Multiple administrations have kicked-the-can-down-the-road on the problems of Evergreen Cemetery

Dear Editor,

On Monday I attended two civic group meetings, the Cemetery Board, and the Preserve Owego action group. I was unsettled as I approached both because of the nature of the arguments we faced. The conundrum is apparent in the John Cena “Love Has No Labels” video which appeared on my Facebook page. A person I admire and respect posted it. The sentiment is lovely, and it is a very nice production-which makes it all the more unsettling. However, the arguments are those of agenda-driven professionals.

Let’s do some fact checking. I am no Nobel Prize winner but if I can steal a quote from one among the most brilliant, Richard Feynman, who wrote, “I couldn’t claim that I was smarter than sixty-five other guys – but the average of sixty-five other guys, certainly!”

The video’s argument, celebrating diversity, versus some abstract view of “redneck patriotism” is not made by the arguments presented. If I accept the statement that 51 percent of the population are women, then the script goes off the rails by saying this means the “average American” is female. I’ll have to make a “shout-out” to the OFA experts on this. Shouldn’t it say the “majority” of the population, using his hetero-normative analysis, is female not the average?

The script goes on with many statistics designed to demonstrate our diversity, not our commonalities. Mark Twain popularized Benjamin Disraeli’s admonition that there are “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The script implies a diminished value for our troops by saying there are more Muslims in the U.S. than the number of active duty military. This may be true, and it is not a direct smear, but they have carefully subdivided their statistics to remove all Veterans, National Guard, Reserves, and the like to be able to make their point that their definition of Love is more important than your definition of patriotism, and this tiny minority, is less important than their larger minorities.

It happens that the “Average American,” and the basis of their patriotism, is one who has subscribed to a shared set of beliefs, that “all are created equal” and we have “inalienable rights” endowed in us by nature (God Given). Our principled, shared beliefs, and the uniqueness of our founding documents in their principles and clarity, are the basis of patriotism. That tiny minority of active duty troops are all of our (minorities and majorities) “representatives and members.” This tiny group is carrying out our “will.” If you don’t like the politics change them – the active duty soldier, the vet, the reservist, and all others will behave in the same honorable fashion.

More than six months ago, a member of the previous Village administration published an impassioned plea to abolish the OHPC because the Village is about “people,” not “buildings.” This flabby logic still informs the debate. Multiple administrations have kicked-the-can-down-the-road on the problems of Evergreen Cemetery. There are inextricable linkages and reasons to protect the built environment from speculators, and lethargy, for our mutual benefit. Our subscription to a shared, and optimistic, vision for the future of our precious Village, residents and unique structures, is what binds us together. We need to move forward on multiple fronts to preserve and improve our idyllic locale.

Sincerely,

Peter C. Gordon

Village of Owego Resident