The Press-Dispatch

November 7, 2018

The Press-Dispatch

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C-4 Wednesday, November 7, 2018 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg President Donald Trump was right to tweet out: "There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraud- ulent reporting of the news. The fake news media, the true ene- my of the people, must stop the open and obvious hostility and re- port the news honestly and fairly. That will do much to put out the flame..." He's right. I open to the opinion section of The Washington Post and find the following headlines: "Trump has stoked the fears of the Bowerses (the Pittsburg syna- gogue murderer) among us." "Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media can't escape re- sponsibility." "Trump's America is not a safe place for Jews." All on one opinion page in one day. As I wrote recently, we learned in the confirmation hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh that Dem- ocrats are no longer pretending to care about facts. An outstanding American was almost destroyed by uncorroborated allegations. I was in Jerusalem earlier this year and participated in ceremo- nies in which the embassy of the United States was moved to Isra- el's capital, Jerusalem. A sense of awe, tied to the his- tory of the moment and the bold leadership of Trump, permeated the proceedings. Certainly no one in attendance would question that the Jewish people have no great- er friend than this president, who did what no other American pres- ident had the courage and convic- tion to do. In June 2015, a year and half before the Trump presidency, a young white supremacist entered a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and murdered nine black Christians. "It is unfathomable that some- body in today's society could walk into a church while people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives," said Charleston's po- lice chief. Then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley provided extraordi- nary leadership following the in- cident, sharing her genuine grief with South Carolinians and all Americans. She took the bold step as a Republican governor to remove the confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina's capitol. Haley understood that the best way to fight evil is by identifying evil for what it is and fighting it not with politics but with virtue. For the last two years, Haley has demonstrated similar leadership by principle as Trump's United Na- tions ambassador. A story on CNN Wire, report- ed nine days before Election Day, leads with the headline: "'Voting while black:' How activists are racing to create a midterm 'black wave.'" According to the report, "A growing network of A frican-Amer- ican political groups are laboring to build a lasting political clout for A frican-Americans, especially in the South, where more than half of nation's black residents live." The article focuses on three black Democrats running for gov- ernorships in Georgia, Florida and Maryland. You would think that being black and political meant on- ly electing far-left, progressive Democrats. Totally ignored are exciting and potentially para- digm-changing elections involv- ing black Republicans. John James, a black Repub- lican running for the Senate in Michigan against three-term lib- eral Democrat Debbie Stabenow, doesn't exist for these CNN writ- ers. James is a conservative Chris- tian, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters in Iraq, and he now runs his family busi- ness in Detroit. James is real news and hence a non-item for the "fake news" deal- ers whose interest is peddling pro- Fake news threatens our national health Working together My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Once more it's that time of the year that we had a chance to exer- cise our sacred privilege to vote. As I listened to the campaign ads over the radio and T V, I got con- fused and somewhat skeptical, be- cause there was a lot of mud being thrown all over the place. But there are also a lot of great promises and hope for a better tomorrow. Ah, the price of democracy, and freedom of speech, and freedom to choose who will represent our governing body. Having participat- ed in this process since I had the privilege to vote, it is a wonderful phenomenon. For more than 200 years, there has been an order- ly process of election, and accep- tance of victory, and gracious re- linquishing of power. The whole world looks at all of us — 300 mil- lion plus Americans enjoying this gift of governing. We hope it will never be broken, I look at my chil- dren and grandchildren, and I pray that this gift will never fail. So, let us not forget to be grate- ful that we can vote. Lots of peo- ple in other parts of the world can only dream about it. Let us all ac- cept the outcome and show the world our ability to accept the re- sults, come together, be united (as in United States of America) and work together for the great- est good. • • • So, in order to guide my selec- tion on voting, I read this book en- titled "Thoughts on Leadership"- Thoughts and Reflections from History's Great Thinkers. Here are some of the quotes I like: "The question who ought to be the boss is like asking who ought to be the tenor in the quartet. Ob- viously, it is the man who can sing tenor"- by Henry Ford. "In every society, some men are born to rule, and some to advise."- by Ralph Waldo Emerson. "The administration of govern- ment, like a guardianship, ought Today political candidates are smarting. Someone lost the elec- tion, and it is President Trump's fault. However, someone has to lose; that is the way it is in the po- litical realm. Actor James Conwell warned that the outcome of yesterday's election could be the tipping point if Republicans keep control of gov- ernment. He said, "If we don't stop [President Trump] now, then we will have a revolution for real. Then there will be blood in the streets." Is the election of 2018 a turning point in our political history and an extension of the events occurring in many of the democracies in the Western World? Has the governed lost confidence in its government? Three recent events in Europe highlight the discontent. In 2015, Greece held a bank bailout refer- endum. The populous sent a clear message to the political class no bailout; they were ignored, and Greece pledged their populous future. In June 2016, Brit- ain's electorate chose to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May has done everything she can to drag the exit out hop- ing to have a new vote. Italy's recent elec- tions centered up- on the citizenry's be- lief that they are be- ing held hostage by the Euro and European banks. Though the vote did not seat an anti-euro majority, two political parties are consider- ing joining forces to seek a change. In addition, Hungary has earned the rebuke of the European Union because Prime Minister Viktor Or- bán's domestic policies are aimed at limiting Muslim immigration and protecting Hungarian culture and Christianity. America is not immune from vot- er discontent, and that is evident in the outcome of the Presidential election of 2016. The political histo- ry of Rome and Greece tell us that maintain- ing democracy is per- ilous and vigilance; President John Ad- ams wrote [1798], "We have no govern- ment armed with pow- er capable of contend- ing with human passions unbri- dled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the gov- ernment of any other." The emergence of identity pol- itics is a direct result of Christi- anity being removed from its pro- tected status as the nation's reli- gion by the Supreme Court. Gone Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond A tipping point? Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 The Weekly by Alden Heuring Thanksdishes Minority View by Walter E. Williams Price gouging during a natural disaster Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Thirteen states — Alabama, Ar- kansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Vir- ginia — have enacted laws to com- bat what is seen as price gouging in the wake of natural disasters. Price gouging is legally defined as charging 10 to 25 percent more for something than you charged for it during the month before an emergency. Sellers convicted of price gouging face prison terms and fines. Price gouging in the wake of natural disasters is often seen as evil exploitation by sellers to rip off desperate customers. Let's hold off on that conclusion until af- ter you give thought to some very important questions. First let's see what we can agree upon. When a natural disaster occurs or is anticipated, supply conditions change. There is going to be less of what people want and need. Un- der such conditions, what actions are consistent with the public good? My answer is that people should voluntarily use less of everything and waste nothing. That would include econo- mizing on water, gaso- line, food and anything else necessary for sur- vival. How about an ex- ample? Take the case of a hurricane like Flor- ence. Let's assume that evacuation 200 miles or so inland would guarantee safety for North Carolinians. Say the Jones family's car has three-quarters of a tank of gas, more than enough to drive to safety. The Smith family's car has less than a quarter-tank of gas, which is not enough to drive away from danger. We can multi- ply this scenario by tens of thou- sands of families in the Joneses' condition and thousands of fam- ilies in the Smiths' predicament. Here's my question: Who should forgo purchasing gas in the storm- threatened area? My answer would be all those people who have enough gas to drive to safety — people such as the Joneses. By not pur- chasing gas, they'd make more gas avail- able for those who really need the gas in order to drive to safety, such as the Smiths. We might al- so ask how considerate and caring it would be to their fellow North Carolinians who desperately need gas for people who have enough to evacuate to purchase gas just to top off their tanks. If people such as the Joneses won't consider the needs of their fellow man voluntarily, the North Carolina attorney general could station government officials at each gasoline station to deter- mine who should be permitted to Meeting the caravan with common sense Heritage Viewpoint by Edwin J. Feulner Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker It's sad to see the debate over the migrant caravan break down into the usual polarized camps. You're either pro-immigrant and therefore willing to let anyone in, or you're anti-immigrant and you want to slam the door in the face of anyone, right? Wrong. The phrase "My fellow immigrants" certainly rings true for me, as it does for countless oth- er Americans. In the 1870s, my forebears came to the land of op- portunity, worked their way west- ward to Chicago, and lived their dream. Today, there are more list- ings for "Feulner" in the Chicago phone book than in southern Ger- many, where my ancestors came from. (Although a quick comput- er search tells me that Markus Feulner is a star footballer for the Augsburg team. Clearly, "Cous- in Markus" didn't get his football genes from me.) This isn't a question about being unwilling to welcome newcomers. It's about how we do it. For my an- cestors — on both sides of our fam- ily — and millions of others, there was only one way to enter Ameri- ca: Legally. A sovereign nation is defined by specific territorial limits. Lim- its are borders, and borders must be real — that is, se- cure. A country with- out borders, sooner or later, will cease to be a country altogether. That's why there are processes and procedures for those who wish to enter our great land, either to visit or to become a citizen. We don't just leave the door propped up. In the words of a former U.S. president, "We simply cannot al- low people to pour into the United States undetected, undocument- ed, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants into this country." Hmm, you may be wondering, what hard-core conservative said that? Barack Obama. Surprised? The difference is that he said it when he was a senator, back when he and his fellow liberals were a bit more willing to speak truthful- ly about this subject. Fast forward to 2018, and many of the same people who echoed President Obama's sentiment hap- pily denounce anyone unwilling to throw the border open to the 7,000 -plus mi- grant caravan wend- ing its way north through Mexico. Consider what Marc McGovern, mayor of Cambridge, Mass., says: "Every one of these people are coming from a re- al fear. These are ref- ugees. These are people who real- ly are facing real problems, and we have to let them through." Some people may find them- selves swayed by this emotion- al appeal, but it's dangerous. Our nation has specific laws in place when it comes to asylum — laws that are typically reserved for in- stances of state-based repression. Is that the case here? Maybe, but the point is that we have pro- cedures in place to carefully deter- mine such things. We don't simply say, "Aww, those poor people. Just let them in." Mr. McGovern and others can say what they want, content to score political points because The next big milestone in the holiday season is (no, not Christ- mas) Thanksgiving, one of my fa- vorites. You get around a big ta- ble with people, stuff your faces, then watch sports together – a hol- iday where you don't need to speak hardly at all (other than "pleases" and "thank yous") to share good memories. Plus, there's plenty of food! If you were secretly planning to invite me to your Thanksgiving, you're in luck, because today I'll share my favorite side dishes. Top of the list has got to be sweet potato casserole. This stuff is easy to make and basically dessert that you can eat with your main course. Just bake a casserole pan full of mashed-up sweet potatoes, a cou- ple eggs, some milk, butter, and brown sugar in whatever propor- tion you desire. You can add pe- cans or marshmallows to the mix, too, if you want a little spin on it. As long as you use good sweet po- tatoes, you can't go wrong. Next up, of course, is cornbread. A good yeast roll is delicious too, but cornbread, in my opinion any- way, is much easier to make well because you have so much room for personal taste in your recipe and preparation. Cornmeal, bak- ing soda, and butter are the core ingredients, and you can experi- ment with salt, eggs, sugar, butter- milk, flour, even bacon grease to get the taste and texture just the way you like it. Try mixing the in- gredients in a hot iron skillet, then baking. There are so many good dish- es at Thanksgiving, but we have to stop somewhere, so let's stop with

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