The Press-Dispatch
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B-6 Wednesday, June 23, 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 Will Republicans step up to challenge on values? For sure, Democrats rejoiced as they watched Republicans painfully twist in the wind at the beginning of LGBTQ Pride Month, trying to fig- ure out how to position their party on this issue. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel got flak from the right and from the left, as she essentially waved a white flag, declaring Republican Party neutrali- ty on a key issue of our cultural con- flicts. "We will continue to grow our big tent by supporting measures that promote fairness and balance pro- tections for LGBTQ Americans and those with deeply held religious be- liefs," she tweeted. But McDaniel's invitation to rele- gate these life-defining issues to the sidelines and enter a Republican big tent wasn't received with great en- thusiasm. In America's raging culture war, there is little doubt who is winning. In 1996, according to Gallup, just 16 % of Republicans said same-sex marriage should be legal. In 2021, this was up to 55% . Across the board, what are gener- ally thought of as traditional values have collapsed. Twenty years ago, 40 % of Ameri- cans said gay/lesbian relations were morally acceptable. In Gallup's most recent polling, it was 69 % . Similarly, over this period, Americans saying out-of-marriage childbirth is moral- ly acceptable went from 45% to 67% , sex between unmarried adults 53% to 73% , and divorce from 59 % to 79 % . In 2006, 49 % said that it is "very im- portant" that couples with children legally marry. In 2020, this was down to 29 % . The point is that Republican pre- tense about neutrality on so-called social issues — marriage, family, sexual identity — is self-delusion. Those pushing the LGBTQ agen- da, the anti-Christian, the anti-tradi- tional values agenda, are totally clear with themselves that this is not about peaceful coexistence, mutual accep- tance or religious liberty. They are in an all-out cultural war to eradicate all influence of biblical values in our culture. And why should they back off? As the data above shows, they are win- ning. So, why not continue this suc- cessful war until no further burn- ing embers of orthodoxy are left in America's public places. At this writing, the Department of Education is being sued by LGBTQ activists, challenging the Title IX exemption for Christian schools to maintain biblical standards in the be- havior they require at their schools. Although Attorney General Mer- rick Garland has indicated the De- partment of Justice will defend these protections for religious schools, as the LGBTQ assault aggressively per- sists, the language coming from the DOJ regarding how intensely they will defend these protections is be- coming attenuated. A Republican state committee- woman in Massachusetts, Deborah Martell, has been condemned by fel- low Republicans, including McDan- iel, for saying she was "sickened" by learning that a gay Congressional candidate adopted children with his husband. Martell is under pressure to resign, which she says she refus- es to do. Alaska Airlines is being called out by the ACLU, and threatened with a lawsuit, as result of a complaint from one its flight attendants that its uni- forms do not accommodate nonbi- nary attendants — those who do not identify as male or female. So, where does this go without an opposition party? Values matter because they trans- late into behavior. If the Republican Party becomes a big tent of moral relativism, who will fight for transmission of the values that sustain life and freedom? In the early 18th century, French nobleman Alexis de Tocqueville trav- eled around the United States, trying to grasp the secret of the great suc- cess of the new, young country. In The poor get richer Everywhere, people trash capital- ism. But what they think they know about capitalism is usually wrong. My new video debunks some myths about capitalism. "No one ever makes a billion dol- lars," complains Rep. Alexandria Oc- asio-Cortez. "You take a billion dol- lars." In other words, capitalists get rich by taking money from others. That's nonsense, and Myth No. 1. People believe that myth if they think that when one person wins, someone else must lose. It's natural to believe that if you think there is a finite amount of money in the world. But there isn't. Free markets increase total wealth. Competition encourages entrepre- neurs to find new ways to release more value from both people and re- sources. Because capitalism is voluntary and consumers have choices, the on- ly way capitalists can get rich is to of- fer us something that we believe is better than we had before. That creates new wealth. Steve Jobs became a billionaire. But by creating Apple, he gave us more: millions of jobs and billions of dollars added to our economy. Research shows that entrepre- neurs only keep 2.2 percent of the additional wealth they generate. "In other words, the rest of us captured almost 98 percent of the benefits," says economist Dan Mitchell of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. "I hope that we get 100 new super billionaires," he adds, "Because that means 100 new people have figured out ways to make the rest of our lives better." But former Labor Secretary Rob- ert Reich says we should "abolish bil- Almost exactly a year ago, race riots paralyzed more than a dozen of America's great cities, from New York to Seattle. The smoke hasn't gone away. As we should have learned from the last episode of urban rioting during the late 1960s, the devastat- ing adverse effects from rage and lawlessness are long-lasting and borne mostly by minorities, immi- grant communities and the poor. Amazingly, the media had rarely investigated what really happened last summer when criminal gangs seized control of cities under the guise of racial justice. The politicians cynically celebrated the violent pro- tests as "mostly peaceful" and gave cover to the assailants by glorifying them as "social justice warriors." Thankfully, four reporters at the Chicago Tribune have investigated what really happened in the once great "city that works" and the dev- astating effects that still are felt. It's harrowing and Pulitzer-worthy ma- terial. Written and reported by Todd Lighty, Gary Marx, Christy Gutows- ki and William Lee, we urge a full reading, but here are the lowlights: In just a few days, there were 15 homicides and 53 shooting victims. More than 2,100 businesses were looted, 71 buildings were set on fire and looters stole more than 700,000 pre- scription pills from drug stores. Businesses suf- fered more than $165 million in damages, "though the true cost is certainly much high- er." Mayor Lori Lightfoot had no clue what was coming, and her response was indefensibly feeble. She did not want the National Guard, even as the city burned. The city's inspector general is- sued a scathing report, which por- trays Lightfoot as woefully unpre- pared, as were other mayors. Down- town businesses were destroyed. "I thought, 'I'm a Black-owned business. They're not going to both- er me,'" said Howard Bolling, owner of the Roseland Pharmacy at 11254 S. Michigan Ave. No such luck. The riots even forced fam- ilies at the Ronald McDonald House, where parents' sick children are cared for, to flee for their safety. Protest- ers used hammers to smash windows and doors. The Ronald McDonald House is a cancer facility. Here is what is most infu- riating. Throughout that first wave of rioting, looting, arson and murder, only about 170 rioters were charged with felonies. It should have been 1,000 or more. Why hasn't Chicago law enforcement looked through the videos and tracked down these violent criminals? Based on the property damage, the homicides, the injuries and the financial losses to the residents, this insurrection was many times worse than the indefensible actions at the U.S. capital by pro-Trump protesters on Jan. 6. Why is no one paying attention to and amplifying the Tribune story of what happened in Chicago? Why As a Black conservative for more than 40 years, I'm an expert on being canceled. I was canceled by the po- litical left long before cancel culture was all the rage. If there's one thing liberals and leftists dislike more than a conservative, it's a Black conser- vative. Liberal America doesn't want to hear from A frican-American con- servatives because we go counter to their narrative that Black peo- ple needed liberal saviors, especial- ly ones who come bearing gifts of more government. But we weren't just canceled by lib- erals. For decades, liberals worked to put a wedge between Black con- servatives and our own communi- ties. As a result, many A frican-Amer- ican leaders wouldn't invite us to the table and wouldn't allow us to offer our ideas to help solve problems in our own communities. We weren't considered "authentically Black"— whatever that is. And so it continues today. Black liberals, but especial- ly White ones, had the audacity to lecture me about being a traitor to my race when I started thinking for myself as a young woman in my 20s—when I start- ed questioning why we thought govern- ment was always the answer to our social ills. They called me a traitor when I be- came the national spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee and talked about the tragic wrong of abortion, espe- cially in the A frican-American com- munity. They really lost it when I started a crisis pregnancy center to help Black women keep their babies. And when I led the effort to reform welfare in Virginia in the 1990s—try- ing to reform a system that discour- aged marriage and work, that weak- ened the Black family, and that fos- tered perpetual dependence—they really hit the roof! Apparently, I didn't know my place. As someone who has been a public figure now for four decades, I have learned to navigate both that kind of cancel culture and the "woke" cancel culture that pervades society today. Here are seven lessons I've learned: First and foremost, don't give a damn about cancel cul- ture. If you do, you're giving small-minded people control over you that they don't de- serve. Realize that these are often people who want to si- lence your ideas because they're afraid if others hear them, they might agree. Always be honest. The best de- fense is always the truth. More- over, make sure you have your facts straight before you speak and that you can back up what you say. When you're wrong, have the cour- age to admit you're wrong. But when you're right and taking a principled stand, have the courage to stand up for those principles, even in the face of withering criticism. Others will see your strength and be encouraged Race for the Cure By Star Parker Give Me a Break John Stossel Points to Ponder By Rev. Curtis Bond Continued on page 7 Looking back at past summer va- cations that I experienced, I have learned many things, both good and not so good. Let me share them with you. The good side of vacations…it is always exciting because we always enjoy a change of pace, we always feel the need to get away and have a change of scenery, a change of rou- tine, a chance to see the beauty of nature and the marvelous works of mankind. We have a need to satisfy our cu- riosity about nature, cultures, peo- ples, and art. We build memories that nourish our souls. We are able to connect and see friends, relatives, classmates, and acquaintances. We sometimes unex- pectedly stumble on people we have known in the past who we did not ex- pect to see. We build friendships with people we come across, sometimes for brief periods of time, sometimes for a life- time. We are able to experience cuisine and flavors of different cultures. We get excited and sometimes get quite nervous about chal- lenges we encoun- ter. It's a good ner- vous feeling if that makes sense. We begin to ap- preciate the bless- ings of life, the im- portance of faith, the comforts we at times take for grant- ed. When I see the vastness of space, the beauty of mountains, the unique ways of creatures, the seemingly endless oceans and the beautiful beaches, I can't help but appreciate the truth there is a Good God who is behind all these mysterious marvels. I hope you're with me in this regard. ••• I also have memories of the not so good. First, packing luggage can be fun or maybe not. I always aim to trav- el light, but I always seem to end up hauling more things than I need. A fter carefully trimming down the list of items I truly need, I still wonder why I can hard- ly close and drag my luggage. I am amazed how the lug- gage can withstand the pres- sure we put into them, and how the plastic zippers bare- ly cling to each other without unraveling. Do you ever remember having some occasions when you had requested someone sit on the luggage to get it closed? I've seen that happen a lot. Let's go on to sleep. One of the things I know can be miserable is when the rhythm of your sleep gets out of whack and you start walking in a daze. In order to sustain alertness, you drink more coffee? It's not real- ly a healthy thing to do. Ever feel panicked when you can't find tickets, passports, papers, or documents for reservations when you go through security checks? I've My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Things I learned Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore The insurrection in Chicago Heritage Viewpoint By Kay C. James Seven steps to surviving Cancel Culture Cultural and political civil war It was in the dark and early days of the Revolution when Thomas Paine found his voice: 'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine pa- triot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily con- quered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods:' "The Crisis," Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776. The words of Paine fit today. Many Americans believe the political pro- cess is broken. Elected representa- tives will not listen to the will of their constituents. The judiciary creates laws instead of ruling on law. Ma- ny voters believe the last presiden- tial election was wrought with fraud. Some political commentators polite- ly surmise that our current president is suffering from dementia. Citizen's nerves are wearing thin with COVID and its lingering effects. America is at a crossroads. We are in a cultural and political civil war. Critical Race Theory, Cancel Cul- ture, endless riots in Portland, vio- lence in Minneapolis, mass shoot- ings, and the defunding of police all point to tectonic shifts in the social landscape. COVID has brought out the tyrannical hand of government that Thomas Jefferson warned about. Some people are advocating for state succession (sound eerily familiar?) and a few people are predicting our government is on the verge of col- lapse or revolution. Jesus' ministry was during a time of great social, political, and religious unrest in Israel. The Jews loathed Rome and its heavy-handed taxa- tion, tyranny, oppression, its interfer- Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 CANCEL Court