Dear editor:
First we had to put up with columnist Cassie Craven claiming no proper patriot would bring up the “justice for all” part of the Pledge of Allegiance (CSD, 7/6/25).
Now it’s Jonathan Lange appropriating the grieving parents of Kerrville, Texas to support an attack on public education (CSD, 7/11/25).
Neither patriots nor parents should put up with being so shamelessly shanghaied.
Craven eloquently extols the virtue of the men and women who have fought and died for the United States, but then uses that springboard to attack those who today demonstrate their love of country by protesting civil rights abuses by masked ICE agents and the contemptuous disregard for the legislative and judicial branches of government by the Trump administration.
As Mark Twain observed, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
When the government refuses to act in the best interests of its people, those who love their country cry out for correction.
THAT is what we owe to those who fought and died for us; not unquestioning fealty to any single person or political party.
Lange gives us a similar bait-and-switch as his praise for the fierce dedication of parents in Texas morphs into an attack on the “devils” of the Wyoming Education Association. Huh?!
Apparently, if you think public money should be used for public education, instead of giving individual parents a tap into the public treasury, you must not love your children.
If Craven or Lange can offer coherent arguments for their political positions, let’s hear them.
But let us reject the “logic” of - if you don’t agree with me, you dishonor the troops and must hate your family.
Sincerely,
Bern Hinckley, Laramie
