he knows.

Note Mr. Nagy doesn’t describe the “moral grounds.”

“Blaming the citizens for not supporting the blunders shows nothing more than contempt for the public and a failure to learn from experience.”

[RWC] Hmm, I haven’t heard of anyone suggesting “citizens” should support “blunders.”

“The genius of a democracy is that only the citizens can truly empathize with the fate of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everywhere else we see open admission that our corporations and other institutions lack long-range planning.

[RWC] The U.S. is a representative republic, not a “democracy.” In any case, what does this paragraph mean? As a reminder, only citizens can serve in elected office, at least at the state and federal levels.

I don’t understand the “[e]verywhere else we see open admission that our corporations … lack long-range planning” comment. First, is Mr. Nagy referring solely to corporations, or does he really mean all businesses? Second, while I’m sure some businesses “lack long-range planning,” that’s been true for thousands of years and will always be true because humans run businesses. On the other hand, successful businesses attempt to strike a balance between short-term tactics and long-term strategy.

“We deserve a political platform, such as the one sponsored by the Green Party, that: promotes decision making at the grassroots level, values an education and educational opportunities so that citizens are qualified to lead and seeks their input in a timely manner.

“We deserve a platform that does not see oil under the ground over there but money spent on useless military pork-barrel projects and discriminating earmark projects hither, thither and yon as plunder to be liberated.

“Wouldn’t that be a more valorous adventure?”

[RWC] As I wrote in a comment on the Times website, “Despite Mr. Nagy’s description of ‘a more valorous adventure,’ I believe you’ll find the Green Party is simply an alternative for liberals/progressives/socialists/etc. to the Democrat party. Don’t take my word for it, though. Check out http://www.gp.org/ and make up your own mind.”