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Dorothy
Brush
"Random Thoughts"
Published April 21, 2004 |
The good stuff is deep in
the newspaper
The most interesting part of the newspaper for me is found
buried deep inside the paper. All sorts of odd but informative
stories can be found filling space. They are not lengthy and
they are scattered on inside pages where they are often overlooked.
That is where I found a three paragraph item that I cut out and
laid on my desk to think about for a few days.
The first sentence was what I was thinking about. "Yellow
ribbons tied around utility poles to welcome soldiers home from
Iraq were removed by the National Park Service which says they
are a political statement." Another case of an action being
caught and trapped in that web known as political correctness.
Do you believe that anyone who ties a yellow ribbon 'round the
old oak tree is making a political statement? I don't. If that
is true how long will it be before that popular tune is banned?
Am I the only citizen who believes we are living in a strange
new world?
This story came from West Branch, IA, a small town in the
southeastern part of the state. It was the birthplace of Herbert
Clark Hoover, the first United States president born west of
the Mississippi River. The Hoover Presidential Library was built
in West Branch and when Hoover died in 1964 it was turned over
to the nation making it the Herbert Hoover National Historic
Site supervised by the National Park Service. About a dozen yellow
ribbons were hung along the park service-owned street that runs
through the site and these were removed because they made a political
statement on federal property. The spokesperson explained there
is a designated free-speech area in the park but did not say
if they hung the yellow ribbons there.
Some years ago I visited the Hoover Library and found it impressive
because it was modest compared to the elaborate presidential
libraries/museums built later. These memorials evolved over a
long period. Birthplaces and homes of presidents were noted
with markers and burial monuments were built on a grand scale
but the very first Presidential Library was for the 19th president,
Rutherford B. Hayes, who served 1877-1881. It stands in Fremont,
Ohio.
The next president memorialized with a library in Niles, OH,
was William McKinley, the 25th president. In 1940 the Franklin
D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY, was turned
over to the government. Two wings to that original building were
dedicated in honor of Eleanor in 1972. With the building of the
Truman Library and Museum a new era began. There is nothing simple
in the design and scope of these modern repositories for the
life story and accomplishments of succeeding presidents.
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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville
Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.
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