[Vision2020] Moles and Mole Hills

Donovan Arnold donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
Sat Jul 14 01:27:09 PDT 2012


Saundra,
 
Your experiences in the South were probably more vivid and different that mine. My father grew up in the south, but I was pretty old, ten, by the time I moved to Virginia. Virginia was the home of the Northern Army of Virginia and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Dixie Flag was also both their symbols. So the flag was probably more common where it originated. I also had a strong negative feeling toward it, which probably made every one extremely noticeable in my mind. But I also know several other southern states had flags with that Dixie symbol in it, or looked a lot like it, or inspired by it, like Arkansas. To me, anything that looks like it, sticks out to me. 
 
Donovan J. Arnold

From: Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm>
To: 'Wayne Price' <bear at moscow.com>; 'Moscow Vision 2020' <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Cc: 'viz' <vision2020 at moscow.com>; Gary Crabtree <jampot at roadrunner.com>; 'Janesta' <janesta at gmail.com>; Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>; spetersen at latah.id.us; jbarrett at latah.id.us 
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 12:52 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Moles and Mole Hills


Hi Wayne et al,
 
Hmmm . . . perhaps you can help me to understand.
 
First, though, can you please tell us more about the display?  I had hoped to make it to the courthouse yesterday to take a look myself, but I left Tri-State at something like 4:59, so clearly I wasn’t going to make it.  What was the veteran’s name?  And, what’s the justification/rationale for displaying the Confederate flag for a Union soldier?  I hope you & Gary will please tell us more about what you learned from the display.
 
Gary, I also have to disagree with you that the display has been there for “months,” having been preceded by a WWII display.  I was in the courthouse in May IIRC, and I’m pretty darn sure there was a lovely quilt on display at that time – IIRC, each square was made by county assessor offices around the state.  The quilt was being raffled off, and I meant to make it back to buy some tickets, but the best laid plans . . .  In any case, I think you’re wrong, and I hope it’s a genuine error on your part rather than propaganda.  While my recollection of time can be hazy, I’d not mistake less than two weeks for “months.”
 
Janesta:  perhaps Wayne or Gary can clarify since both have been to the courthouse more recently than have I, but IIRC, the pink box is for donations of some sort – perhaps canned goods?  Can anyone clarify?  I will say that I think the US & ID flags were in the same location back in May, which is another issue.
 
Donovan:  as some know, I was born & (mostly) raised in the South, and I still visit family & friends there.  My experience has been completely different than Donovan’s:  growing up, I didn’t see many Confederate flags on display there, and I still don’t.  Indeed, while not making disparaging comments about family who were raised & came of age in a different generation (and many of whom have, no doubt, rolled over in their graves more than once at my beliefs), I was taught from a very young age to “stay away” from that nonsense because it was anti-American (perhaps the origins of the original “America: love it or leave it” sentiment?) & because those who persisted in Confederate flag divisiveness (and make no mistake about it, that’s exactly what it is) were a bunch of “d*mn fools,” according to my granddaddy.  I’m older than Donovan, and I didn’t live in VA, but my roots are in the South, and the above upbringing was from
 the three generations before me.  Which is just to say that Donovan’s experiences certainly don’t mirror my own, those I grew up with, and those I continue to visit; not that I doubt Donovan’s experience.
 
Going back to Wayne:  since you think this issue is a tempest in a tea pot, please help me to understand.  What on earth is the relevance of displaying a Confederate flag in a display about a Union soldier imprisoned in Andersonville?!  You’ve got a military background, so let’s use a hypothetical.  Let’s pretend you served our nation in the Vietnam War and were taken captive.  Let’s further pretend that you survived captivity in horrendous conditions by the North Vietnamese, and lived out the rest of your life in Latah County.  And, let’s further pretend that at some point after your death, whoever is responsible for the displays at the courthouse decided to tell your story, complete with the flag of your captors, but conspicuously absent was the US flag, the nation you were defending.
 
Do you seriously mean to tell me you think that would be just peachy fine?
 
Let’s take this further.  Gary informs us that there was an “educational” WWII display between the quilt I saw in May & the current display.  As some may – or may not – know, we have Holocaust survivors in Latah County, and we have survivors of survivors of the Holocaust here.  Were any of those survivors to be “honored” by a courthouse display, would you think it appropriate to display the Nazi flag and/or the Gestapo flag as a part of the display?  Silly me – were I a Holocaust survivor, the absolutely last thing I’d want displayed in honor of my experiences is the flag of my captors.
 
Finally, am I the only one who finds it beyond odd that a Confederate flag was at the ready to “honor” a Union POW?  Wouldn’t it have made far more sense to display a flag that meant something positive to the deceased rather than to use his story as an excuse to display the flag of his captors?
 
In any case, I find the cultural tone deafness of the person or persons responsible for allowing the display absolutely stunning, and I find a Confederate flag displayed in the Courthouse indefensible, particularly in this instance where the display is apparently to honor & tell the story of a Union soldier who was tortured (and there’s no other way to describe Andersonville) by the Confederacy.
 
For shame, For Shame, FOR SHAME!
 
 
Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID
 
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 
 
From:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Price
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 3:31 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Cc: viz; Spettersen at latah.id.us
Subject: [Vision2020] Moles and Mole Hills
 
Vision 2020 readers.....
 
 
I've been following this discussion since it started this morning, and decided that before I wrote anything, I'd go up and take a look at the historic display in question to see for myself what all the fuss is about and if it's a substantial issue. I took a look, and it is, in my opinion, a tempest in a tea pot!
 
The focus of the display is primarily about a UNION CIVIL WAR officer that was captured by the Confederates and held at Andersonville Prison during the Civil War! The Confederate flag 
is, again in my opinion, incidental to the story of someone buried in Latah County and is a war veteran. 
 
Much ado about NOTHING 
 
Wayne M. Price
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On Jul 12, 2012, at 3:17 PM, Sue Hovey wrote:


Hi everybody I just talked with Jennifer Barrett. Haven't seen Tom's pictures but she thought it was part of a historical display about certain battles. She thinks  the Historical Society is responsible for the maintenance of the case. If it's a historical display from the 1860s the Confederate flag may be perfectly appropriate to the display. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 12, 2012, at 2:54 PM, "Rosemary Huskey" <donaldrose at cpcinternet.com> wrote:
Hi guys,
>I called the courthouse – thanks for the photos, Tom.  I spoke to the auditor’s office where I had hoped to reach Susan Petersen.  Ms. Petersen, who is out of the office is in sole charge of the display case.  No one else appears to know who or what group is responsible for the display.  I encourage all V2020 subscribers who share our concern about what is clearly a celebration of the Confederacy lodge a complaint or query (or, if you are a jackass a pat on the back) to Susan at :
>Spettersen at latah.id.us .  I also think a conversation with your country commissioner representative is in order.  Unfortunately they are not answering their central phone line at the moment. They can be reached:
>Commissioners:
>Jennifer Barrett, Chair, District I, jbarrett<image001.gif> 
>Tom Stroschein, District II, tstroschein<image001.gif> 
>Dave McGraw, District III, dmcgraw<image001.gif> 
>If you don’t know your District, send the message to Ms. Barrett.
>Rose Huskey
> 
>From:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Scott Dredge
>Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 1:59 PM
>To: thansen at moscow.com; viz
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Welcome to Confederate Latah County . . .
> 
>Tom,
>
>Was there any information regarding this display.  Something like 'Donated by [insert church name of your choosing] to commemorate the greatest civilization in the history of the world where slaves and their owners shared genuine affection for each other and made God smile'?
>
>-Scott
>From: thansen at moscow.com
>Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:17:45 -0700
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Welcome to Confederate Latah County . . .
>
> 
>
>
>Seeya round town, Moscow. Tom Hansen Moscow, Idaho "If not us, who? If not now, when?" - Unknown
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