Nation of my youth

In his recent letter to the editor, Mr. Ruud DuVall reminisced about the nation of his youth, where presidents were dignified and honorable, and where people were not “tortured” for coming to this country illegally. I think Mr. DuVall and I are close in age, and so I feel I can relate to the era he is referring to.

I, too, would like to return to the country of my youth. The country where people respected each other, children were taught to respect and not run from authority, where foul language and extreme violence on television were unheard of, where news reporters at least had the good grace to hide their biases, where immigrants were welcomed into the country because they came in the front door legally, where people took pride in their appearance and didn’t violate their bodies with studs and tattoos and wore clothes that fit, where gangs didn’t roam the streets, where the government wasn’t the great nanny state, where God and the flag were revered, where parents taught their children morality and didn’t rely on schools to raise their kids, where teachers weren’t routinely attacked, where movies didn’t have body counts in the thousands, where honor, dignity and morality counted for something, where the Constitution was gospel and socialism was not taught as the best form of government.

Yes, I’m an old fogey, and proud of it.

MARY RUGEN-ISHMAEL Little Rock