Nov. 17, 2007
EDITORIAL: Armstrong: Citizens Rally for Beloved Public Servant
An estimated crowd of nearly 100 braved cold temperatures in front of the
State Culture and History Museum in Charleston to show their support
for the recently fired Director of State Archives, Fred Armstrong.
Armstrong, who held the position through several administrations, is much-loved for his professionalism and his spirit of public service for countless adults and children who have used the state's archives over the years.
Word is that Armstrong was fired due to a simple disagreement with the Manchin Administration, particularly with Randall Reid-Smith, Commissioner of Culture and History and a close personal friend of First Lady Gayle Manchin.
Armstrong's opposition to plans to transform the research library into an elaborate coffee bar and gift shop puts him squarely on the side of the citizens of West Virginia. Many use Culture and History's research library to look up ancestors or do vital researchon a host of topics pertaining to West Virginia and Appalachia. It has rightly been called "the people's library."
But the Manchins, always into glitz and marketing over substance, don't care. This is true about so many things when you come to think about it.
The great lie of the Manchin years has been how great things are going in West Virginia, particularly with our economy. True, coal has had another good run, due to energy concerns, but that's about it. Where are the small businesses Manchin promised would flourish under his guidance? Where are the jobs for our young people?
The anger demonstrated by those concerned for Fred Armstrong and the fate of the people's Culture and History Museum is simply one small but steady stream of discontent with the smoke and mirrors of the Manchin Administration generally. There has been little or no progress in so many areas.
Now, even access to our ancestors' records are being taken away. It's nothing short of shallowness triumphing over substance, increasingly a Manchin specialty.
One thing is certain. The extended honeymoon the state gave the Manchins is over now. We see them more clearly now as a couple of social climbers who care far more for themselves than for the people of West Virginia. Is it any wonder those who rallied for Armstrong last night want to have him back and dump the Manchins?
They rallied for more than Armstrong or the Cultural Center's research library. They rallied for all of us, for the whole state is beginning to suffer under Governor Manchin's extraordinarily poor judgment.
Armstrong's heart is with the people who use the facility he managed quite well, with no political agenda, for twenty years. The Manchins' hearts, political and self-serving to the core, are with their own strange vision of coffee shops and tacky gifts.
Time for a change. The sooner, the better.
EDITORIAL: Armstrong: Citizens Rally for Beloved Public Servant
 |
Armstrong, who held the position through several administrations, is much-loved for his professionalism and his spirit of public service for countless adults and children who have used the state's archives over the years.
Word is that Armstrong was fired due to a simple disagreement with the Manchin Administration, particularly with Randall Reid-Smith, Commissioner of Culture and History and a close personal friend of First Lady Gayle Manchin.
Armstrong's opposition to plans to transform the research library into an elaborate coffee bar and gift shop puts him squarely on the side of the citizens of West Virginia. Many use Culture and History's research library to look up ancestors or do vital researchon a host of topics pertaining to West Virginia and Appalachia. It has rightly been called "the people's library."
But the Manchins, always into glitz and marketing over substance, don't care. This is true about so many things when you come to think about it.
The great lie of the Manchin years has been how great things are going in West Virginia, particularly with our economy. True, coal has had another good run, due to energy concerns, but that's about it. Where are the small businesses Manchin promised would flourish under his guidance? Where are the jobs for our young people?
The anger demonstrated by those concerned for Fred Armstrong and the fate of the people's Culture and History Museum is simply one small but steady stream of discontent with the smoke and mirrors of the Manchin Administration generally. There has been little or no progress in so many areas.
Now, even access to our ancestors' records are being taken away. It's nothing short of shallowness triumphing over substance, increasingly a Manchin specialty.
One thing is certain. The extended honeymoon the state gave the Manchins is over now. We see them more clearly now as a couple of social climbers who care far more for themselves than for the people of West Virginia. Is it any wonder those who rallied for Armstrong last night want to have him back and dump the Manchins?
They rallied for more than Armstrong or the Cultural Center's research library. They rallied for all of us, for the whole state is beginning to suffer under Governor Manchin's extraordinarily poor judgment.
Armstrong's heart is with the people who use the facility he managed quite well, with no political agenda, for twenty years. The Manchins' hearts, political and self-serving to the core, are with their own strange vision of coffee shops and tacky gifts.
Time for a change. The sooner, the better.
