The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1343317
B-4 Wednesday, Feburar y 24, 2021 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 The prophet Joel wrote, "Now, therefore," says the Lord, "turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your gar- ments; Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." Rural people know what rendering is. Rendering is a process that con- verts waste animal tissue into sta- ble, usable materials, such as grease, bone meal and lard. To the modern chef, these are processed items, but 100 years ago, grandma processed these on the farm and sold them to "city-slickers." Now before you linguists point out Joel used the word rend and I used rendering and that these are actually two distinct words and processes: the end result is the same—to change the appearance. To rend in He- brew custom was to tear at one's cloth- ing to alter appear- ance and to show grief. But then what? You change your clothes. But customs can be- come habits that are done without any serious thought. The issues of Joel's day continues to bewitch humanity: SIN. Joel is writing eight centuries be- fore Christ. The glories of Solomon's Kingdom are gone! His message of devastation has come to the land of Judah because of their indifference toward God. Joel begins his prophecy by talking about a disaster that is coming to the people of Judah. Joel writes: "And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, Let your chil- dren tell their children, and their Race for the Cure By Star Parker Republicans must unify against the left Former President Donald Trump captured the core of the problem in his official statement following his acquittal in the Senate impeach- ment trial: "It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to deni- grate the rule of law, defame law en- forcement, cheer mobs, excuse riot- ers, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and perse- cute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree." This is the state of affairs today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sal- ivating over the one article of im- peachment hastily passed by her House against Trump, used nation- al time and resources to do this for one reason and one reason only: to personally damage Trump and cre- ate division in the Republican Party. It was clear that there was no way Donald Trump would be convicted in the Senate. But politics was the point, not the Constitution. Now that President Trump has been acquitted, the left-wing media is stepping up to do its part to fan the flames and assure that no burning ember that could potentially damage Republicans is wasted. Longtime Fox News token lefty Juan Williams wrote a piece for The Hill newspaper under the guise of truly caring about the health of the Republican Party, offering his heart- felt advice to Republicans to purge the "kooks" in favor of the conserva- tives. Or, as he says, to choose "real- ity" over delusion. Williams, saying he's got Rep. Liz Cheney's "back," defends her against the pursuit of Republican "kooks" who condemn her for voting to im- peach Trump. For years, the media has portrayed the Democratic Party — the party of abortion on demand, same-sex bath- rooms and every failed socialist idea known to mankind — as the party of sobriety and sanity, in contrast to Re- publican wackos. Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley availed herself to an interview with Politico, which did the expected hatchet job on her. This was one of these so-called in- terviews where not the full transcript was published but rather only snip- pets, interlaced with comments and editorializing by the interviewing journalist. The headline practically all of the media have run about the interview includes Haley saying that Trump "let us down." This extraordinary woman of ac- complishment comes off in this fea- ture as lost and confused. Let's face it. President Trump's challenge of governing in the face of "fake news" and media dominated by liberals was real. Maybe it's wrong for someone, certainly the president of the Unit- ed States, to become angry and com- bative. But consider that Trump spent the first half of his presidency fending off fabricated charges of abuse of pow- er and conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, which led to his first impeachment and acquittal. And it turned out that the basis of it all was a dossier whipped up by someone in the employ of the Democratic Party and used as legitimate intelligence by the FBI. And all the perpetrators of this horrible, corrupt scheme are off scot-free. I appeal to Republicans to not let the smoke bellowing forth dai- ly from the Democratic Party/left- wing mainstream media complex blindside them. Our nation is limping, deeply wounded and dangerously close to fiscal and moral bankruptcy. There is a reason why Americans picked a man with no prior political experience as their president in 2016. "Make America Great Again" was about the critical and noble crusade to restore "one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Compared to this vital and noble mission, current injuries and differ- ences in the party are but superficial wounds. Continued on page 5 A dear friend of mine sent me this e-mail which I think appropriate for this Lenten season. I receive ma- ny inspirational articles and I think this is worth sharing. Here it is: "Live simply. Love generously. Care deep- ly. Speak kindly. Laugh often. Leave the rest to God." A man by the name of Eusebius wrote this prayer about the third Century AD: "May I be no people's enemy, and may I be the friend of that which is eternal and abides." "May I never quarrel those near- est me, and if I do, may I be recon- ciled quickly. May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good. May I wish for all people's happiness and envy none." "May I never rejoice in the ill-for- tune of one who has wronged me. When I have done or said what is wrong, may I nev- er wait for the re- buke of others, but always rebuke my- self until I make amends." "May I wish no victory that harms me or my oppo- nent. May I recon- cile friends who are angry with one an- other. May I ,to the extent of my pow- er, give all needful help to my friends and all who are in want. May I never fail a friend who is in danger." "When visiting those in grief, may I be gentle and give healing words, and be able to soften your pain." "May I respect myself. May I keep tame that which rages within me. May I accustom myself to be gentle and never be an- gry with people because of circumstances." "May I never discuss who is wicked and what wick- ed things one has done, but know good men and follow their footsteps." • • • I did a little research on the author, Eusebius, out of curiosity. Most scholars date his birth about between 260 -265 AD in Ceasar- ia Martima, an ancient city on the My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Points to Ponder By Rev. Ford Bond Lenten season It's Lent: Render your heart Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 9 Give Me a Break By John Stossel Privacy Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore School districts aren't refunding taxpayers Reichstag flares anew I moved back to Alaska in 2010, the year that incumbent U.S. Sena- tor Lisa Murkowski and her primary challenger both pledged to support the Republican nominee, no matter which of them won, in the general election that Fall. "TEA Party" insur- gent Joe Miller trailed Murkowski by about 20 points. But when Miller shocked the world - and Murkowski - by winning that primary election and becoming the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Murkowski reneged on her promise and ran an independent general elec- tion campaign against Miller and the Democrat in the Fall. Swamp Republicans were aghast at the TEA Party conservatives' effron- tery, and went to work undermining the nominee's chances. Senate Re- publican campaign pros under the guidance of Mitch McConnell fund- ed negative advertising against the Democrat, but none against Murkow- ski. The effect was to unify the an- ti-Miller vote as a Murkowski vote, including Democrats. TEA Party insider Bill Fulton stayed close to Miller beginning the night he won the primary, frequent- ly advised him of violence risks, and prevailed on him to wear Fulton's own bulletproof vest. He urged Mill- er to accept his offer of a protective security team during the campaign, but Miller didn't want it. Then the Anchorage school dis- trict required security as a condi- tion of using a middle school for a campaign gathering. Miller cam- paign staff asked Fulton to provide it. The candidate learned of the se- curity team only after he arrived at the event. Shortly after the get-together end- ed, Fulton detained a well-known Alaskan journalist and placed him in handcuffs. The handcuffed reporter was in public view, and his indignant colleagues from other media photo- graphed him in captivity. Miller didn't witness the incident, as he had moved on to the next event across town. But it was electrifying political theater, and it made voters' blood run cold as their worst suspi- cions were confirmed about an au- thoritarian right-winger who felt em- boldened to manhandle his critics. A Miller campaign official recalls hearing a young man remark to an- other at the school that "this could not have gone any better for us." Mill- er's lead evaporated, and Murkows- ki won re-election to her Senate seat by a plurality of 39 percent to Miller's 35 percent. Scarcely two years later, the Los Angeles Times reported that Fulton was an FBI informant at the time of his involvement in Miller's and oth- er ill-fated conservative Alaskan po- litical campaigns. Interviewed by the progressive Huffington Post, he came out of the closet as a commit- ted Liberal who voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. "I was working for you, you sons of [profanity omitted]," he told the Liberal media, "and nobody knew it." But was Fulton working for Liber- al Democrats and RINOs broadly, or was he deployed specifically by the Obama FBI? The FBI had a well-doc- umented history of using undercov- er agents to discredit and disrupt the Civil Rights-era Student Nonvi- olent Coordinating Committee, the American Indian Movement, Black Panthers and the Ku Klux Klan by provocative acts and persuasion. In light of Operation Fast and Furi- ous, the plan to release guns illegally to straw buyers for the Mexican car- tels, it's fairly clear that Obama's At- torney General, Eric Holder, had the requisite moral fiber to use agents and informants politically. His exon- eration of Lois Lerner at the Internal Revenue Service proved that Hold- er and Obama were comfortable us- ing the coercive, invasive powers of the government against their politi- cal adversaries. They have yet to dis- avow Fulton. The use of agents provocateurs to discredit opponents is hardly an FBI invention. Their tactical deploy- ment in modern times was system- atized in the early 1800s by Eugene Francois Vidocq, founding Director of the French National Police. In late- 19th and early-20th Century Ameri- ca, they were used against labor or- ganizers and striking workers. Most recently, the Reuters news wire service revealed that right- wing Proud Boys spokesman En- rique "Henry" Tarrio was an FBI in- Lucid Moments By Bart Stinson I love my digital devices, but peo- ple keep telling me to worry more about my privacy. "Encrypt your emails! " "Drop Google and use search engines like DuckDuckGo that don't track us! " I probably should. But I don't. I'm lazy, and I like that web companies know me and show me things I'm in- terested in. I like that they display "restaurants near me." "You do not understand the way that that system is being used against you," says whistleblower Edward Snowden in my new vid- eo. Snowden is in exile in Russia because he revealed how the NSA spied on us and lied about it. He says I should care more about what com- panies like Google and Facebook know. But why? "I figure that teenage boy across the street could be picking up stuff I send," I say. "The cork's out of the bot- tle! What difference does it make (if me- dia companies have it?)" Snowden replies, "They're trying to shape... what you believe." I don't feel very threatened. Ama- zon and Facebook want my money, and to get my money in a free mar- ket, a company must give me what I want. That's a good thing. "When we talk about the free mar- ket," says Snowden, "We presume... open competition... I don't believe this." He may be right. Perhaps big in- ternet companies are now monopolies, so dominant that we can't leave them if we don't like what they do. But the "experts" also called IBM, AOL and Myspace mo- nopolies, "immune to compe- tition." Whoops. Still, today's social me- dia companies are powerful enough to do real damage. "Facebook ran their own psychological studies on the current population to see if they could make you angry," says Snowden. They suc- ceeded! Snowden fears what else compa- nies will do with that power. "It is In Naperville, Ill., the school board announced it would distribute $10 million back to taxpayers this year. Yes, a tax refund. In a news release, Superintendent Dan Bridges told residents that he "understands the great burden ma- ny of our families have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and hopes that this reimbursement lessens that burden." The typical family will re- ceive a refund of $200 to $500. Good for Naperville. The 10 -month pandemic shutdown generated a savings of roughly $20 million, or about 6.5% out of a $ 300 million school budget. The Naper- ville Sun reported that the district's expenses for everything from trans- portation, utilities, staffing needs and so on have been much lower while the doors have been shut. Naperville school board member Paul Leong, a local busi- nessman, told me: "It's amazing that we are the only school district in the area or in the state that has given taxpayers some of their money back." Or in the whole country, for that matter. Why aren't more school boards in areas where school buildings were shut down providing families and businesses with property tax rebate checks? Heritage Foundation education an- alyst Lindsey Burke, who first sug- gested the tax rebate idea many months ago, said that if schools aren't open, the tax- payers who fund the schools deserve a break. But the Na- tional Taxpayers Union said it hasn't found any other school districts that have done so. Why not? Lost revenues squeeze some low-income school budgets due to the economic effects of the pan- demic. But in suburbs where proper- ty taxes primarily fund schools, the savings should be similar to what Na- perville saw. The near-record 12 % nationwide increase in home values Court