Voice of the People - January 15, 2009
The joys of eating squirrel
James Werrell's recent column on eating squirrel raises some fascinating notions. What we need is a timely discussion of cooking options for this rare meat dish. Rare, you say, and exactly how is squirrel meat rare -- as in seldom eaten by city folks, but enjoyed throughout the year by ordinary country people like those with whom I grew up in rural Arkansas.
In my youth, fried squirrel was not only considered fine fare, it easily displaced rabbit, the other choice so-called wild meat taken from traps, tracked and shot in the snow, served with fresh veggies on many occasions. Jim Casada, prolific hunter and chef of wild meat (also a widely read columnist of The Herald), must have several recipes he could share with Mr. Werrell and the rest of us who could find ourselves looking at squirrel (along with rabbit, buffalo and other so-called exotic meats) in our supermarket meat sections.
Why wait for big city newspapers to lead the way in a breakout column or two about the joys of squirrel. As we all know, squirrel meat is all the rage in Europe. Let's get on the gray squirrel meat express!
Earl J. Wilcox
Rock Hill
Inviting Warren promotes change
I am writing in response to the column by Mary Sanchez, "Evangelist Rick Warren Needs to Evolve."
Ms. Sanchez is no doubt upset that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Rev. Rick Warren to pray at his inauguration. Her reason? "He champions a worldview at odds with liberal -- some would say enlightened -- opinion. He rejects the theory of evolution, and he believes that to be homosexual is to have embraced a life of sin." She goes on to ask, "Are those mainstream views?"
Just because a particular view or belief is held by a majority doesn't make it true. If that were the case, then the world would have been flat at one time before Columbus, and would have become round after he and others discovered the new world.
It is ironic that Ms. Sanchez wonders what on earth Obama was thinking when he decided to invite Rev. Warren to pray at his inauguration. Let me explain it to her:
Obama ran for president on the idea that he wanted to bring the country together. Using his previous association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he helped us to understand that our country is made up of people of many faiths, with even more diversity in how their faith interprets the world around them. Obama promised to bring us together, not to have us give up our individual views, but to give up our bickering, to accept one another and to focus on what we have in common so that we can solve our country's problems. Much to his credit, he is showing himself true to that in the inaugural ceremony. Doesn't Ms. Sanchez want him to do that? Isn't that the vision of change?
We will always have differences, and everyone should be willing to bring those differences to the national table. That is what Rev. Warren is doing by being involved and putting forth the things he believes will make our country better.
Liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, or anything else, we should all be doing that. Ms. Sanchez, however, favors a new kind of exclusiveness, one that keeps out those whose opinions are in the minority. That is not change.
Tom Ferrara
Rock Hill
Conservative views often twisted
Thank you, Don Potts, for expressing our feelings exactly on the Bush presidency. It's a shame that he not only had to fight the terrorists who would love to destroy us, but also our own American press, which has become so left-wing that it is difficult to find anything resembling objective truth. The constant sniping for most of the last four years has done immense damage to what's left of our republic, and it makes us sad to see the values that made this country great going down the drain. It seems that too many people care not at all about the people of this country, but care deeply about their own ideology and political gain.
One thing you must grant Mr. Bush is that he did what he truly felt was best for this country, regardless of the polls. Hopefully, unlike Bill Clinton who was totally poll-driven, Barack Obama will govern for all the people and not just pander to the hard left.
Perhaps The Herald could publish more articles showing views with which the editors disagree, like this one. As conservatives, we are used to having our views ignored and/or twisted in the press. This column was like a breath of fresh air, and we really appreciated it.
Richard and Marcia Sewell
Fort Mill
This story was originally published January 15, 2009 at 12:59 AM with the headline "Voice of the People - January 15, 2009."