Hi Larry!

I am very pleased with your response. Just the fact that we are talking tells me you are a person of substance and character. So far, I see places where we put different priorities on certain items, but I see no points of disagreement. None.

I read and reread your letter several times. Suffice to say you have my complete respect. I should mention, to your first point about the first draft being always wrong, that this forum is populated with a lot of experienced, grounded people. A lot of old fogeys like you and me. This is not a flaky group, not by a long shot. Your presence here is proof enough, but you should see some of the backgrounds that these people have. It’s impressive. Just in passing, I’ll mention that there is an author here who has written 40+ books on World War II history and the military. That is not an isolated example. Lots of historians, teachers, smart solid people. Less experienced people too, but excellent character and good values offsets the inexperience. I like them. And I like you. I have high standards, so those words do not come easily out of my mouth. I don’t just like everybody who agrees with me, it doesn’t work that way. I actually don’t like most people, for example truck drivers and office people. I love them, they’re humans, we’re in the same boat, we are cut from the same cloth, but that doesn’t mean I like them. I have rarely been disappointed here. Just saying. You won’t find much lockstep, knee-jerk liberalism here.

You don’t have to apologize, at least not to me, for the length of your letter. After all, I was the one who said “damn I wish I had your original letter that you deleted.“ Thank you very much for the full report, I do appreciate the time, 3 1/2 hours is a long writing block.

The only thing in your letter that gave me a slight pause is your request to know what city I live in. I haven’t shared that online. If I were speaking or writing with you privately, I’d be happy to tell you, but I’m not ready to share that with the whole online world.

So you’re a Navy kid and an Aggie. You said Florida California and Hawaii, so I have to assume maybe Pensacola, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor, something like that. I didn’t know the Navy had anything in Modesto, the closest thing I can think of is Mare Island, now closed, and Lemoore NAS, that’s a long way from Modesto. I’ve seen most of the western states professionally, so there’s hardly a town I don’t know until you get into Nebraska or Texas.

I deliver food, and my company has contracts with the military. We deliver to the commissaries on all the military bases in California and into Nevada and Arizona, including everything in the San Diego area.

My dad was too young to serve in the German military, but he joined the US Army after coming here and then was stationed in Germany of course, you could see that coming. The German-born man kept being stationed back there. He was a civilian, a banker, when our family moved there, that was my teens.

Current events and politics: I am ignorant about the details of the filibuster. My wife and a lot of more informed people here on HCR and op-ed journalists have strong opinions, but I plead ignorance.

I also know almost nothing about gerrymandering except what I have read in news articles, so I’ve never done any real research. I have heard about democratic election manipulation, but only hearsay, like JFK in Richard Daley’s Chicago. Everything I have read in the past few years about gerrymandering benefits the old order society, the status quo, which these days is the Republicans. I have not seen a gerrymandering story in the news in the 21st Century, or a story about voter suppression legislation, which does not target people of color or the younger generation that tends to vote Democratic. In other words, I have yet to see reports of a gerrymandered state that benefits a Democratic Party voting machine. The gerrymandering in California that was eliminated after the 2010 census was all favoring Republican hegemony. When that artificial construct was removed, and fair district lines were established, within 8 years even Orange County went blue, although they’ve gone back to purple now in 2020.

Is there evidence of gerrymandering and voter suppression which benefits not the Republicans but the Democrats? If so, I haven’t seen it. Just saying.

“. . . the way the statement constantly resonates here bothers me and I feel someone has to challenge it. I could be totally wrong, but Group Think without any challenges don't work for me.”

Well, welcome to the club. If this was a Group Think environment with clique mentality, I’d be long gone. There happens to be a lot of agreement, perhaps that looks at first glance like groupthink or cult think. But these people, the lion’s share, are far too deeply educated and experienced to just go along with what somebody else says because it sounds acceptable. You’ve heard the expression “herding cats.” That’s why I like this group: independent thinkers.

Final thought: respect. Ending the uncivil war. TPJ getting his buttons pushed by you is a first. I had not seen that happen to him, so your spat with him got my attention. He is the life of the party, great sense of humor, smart as a whip, incredibly well read. Everybody being civil and courteous with everybody else here is the norm. Not always, mind you, but the norm. Your tiff stands out because it’s uncommon.

The hatred you saw in Bosnia is certainly not evident in this group. Far from it. On the contrary, I have been in dozens of discussions about bridging the divide. People are highly highly conscious of that here.

Not long ago, Jim Mattis became a hero. I bought a book and read it. I have a character in my sci-fi future-society brighter-world story project based in part on Jim. You are the only person I know who is a military veteran in that mold. If you don’t mind, I would like to use you occasionally to help develop that character in my story. I like realism. I’ve read a fair amount of Tom Clancy, but I have zero experience in the military. So having you as a reference source would be very helpful, if you are so inclined.

OK, I said I like you, now we’re just learning about the details. Thanks again for the long letter and for investing all that time, I learned a hell of a lot about you, and I like everything I’m reading.

Enjoy your day, hope your wife and kids are doing well.

Roland