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Feedback from readers ranges from freedom to suspicion
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Published: September 22, 2009
I f it seems as if the world we live in is getting smaller, it's because it is. Take, for example, how fast and far news travels.
Late last year, Sgt. Mike Russell of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office was saying his goodbyes to his family, friends and colleagues as he prepared to be deployed to Iraq with his National Guard unit, the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team.
Russell left just before Christmas for extended training and shipped out for Iraq in April. Naturally, that job occupies most of his waking hours -- helping rebuild a nation is more than a 9-to-5 occupation.
There is downtime, though. Soldiers have access to telephones and the Internet, so the lines of communication are steady and reliable.
Still, it was a nice surprise to hear from Russell a few weeks ago. He'd read a Sept. 3 column about Joseph Abbitt, a man freed from prison after DNA revealed that he didn't commit the rapes he was convicted of in 1995.
"Hello from the fine city of Mahmudiyah, Iraq," Russell wrote. "I just read your latest column about the gentleman released on DNA evidence. Good stuff. No innocent man should be denied his freedom."
Reader feedback from Iraq. About freedom, from a man fighting for freedom. Astounding.
Impact's impact
As long as we're on the subject, let's take a peek at other correspondence concerning freedoms.
Earlier this month, I wrote about Operation Impact -- a well-intentioned city program designed to help curb blight in struggling neighborhoods that went way off track in June.
Julius Davis, a homeowner in the Easton neighborhood, went to jail when he refused city inspectors entry into his home even though they had obtained warrants to do so for every house in the area that day.
Davis believed it to be intrusive, unnecessary and un-American. The ridiculous charge was dropped and the city wisely suspended further use of Operation Impact.
Not surprisingly, reaction was swift and decidedly against the city's abuse of power. (Several readers were concerned that their homes might mysteriously wind up being inspected, so I'll leave out last names.)
"This is not government for the people and by the people," wrote Steve. "This is about public servants walking on Our Civil Rights and doing what they want to do, when they want to do it and to whom they want to do it to…. This neighborhood has been violated and at the very least the city owes them and the residents of Forsyth County an apology and a promise that this will not happen again."
Communists among us?
A Sept. 10 column about another American who has been involved in the larger fight for freedom, Maj. John Klatt, an Air National Guard stunt pilot, also attracted interesting comments.
(OK, so the column in question was about me climbing into his plane for a nausea-inducing ride, and thus the connection to freedom is tenuous at best.)
"This article got my day off to a bang," wrote an online poster using the name boaz. "I laughed so hard, I almost spit apple juice over my new flat screen monitor."
Glad I could be of service, boaz.
Not everyone was pleased. One caller left an angry voice mail about how the annual air show disturbs neighborhoods near Smith Reynolds Airport. The caller wanted the show moved.
"It's just inconsiderate of our lives, property and comfort," the caller said.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, caller, but you do live next to an airport.
We'll leave the last word to another caller -- I didn't quite catch the name -- upset by Derwin Montgomery's upset win over incumbent City Council Member Joycelyn Johnson.
"That young man is a sorcerer … he's an agent of China," the caller said in a voice mail left Thursday. "The national flag of China is red with a gold background. In the top picture of Mr. Montgomery, he's wearing a red sweater and wearing a gold watch.... It's not a coincidence."
ssexton@wsjournal.com
727-7481
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