Don Gale's column (Aug. 5) is the typical way some minds turn things upside down. He never lived among normal people outside Utah and yet says that Utahns are "the salt of the earth — honest, intelligent, friendly and caring — especially those in rural Utah."
I have lived with people on both coasts of this nation and do not find Utahns that special. They do see the world better than any other and in this respect they are "the salt of the earth." But caring and friendly — I have seen better.
Don Gale calls Utahns intelligent yet says they are partisan to President Bush rather than to principles. It is admirable to be concerned about loss during war, but to think that the absence of death brings peace is a far-fetched assumption. The partisan mind thinks the Iraq war was a mistake and that Israel has overreacted. The partisan gauges by the number of deaths rather than the amount of bigotry.
The Utah mind sees the biblical writing upon the wall better than any other. We are not as good as Don Gale assumes, and Utahns are not as partisan as he suggests. No one has brought forth a better solution in dealing with a nation of anti-Semites that are taught from their youth to hate. The wars in the Middle East are long overdue. Believe it or not, the God of providence is ruling, and our leaders are doing the best they can. The real partisan mind simply gripes at it all.
Ronald Kelsch
Sterling