[Vision2020] Letter to the Lewiston Tribune, expanded and edited

[Joan Opyr]

Dear Visionaries:

As is so often the case, the more I thought about Tom Henderson's 
comparison of Moscow's "liberal" city council members to "nervous 
Parisian" facing the Nazi occupation, the more annoyed I got.  And so, 
I did a bit of research.  Any idea how many French people died during 
the Nazi occupation?  Any idea how many concentration camps the 
collaborationist Vichy government ran?  Did you know that these camps 
remained in operation for many years after Germany was defeated and 
France was "liberated?"  What the hell is the matter with Tom 
Henderson?  Why would anyone -- let alone a theoretical liberal -- toss 
around the Nazi analogy so lightly, so flippantly, so thoughtlessly?

I have revised and expanded my letter to the Trib and, like it or not, 
I'm passing it on to you.  (Go ahead and hit that delete key, Donovan.  
You, too, G. Crabtree.  BTW, before you argue with Bill London about 
Doug Wilson's plans for Moscow, why don't you do a little catch-up 
reading?  When you've read Doug's books, Southern Slavery: As It Was, 
Federal Husband, and A Serrated Edge; when you've read a few back 
issues of Credenda Agenda; hell, when you've watched the Michael Hayes' 
documentary "My Town," now available for viewing at the Moscow Public 
Library, then you might have some idea of what Bill is talking about.  
Until then, you're just blowing methane up through your hat.)

Joan Opyr, Northern Idaho Editor
New West Magazine
www.newwest.net

Revised letter to the Trib:

Letters to the Editor
January 5, 2006

Back when I taught the principles of argument to my composition and 
rhetoric classes, one of my first maxims was that you should never 
resort to the Nazi analogy.  Why?  Because as soon as you compare any 
person or any group to either Hitler or the Nazis, you have lost your 
perspective and thus the debate.  Tom Henderson, once again, has lost 
his perspective.  By comparing Moscow's liberals -- particularly new 
city councilman, Aaron Ament -- to those "nervous" Parisians facing 
Nazi occupation, Henderson has not only insulted the pro-business side 
of Moscow's zoning debate, he has insulted his audience, the whole city 
of Moscow, and in the process made a fool of himself.

Doug Wilson and New St. Andrews are serial zoning violators.  The 
college began in a residential home on Polk Street.  When NSA was told 
by the city that it was in violation of zoning code and therefore must 
move, Wilson relocated NSA to the Christ Church business office, Anselm 
House.  This was yet another zoning violation.  New St. Andrews bought 
the historic Skattaboe Building and settled in the heart of Moscow's 
Central Business District in which, quelle surprise, educational 
institutions are expressly forbidden.

Prior to the German occupation, France lost 84,000 men in battle 
against Hitler's army.  Under the collaborationist Vichy government, 
France endured countless atrocities; in one incident, SS troops killed 
642 residents of the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane, including 190 
children and numerous Jews that the village was sheltering.  Only two 
residents survived the massacre, a woman and an eight-year old boy.  
Are these really the images you wish to conjure in a debate over Moscow 
zoning ordinances?  If you want a more apt analogy, Tom Henderson, why 
not try baseball?  In the great game, after three strikes, you're out.

Doug Wilson and New St. Andrews should be out.  Moscow's previous city 
council raced through a dim and foolish ordinance that makes no sense 
in terms of the city's comprehensive plan but which does suit the whims 
of Pastor "Zoning?  We Don't Need No Stinking Zoning" Wilson.  Let us 
hope that the new city council acts quickly to right this wrong.  Aaron 
Ament, John Dickinson, and Bob Stout have made a good start.  Moscow is 
not Paris.  These are not matters of life and death; residents are 
simply concerned about the continued retail health of our Central 
Business District.

And so I say vive la new city council!  Better to have the Resistance 
in office than a Vichy government, capitulating to the threats of a 
serial offender.

Joan Opyr
1738 Genesee Troy Road
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 882-8085