Roswell Daily Record
Local
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
A5
Letters Dear editor, I haven’t written a letter to the editor in quite some time. I used to write a lot of them and some of you may recognize my name. I wrote from both conservative and liberal points of view because being a moderate I have conservative leanings on some issues and liberal leanings on others. And some issues I don’t even care about. My conservative side voted for Bush 43. What a disappointed he was! My liberal side voted for Obama. What a disappointment he is! I am 81 years old and have voted in every election since I was 21. And although the candidate I voted for often won, I always seem to have voted for the wrong person. I think the reason is there is no right person. At least no right Democrat or Republican. I have lost interest. I have lost respect for our broken government. I have lost respect for both parties. Especially both parties. I find it paradoxical that both major parties tout the two party system as the best form of government while they both lie, steal, cheat, bite, kick and gouge to try to make it a one party system every election cycle. They spend enormous amounts of money for a job that pays less than most of them could make in their honest professions. And they say they are doing it for the people without even breaking a smile. That takes some chutzpah. Each candidate and
each party promises to fix the problem. But they can’t because they are the problem. Just look at what’s gone on in Washington over the last decade and a half. They have done nothing but turn teen-age bickering into a profession. I no longer vote for candidates. I do go to the polls and vote the back of ballot — the ballot issues; but no party candidate seems to be worthy of my vote. And I don’t think they even care. In 1796, Washington wrote his farewell address as he was leaving his second term of office. Here’s a part of it. The part where he warned us against political parties. “I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the
most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils a n d e n f e e b l e t h e p u blic administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.” So if you disagree with my characterization of our two political parties, you are also disagreeing with the father of our country.
Dr. K
After you reach the age of 50, an annual eye checkup is important. That’s true even if you’re not bothered by nighttime glare. My patients sometimes think that a checkup will just discover changes in the eye that nothing can be done about — so why bother? In fact, some common problems that develop with age — such as glaucoma or cata-
racts — can be fixed completely. That makes everything that requires vision — not just night driving — better. Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. To send questions, go to AskDoctorK.com, or write: Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second Floor, Boston, MA 02115.
the Powell Doctrine, Bush 41, in the Gulf War, won the only clear-cut American military victory in the 70 years since the end of World War II. Powell later would publicly confess that the misleading case he made so effectively for the tragic 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq will always be a blot on his record. It was not the Powell Doctrine that failed in the Iraq War. (It was, stupidly, ignored.) It was the failure of powerful men named Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and, yes,
Powell. Now we are, nearly 25 years after that winning Gulf War, in another presidential campaign full of our demands for leaders with “new ideas.” President George H.W. Bush had a pretty great old idea in 1990 that we called the Powell Doctrine, which made a helluva lot more sense than anything I’ve heard since. To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
tration, but that shouldn’t detract from the value of the idea. Looked at this way, voting is a right we have as Americans unless we commit a crime or other offense that causes that right to be stripped. Reaching the age of 18, in the past, was linked to two major achievements: the right to vote and the right legally buy a beer. While the drinking age has changed to 21, the two are often linked together and even used in the argument that the drinking age should be lowered back to 18: “If you’re old enough to vote and fight for your country, you should be allowed to
buy a beer” is a statement we’ve all heard. Yet when you turn 21, you don’t have to register to be eligible to buy a beer, you have to provide a state issued ID proving who you are and that you’re old enough to drink. Why would it be a stretch to apply the same to the right to vote? When you turn 18, you can automatically be registered and if you choose to go to the polls at the last minute, you will be served. It’s worth a discussion free of rhetoric.
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es that can signal oncoming traffic. • Stay off the road at sunrise and sunset. Glare is usually the biggest issue for older drivers. But glare from the sun is worse than headlight glare. It can be blinding.
Shields
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coalition of 34 nations and then persuaded Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany and Japan, collectively, to pay more than 86 percent of the total cost of $61 billion. The United States deployed approximately 540,000 troops to the war and suffered 294 fatalities. The war lasted 42 days. Let it be noted that while faithfully following
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About 71 percent of eligible adults are registered to vote nationwide, the Post reported. A much lower percentage actually shows up to vote, as we’ve seen in Bay County. Universal registration wouldn’t solve that problem, but would remove one more barrier keeping people from the polls. Voting should be a default right, not something citizens have to jump through hoops to exercise. Clinton may be an imperfect messenger to promote universal regis-
Noel Sivertson Roswell
Reprinted from the Panama City News Herald
Dear editor, Bernie Sanders is as honest a Democrat as they got. He admits he’s a Socialist, and like Robin Hood, he says he’ll rob from the rich to give to the poor. He’s a professional politician, but he’s not the Democrats’ first choice for president. Hillary is their favorite, and like Obama, she’s a habitual liar who’s never had a real job. Trustworthiness is rare among Democrats, and integrity and accomplishments don’t matter to their faithful. Whoever their nominee is, Democrats will promote the politics of envy, victimhood and redistribution of wealth. They’re building a welfare state where they’ll dole out rights and decide what we should believe. And for our lost liberty, they’ll care for our needs. Student debt may become an election issue. Democrats may absolve the delinquent of their debt like they bailed out banks because they don’t believe in personal responsibility or capitalism. When taxpayers guarantee loans, bankers take risks. Collusion between bankers and Democrats to make bad home loans caused the Great Recession. Delinquent borrowers and their lenders are foolish, and the cure is to get out of the student and home loan business and make banks eat the losses. Forgiveness of debt is just a bribe for votes. While Democrats rail about income inequal ity, they’re shrinking the middle class. In a bogus
attempt to save the earth, they’re putting coal miners out of work and now are going after ranchers and oil workers. They won’t build the Keystone Pipeline, which will employ thousands to construct and thousands to maintain. It doesn’t cost taxpayers a cent, no affected state opposes it, and it’s safer than moving oil by rail. Democrats are making it hard for high school graduates to earn enough to buy a home and join the middle class. Democrats and like-minded Republicans lower wages which encourages dependence on welfare. They trade jobs for goods once manufactured by us. Levi’s are now made in Mexico, a country whose immigration policy lets corporations replace citizens with foreigners and gives work permits to illegal aliens. Democrats say voting laws that prevent them from cheating keeps people from the polls. If you know anyone who echoes this, tell them to fetch someone who can’t prove their identity, and when they fail, take your finger and poke them in the eye. Repeat every day until they’re blind or able to think for themselves. Democrats are poverty pimps and bigot bimbos. To raise the achievement and lower the dropout rate of poor and minority kids, they did away with expectations for acceptable conduct and attendance and short-changed the education of all children. They won’t end social promotion because TURDS (truant, unruly, rule-defying
students) need protection from teachers like thugs have to be saved from police. Democrats wouldn’t rule without their propagandists in the press and popular media and the help of the wishy-washy influenced by them like Dem-lite Republicans and social justice clergy. Dem-lite Republicans give Democrats what they want, and social justice clergy demean the poor by treating them as helpless. In the parable of tenants, the servant who does nothing is called lazy and wicked by the master who takes what little he has. In socialist Venezuela, the poor don’t need God. They pray “Our Chavez, who art in heaven … Lead us not into the temptation of capitalism.” You’re wishy-washy if you like the idea of a free college education or raising the minimum wage, but would Jesus take from you to give to another? If you like Dem-lite Republicans why not vote for the real deal instead? If you value honesty, freedom, and limited government, conservatives will eliminate departments and agencies that adversely impact your life. They’ll put our workers first, bring manufacturing back, enact a FAIR or flat tax, kickstart the economy, and put teachers in charge of our children. Ralph Rivera Roswell
Gap closing 175 namesake stores to boost brand NEW YORK (AP) — Gap plans to close 175 of its namesake stores in North America, or 18 percent of its current total, and cut 250 jobs at its headquarters as the company tries to strengthen the struggling brand. Gap Inc., which owns Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, said Monday it will close about 140 Gap stores in North America in the fiscal year that ends Jan. 31 — and the remainder afterward — based on factors that include location and performance. The San Francisco company also is closing an undisclosed number of stores in Europe. And it’s cutting jobs at its headquarters in an attempt to make it faster and more decisive. The moves are the latest attempt by the once high-flying company to improve the shaky performance at its namesake brand. The brand that used to be a go-to for
generations of khaki pants wearers has suffered in more recent years as it’s failed to keep up with the right design trends. To help right the ship, Gap has shaken up its management ranks: Art Peck became CEO in February and leadership of the Gap and Banana Republic brands was changed. The company also has been working to overhaul its fashions to improve their appeal. And it got rid of its Piperlime line. The latest moves are aimed at making the company more nimble. Gap said the job cuts at its headquarters, in particular, are intended to make it faster and more decisive. In total, Gap said store closings and job cuts will save it around $25 million a year. The company said it will take about $140 million to $160 million in charges related to the moves.
The stores that will close, which won’t include Gap Factory or Gap Outlet locations, have about $300 million in annual sales out of Gap’s total of more than $16 billion. The company said it will continue opening stores and will have around 800 North American locations when the closings are complete. Gap had 963 stores in North America as of May 2. The company declined to say how many people work in those stores. Gap said it will help displaced employees find positions at nearby locations. Gap doesn’t expect the moves to affect its other brands, most of which have been performing better than Gap stores. In fact, Gap Global President Jeff Kirwan told The Associated Press that the company will apply lessons it’s learned from its Old Navy brand, which has been a bright spot, to Gap.
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