Friday Mailbag

I expected to catch at least a little Hell this week after writing a column expressing unease about a statewide smoking ban and hostility toward the idea of a constitutional ban on gay marriages. I posted the column on this blog Tuesday.

But the truth is, I received little reaction, and what I did get was mostly positive.

Tammi Boeder's e-mail was typical:

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“Bless you . . . and the horse you road in on.[/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]

[/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]I did get one critical message. Sandra Ballasch argued that I was too hard on liberals and not hard enough on conservatives:[/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font]

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[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“One of the things that has always driven me crazy about opinion writers is that they feel no need to fully detail at least those facts that impact their current statements. [/naviga:font][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“ I would remind you that until last year, the Iowa legislature was controlled by Republicans.  The worker compensation decisions were made by a REPUBLICAN legislature not exactly the same as the current one.[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“Also most of those who complain about poor people's buying habits tend not to be the effete liberals you describe but, in my experience, "compassionate" conservatives--like the last legislature, the last congress and our current inhabitant of the White House.”[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]Mount Trashmore name ideas kept trickling in, as well. "Krasna Hora," or Beautiful Mountan in Czech, got another vote. One reader suggested the clever "Hawk High Hill" or "Could-Have-Been-A-Rain-Forest."[/naviga:font]

[/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]Herb Hendriks suggested a Scandanavian moniker:[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“Mount Midden  -  The word, "midden" is of Scandinavian origin and was used to designate any collection of refuse, generally  a pile of garbage, or waste that accumulated  in the vicinity of a dwelling, as a "kitchen midden."  Archaeologists consider middens associated with archaeological sites as "gold mines" of information.”[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]And Joe Miller gets patriotic with his submission:[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]“I actually am submitting this one to you:  Soaring Eagle Mountain.  I think it has a clean patriotic sound to it.  It plays off the eagle population on the river in that area.  Especially if a ski slope and etc. happens.  I think it would lend itself to a snappy logo that would look good on caps and apparel.”[/naviga:font]

[naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"][/naviga:font][naviga:font size="3" face="Georgia"]Thanks to everyone who took the time to weigh in. [/naviga:font]