Dear Editor: I want to comment on the Congressional race between Matt Detch and Congressman Evan Jenkins. If most of you readers out there will think back to Congressman Nick Rahall’s demise as our representative, what brought his career to a screaming halt was the fact that he forgot just who he was working for, the tax payers of West Virginia. The coal miners were hung out to dry by Rahall. I guess since he was in DC an awful lot, he just plain lost touch with his constituents and their lives. Basically, there isn’t any other way of saying this, he turned his back on WV and in so doing WV turned its back on Rahall. In walks Evan Jenkins to take his place and from what I personally have seen, he hit the pavement running from day one. The man has a tremendous work ethic and I know he truly cares about WV. I, myself, am a Viet Nam Vet and have gone to him for help on more than one issue pertaining to the VA. I have been to and participated in two different Town Hall Meetings. Each time, I came away from the meetings feeling satisfied that Evan Jenkins does listen to the common man and the Veterans, and issues get resolved if at all possible. I have seen him in action and he is what I call a “mover and shaker.” He gets things done. Can’t put it more simple than that. I know that some of the local politicians showed up at the town of White Sulphur Springs with some cases of water during the flood this summer. Evan Jenkins showed up with a tractor trailer full of cases of water! Like I said, he gets things done! Mr. Detch wrote a letter back on Nov. 21, 2015, that I just happened to keep a copy of. This was in the Mountain Messenger. It was headlined ... “Opening your arms to refugees best way to fight terror.” I remember reading this letter and just about falling over! I couldn’t believe how naive Mr. Detch was in this letter. I’m not trying to be mean about this but this is ridiculous. I thought the letter was a joke at first. This letter was about a hypothetical Syrian refugee who would come to live at Mr. Detch’s house. He started out by saying he hoped his “refugee” was of military age and single. He would give him his bed and he would sleep on the couch. He went on to say that he would show him America. Drink beer and watch sports together. Take him to the family farm and go to the New River Gorge. He said he would give him a high powered rifle so he could experience deer hunting! Teach him how to “high five” and yell “America” when WVU does well. I can sum it all up like this ... Mr. Detch went on to speak of numerous fun things that he would do with this refugee that would deter any tendency he may have toward terrorism. That is like saying that he would love the hate right out of him. I don’t want to sound too critical here but I honestly think Mr. Detch is living in a fantasy world. When the CIA director says there is no real way of vetting these refugees, I’ll take his word for it. Just ask yourself this .... how can you vette someone that has no paper trail?! No birth certificate, no school records, no credit reports, no drivers licence, no anything. You can’t vette anyone without that information and I don’t think it would be too wise to bring the fox right into the hen house! Erasing years of hatred with these fun things is a fantasy itself. This State doesn’t need any more fairy tales, it needs solid, truthful common sense leadership and our present Congressman Evan Jenkins is doing just fine. Sincerely, James G. Livesay Ronceverte
