Letters: Community still needs fluoride; Thompson missed a chance to lead

Community still needs fluoride

It might not cost the State College Borough Water Authority any more than the cost of adding fluoride to its water to provide every household it serves a package of fluoride rinse a couple of times per year.

As a person whose family lived in three different places including State College that had fluoridated water over a 60-year period, I know we had minimal cavity problems and believe we are still benefiting.

Thompson missed a chance to lead

I never made it as a Boy Scout but not for want of trying. I joined a troop, camped out, cooked on an open fire. (My heated beans were the best!) But I didn’t have the patience to stick with the program and it wasn’t until I became a journalist that I really appreciated the merits of scouting.

One particular aspect I remember is the achievement of Eagle Scout. When a Scout in our town became an Eagle Scout, we ran a photograph and a short story. It was even a bigger achievement if his father had achieved the same honor. Eagle Scouts could be looked upon as future leaders, men we could count on to stand above the crowd and lead us to our better angels.

Then there’s Eagle Scout Glenn Thompson of Howard, our representative in the U.S. House. He votes with his tribe against protection for same-sex marriage then quietly attends his gay son’s marriage a few days later. Wouldn’t Thompson the Eagle Scout have shown leadership by standing up on the House floor and urging protection for same sex marriage and citing his son? We pay him to lead, to be our Eagle Scout.

Instead, Rep. Thompson is nothing more than a coward from Howard.

Decline of the GOP

A man I know has been a loyal Republican for years. But his feelings run deeper than merely preferring Republican policy and candidates over Democratic; he seems to actively despise Democrats. Not just despise their politics, but the actual politicians themselves.

I had never felt that way. I recognized the differences in political philosophy, but viewed both groups as patriotic Americans, with the country’s best interests at heart, albeit with different opinions about how the government should be run.

Until recently.

Yes, I had grown to despise Donald Trump because he was, well, a despicable human being, but my disdain did not extend to the mainstream of the Republican party.

Until recently.

Over the last two years the moderate, decent, patriotic component of the Republican Party has declined in numbers as people like John Kasich (OH), Charlie Dent (PA), Jeff Flake (AZ) and others have dropped out of politics. Many rank-and-file members have left the party, changing their registrations to Democratic or Independent. Along with increasing their proportion within the party, the shameless ones have substantially increased their influence as well. We need look only to Pennsylvania to see this swing in influence, where someone as despicable as Doug Mastriano could be nominated for Governor.

Yes, I have come to despise the whole lot of them as they boldly reveal their plans to diminish democracy in our nation. They have no place in American governance at any level. We absolutely must vote against them in the 2022 midterm elections.