A Bogey by The Pilot for giving a Birdie to Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. In your Aug. 9 editorial, Sen. Edwards was held in high esteem, as usual, because he was able to secure a $500,000 congressional appropriation to upgrade his hometown’s water system.

You agreed that such pork-barrel spending and favoritism is expected, because that’s what congressmen do –– and should do, “deliver the goods to the folks back home.”

Excuse me? I’ve always thought that our U.S. senators were elected to serve all the folks in their home state, not just their hometowns. In our case, the need for such an appropriation was requested by several North Carolina communities, not just Robbins.