Letters to the Editor

Word games versus the truth

To paraphrase a well-known truth, you can fool some of the people all of the time – but not everybody. Suffice to say I tend to question the motives of those who pump out a lot of rhetoric that may obscure and distort reality. As Dirty Harry might put it, “They are legends in their own minds.” These individuals often have a political agenda, which is not to say that every politician is insincere, bombastic or pompous, although enough of them are on the stump to keep me watchful.

Anyone who doesn’t know that Nye County and the Town of Pahrump are confronted by a variety of challenges or that many of them will not be overcome quickly and at minimal cost, please raise your hand.

In the daily scheme of valley life we have a right to expect the very best efforts from our elected officials and all those who occupy public offices. In my experiences however, genius is quite rare in government circles at every level. Even so, we should demand that our public officials (a) maintain the highest level of integrity, (b) use a common-sense approach to problem solving and, (c) give serious attention to the concerns of area residents.

“Shoulda” - “Coulda” - “Woulda” won’t cut it. Anyone who tries to make us feel guilty or ashamed by implying that the choice to do away with independent town government in the Pahrump Valley was ill-advised or that the county commissioners have been overwhelmed by their broadened responsibilities, is game playing, plain and simple.

Another truth is that some points of view are best taken with a grain of salt – read with skepticism. Bottom line, think for yourself and if you are dissatisfied when the polls are open once more, vote your conscience.

Ralph Bazan