The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/674959
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, May 4, 2016 D-1 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 Death never takes a holiday, and the very discussion leads to an in- teresting rule that we have: "Thou shalt not speak ill of the dead, un- less the person is a mass mur- dered, Adolph Hitler, or religious. As a tribute is written, the de- ceased usually becomes somewhat virtuous, the highlights of life are memorialized, and those left be- hind contemplate the impact of his/her life. This unwritten rule becomes somewhat abridged when death is due to personal excess because life has been cut short by the abuse of one's own body. Prince, an avangard music leg- end among rock n' rollers, died last week. His death at 57 was a shock, but soon whispers of drug addiction seeped out, and within days The Daily Mail ran a full page spread detailing his addiction to prescrip- tion medication, and now police have publically stated that they are looking into drug use [as a cause of death]. The Daily Mail detailed his hab- it through a dealer they referred to as Dr. D, who supplied him with Dilaudid pills and Fentanyl patch- es. The article suggests that Prince's death was a likely an over- dose of Percocet, re- cently prescribed by a physician, and it may have interacted with the other drugs. Prince was no doubt a talented individual who emerged from a musical family. His career was eulogized as that of legend, a genius, and a trend set- ter who shaped the genre of music that he played. Prince's forte into drugs re- sulting in an untimely death was dumbfounding, but his death will not be the last. The pantheon of music leg- ends is very well acquainted with death through abuse, and among the more noteworthy: Hank Wil- liams, Tommy Dorsey, Billy Hol- iday, Frankie Lymon, Judy Gar- land, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Keith Moon, Sid Vicious, Jeanne Paule Deckers, Kurt Cobain, Ike Turn- er, Michael Jackson, Amy Wine- house, and Whitney Houston. I am sure not one of the individuals men- tioned had intended to die through use of drugs. Pain killing drugs are a paradox; they can bring relief from intense pain, but can also kill. Addiction to drugs and alcohol has been likened to tickling a dragon's tail. Modern society is told that an addiction is a disease; the people cannot help themselves. Research- ers constantly look for genes that triggers recklessness in their de- sire to sooth the anxiety addiction brings with it. So the craving for another fix is endless. It is of interest that Elvis, Prince, and Michael Jackson claimed the Christian faith, yet died in the clutches of prescription drug ad- diction [no judgement intended- just an observation]. Christians know through disci- Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Observations by Thomas Sowell The Weekly by Alden Heuring Conservatives for Trump? Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond God rewards Defending the 'pillars of human happiness' National values, not 'Special Interests' Heritage Viewpoint by Edwin J. Feulner Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker The sudden appearance of Don- ald Trump on the political horizon last year may have been surpris- ing, but not nearly as surprising as seeing some conservatives sup- porting him. Does Trump have conservative principles? Does he have any prin- ciples at all, other than promoting Donald Trump? A smorgasbord of political positions - - none of them indicating any serious thought about complicated issues - - is not a principle. Nor is cheering for himself and boasting about all the great things he is going to do as President. Haven't we seen this movie be- fore? Wasn't Barack Obama go- ing to heal the racial divide, end the partisan bickering in Washing- ton, have the most transparent ad- ministration ever, lower the cost of health care and let you keep your own doctor? Had he actually done all those things, walking on water as an en- core would have been an anti-cli- max. But instead, he did the oppo- site of all those things. There was absolutely nothing in Obama's track record that should have led anyone to think that he would even try to do any of the things he declared he was going to do. But why spoil a great vision, and soaring rhetoric, by checking track records? It was bad enough for the voters to make the colossal mistake of be- ing taken in by appearances and ig- noring realities. But to repeat that very same mistake with Trump, immediately after the Obama ad- ministration, is truly staggering. How many pied pipers are we go- ing to follow off to parts unknown? At this late date, there is no point itemizing the many things that demonstrate Trump's gross inade- quacies for being President of the United States. Trump himself has demonstrated those gross inadequa- cies repeatedly, at least weekly and sometimes daily. Those who do not believe their own eyes and ears are certainly not going to believe any words of mine, or of anyone else. What William James called "the will to believe" is still as powerful today as it was when he coined the phrase more than a century ago. But what is there about Donald Trump that taps into that power- ful current of credulity? The many betrayals of the voters by the Republican establishment, year after year, no doubt set the stage. And Trump is a great theat- rical performer on any stage. But is that enough? It has been enough politically to put some of the great demagogues of history in power, especially after the ex- isting establishment has discred- ited itself. The discredited Weimar Repub- lic in Germany was vulnerable to the verbal attacks by Adolf Hitler that brought him to power. Now we know, too late, that Hitler turned out to be a bigger catastrophe - - for Germany and the world - - than the Weimar Republic. Donald Trump is not an evil man like Hitler. But his head- strong shallowness and feckless- ness make him a dangerous man to have in the White House, with our enemies around the world on the march, and developing inter- continental missiles that can deliv- er nuclear bombs. A President of the United States has many heavy responsibilities beyond building a wall and fight- ing the Republican establishment. Just the thought of Trump ap- pointing justices of the Supreme Court, who will have lifetime ten- ure and make decisions, for de- cades, that will determine wheth- er we will still be a free people, should sober up all who have not been irretrievably hypnotized by rhetoric or so embittered by the betrayals of the Republican es- tablishment that they can see lit- tle else, including life and death issues. For conservatives especially, there is finally a real choice for a change - - and a sharp contrast with Donald Trump. Senator Ted Cruz has a track record that leaves no doubt as to his adherence to con- servative principles. And he is as thoroughly versed in the issues facing this country as anyone who has run for President since Ron- ald Reagan. Has Senator Cruz been flawless? Americans still enjoy freedom of religion. But these days, they're expected to leave their faith in the pew or at home – not allow it to in- fluence their behavior in the pub- lic square. The Founding Fathers didn't take that view. "Of all the disposi- tions and habits which lead to po- litical prosperity, religion and mo- rality are indispensable supports," George Washington said. "In vain would that man claim tribute to pa- triotism who should labor to sub- vert these great pillars of human happiness." Yet many do, in fact, work very actively to undermine these pil- lars. That's why I was honored to join the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) recently at its 40th anniversary event. EPPC's mot- to is "defending American ideals since 1976." But what really makes its contributions so invaluable is that it's defending ideals that date back two centuries before that. "We take great pride in the fact that people with differing view- points can come to the table and be a part of a larger con- versation about these very important and very urgent issues," according to EPPC Vice President Mi- chael Cromartie. At a time when those who take their faith seri- ously can feel high- ly marginalized, EP- PC is a necessary ad- vocate. I'm not just talking about cultur- al issues, where the role of faith seems more obvious. I'm referring to the whole gamut of issues. As EPPC President Ed Whelan has noted, the center was founded at the height of the Cold War "to counter the myth of moral equiv- alence" between the East and the West. Beyond the missile counts and competing proxy battles in far- flung hot spots lay the oft-over- looked fact that the Soviet Union was based on a godless, moral- ly bankrupt system. The intellectual con- tributions of EPPC helped Cold War gen- erals such as Ronald Reagan break through the malaise of detente, and achieve what EP- PC Distinguished Se- nior Fellow George Weigel calls "the suc- cessful endgame of the Cold War – the victory of free- dom over Communism." Besides foreign policy, there is a wide range of other important is- sues to be addressed – and EPPC scholars are there. From stem-cell research and Medicare spending to judicial activism and entitlement reform, they provide legislative testimony, hard-hitting op-eds, and timely reports that flout the superficial analysis so common in our sound-bite culture. I periodically get mail from folks who find it annoying that anyone pays attention to racial and ethnic differences. Aren't we all Ameri- cans? Isn't it un-American to re- fer to citizens as "A frican-Amer- icans," "Hispanic-Americans," "Asian-Americans," and so on? My answer is, certainly not. In fact, the opposite is true. Ameri- ca is about "e pluribus unum." Out of many one. Although the origin of the idea "e pluribus unum" was about unity of the different states under one federal government, it is also relevant in terms of the in- tegration of citizens from many different racial and ethnic back- grounds into one national fabric of common values and truths. Everybody is pushing back now against "special interests." But we shouldn't be pushing back against one set of "interests" simply to re- place them with another set of "special interests." We should be fighting for principles and values that form the thread that link us all together and define our free nation. This is the discus- sion we should be hav- ing, and it is exactly the discussion we are not having. I have seen the re- ality of the welfare state from inside, so, for me, the values and mindset that destroys communities and indi- viduals are clear. That is, values that undermine private property and ownership, values that demean personal responsi- bility and foster dependence, and moral relativism that undermines truths which empower individuals to transcend their base instincts and create the capability to love, to work, and to create families and responsibly bring children into the world. It's exactly why ethnic politics are so important today. As the politics of the welfare state and moral relativism have increasingly taken control of the country, they have disproportionately hit our minority commu- nities. Turning around the dysfunctional left- wing worldview that keeps these commu- nities disproportion- ately poor and under- educated must be a na- tional priority. But to start off, we must agree that this worldview is sick. In 1960, barely 2 percent of all American children, from all ra- cial and ethnic backgrounds, lived with a never married parent. By 2008, 41 percent of black chil- dren, 18 percent of Hispanic chil- dren, and 7 percent of white chil- dren lived in a home with an un- married parent. Over this same period of time, from 1960 to 2008, the percentage Save the school money by cutting superintendent's salary Letters to the Editor Mum, mummer, mummest To the Editor: I have a suggestion for the Pike County School Corporation as to how they may help their financial situation. All Ms. Blake and a cou- ple of the school board members seem to think will solve their prob- lem is getting rid of more teach- ers. Don't children need teach- ers to teach them what they need to learn? Why doesn't the school board cut Ms. Blake's salary to save money? I'm sure she receives several times the salary as that of a classroom teacher, and her sala- ry being cut should not take away the contact that a child has with a classroom teacher. The board should consider her salary when trying to save mon- ey. Other superintendents at oth- er schools have voluntarily taken paycuts to try to keep their school corporations fiscally responsible. Rita Allen, Pike County real es- tate owner and taxpayer. ( Jeffer- son, Washington, Patoka town- ships and City of Winslow) Have yer figgered out whatchyer gettin' yer mum yet? *ahem* It's almost Mother's Day, and this one is going to be big for me. For starters, it's one of the first times I've remembered to get any- thing for anyone ahead of time. My usual practice in previous years has been to hurriedly grab some ran- dom thing the day of or the day af- ter and pretend it was all part of an ingenious plan (if I even did that much). Mea culpa, mea culpa. But this year is different. This year, I'm living with a new moth- er, and it's been pretty hard to for- get that Mother's Day is coming up. I've already got something for all the moms on my list except Jill, and I've even given my own Mom her present already. I'd tell you what it is, but I'm not sure how to make it snarky and funny, which is sort of a requirement for this column. So you'll just have to wonder. As it happens, Mother's Day is a rather unusual holiday. It's cele- brated at different times and in dif- ferent ways around the world, but almost every country has some sort of special day for moms. In fact, the Hindu religion instituted a holiday honoring mothers a century or so before the American one came in- to being. In Bolivia, the day is cel- ebrated on the anniversary of a fa- mous battle—famous partially be- cause a large number of women were active combatants. Many ex- Communist countries celebrated International Women's Day instead of Mother's Day for many years, since International Women's Day is a good, strong socialist holiday, unlike the capitalist and bourgeois Mother's Day. Makes sense, right? Right? Bueller? Speaking of bourgeois capital- ism, the founder of America's Moth- er's Day, Anna Jarvis, started boy- cotting her own brainchild less than 10 years after Woodrow Wil- son proclaimed it a national holiday. Why? Hallmark, of course. I'll get back to that in a second. Jarvis started campaigning for a Mother's Day after her own moth- er died in 1905. In 1908, her early attempts were spurned by the U.S. Congress (I paraphrase here): "We'd have to proclaim a Moth- er's-in-Law Day, too! Get lost, la- dy." However, after another three years, she succeeded, and every state in the Union observed Moth- er's Day by 1911. Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it a national holiday in 1914. The troubles started after that. By the early 1920s, you could buy pre-written greeting cards, flowers, candy, etc. for Mother's Day, and Jarvis took issue with that. She ar- gued a handwritten note to one's mother was a much more genu- ine expression of love than a shop- per's basket full of seasonal prod-