Government

From Pioneer Press letters:

Government: It's a good word

In my country, "government" is not a bad word, but a good word — where government is "of the people, by the people and for the people," even if they are unemployed and/or poor.

Our government's military protects our land, sea, air and shoreline. Our government manages or supervises our highways, bridges, public school K-12 education, state universities and colleges, police and fire protection. It delivers a letter anywhere in the country for 44 cents, maintains air traffic safety, food purity, the space program, epidemic and disease control, military and veterans hospitals, radio and TV airways, courts, correctional facilities, Medicare, Medicaid and the Internal Revenue Service.

Patriotic people are proud of our country. Certain people today say the country is being ruined, that government is corrupt. Some have distorted every section of the proposed health care bill for their own purposes and have spread anti-American venom loudly through radio and the Internet.

Yet, we are thankful that our citizens have the freedom of speech, even demagoguery. I, for one, pledge allegiance to my country, which I love.

Dr. Joe Norquist, White Bear Lake