The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/217854
Opinion C-2 Wednesday, November 27, 2013 The Press-Dispatch Observations by Thomas Sowell War against achievement A friend recently sent me a link to an inspiring video about an upbeat young black man who was born without arms. It showed him going to work—unlike the record number of people living on government payments for "disabilities" that are far less serious, if not fictitious. How is this young man getting to work? He gets into his car and drives there—using controls set up so that he can operate the car with his feet. What kind of work does he do, and how does he do it? He is involved in the design of racing cars. He sits at his computer, looking at the screen, with the keyboard on the floor, where he uses his toes as others use their fingers. His story recalls the story of Helen Keller, who went to an elite college and Reliving the 'end of days' By Ed Feulner There are moments that bring us together as Americans, moments when we can all recall exactly where we were and what we were doing. Sept. 11. The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. And, of course, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was substitute teaching in a west Philadelphia high school on Nov. 22, 1963. An assistant principal told me the news during class, and I was to pass it on to the students. To say we were all shocked would be an understatement. Such an act was unthinkable. This Friday marks the 50th anniversary of that dark day, and the tributes to the 35th president are well underway. The images of the youngest man elected president being cut down as he waves to throngs of wellwishers still haunt our collective memory. This November brings not only the assassination's anniversary, but a fresh, minute-by-minute account of the killing and its aftermath called "End of Days." Many new books focusing on the assassination have come out recently (Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Kennedy" is one of the best), but in "End of Days," award-winning author James Swanson provides a complete, singlevolume explanation of virtually everything that happened in Dallas that day, and everywhere else in the weeks and months ahead. Mr. Swanson is the ideal author to take up the task, as he ably showed a few years ago in his best-selling "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer." This time he has the complete story of another presidential assassination, and while conspiracy theories will probably always sprout like weeds, he convincingly argues that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Have you heard that no individual could have made a shot from that distance? "The president was less than 100 yards away," Mr. Swanson explains. The former Marine had been trained "to shoot at targets with fixed, iron sights—without the aid of a telescopic sight—at distances of two hundred, four hundred, and even six hundred yards." Reporters riding in the presidential convoy could see Oswald and his rifle in the window of the Texas School Book Depository, where Oswald worked. He had ample time to take three shots at the president's slowmoving limo. President Kennedy, Mr. Swanson reminds us, wasn't Oswald's first attempted sniping. Less than a year earlier, Oswald attempted to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker. He missed by about an inch because his shot nicked a window frame, a mistake he wouldn't make the next time. Oswald, who had defected to Russia after his military service and had brought his wife back with him, was clearly a coldblooded killer looking for a high-profile target. Kennedy wasn't the only person Oswald killed that day. Shortly after the assassination, he shot Dallas police Officer J.D. Tippit, who had stopped OsContinued on page 3 Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock Showing gratitude Editor's Note: Bill O'Reilly is on vacation. Katiedid Langrock will be taking his place until he's back. "You should join us." "I'd rather gouge my eye out with a fork," I replied. My friend wasn't suggesting I join a cult. She was simply asking me to take the Gratitude Challenge. The Gratitude Challenge insists that if you give gratitude for something each day for 21 days, you will live life in the silver lining. You will make yourself happier and the world a better place. Gross. I never thought of myself as a curmudgeon. But every November, as I watch my friends and family take to social media to account for all the things they are grateful for, I can't help but roll my eyes. I mean, please, let's take all that granola hippie stuff, coat it with some peanut butter, slap it on a pine cone and leave it for the birds. Get it? Because it's become a bird feeder. "It's not like I don't have enough else to do." "Totally," my friend said. "Because you'll always have time to reflect on how awesome your life was once you're dead. Oh, wait. No, you won't. Because you'll be dead." Well, drat. My friend, sensing my submission, handed me a pen. I immediately scribbled: "No. 1. I'm grateful to start looking for new friends." My friend pushed my hand to keep writing, but I had nothing to say. In that moment, I realized I was guilty, especially since becoming a mom, of not slowing down. Of not taking time to be appreciative. I decided that spreading a little contrived sunshine and saccharine smiley faces wasn't that bad. It's not, right? Gratitude Challenge accepted: 2) I'm grateful that I have a job that not only is creatively stimulating but also allows me to wear hooded sweatshirts and slippers to work. 3) I am grateful there is such a thing as the Hoodie-Footie pajamas and will be even more grateful when work permits those to be worn. 4) I'm grateful I have a husband who long ago abandoned any attempt to buy lingerie and buys me said Hoodie-Footie pajamas. 5) And embraces me for who I am (or at least accepts me). 6) And who believes in me and supports my dreams. 7) I'm grateful motherhood is as challenging and rewarding and heartexplodingly awesome as I thought it would be. 8) And for readily available coffee because motherhood does not come with sleep. 9) And that the ingredients list of my non-refrigerated coffee creamer is written small enough that I don't have to admit daily that I love the taste of polykillyouslowlycin. 10) I'm grateful to live in a country that requires companies, by law, to be transparent about the ways they are poisoning us. 11) And that my country is always aspiring to be better. 12) As are the people in it. 13) I'm grateful for running water, most recently because my son laughs Points to ponder—by Ford Bond Be Thankful - One Letter at a Time Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and to the surprise of the secularists, many among the religious find reasons to be thankful beyond material possessions. Christians take to heart the Apostle Paul's admonition to the Thessalonians to "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." At the first Thanksgiving in 1621, the Plymouth colony gave thanks to God because they found Him to be gracious, omnipotent, and devoted to their survival in the New World. Life had hung in the balance. Their neighbors, the Wampanoag, helped the colony survive the winter and the scarcity of food. Do you think the Plymouth Colony was thankful? For those of you familiar with Facebook, many are involved with giving one another a letter or number, then that person has to reply with something they are thankful for. Here is something from our Facebook A woman's perspective—by Mona Charen Remembering Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Remember President Barack Obama's mother? Though the airwaves currently echo with his vow "If you like your plan . . ." I keep remembering Obama's account of his mother being denied coverage by her insurance company as she lay dying of cancer. The moving and infuriating story was a staple on the 2008 campaign trail. His mother had insurance, he explained, but when she came down with cancer, her insurance company claimed her disease was a "pre-existing condition" and refused to pay for her treatment. In a debate with Sen. John McCain, Obama said: "For my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they're saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don't have to pay her treatment, there's something fundamentally wrong about that." There would be, if it had been true. But when New York Times reporter Janny Scott researched the issue for her biography of the president's mother, she discovered letters proving beyond doubt that Cigna never denied Stanley Ann Dunham coverage for her disease. The dispute was over a disability plan that would have paid some of her other expenses. The White House did not deny Scott's account, but shrugged it off as something that had happened long ago. Not so long that it couldn't be milked one last time though, for a 2012 campaign film. In "The Road We've Traveled," the message remained unchanged—a greedy insurance company had cut off Obama's mother at her on to a career, despite having been born both deaf and blind. Her story was celebrated in books, in television documentaries and in an inspiring movie, "The Miracle Worker." But our culture has changed so much over the years that the young man with no arms is unlikely to get comparable publicity. Helen Keller's achievement was seen as an inspiration for others, but this young man's achievement is more like a threat to the prevailing ideology of our times. The vision on which the all-encompassing and all-controlling welfare state was built is a vision of widespread helplessness, requiring ever more expanding big governContinued on page 3 moment of maximum vulnerability, and it cost Dunham her life. If someone comes to you and asks for financial aid to cope with a family member who is gravely ill, and you comply, how are you going to feel when you learn there is no sick relative? It's different in politics, explained Michael Cohen in the New York Daily News. The American people want too many contradictory things. "Seemingly, the only path to change is telling voters what they want to hear." Doubtless that's what Obama tells himself to justify his deceptions. It's a form of "lying for justice." If your goals are noble enough, truth is an acceptable casualty. Obama's propensity to lie is finally widely acknowledged, but it hasn't gone far enough. It isn't just that the pledge about keeping your plan was a noble lie—the whole law is based upon lies. The Dunham tale was meant to personify the hundreds of thousands— or millions—of Americans who were "dumped" by insurance companies when they became sick. This is an invented tale, and might have been rebutted by the insurance industry if they hadn't gotten into bed with Obama in 2010 in return for millions of coerced new customers. As the Washington Free Beacon reported, academic studies have estimated that policies were dropped in only four-tenths of one percent of cases in the individual market. In a 2010 radio address, Obama said one carrier was "systematically dropping the coverage of women diagnosed with breast cancer." The CEO of Well- Point, which had reason to believe the president was referring to her company, responded that they had provided coverage in the previous year to 200,000 breast cancer patients and had canceled just four policies for fraud or misrepresentation. If there had been a true epidemic of wrongly canceled policies, wouldn't there have been a slew of lawsuits and an outcry? The notion that the nation faced a "crisis" of "46 million uninsured" was also dishonest. Pre-Obamacare health care in America was hardly nirvana, but the truth about the uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office, was that 71 percent were without insurance for a year or less. Only about 16 percent were uninsured for two or more years. More than 9 million of those counted among the uninsured were not citizens. Another 6 million who said they were without insurance actually were signed up with Medicaid, and 4 million more were eligible for Medicaid but had failed to enroll. The true number of uninsured individuals was closer to 15 million (5 million of whom were young, single adults). There were many possible solutions for them that didn't require tearing down the entire system. In any case, the CBO estimates that even if Obamacare were fully implemented and worked smoothly, the number of uninsured Americans in 2023 would be, drumroll please, 30 million. Obamacare was never about the uninsured or justice for those badly treated by insurance companies. It was always about power—gaining it and keeping it for the Democratic Party and the central government. It was based on lies about the preceding system and sold on lies about its consequences. family as an example. Day 6—"Today I am thankful for my A-mazing parents! Aside from the obvious, each is different from the next—in a thousand ways—but they're equally supportive and lead by example. Faith, brains, kindheartedness, wit, generosity, unconventional wisdom from lessons learned, open ears and arms, unconditional love . . . I know I can count on them for ANYthing and EVERYthing. I love you!" I replied, "What is it you want?" Our daughter's response, "See . . . ? That could be your wit, unconditional love OR your kindhearted generosity coming through!" I replied, "Check is in the mail. Love, Mom!" Many of us can remember engaging in this type of exchange in school or among ourselves. Those of us over 50 are thankful for the multitude of physical comforts that we now take for granted. Many still remember the Warm Morning Stove, coal buckets, kindling, and banking a fire during the winter months. Waking up cold and hoping someone gets the fire going soon. Air Conditioning, what is that? We thought it was the windows open and a fan running at night! Do I need to remind anyone of the privy? Thank God for those simple modern conveniences. But again, much of this is trivial because we lived through it and thought nothing of it, at the time! Being thankful rises above the simple gesture of saying thank you. Being courteous and having good manners go hand in hand, but that is not in itself an act of thankfulness. Ask children what they are thankful for will demonstrate how limited they are in understanding heartfelt thankfulness. Most children will begin their lists with being thankful for their moms and dads, Grammys and Gramps (or grumps); maybe Spot, Kitty, and their hamster will be included, and then end up with things. The youthful (under 21) are hamstrung because Continued on page 3 The P Dispatch ress- MR. AND MRS. FRANK HEURING, PUBLISHERS ANDREW G. HEURING, EDITOR JOHN B. HEURING, ADVERTISING MANAGER Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Entered at the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for transmission through the mails as Periodical Mail, Postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana. Published weekly. Change of Address—Subscribers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. Postmaster: send changes to Post Office Box 68, Petersburg, Indiana 47567-0068. Phone 354-8500 • FAX—354-2014 P.O. 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