The meaning of the second amendment
Beth Murphy seems to like to give advice. She tells Donna Greco to “fact check” while her own column is filled with false information and interpretations all her own. Let’s take her column about the second amendment (6/5). She certainly makes a lot of generalizations that are nothing more than her opinion. Her ideas to change the language of the second amendment are laughable. Her interpretation of the words of our Constitution shows she has not done any research and does not understand the meaning of the Constitution.
At the time the amendments were written there were no states, just colonies, so there were no state “laws.” The “militia” were the people of those colonies. There was no “national guard.” The militia refers to the people and the people are the ones who maintain their right to bear arms that shall not be infringed. The Supreme Court upheld the second amendment, and the people continue to have the right to keep and bear arms. It has absolutely nothing to do with hunting.
If not for the second amendment, all the other amendments are null and void because the second amendment was written to keep the government in check should it become tyrannical. Just give that a thought for a moment. No time in our history has the second amendment been more important, given the abuse of the president in circumventing Congress any time he feels like it to get his agenda shoved down our throats.
If Beth Murphy or anyone else out there wants to do something about mass shootings, they should consider addressing the mental health problem in this country. As it stands now, limiting the use of guns to-law abiding citizens will do nothing to stop the shootings. We cannot legislate morality and unless we are willing to address the mental issues and drugs, both legal and illegal, that cause these kids to go on a killing spree, nothing will change, second amendment or no second amendment.
Paul Jameson
Saugerties
Fact-checking the fact-checker
It’s very easy to ruffle Beth Murphy’s feathers. Murphy responds with vitriol to opinions she does not like, while at the same time writing letters to the editor giving “advice” on how to be a nice person.
Murphy completely missed the point of my column titled “Two Rotten Eggs” (7/15). The main point was that the Saugerties Republican Party leader favors RINO [Republican In Name Only] candidates and is corrupt in his efforts to get them elected. Instead of working with the Conservatives, he worked against them, securing an easy win for Helsmoortel.
Murphy’s calls for “fact-checking” but she illustrates the facts precisely, particularly the fact that liberals must bully and vilify any view that is not their own.
Is Murphy angry because I exposed the fact that more Democrats than Republicans are receivers of entitlement funds and continue to vote to increase taxes on the middle class to support these programs? The middle class accepts more and more tax burden to support entitlements, yet these programs have made little difference in bringing the poor out of poverty. Those in need of bettering themselves rarely get the chance when Democrats are busy giving handouts that keep them down.
“Murphy’s Law” implies that anything that can go wrong will, and her column, Murphy’s Law, often does. In a subsequent letter to editor, Murphy stood corrected on several points and wrote that the second amendment does not give gun rights to individuals. She went so far as to suggest a paragraph change to suit her anti-gun position.
How about the column in which she asserts that a minimum wage increase will fix the problems of the poor?
In reality a minimum wage increase would cause all prices to rise including food, gas, shipping prices, and put poor families in a worse predicament given the higher cost of living. Those who benefit most from increases in minimum wage are students from middle- and upper-class families who work summer jobs during school breaks. These kids pour their paychecks into addictive tech devices fueling big corporations such as Apple and Exxon. They now have more gas money for the car their parents bought for them. A minimum wage increase will barely touch those in real need.
A better solution is to give Americans living “on the edge” job training to make them contributing members of society. We need to focus on our own citizens and stop giving freebies to non-Americans who currently live off the backs of hard working citizens, often get paid under the table and always take jobs away from U.S. citizens.
Beth Murphy should fact check her own work, stick to writing her own column, and let me write mine. Above all, she should take her own advice about being kind to others. And that’s a fact.
Donna Greco
Saugerties
Join the family! 
