`Monkey Trial’ had big impact

Rita Armstrong claims the 1925 Tennessee vs. Scopes court case in Dayton, Tenn., was merely a "publicity stunt," and should be dismissed as "fake." True, town leaders, hoping to bring in visitors and money, welcomed the ACLU’s offer to sponsor a challenge to Tennessee’s law that forbade teaching evolution. That didn’t make it fraudulent.

John Scopes, substituting for a biology teacher, agreed to be the test case, having assigned pages on evolution from the school textbook. For the defense was Clarence Darrow, the famous Chicago lawyer. Opposing was three-time Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Each believed vital issues were at stake: the concept of evolution for Scopes, separation of church and state for Darrow, and Christian fundamentalism for Bryan.

The local court disregarded all three issues, ruled against Scopes for defying the law, and fined him $100. Five days later, Bryan, a diabetic, died in his sleep. Scopes left teaching, earned a master’s in geology at the University of Chicago, and became a petroleum engineer. That could have been the end of this "publicity stunt," but the trial had, and still has, national impact.

The press’ lampooning of Bryan for his replies to Darrow’s questions about Old Testament stories exposed the absurdity of Bible literalism; 12 states dropped consideration of statutes similar to Tennessee’s, and evolution gained more proponents.

In 1955, during the McCarthy years, playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee wrote a fictionalized version of the trial, "Inherit the Wind," currently on Broadway with Christopher Plummer getting raves as Darrow. The play and movie are loved by teachers for the message to youth of the essentialness of free thought in a democracy. And Dayton, Tenn., a national historic site for being the home of the "Monkey Trial," is still reaping money.

June Edwards
Oneonta

I didn’t think it was possible for Cary Brunswick to top his lamebrained Feb. 3 column, but he did. His military solution for Iraq then was for us to simply evaporate and "let the dust settle where it may."

That dust happens to be in one of the most strategic areas of the world. Our evaporation would leave a void that would quickly be filled by al-Qaida terrorists and a nuclear-armed Iran with its trigger-happy dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

Our surrender in Iraq will create a military safe-haven for worldwide terrorism, leaving no power on Earth capable of confronting the Islamic terrorist threat. With control of the world’s richest oil reserves and with nuclear weapons at terrorists’ disposal, every nation on Earth will be at their mercy. Anyone who thinks that Americans will be safer if we evaporate from Iraq is living in a dangerous dream world.

To teach the infidel Americans a lesson, the dust that may fall next could well be in the United States in the form of nuclear fallout from an atomic weapon spawned in terrorist-controlled Iraq.

Brunswick’s "moronic" May 19 military solution was for ourtroops to disobey orders, drop their weapons and go home. It’s called mutiny. To the warped, hate-filled liberal mind, that makes sense; after all, liberals did everything including treason to bring about our surrender, so why not mutiny?

Cary is also furious with the "twisted minds of the Bush administration." However, he finds nothing twisted in the minds of the Democrats who could have stopped the war dead in its tracks earlier this year but are keeping it alive with their despicable strategy of playing bloody-body-bag politics to win the presidency in 2008. Typical Brunswick humbug.

William Eckardt
Oneonta

This letter is in response to remarks made about Meredith Supervisor Frank Bachler in this letters column Monday, June 4, by Mr. Robert Lidsky of Andes. Mr. Lidsky is against wind power. There have been other inflammatory letters like this one.

I have known Frank Bachler for 27 years. Frank and Gretel have deep roots in Meredith and have been hard-working farmers for most of their adult lives. They have raised their children here and have been active and thoughtful members of our community. Frank and I have been on opposite sides of many discussions, including politics, since we do not belong to the same political party. However, I have always known Frank to have the best interest of our town and county at heart.

In all the time we have known each other, we have never called each other names or assailed the other’s character. I wonder what has happened to dialogue, listening and interest in understanding the other side of the story. Have the issues of the day overtaken our sense of civility, self-respect and respect of others?

I would like to have read about Mr. Lidsky’s research, new ideas and creative discussion about this issue. Instead, most of his letter contains inappropriate personal attacks directed toward Frank Bachler. Mr. Lidsky, you added nothing to my knowledge about this issue. You did, however, add more tinder to the fire. You did not help your cause. You helped those who are pro and those who are con to become more steadfast. You may even have helped them to become a little more angry and upset as well. I’d say you added nothing good.

Arnold R. Weiss
Meredith

I have a police and fire department scanner. I don’t think a day goes by that the state police do not have to respond to Messina’s Trailer Park for a fight, domestic or something. The other night when the police were there for a fight, they had a call for another fight at a different trailer.

I have come up with a solution to save the taxpayers’ money, put better use of the state troopers’ time, where it could be better used. I think the owner of the trailer park should hire a trained law enforcement official and have him onsite at the park. The owner should raise everyone’s rent up to cover the cost of the officer.

By spending so much time at this "quiet trailer park," this is taking the troopers from someone who may really need their assistance, put their time to better use, save the cost of the gas driving to the trailer park multiple times a week, from all over their area.

I also think the owner should have a guest speaker come in and mandate all the residents come in for a course on "anger management." If they do not attend, raise their rent.

The troopers have enough to deal with without running to the trailer park every day. To me, this sounds like the park owner’s problem, not the troopers’ and the taxpayers’.

Why can’t we all just get along?

Judy Scanlon
Otego