In the Independent on March 26, 2026, I read an obituary that transported me back to an 18-year-old in 1963. I had Harold Kilminster as a teacher and we had a homework assignment to bring in a current event from the newspaper, which at that time was Santa Barbara News-Press.
Now I freely admit that as an 18 year old I knew very little about the world and its history, but I think I was a logical person. The article I brought in had to do with the American government telling another country to remove its military from a different country. I was puzzled as to why our government was upset that it was also being asked to remove its military from another country and seemed incensed at that very question! I just didn’t understand the difference in attitude.
Mr. Kilminster said, “Miss Hoyt, you are talking like a communist!” I had no idea what I had just been called and didn’t open my mouth again.
We are now watching our government justify sending our military to another country, which we have attacked, and once again my logical mind wonders, “Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Which government is showing that they are the responsible ones and can be totally trusted to make all the right decisions going forward?
“Help, is anybody there?”
