The following letter is being sent to the Ulster County Press in response to Ms. Sheila Finan's letter to that same paper (see previous post), a letter in which personal attacks are aimed at me, Jon Dogar-Marinesco and Carl Chipman. I think the letter below speaks for itself:
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To The Editor:
I find it curious that Ms. Sheila Finan's Letter in this paper (Wed., March 28, 2007) attacks everything she disagrees with as "ungrounded" while itself having little or no basis in fact. She criticizes the "emotions of the public" on February 1, yet later attempts to make a case for censoring the opposition in Rochester because the current government was elected by "the people of this town". Apparently, Ms. Finan has never heard that one cannot have it both ways. If the opinions of the public or the people (however you wish to term them) are to be respected in one instance, they are to be respected in all instances. Of course, the difference between her position and that of those - such as myself - opposed to the Town Board's behavior is that we have always respected the results of the election, albeit from a position of opposition. Ms. Finan, on the other hand, by terming Jon Dogar-Marinesco's website "slime and scare tactics," by attacking the desire to practice freedom of speech at a public meeting, by ranting at a local newspaper for the publication of a political cartoon, is apparently advocating censorship of the public. That we should see censorship being so vehemently defended by a supporter of the Rochester Town Board is no surprise, as censorship is what occurred on February 1, February 7 and March 1 of this year.
However, if we take the charges leveled by Ms. Finan in her letter one at a time, it quickly becomes clear that the defenders of the Board have nothing substantive to say in its defense.
Ms. Finan states that Manuela Mihailescu was "traumatized by the publicity she herself unleashed." In point of fact, judging by Ms. Mihailescu's own statements (and who better to judge her own emotional state than herself?), her traumatization began far in advance of any publicity given to this situation. Specifically, it began the night of the Town Board's Executive Session when the Board confronted her about an allegation that she was involved with an adult website. How do we know the Board did this? Just read the Supervisor's public statement in which she admits as much.
Ms. Finan attacks Mr. Chipman and myself (who represent two very different organizations which have disagreed as to numerous issues in the past), saying that Mr. Chipman and I hope to "regain power in the upcoming election." She later refers to a "lust for power." Unfortunately, there are people who couch everything done by persons who have taken on highly visible roles in a community in terms of "power." As such people cannot conceive of public statements and actions as being anything but plays for power, they cannot help but to project those same sentiments onto others. Some of us, however, think in terms of how best to serve our community and what must be done to stand up for the rights of our neighbors. On a side note, to my recollection neither Mr. Chipman nor I ever had any power to "regain."
The simple fact is that, despite her statements to the contrary, Ms. Finan does not know what I intended to do or say the evening of February 1 because the Town Attorney took over the role of Presiding Officer at the Town Board Meeting. In spite of being duly recognized and given the Privilege of the Floor, I was not permitted to speak my piece, nor was anyone else. For the record, my statement was to have criticized the manner in which the Town Board behaved towards our neighbors that night. I had no intention of referring to the Executive Session. There were others present who were far better equipped to do so, and I was determined to allow them to take on that issue.
Ms. Finan goes on to attack the "anonymous" signs on Route 209, calling those who posted them "cowardly." I wonder if she'll join those of us who condemned the anonymous letter sent out to the Republicans in our Town and those anonymous individuals who reported the alleged adult website to the Town Board as being similarly cowardly.
As to the cartoon published in your paper on Feb. 18, I would point out that, although some have reproduced it on the web, I declined to post it on my own blog (I won't give the address lest I be accused of self-promotion). While I am not personally a fan of what might be termed "personal" or "ad hominem" attacks on others, I wholeheartedly support the right of a newspaper to make whatever editorial decisions it finds appropriate. I would be curious to know, however, if Ms. Finan has ever written a letter criticizing political cartoons which attack our current President or anyone with whom she disagrees.
Personally, I believe that freedom of speech and press are only of value if they are applied across the board, indiscriminately. Perhaps Ms. Finan would like to call Supervisor Duke and Councilman Miller and ask them who called both of them to personally condemn the incidents in which nails had been thrown in their driveways last year. What she'll find is that I was one of the few who did so. I also faxed letters to four area newspapers condemning those same incidents, letters which went unpublished.
Unless we are willing to stand up and defend the rights of those with whom we disagree, all our rights become meaningless. I was heartened by the fact that several Democrats expressed (to me and to others) their shock at the behavior of the Town Board towards Ms. Mihailescu and the community in general. That is true community, true belief in principle. As Voltaire is often quoted, "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." Words to live by, indeed.
Finally, Ms. Finan makes a point of attacking Jon Dogar-Marinesco for the unfortunate facts of his life before coming to the United States. While I - personally - never lived under Communism, my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws and wife all did. While I would never presume to speak for Mr. Dogar-Marinesco (he is quite capable of making his own positions clear), I would point out that to raise the spectre of the inhuman, monstrous manner in which communist regimes trampled the rights of their citizens is not a matter of "rage," as Ms. Finan would have us believe. It is, instead, an issue of expertise. Who better to recognize the symptoms of dictatorship slowly incubating in our midst than one who has spent so much time living under just such a regime in the past?
When Ms. Finan talks of who always hated the Communists the most, she reveals both her bias and her lack of understanding of the natures of both Communism and Fascism. Nazis and Fascists hated communism not because it was the other end of the political spectrum. They hated Communism because Nazism, Fascism and Communism are exactly the same, with different gift wrapping. All three were totalitarian, socialist systems which needed the support of exactly the same segment of the population in order to survive and thrive. They could brook no rivals for their target constituency, so they killed one another off whenever possible.
No, the people who hated Communism most were people like my grandfather, who was a newspaper editor in Hungary who criticized both the Nazis and the Communists and was forced to leave the country. Communism was hated by people like my father who fought Soviet forces at the age of 15 and was later arrested for singing a song that contained the word "God" in school. Communism was hated by my grandmother, who helped hide Jews in Hungary during the Holocaust and yet was told that her son was part of a "Fascist conspiracy." Communism was hated by my father-in-law who was taken away in the middle of the night, beaten over and over for over a week and finally returned to his family when it turned out he had done nothing wrong.
To paint those who have lived under totalitarianism, who survived it and who learned to love freedom and hate its denial with the same brush as Nazis and Fascists is disgraceful and disreputable. Doing so is nothing but a vile and vicious attack which is not only hurtful to those who are its intended target but also belittles the pain of those who lost loved ones to the monstrous deeds perpetrated by the followers of Hitler and Mussolini.
I would hope Ms. Finan and those who applauded her letter would find the integrity within themselves to reexamine their consciences and rededicate themselves to the fundamental principles on which our country was founded: that all are created equal and that the rights of all - whether one agrees or disagrees with their positions - are to be respected, cherished and defended. Otherwise, our freedoms become nothing but a weapon with which to batter our opponents - hard, unyielding and of no value to society.
That is not the America in which I was raised.
Respectfully,
Imre Beke, Jr.
******************************************
To The Editor:
I find it curious that Ms. Sheila Finan's Letter in this paper (Wed., March 28, 2007) attacks everything she disagrees with as "ungrounded" while itself having little or no basis in fact. She criticizes the "emotions of the public" on February 1, yet later attempts to make a case for censoring the opposition in Rochester because the current government was elected by "the people of this town". Apparently, Ms. Finan has never heard that one cannot have it both ways. If the opinions of the public or the people (however you wish to term them) are to be respected in one instance, they are to be respected in all instances. Of course, the difference between her position and that of those - such as myself - opposed to the Town Board's behavior is that we have always respected the results of the election, albeit from a position of opposition. Ms. Finan, on the other hand, by terming Jon Dogar-Marinesco's website "slime and scare tactics," by attacking the desire to practice freedom of speech at a public meeting, by ranting at a local newspaper for the publication of a political cartoon, is apparently advocating censorship of the public. That we should see censorship being so vehemently defended by a supporter of the Rochester Town Board is no surprise, as censorship is what occurred on February 1, February 7 and March 1 of this year.
However, if we take the charges leveled by Ms. Finan in her letter one at a time, it quickly becomes clear that the defenders of the Board have nothing substantive to say in its defense.
Ms. Finan states that Manuela Mihailescu was "traumatized by the publicity she herself unleashed." In point of fact, judging by Ms. Mihailescu's own statements (and who better to judge her own emotional state than herself?), her traumatization began far in advance of any publicity given to this situation. Specifically, it began the night of the Town Board's Executive Session when the Board confronted her about an allegation that she was involved with an adult website. How do we know the Board did this? Just read the Supervisor's public statement in which she admits as much.
Ms. Finan attacks Mr. Chipman and myself (who represent two very different organizations which have disagreed as to numerous issues in the past), saying that Mr. Chipman and I hope to "regain power in the upcoming election." She later refers to a "lust for power." Unfortunately, there are people who couch everything done by persons who have taken on highly visible roles in a community in terms of "power." As such people cannot conceive of public statements and actions as being anything but plays for power, they cannot help but to project those same sentiments onto others. Some of us, however, think in terms of how best to serve our community and what must be done to stand up for the rights of our neighbors. On a side note, to my recollection neither Mr. Chipman nor I ever had any power to "regain."
The simple fact is that, despite her statements to the contrary, Ms. Finan does not know what I intended to do or say the evening of February 1 because the Town Attorney took over the role of Presiding Officer at the Town Board Meeting. In spite of being duly recognized and given the Privilege of the Floor, I was not permitted to speak my piece, nor was anyone else. For the record, my statement was to have criticized the manner in which the Town Board behaved towards our neighbors that night. I had no intention of referring to the Executive Session. There were others present who were far better equipped to do so, and I was determined to allow them to take on that issue.
Ms. Finan goes on to attack the "anonymous" signs on Route 209, calling those who posted them "cowardly." I wonder if she'll join those of us who condemned the anonymous letter sent out to the Republicans in our Town and those anonymous individuals who reported the alleged adult website to the Town Board as being similarly cowardly.
As to the cartoon published in your paper on Feb. 18, I would point out that, although some have reproduced it on the web, I declined to post it on my own blog (I won't give the address lest I be accused of self-promotion). While I am not personally a fan of what might be termed "personal" or "ad hominem" attacks on others, I wholeheartedly support the right of a newspaper to make whatever editorial decisions it finds appropriate. I would be curious to know, however, if Ms. Finan has ever written a letter criticizing political cartoons which attack our current President or anyone with whom she disagrees.
Personally, I believe that freedom of speech and press are only of value if they are applied across the board, indiscriminately. Perhaps Ms. Finan would like to call Supervisor Duke and Councilman Miller and ask them who called both of them to personally condemn the incidents in which nails had been thrown in their driveways last year. What she'll find is that I was one of the few who did so. I also faxed letters to four area newspapers condemning those same incidents, letters which went unpublished.
Unless we are willing to stand up and defend the rights of those with whom we disagree, all our rights become meaningless. I was heartened by the fact that several Democrats expressed (to me and to others) their shock at the behavior of the Town Board towards Ms. Mihailescu and the community in general. That is true community, true belief in principle. As Voltaire is often quoted, "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." Words to live by, indeed.
Finally, Ms. Finan makes a point of attacking Jon Dogar-Marinesco for the unfortunate facts of his life before coming to the United States. While I - personally - never lived under Communism, my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws and wife all did. While I would never presume to speak for Mr. Dogar-Marinesco (he is quite capable of making his own positions clear), I would point out that to raise the spectre of the inhuman, monstrous manner in which communist regimes trampled the rights of their citizens is not a matter of "rage," as Ms. Finan would have us believe. It is, instead, an issue of expertise. Who better to recognize the symptoms of dictatorship slowly incubating in our midst than one who has spent so much time living under just such a regime in the past?
When Ms. Finan talks of who always hated the Communists the most, she reveals both her bias and her lack of understanding of the natures of both Communism and Fascism. Nazis and Fascists hated communism not because it was the other end of the political spectrum. They hated Communism because Nazism, Fascism and Communism are exactly the same, with different gift wrapping. All three were totalitarian, socialist systems which needed the support of exactly the same segment of the population in order to survive and thrive. They could brook no rivals for their target constituency, so they killed one another off whenever possible.
No, the people who hated Communism most were people like my grandfather, who was a newspaper editor in Hungary who criticized both the Nazis and the Communists and was forced to leave the country. Communism was hated by people like my father who fought Soviet forces at the age of 15 and was later arrested for singing a song that contained the word "God" in school. Communism was hated by my grandmother, who helped hide Jews in Hungary during the Holocaust and yet was told that her son was part of a "Fascist conspiracy." Communism was hated by my father-in-law who was taken away in the middle of the night, beaten over and over for over a week and finally returned to his family when it turned out he had done nothing wrong.
To paint those who have lived under totalitarianism, who survived it and who learned to love freedom and hate its denial with the same brush as Nazis and Fascists is disgraceful and disreputable. Doing so is nothing but a vile and vicious attack which is not only hurtful to those who are its intended target but also belittles the pain of those who lost loved ones to the monstrous deeds perpetrated by the followers of Hitler and Mussolini.
I would hope Ms. Finan and those who applauded her letter would find the integrity within themselves to reexamine their consciences and rededicate themselves to the fundamental principles on which our country was founded: that all are created equal and that the rights of all - whether one agrees or disagrees with their positions - are to be respected, cherished and defended. Otherwise, our freedoms become nothing but a weapon with which to batter our opponents - hard, unyielding and of no value to society.
That is not the America in which I was raised.
Respectfully,
Imre Beke, Jr.
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