Dear Madam:
I discovered a new song a while back by a group called the Austin Lounge Lizards, a somewhat obscure band out of Texas. It’s a satirical song about religious judgementalism titled “Jesus Loves Me (But He Can’t Stand You).”
The first verse goes as follows:
“I know you smoke,
I know you drink that brew,
I just can’t abide a sinner like you.
God can’t either,
that’s why I know it’s true,
Jesus loves me,
but He can’t stand you.”
When I sang that first verse to my wife, I could tell she wasn’t as excited about the song as I was. She gave me one of those looks, and said: “that’s just not true. Jesus loves everybody, even you – as hard as that might be.”
Well, so much for the Austin Lounge Lizards.
I grew up in the deep South, a region with its share of judgmental hypocrites, just like the ones being satirized in the song. Though, to be fair, there’s no shortage of these folks anywhere. I’m like that more often than not, and I’m glad of my wife’s certainty that Jesus loves me, as hard as that might be.
About the time of my enthrallment with the Austin Lounge Lizards my wife and I were watching a mini-series titled “The Crown” a historical drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England. She was a very devout Christian but was having a hard time forgiving some of her family members for their conduct during World War II. Billy Graham was in London at the time, 1954, doing one of his huge rallies, and the Queen invited him for a private audience at Windsor Castle. She explained to him her inability to forgive her family, and he said “Your Majesty, Scripture is quite clear on this, there’s no bottom to forgiveness.” Well!
When Jesus left us, He did not leave us alone. We have the Holy Spirit to help us with our constant problems, with our judgementalism, our hypocrisies, and our sadness. There is a song called “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon and Garfunkel, that perfectly illustrates what the Holy Spirit does for us.
In 1981, in conjunction with the city of New York, Simon and Garfunkel gave a free concert in New York’s Central Park. It’s all on YouTube. At one point, Art Garfunkel stands up, alone, before 500,000 people, and sings “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” It’s quite the tour de force.
Art Garfunkel holds the last note of the last chorus of that song for four solid measures, 16 beats, a difficult feat that any singer would appreciate. As the chorus builds to that final note, you can hear the audience, all 500,000 of them, starting to cheer, and they keep cheering as that final note dies out.
Art Garfunkel does a little private fist pump, and, from the look on his face, he knows he nailed it—a perfect rendition of a perfect anthem to the Holy Spirit. It’s an amazing moment, and you can listen to it and watch it on YouTube and see for yourself.
“When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street.
When evening falls so hard,
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
Oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down,
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.”
My wife is never wrong. Jesus loves everybody, even you.
John Jackson
Huntersville
To the Editor,
Reading Joe Kaffl’s weekly installments of pompom waving and cheerleading for the current administration prompts a few observations.
Quoting his most recent letter;
“Cruelty is a bunch of self-promoting politicians selling feel good crap that ignores human nature (I must point out here; self-promoting is human nature) and does not work in the real world but keeps them in lifetime jobs and enriches them.”
Curiously Senator Capito has been in public office either at the state level or Federal level for over 30 years.
All of our Federal representatives voted for the HR-1 or Big Beautiful Bill which gave the wealthy a huge tax break.
Capito worth 3.1 million dollars
Justice worth 1.2 billion dollars
Miller worth 16.5 million dollars
Moore worth 773 thousand dollars
The median income for Pocahontas County is $42,000. Do you think these representatives can relate to the average resident of the county? The BBB will require those individuals using Medicaid work 80 hours per month to maintain their coverage, Medicaid use is 28% for the county.
The current population of the county is 7,602 residents, a 3.4% drop from 2020. Likely due to the lack of employment which will exacerbate the need to find 80 hours of employment a month. Also needed to be considered is the impact this will have on The Pocahontas Memorial Hospital and the satellite clinics. The possibility of having healthcare deserts is a real possibility.
In one letter Mr. Kaffl said he likes this administration because he gets things done. Let’s consider this. Lowering inflations, nope. If you were spending $100 a week for groceries before, now you’re spending $130.
No more forever wars, (“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell 1984). The deficit increase in the first six months of 2026 is the same as all of 2025. All because of the new forever war. Each citizen in the U.S. currently owes $113,000.
At $100 a barrel for oil, a gallon of gas is over $4 per gallon. Increasing the cost of everything. As the new school year begins food, travel to work, school supplies, footwear and clothes are costing more.
Tourism is the future of the economy of Pocahontas County. As the costs of everything increases people will have less disposable income and therefore cutting back on travel. Air B&B’s, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores all rely on the influx of spending from visitors. The economic pressure on residents also lessens their disposable income which local businesses rely on to carry them through lean times.
The nation has serious problems which are reflected in Pocahontas County. As I watch, listen and read the news, WV has continual problems with domestic abuse, pedophilia and soliciting minors through the internet. WV addresses the crimes, but our career politicians continue to protect the rich by failing to release the Epstein files and holding the wealthy accountable.
David Bott
Morgantown
Editor,
As I watch the process of finding a solution to the pending closure of the land fill unfold, I am disappointed in how this process is proceeding. The fact that we are at the last minute trying to find a solution to a problem that we knew for years was coming is itself disappointing. Having said that, it is easy to be a “Monday night quarterback,” and this is all history. So, dwelling on this is a waste of time.
What we need now is a viable solution that can be implanted in a timely fashion before the dump reaches capacity. The board is currently asking for proposals from interested companies, and I feel this is a wise move. We need to have business models for all possible options evaluated, which are based on facts shared openly with the community. Solutions proposed without this are a waste of time by all parties involved.
What are the cost breakdowns of the various options being proposed both short and long term that will address household trash and construction debris? Any solution needs to be user-friendly so it will be used instead of folks throwing trash over the hill or into sinkholes. It should also be viable with the amount of trash generated in the county. All the BS and silly fighting we have seen so far at public meetings needs to end. Everyone needs to grow up and act like adults. Yelling at meetings or proposing solutions without cost breakdowns which are based on actual invoices or price quotes from viable companies or vendors are stupid and a waste of time.
We need a real-world solution in a timely fashion. This county depends on tourism, having trash all over the place will hurt everyone and the environment. Having the state step in because we have no local solution will likely be more expensive.
I am asking for a reset and for all of you to get the job done and stop wasting time. We got lucky to get an extension of the life of the landfill. Let’s use this time wisely.
Once the various solutions are considered and one is selected we all need to support this and move on with its implementation. Threats of lawsuits, endless complaints to the Public Service Commission and ego trips will hurt all of us and cost us money we do not have to waste.
So, grow up and do the responsible thing. If you do not trust the current process, create a business plan for the option you are recommending with verifiable costs both short and long term and post it on a publicly accessible website. Costs need to be those listed publicly by vendors or hard price quotes with supporting documentation from companies which are actually able to provide the service. These need to be included in the public posting along with the sources of these costs.
Pulling costs out of the air is useless in deciding on the best solution, and I would hope the Solid Waste Authority Board does the same regarding their solutions. This is not rocket-science, and the costs should be transparent to everyone in the county who will be impacted by this decision, since it is unlikely that any solution will be cheap.
Joe Kaffl
Hillsboro
