The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/906097
D-8 Wednesday, November 22, 2017 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 Since the election of 2016, we have been inundated with clichés used by the disaffected who reject- ed the results to challenge the sta- tus quo. Two clichés that stand out are "speaking power to truth" and "be- yond truth." Unfortunately, those that use these phrases are advanc- ing what Josef Goebbels referred to as "The Big Lie." The Big Lie is a process where a lie becomes truth. The method is simple; drop a statement of fact [lie] so preposterous into the me- dia and repeat it consistently and with such fervor that soon it be- comes truth. Political dogmas and platforms are examples. They are repeated with such intensity the rank-and- file hold to them as gospel, but for the most part, they are never ful- filled. It is with interest that the phrase "speak truth to power" can be traced to a Cold War Era book pub- lished in 1955 titled Speak Truth to Power, published by the Amer- ican Friends [Quakers] Service Committee. The contemporary meaning of the phrase is to" believe deeply in what you say and fight every day to have that heard. It may not be pop- ular; it means taking a risk, it means standing for something." Believing in and standing for some- thing is noble, but what happens if the foundation of your be- lief is in error? Communism as a political and econom- ic system is bankrupt. A handful of fanatics forced it up- on the world and millions [at least 100 million] died, and the misery it inflicted cannot be calculated. The Soviet Union collapsed, and China discarded it as an econom- ic system, yet its brother social- ism is still alive in the West and is choking countries to econom- ic death; and academia is still en- thralled with it. Those who despise Trump use it daily to assault the elected pres- ident's legitimacy and demand that he be impeached for collud- ing with the Russians. The more sinister statement that is making the rounds among the political pundits is "beyond truth." This cliché or idea is adapted from the work of phi- losopher Friedrich Ni- etzsche concerning the notion of truth and reality. The use of the phrase can be a dou- ble entente meaning bringing truth back from exile, or truth is an individual con- struct based upon a person or group with- in a cultural setting. In other words, there is no abso- lute truth [or truths]; truth is rela- tive and subjective based upon the person's experience. This is why liberals can refer to those who do not hold to the same political ideology as "deplorables" and dismiss them as irrelevant. This toxic environment is erod- ing the meaning of the word truth. Surprised? How can we define truth when our culture had dis- carded immutable truisms that de- rived their meaning from natural law, which also has been rejected? Nevertheless, passing laws and redefining words change nothing Minority View by Walter E. Williams The Weekly by Alden Heuring Stalking horses Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond Beyond truth Extra money for defense could end years of underfunding Heritage Viewpoint by Edwin J. Feulner It's not exactly "Man Bites Dog," but "Congress Gets Defense Spending Right" is almost as sur- prising a headline. For too long now, we've been cutting corners when it comes to the military. Years of underfund- ing have given us a weakened force that, despite the hard work of our brave troops, is ill-equipped to handle the missions we keep throwing at it. Think the recent spate of ship collisions is a coincidence? Hard- ly. They're a red flag — a warning sign we ignore at our peril. That's what happens when you short- change our armed forces, and fail to ensure that they have the best training and the best equipment possible. So when House and Senate lead- ers released their proposal for a de- fense spending authorization for 2018, and it not only met but ex- ceeded the amount that Heritage Foundation experts had been recom- mending? It marked a rare piece of good news from Capitol Hill. A base funding amount of $ 634 bil- lion sounds like a lot of money — and it is. But it's money well spent. Indeed, notes defense expert Thom- as Spoehr, it "will go a long way to- wards beginning the rebuilding of America's deteriorated military." It will do that in large measure by providing increased numbers of aircraft, ships and ground equip- ment — all of which, thanks to years of underfunding, is desper- ately needed. House and Senate leaders are also calling for increases in the size of the Ar- my, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Good thing, too. Each branch needs addi- tional personnel and are at historic lows in terms of manpower. How low? Consider what the Air Force re- cently did. It's facing a shortage of fighter pi- lots. By year's end, de- fense expert John Venable writes in the National Interest, "the ser- vice is projected to have fewer than 2,643 of the 3,643 active-duty fight- er pilots it needs to execute its mis- sion." So President Trump issued an executive order authorizing the When hunting was the ma- jor source of food, hunters often used stalking horses as a means of sneaking up on their prey. They would synchronize their steps on the side of the horse away from their prey until they were close enough for a good shot. A stalk- ing horse had a double benefit if the prey was an armed person. If the stalkers were discovered, it would be the horse that took the first shot. That's what blacks are to liberals and progressives in their efforts to transform America — stalking horses. Let's look at it. I'll just list a few pieces of the leftist agenda that would be un- achievable without black political support. Black people are the ma- jor victims of the grossly rotten education in our big-city schools. The average black 12th-grader can read, write and compute no better than a white seventh- or eighth- grader. Many black parents want better and safer schools for their children. According to a 2015 sur- vey of black parents, 72 percent "fa- vor public charter schools, and 70 percent favor a system that would create vouchers parents could use to cover tuition for those who want to enroll their children in a private or parochial school" (http://ti- nyurl.com/y7d57cbg). Black politi- cians and civil rights organizations fight tooth and nail against charter schools and education vouchers. Why? The National Education As- sociation sees charters and vouch- ers as a threat to its education mo- nopoly. It is able to use black pol- iticians and civil rights organiza- tions as stalking horses in its fight to protect its education monopoly. The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 was the nation's first federally mandated minimum wage law. Its explicit intent was to discriminate against black construction work- ers. During the legislative debate on the Davis-Bacon Act, quite a few congressmen, along with union leaders, expressed their racist intentions. Rep. Miles All - good, D-Ala., said: "Reference has been made to a contractor from Al- abama who went to New York with bootleg labor. This is a fact. That contractor has cheap colored la- bor that he transports, and he puts them in cabins, and it is labor of that sort that is in competition with white labor throughout the coun- try." American Federation of La- bor President William Green said, "Colored labor is being sought to demoralize wage rates." The Davis-Bacon Act is still law today. Supporters do not use the 1931 racist language to support it. Plus, nearly every black mem- ber of Congress supports the Da- vis-Bacon Act. But that does not change its racially discrimina- tory effects. In recent decades, the Davis-Bacon Act has been challenged, and it has prevailed. That would not be the case with- out unions' political and financial support to black members of Con- gress to secure their votes. Crime is a major problem in ma- ny black neighborhoods. In 2016, there were close to 8,000 blacks murdered, mostly by other blacks (http://tinyurl.com/y8snbfga). In that year, 233 blacks were killed by police. Which deaths receive the most attention from politicians, civil rights groups and white lib- erals and bring out marches, dem- onstrations and political pontifica- tion? It's the blacks killed by po- lice. There's little protest against the horrible and dangerous condi- tions under which many poor and law-abiding black people must live. Political hustlers blame their con- dition on poverty and racism — ignoring the fact that poverty and racism were much greater yes- teryear, when there was not near- ly the same amount of chaos. Al- so ignored is the fact that the dan- gerous living conditions worsened under a black president's admin- istration. There are several recommenda- tions that I might make. The first and most important is that black Americans stop being useful tools for the leftist hate-America agen- da. As for black politicians and civ- il rights leaders, if they're going to sell their people down the riv- er, they should demand a higher price. For example, if black con- gressmen vote in support of the Davis-Bacon Act, they ought to Thanksgiving Continued on page 9 My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Thanksgiving: This week will be another memorable one for ma- ny I'm sure. There are many bless- ings to be thankful for. . . from the most obvious to the least obvi- ous. There is the daily blessings of food, shelter, work, families, and friends. Blessings of living in a country that seemingly provides us with a sense of orderliness, peace, and security. But we also live now in a world seemingly filled with difficult issues that sometimes stress us beyond our capacity and understanding. No matter how difficult life may seem to challenge us, we have to go on. And have faith, and courage, and a sense of optimism along with grateful and prayerful hearts. A f- ter all, life is such a short journey. Must we then be crushed by pessi- mism and despair, or must we jour- ney with great purpose and vision and love for each other. • • • It will be here before you know it: In four weeks, we will be cele- brating one of the greatest events in human history. Christmas will then bring upon all of us memo- ries of joy, and peace, and goodwill. The spirit of friendships, and fam- ily, and in most parts of the world glad tidings. It is my hope that the commer- cial aspect of the season will not be the focus of our attention. On the other hand, we realize the sad aspects of this season. Sometimes, the push for commercialism can break the economic sanity of ma- ny. We also know that this is a time when broken relationships can be felt more severely. So therefore, it Thankful for our lives Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9 "I had a dream last night that was just everyone eating Thanks- giving food. No talking, just filling their plates and eating" - Jill, yes- terday. What are you thankful for this year? It's been a wild and crazy year for us, and an even wilder and crazier week, so I've got plen- ty. See if you can figure out what I've been up to all week... 1. We are finally able to sleep in our new house. 2. There is food in the refriger- ator at our new house. 3. Jill has cell phone reception at our new house. 4. We didn't forget to bring the coffee machine to our new house. 5. We did forget to bring the T V remote to our new house. 6. There's a heating vent pointed right at the toilet in our new house. 7. So far we have only found one hole in the walls of our new house. I could go on, but I think you maybe figured it out. Yes, we have now officially moved! There's still a lot to do, but here I am in a new house writing a new column in- stead of copy-pasting one from 2015, as I was sorely tempted to do. I wish you all a happy Thanks- giving, and now, I am going to join my wife and daughter in snoring loudly in our new house. STUFF OF THE WEEK, THANKSGIVING EDITION: Listen: Johann Sebastian Bach is just right for this time of year, I think, and instrumentals blend well underneath conversation at dinner. Drink: Try mixing some whole milk into your unsweet tea at a big family dinner this week. It tastes great, and everyone you love will stare at you from around the table in horror, mouths agape, just like you've always wanted. Watch: You're at the table! Turn the T V off, for goodness sake! Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker The poor are not poor because the rich are rich A new study released by the left- leaning Institute for Policy Stud- ies in Washington, D.C., headlines what they see as shocking news that in America some people are much wealthier than others. Some findings of the study, en- titled "Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us," are: —"The three wealthiest people in the United States — Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett — now own more wealth than the en- tire bottom half of the American population." —The 400 billionaires on the Forbes 400 list "now own more wealth than the bottom 64 per- cent of the American population." —"One in five US households ...have zero or negative net worth. Over 30 percent of black house- holds and 27 percent of Latino households have zero or negative net worth." The message that IPS wishes to convey here is that there's a con- nection between wealth at the top and dismal economic circumstanc- es at the bottom. That is, the poor are poor because the rich are rich. Their proposed so- lution for narrowing the gap between rich and poor follows this premise. The way to make the poor less poor, in their view, is to make the rich less rich. And, of course, they propose to do this with govern- ment power. "By tax- ing our wealthiest, we could raise significant revenues and then in- vest these funds to expand wealth- building opportunities across the economy." If we accept the questionable as- sumption that higher taxes on the wealthy would raise "significant revenues," who exactly, according to their plan, would invest these funds to produce all these new op- portunities? Those with the greatest invest- ment skills are those on the Forbes 400 list, who the IPS sees as the problem and who they want to pun- ish for being successful. So in all likelihood it's a gov- ernment bureaucrat that they want to put in charge of making these brilliant "wealth- building" investments. But bureaucrats would not be bureau- crats if they knew how to invest and create wealth. We've been through this before — the list of failed gov- ernment projects is long. Recall most recently the Solyndra scan- dal — the failed solar panel firm backed by the Obama administra- tion — leaving taxpayers on the hook for $535 million in federal guarantees. Who are these billionaires on the Forbes 400 list? Joshua Rauh of the Stanford University School of Business and Steven Kaplan of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business studied the list. In 2011, 32 percent came from wealthy families, compared to 60 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 9