Editor,

I have been following the “Big Noise Controversy” on Whidbey and was taken aback by the “Get out of Dodge” and the “Love it or leave it” stance taken by a writer in the Jan. 11 issue of The Record.

When I was growing up in America I was taught to respect my government and that my government would stand up for the “little guy” when wronged. That the military machine was for defense only. That if you had a problem you could rely on the police to help you.

In America today, the military machine is used to defend the business interests of multi-national corporations all over the planet, not to defend the little guy as I was taught. Corporate profits are the new “patriotism.”

Frankly, I get upset at the attitude of “Love it or leave it” or “get out of Dodge.” This intimates that a pro-military solution is the only viable solution. The writer is giddy at the prospect of millions of taxpayer dollars being poured into the naval operations on Whidbey. Are these millions going toward protecting the little guy? Are they going to go into feeding poor people? Will they be used to educate our children?

We don’t have a noise problem on Whidbey Island, we have a philosophical divide that needs to be bridged.

If you live in a country you love and you can see it needs your help, you don’t “get out of Dodge” and you certainly don’t leave. You fix it, and COER is trying by instigating this suit against the military machine. The conversations and the arguments are an important part of a society and I say love it and fix it.

DAN FREEMAN

Clinton