by Lynn Mandaville

If I learned nothing else from 29 years in the library biz, I learned that none of us is ever as smart as we think we are.  And this is truer than ever in this age of social media and Wikipedia, where misinformation reigns and the art of reference librarianship is fading.

I do try to keep my hand in nine years into retirement, but I don’t have access to the library databases I once did that provide reliable information, and as much as I like my public library here in AZ, libraries in this state can’t hold a candle to what you folks have in MI, especially as part of the Lakeland Cooperative, to which the libraries in Dorr, Moline and Wayland belong.

All this is premise to a few observations I’d like to make with reference to Army Bob’s recent letter to the editor about the “spy balloon,” for lack of a better term, that was brought down off our east coast Saturday.

First, because I lack any background or experience in the various aspects of “the art of war,” I look to Mr. Traxler’s pieces for information on things which I have no reason to believe I know anything at all. Sometimes he provides a brief lesson in something where that’s all I really need, and sometimes he gives me a jumping-off point if I want to delve further into a topic, and for that I’m grateful.

This latest piece is a perfect example, because I didn’t know an EMP device from a hole in the ground ’til he broached the subject. Though I know a lot more now than I did, I’m smart enough to know that there’s still a whole lot more that I don’t know.

Second, Mr. Traxler, who is first to admit these pieces include his opinions along with his facts, is as biased in his Republican leanings (as I am as counterpoint to his opinions) as are the responders to his writings from the opposing camp, both of which tend to prefer to view current events in the vacuums of this and the previous presidential administrations.

It seems to me we’d all be better served to admit that we cannot look at this weather/spy balloon fiasco in the limited aspects of two presidential administrations. If Biden was lax in his treatment of this surveillance balloon, then we certainly should admit to Trump’s own laxness if it is true that three such balloons flew over US air space during the four years of his term in office. If we hold suspect Biden’s interests in China, ought we not also hold suspect Trump’s?

But let’s not let Army Bob’s point get lost in this tit for tat blame game.

Many of us who read this publication lived through the ridiculous “duck and cover” days of the early atomic age, and through the Cold War, where mutual global annihilation was on everyone’s mind, so we should know enough to hold suspect any communist actors who would take over the world as we know it, if they could.

A healthy caution about Putin’s war in Ukraine and the Communist Chinese position in global manufacturing and technology ought to keep our Congress and White House awake at night, liberals and conservatives alike.

It would be nice if the entire Washington DC circus would forget the acts in the side shows and concentrate on the truly pressing, and mutually important issues occurring in the center ring.

Third, if it would behoove Mr. Traxler to quit writing in all-encompassing generalities about pinko-commie-leftist-socialist-progressive liberals, it would also behoove those who respond to his articles to refrain from using their own quaint, patronizing, demeaning terminology to refer to those of the Republican, conservative bent. 

Neither does anything to forward any meaningful dialog by which either side learns anything. It devolves into no more than schoolyard name-calling and bullying.

And if I might say so, this “sweetheart/darling” crap is the lowest of the offenses, in my opinion. Terms of endearment perverted to debase each other is just plain juvenile.

To sum things up, Mr. “Army Bob” Traxler offers us important food for thought in this brief letter to the editor, and we would all do well to explore the issue, and our national and international policies regarding what may be building to renewed, possibly crisis proportions for more than just us, but the whole free world.

Thanks, Bob, for poking the bear, as it were, about something we’d all prefer to not think about at all.