June 30th, 2020
The Capital Times printed this letter from me yesterday. I’ve written on this topic in my blog already, so it’s not really anything new. There is a grammatical error in the letter. It was my mistake, and the paper did not catch it. You can’t depend on anybody anymore. Anyway, the essay is short and to the point.
“I am appalled by Tuesday night’s attack on Sen. Tim Carpenter in Madison. I spent five days with Senator Carpenter on a trip to the Mexican border in October of last year. He struck me as being a very compassionate and honorable man. He certainly does not deserve to be assaulted by a group of angry protesters. Nobody deserves that.
I having participated in many demonstrations over the years. I was arrested for civil disobedience at an action in 2017. I have only been part of peaceful protests. I struggle with the idea of joining a Black Lives Matter demonstration because these events sometimes tend to devolve into destructive chaos. I agree with the goals of BLM, but I refuse to get involved with the violence.
I was a soldier once. I understand violence. I am done with that.”