As if anyone needed any more proof that some people don’t know their Aspen from a hole in the ground. Public provocateur of misinformation Richard T. Moolick seems to believe that Aspen is not in Western Colorado (March 7, GSPI). He also seems to believe that this newspaper is not representing Western Colorado interests when it prints my column. As a resident of Silt, Colo. (as it says at the end of my column), I was surprised to learn that I’m a representative of Aspen. It was equally embarrassing to find out that neither Silt nor Aspen are in Western Colorado.

From my deck, I can see numerous gas wells. On most days I see more cows, horses, sheep and deer than people. In the summer, I see logging trucks nearly every day. For more than 20 years now I’ve been under the false impression that I’ve been living in Western Colorado, but thanks to Mr. Moolick, I now know that residents of Silt are not from Western Colorado at all. In fact, they are actually residents of Aspen, which is not in Western Colorado either. Moolick logic defines Silt columnists as comrades to Aspen, which apparently is a city some where in far east Colorado. Thanks for the geography lessons, Dick. Where can I get one of the new “Western Colorado” maps?

And speaking of holes in the ground, are you ready for MOAB? No, I’m not talking about the annual bike ride to White Crack in the Canyonlands, I’m talking about the “Mother of all Bombs,” the 21,000-pound Massive Ordinance Air-Burst designed to make Iraq look like a hole in the ground.

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Isn’t it cool the way government collects tax dollars and then uses the money to make bombs capable of incinerating thousands of people at once? You never really think about it when you’re filling out your tax forms, but that’s the price of freedom I guess. We need big bombs when we get tired of talking to people about peace and disarmament.

The shock and awe cowboys at the highest levels showcased the MOAB to signal their spirited return to the lowest levels of humanity. The message being: We will stop terrorism by bombing people.

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At first glance this logic doesn’t make sense, but after you think it over, it’s just plain stupid.

We’d have to be blind not to see that this policy is the epitome of hypocrisy. We’d have to be deaf not to hear the impassioned pleas for peaceful solutions. We’d have to be dumb not to admit to the violent irony of the proposal.

Unfortunately the voice of America is attached to the same head as the deaf, dumb and blind heads of state. All this national arrogance is sanctified in the name of patriotism, but blind endorsement of bad policies is never a good idea.

To add insult to injury, the estimated budget deficit for this year could hit a record $400 billion in spite of the administrations tax-cut proposals. In case you’re one of those blind followers, see that that dollar figure doesn’t include the cost of doing war. MOABs are expensive and so is occupying a foreign country. The cost of doing war this year should be in the tens of billions of dollars.

In case you’re one of those deaf followers and couldn’t hear me over the sound of bombs being showcased, we’re going to war without the necessary tax dollars to fund it. It should only cost a couple hundred billion more by conservative estimates. Add that to the $400 billion deficit.

In case you’re one of those dumb followers and are having a hard time adding up the cost of making war, it’s probably because education funding has been cut. Fortunately the “Education President” is looking for more soldiers to train than smart talkin’ diplomats. The intricate path of diplomacy is so slow compared to the superhighway to war. Besides, if we bomb Iraq first, terrorists will never think of bombing us back, will they?

The science of destruction should never prevail over the arts of peace. Patience is the greatest superpower, and we need it now more than ever. There can only be peace when men refuse to fight one another and in spite of Iraq’s refusal to obey our commands, we must find the patience to resist the urge for violence.

The American people shouldn’t sacrifice peace to make war any more than the Pope should sacrifice the Lamb of God to make cutlets.

Thanks for letting me infiltrate this commentary page with my Western Colorado opinions.

Hearing, Seeing and Speakingly,

Bernie

Silt resident Bernie Boettcher’s column runs every other Thursday in the Post Independent.