[pct-l] Bikes on PCT- political statement NOT

[greg mushial]

> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 14:45:24 -0400
> From: Gary Wright <gwtmp01 at mac.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Bikes on PCT- political statement
> To: Tortoise73 at charter.net
> Cc: PCT List <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <D741B721-509E-44BF-AB42-9DFEA7DC4F5E at mac.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>
> On Nov 4, 2010, at 1:43 PM, Tortoise wrote:
>> From the first Regan tax cuts on, funding for federal agencies such as 
>> the
>> Park Service and Forest Service have been cut. Result -- deteriorating
>> lands and less enforcement of law and regulations. So those here who
>> support Reagonomics and limited & reduced Federal government are getting
>> what they asked for!
>
> Needless to say, not everyone would agree with your analysis and this
> list is just not the right place to debate these general political issues.
>
> I'm sure there are representatives on this list from all parts of the
> political spectrum so I don't understand why you make statements like this
> that alienate *existing* members of the trail community.
>
> Support for National Scenic Trails, National Parks, wilderness areas, and 
> so
> on has to be bipartisan and broad-based to be successful in the long term.
> I think it is a factual mistake as well as a political mistake to 
> characterize
> these issues in partisan terms.
>
> Radar
>

To paraphrase a familiar saw: when on finds themself deep in a hole, besides 
being a good time to quit digging...  it's also a worthwhile idea to 
understand why one is where they are. As someone that watches C-SPAN 
(unedited reporting) vs TV news/noise (can't stand the spin/self-serving 
nature thereof), and has done so since its beginning...  I don't think 
Tortoise's statement is political any more than any fact based recounting of 
history. If you go back and watch from the C-SPAN archive; read honest (not 
self-serving) reportage from that era... Tortoise is not far off the mark. 
Maybe those that supported said policies then are embarrassed by their 
actions today, or didn't fully understand the consequences of their 
actions/support then - but that's the price one has to pay -  history is 
unforgiving - it offers no statute of limitions w/re its reading. (If one 
wants to turn that into finger pointing, that's a different story - but 
understanding what happened, how it happened, and why it happened is 
important.)

So...  let's understand how we got where we are... and then move forward to 
protect  The Trail for all future generations.

TheDuck