The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/959181
The Press-Dispatch Opinion Wednesday, March 28, 2018 B- 5 Continued on page 6 Katiedid Versus by Katiedid Langrock Jeep bed brings back memories Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker Letters to the Editor GOP narrative on PA-18 is wrong Abuse and abandonment of animals Vandalizing a military monument is wrong day of the week-Sunday. Therefore, we do not seek Him in death, for His teach- ings give life. This is the miracle and essence of Easter! Easter is our greatest joy, and our hymns so de- clare: "Christ the Lord Has Risen Today! " The symbols and colors used at Eas- ter remind the faithful of Christ conquering death forevermore! The prophet Isaiah saw this accomplished 600 years before the birth of Jesus and wrote, "He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces! " Our faith reminds the world that Christ did in- deed conquer death as was promised, and John faith- fully wrote of it, "No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I [Jesus] lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This com- mandment have I received of my Father. The Easter story is a sto- ry of life through death, and the church is com- prised of people of the res- urrection. Christ came to set the sinner free from sin and death. The early church set the tone for what we still em- brace centuries later; Je- sus lived, yet He died, He also arose from the dead, and He continues to live among us! Christianity is not fixat- ed with death, but offers life because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Death has been con- quered, and we are admon- ished to live by the Spirit. John wrote in his gospel, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I [Jesus] have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life." Celebrate life! Jesus told those who would listen, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abun- dantly." That life is here; em- brace it and live it! Think about it and have a blessed Easter! Continued from page 4 CELEBRATE en were overwhelmed and dehumanized by knife- wielding criminals in 1975. March for Our Lives orga- nizers claimed that 2 mil- lion adolescent support- ers participated, including over 800 "sibling events" across the nation. They assure us that their attack on gun rights will continue during the midterm elec- tions this Fall. If you have trouble re- membering which is the March for Life and which is the March for Our Lives, just remember that the March for Life is the an- nual prolife rally that is ig- nored by the mainstream media, not breathlessly promoted. Or you can re- member that the March for Life is a protest against the killing of more than 60 mil- lion defenseless, unborn American children since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Su- preme Court decision. The March for Our Lives, on the other hand, was partially funded by Planned Parenthood, an organization that has com- mitted 8,058,657 abortions, by one count, since 1970. "Everyone has a right," Planned Parenthood tweet- ed Saturday with breath- taking irony, to lead "a life that is healthy and free of violence." A Planned Parenthood spokesper- son boasted to BuzzFeed News that the government- subsidized organization is "teaching and hosting trainings" for young anti- gun activists. They provid- ed the students with "lo- gistics, strategy and plan- ning" assistance. Likewise MoveOn.org, underwitten by billionaire immigrant George Soros. But the March for Our Lives is also funded by a number of large contribu- tions from Hollywood ce- lebrities, entertainers and corporate donors, includ- ing $50,000 from Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump son-in-law Jared. Law enforcement fail- ures are apparently of little interest to the NeverAgain movement. The police offi- cer who stood inert in front of the high school he was assigned to protect, the ig- nored warnings about the shooter's intentions, the FBI's failure to follow up— none of this seems to mat- ter as much as the opportu- nity to launch impassioned attacks on Republicans and the NR A. Why not? At what point do we ad- mit that this is not a chil- dren's crusade? Hardened adult leftists, with other fish to fry, have provided its infrastructure, funding and even its goals. The kids have compelling and trag- ic stories that give them value to people who would have happily crushed their skulls and dismem- bered them less than two decades ago. But the kids are not in control of this movement. I'm not a mind-reader. I don't know how sincere the adolescents are. I'm not sure that I could have resisted, at their age, the seduction of the spotlight, the opportunity to feel like a rock star. It wouldn't be fair to expect wisdom of them. Not now. Although a few have sur- prised us: Parkland survi- vor Kyle Kashuv, for ex- ample, considers himself a NeverAgain supporter but seeks a middle ground of hardening targets and improving security with- out infringing his fellow citizens' right to keep and bear arms. "The only way change will be accomplished," the high school junior said, "is if we stop using inflamma- tory language, we sit down and have a logical discus- sion, we don't call the per- son the enemy, we don't shout at them and we don't boo them. That's the only way a positive change will be made." Continued from page 4 RIGHT ª5($'<ª6(7ª 6&5((1 ³3HRSOHGRQ¶WZDQWWRGRLWEXW\RX KDYHWRVFKHGXOHLW,W¶VVRPHWKLQJ \RXQHHGDQGZKRNQRZVZKDW ZRXOG¶YHKDSSHQHGWRPHLI,KDGQ¶W KDGP\FRORQRVFRS\´ 3DW+&RORQFDQFHUVXUYLYRU WKDQNVWRDFRORQRVFRS\ $FRORQRVFRS\JLYHV\RXDKHDGVWDUW «DQGLWFRXOGEHDOLIHVDYLQJPRYH&RORQFDQFHULVWKHVHFRQGOHDGLQJFDXVHRIFDQFHU GHDWKIRUPHQDQGWKHWKLUGOHDGLQJFDXVHLQZRPHQEXWLW¶VRQHRIWKHPRVWFXUDEOHFDQFHUV ZKHQGLVFRYHUHGHDUO\ $W*RRG6DPDULWDQ\RXFDQFRXQWRQWKHFRPSDVVLRQDWHH[SHUWVLQRXU(QGRVFRS\ 'HSDUWPHQWWRKHOSGHWHFWDEQRUPDOLWLHVDWWKHLUPRVWWUHDWDEOHVWDJHDQGPDNH\RXIHHODV FRPIRUWDEOHDVSRVVLEOH :HUHFRPPHQGDFRORQRVFRS\DWDJHRUHDUOLHULI\RXKDYHDIDPLO\KLVWRU\RIFRORQFDQFHU 6723FDQFHU*2IRU\RXUFRORQRVFRS\ 7DONWR\RXUSK\VLFLDQWRGD\DERXW VFKHGXOLQJ\RXUFRORQRVFRS\ ZZZJVKYLQRUJ To the Editor: I am one of the two city mail carri- ers in Petersburg. I am writing this to make people aware of the problem we are having in Petersburg. I could take you out on my mail route today and point out five dogs that have been left and abandoned by their own- ers. They move out, but for some rea- son have left the dogs behind. I see a lot being a mail carrier. I do understand people fall on hard times, but to just leave your animals to fend for themselves is just ridiculous to me. It makes a bad situation for me, a child or anyone who comes in contact with it, all because the dog is hungry and scared trying to survive. This is becoming a serious problem and it needs to be addressed. The peo- ple that do this should be charged for abuse on animals and fined, because that's exactly what it is...Abuse. Stephanie Coleman To the Editor: A few days ago some one vandalized the flag poles at Walnut Hill Cemetery. The poles are locked, but they were able to get past the lock. They turned one of the military flags upside down and left the broken lock. To say the least it got the VFW members atten- tion. Anyone so sick needs a doctor in the worse way. The VFW members fought for that flag, and they saw their friends die for it. Whoever is respon- sible is a sick coward. I do my best to be a peaceful man, but you are on the fighting side of me. I feel sorry for you, and you need help. My hope is that you get that help soon. Thank you for publishing this letter. Ray R. Stilwell Commander, VFW Post 3587 I'm perplexed why many in Repub- lican circles are rationalizing and dis- missing the gravity of the Democratic victory in the recent special election in Pennsylvania's 18th district. My sentiments are more with Newt Gingrich, who is cautioning Republi- cans to view this as a wake-up call to a possible disaster in the fall elections in which the Congress could flip to Dem- ocrat control. Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district is a poster child of Trump vot- ers. As widely noted, Trump won this district by 20 points in 2016. The district's electorate is 94 per- cent white, compared with 70 percent nationwide. In 2016, Trump won the white vote 58 percent to 37 percent. These are white working-class voters, exactly the voters who played a central role in flipping a number of blue states into the red column in 2016 and deliver- ing the White House to Donald Trump. So what happened in this election? Some have suggested that Conor Lamb, the Democrat victor, essential- ly ran as a conservative and a Republi- can, and this explains his success. If this is the case, then I've got some work to do to re-think my sense of what it means to be a conservative and a Re- publican. Lamb was out front criticizing the tax cut bill just passed in the Repub- lican congress, without a single Dem- ocratic vote, and signed into law by Trump. According to Lamb, the tax bill was a "giveaway," most of which just went to and benefitted the "1 percent" — the wealthiest families in America. Perhaps our new young congress- man missed the news in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Feb- ruary jobs report re- porting the addition of 313,000 new jobs — far above the average monthly jobs gain dur- ing this recent econom- ic recovery. And more than 800,000 Americans joined the work force, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, was "the largest one-month labor-pool increase since 1983." I can assure Conor Lamb that these hundreds of thousands going back to work as result of a freer economy and easing of a punishing tax code are not in the wealthiest 1 percent. Lamb devoted a full campaign ad to attacking Paul Ryan's work to gener- ate ideas to reform Social Security and Medicare. Lamb said that working Americans "expect us to keep our promises to them." This is liberal boilerplate, not Repub- lican talking points. We are already breaking our prom- ises to working Americans. Social Se- curity and Medicare Trustees report unfunded liabilities of Social Securi- ty and Medicare at more than $ 60 tril- lion, more than triple our GDP. These are benefits promised to Social Secu- rity and Medicare recipients for which there is no money. The system is bro- ken and Paul Ryan is trying to find ways to fix it. It shows Lamb's political skills that somehow he managed to create the impression that he is pro-life. Saying you are personally opposed to abortion but stating zero intention to work to change the current abortion laws in American, which is Lamb's position, translates into be- ing pro-abortion. Two of Newt's recommen- dations for addressing this looming electoral challenge facing Republicans are par- ticularly worthy of attention. First, start an intense na- tional awareness building campaign about Republican and conservative val- ues, with clarity about how they will help every American. Everyone should understand the moral and fiscal bank- ruptcy to which the liberal secular state is taking us and how God-given truths and freedom, which defined our founding, made American great and are vital for keeping it great. Second, Republicans must expand the party base. Gingrich rightly points out the critical importance that Repub- licans build support among minorities. There is great potential here. In 2016, 1.3 million blacks, 8 percent, voted for President Trump. However, according to Pew Research, although 10 percent of black Christian Protes- tants self-identify as Republicans, 36 percent identify as politically conser- vative. This spells opportunity — if the work is done. Star Parker is an author and presi- dent of CURE, Center for Urban Renew- al and Education. Contact her atwww. urbancure.org. Editor's note: This column originally appeared in September, 2015. I believe in soul mates. A soul mate is someone who un- derstands you and your needs implic- itly, who can switch gears when you do, who takes you on adventures, who quite simply blows your hair back. I am one of those lucky people to have found my soul mate. And did I mention he has a great body? My husband, you ask? Ha-ha, ador- able. And no. I'm talking about Todd, my two-door soft-top Jeep Wrangler. Don't worry; the husband knows about Todd and has come to terms with our extramar- ital love affair. He even has gotten used to my gossiping to friends about tak- ing Todd's top off and enjoying a ride. Twice. Truly, the husband has no rea- son to be jealous because, ultimately, I chose him. I chose our family. Todd and I broke up 5 1/2 years ago, after I had my son. Though the hus- band could embrace Todd into our lives, I'm guessing Child Protective Services would have looked down on a sunburned 1-month-old's being wind- lashed in the back seat as we barreled down the highway, topless, doorless and free. Giving up Todd felt as if I was giving up a part of myself. There are a bajillion articles (yes, that's the actual number) writ- ten for new parents to encourage them not to lose themselves in their new role as Mommy or Daddy. But some hob- bies just have to go for practical reasons, such as raising rabid wolver- ines, becoming an ama- teur indoor pyrotechnics artist and driving a car that you've al- ways secretly wanted to test the roll- over bar on. It was time to give up my more reckless interests for responsi- ble ones. Tears were shed as Todd was traded in for a family-friendly cross- over utility vehicle. Sometimes I think I see him driv- ing in front of me, the sunlight bounc- ing off his taillights into my eyes. And I wonder whether he, like Clint East- wood hanging the charm on his rear- view mirror at the end of "The Bridges of Madison County," is beckoning me to follow him. Oh, Meryl Streep and I have so much in common — and not just our shared Oscar nomi- nations and raw beauty and talent. We both know what it's like to choose our chil- dren over our soul mates. Like many parents, I ac- tively encourage my person- al interests and have been pointing out Jeeps to my son since before he could hold up his own head. So when I saw that Little Tikes had come out with a toddler Jeep bed, owning it became my obsession. And by owning it, I mean my owning it. Let's be clear; this bed would be for me under the guise of being for my son. For nearly a year, I fantasized about that Jeep bed, about turning on the bed's headlights and dome light — which actually work! — as I read my son his bedtime stories. Naturally, my son would feel a little scared his first few nights out of the crib. I would tell