VIEWPOINTS CH@TROOM
Last week’s question
Who do you think should be or will be the GOP presidential candidate in 2012? Why? “America is a great 200-plus year experiment. The best words written by all of mankind were the those in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. My father used to say that we elected presidents that represent our times. Mr. Obama is from the current celebrity America, and our next president, GOP or not, will represent us as we are now.” kipeck “Good question. Sadly, I do not see a really strong candidate in the wings right now. I like Michelle Bachman, but I don’t know if the country will elect a woman as president yet. The same goes for Sarah Palin. Mama Grizzly has a hard core following, but I don’t think she has enough numbers. Huckabee is not in the race. I don’t have a lot of confidence in Donald Trump. Mitt Romney is getting a lot of negative coverage for his support for the controversial health care plan in Massachusetts. McCain has showed that he didn’t have the right stuff, as much as I appreciate what he has been through. We have got to stop this arrogant person from winning a second term. One of the worst things he has done is to alienate one of our strongest allies – Israel – in favor of kowtowing to the Palestinians who have shown such antagonism and hatred for Israel.” Bill B. “Let’s hope it is someone who thinks that representing all the people of this nation is a good thing. For a change.” N.F. “I didn’t vote for Obama and I am not happy with him, but if the other side cannot come up with someone better than Ron Paul and Sarah Palin I will just give up and vote for Obama. I kind of think he is a shoe-in anyway.” D.D. “I have not yet seen a top notch candidate to run against President Obama. The ‘new majority’ now appears to be voters who have minimum or no tax burden. Plus if Obama gives citizenship to millions of illegal aliens he will increase this new majority even more guaranteeing his reelection. Go figure!” T.D.T. “I support Herman Cain for the GOP nomination in 2012. He has talent, ability and experience something terribly lacking in our current administration. Mr. Cain considers himself ABC AmericanBlack-Conservative three things that should prove to be very interesting when the liberal media attempt’s to play the race card. Will he get the free pass that Mr. Obama received during his campaign, not likely?” T.S.
Next question In the wake of all of the severe weather in recent weeks, how do you grade the local meterologists? Are they doing a good job notifying the public of potential danger or is the weather coverage overdone? Every week The Community Journal asks readers a questions that they can reply to via e-mail. Send your answers to clermont@ communitypress.com with “chatroom” in the subject line.
June 1, 2011
EDITORIALS
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LETTERS
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COLUMNS
Editor Theresa Herron | therron@communitypress.com | 248-7128
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CH@TROOM
Community Journal
Your Community Press newspaper serving Bethel, Chilo, Felicity, Franklin Township, Moscow, Neville, Tate Township, Washington Township E m a i l : c l e r m o n t @ c o m m u n i t y p r e s s . c o mm
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Tealtown Ballpark good for community If anyone tries to tell you that youth baseball and softball are losing interest from our youth, you need to take time and take a trip out to Tealtown Ballpark on a Saturday morning and you will see that baseball and softball are not only popular, they are still thriving. Many times it is difficult to even get a parking space with all the families that attend games and bring their children to play. With many thanks to past president Vern Wooten and current president Jim Diana, Tealtown Ball Park continues to be a thriving place for our kids to learn about baseball. Many may not know that Tealtown is run by volunteers and is a non-profit organization that conducts their business without any
taxpayer help or public funds. They rely on player fees and concessions to pay for the park. Knothole baseball in Clermont County John was formed in McGraw 1933 in Mt. Later in Community Carmel. 1956 the Mt. Press guest Carmel Boosters columnist were formed and they built Mt. Carmel Fields. In 1993 they moved their fields to the present site on Tealtown Road. The 48acre Tealtown Ballpark has 18 fields including four fields with lights, two concession stands, a meeting hall, paved parking for
500 cars and indoor batting cages. Tealtown offers T-ball, coachpitch baseball, fast-pitch softball and Knothole baseball. Very few areas in the country can match all that Tealtown provides. Parents and volunteers give months of their time to be coaches and teach our kids to play baseball and softball. Tealtown is also host to many tournaments that attract teams from all over Ohio and surrounding states. July 1 to July 4, Tealtown will host the USSSA All American Blast Tournament. This draws visitors to our area and has a tremendous economic impact for hotels, restaurants and local retailers. Tealtown also provides jobs for youth umpires and concession workers. Umpire classes are held in the off season to train young people to become umpires and to
learn the official rules of baseball. Our community is fortunate to have this facility for our kids. My daughter played her first T-ball game in 2001 and I presently have three boys who either play Knothole or coach-pitch baseball at Tealtown. So take a trip out to Tealtown Ballpark and see some great youth baseball or fast pitch softball. Or better yet, donate some time or treasure to help support youth baseball in our area. The players, coaches and the Tealtown board can always use some more help. Tealtown Ballpark is at 4762 Tealtown Road. For more information, visit the Tealtown Ballpark website at: www.tealtownballpark.info. John McGraw lives in Union Township.
Clermont Co. loved Ronald Reagan Clermont County loved Ronald Reagan. We voted for him in 1980 and did so by an even larger margin in 1984. Why? It was because Reagan spoke to us about America in a language we instinctively understood. He reminded us America was still the “shining city upon a hill” with freedom at its core – freedom of speech, freedom of religion and free enterprise. He made us proud to be Americans again. We became the most prosperous people on Earth, he said in his first Inaugural address, “ … because … we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent that has ever been done before.” However, beginning in the 1960s, government became more active in every aspect of our lives. Within 20 years, he argued, government had become intrusive, “having grown beyond the consent of the governed.” Our freedoms withered, our economy
stagnated and our position in the world declined. To cure the national “malaise” he inherited, the president urged us to “build an Gary Knepp American opporCommunity tunity society.” an AmeriPress guest canIn opportunity columnist society, everyone can rise as far as their talents and hard work can take them. Government is limited to doing only things we can’t do for ourselves. Burdensome regulations are reduced to unleash the amazing productivity of the American economy. Tax rates are lowered to spur the economy and to give us, not the government, the right to spend the fruits of own labor. Our current president sub-
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Whispers from the park
In part, my Memorial Day will be spent visiting the Clermont County Helicopter Park, placing an American flag next to just one cross of so many fallen. And then returning home in my daily reminder of what most refer to as Memorial Day. After over two decades of active duty including a horrendous tour of Vietnam – the rest of my day will be spent in solitude and removed of
sorts from my wife of 41 years in still hearing those whispers of encouragement from premature graves. The heartbreak of Memorial Day is a continued daily reminder to me that I just can’t find the way to thank not just those that whisper, but as well the inability to thank those family members who feel the seemingly unshared pain and sacrifice of a shared whisper. Joseph E. Walriven, Batavia
scribes to an entirely different model: “Equality of outcome” designed to insure “social justice.” Here the government grows, assuming powers to plan and regulate the economy. Higher taxes are levied on producers to redistribute income to others. History has repeatedly shown the fallacy of this approach. Reagan was very pleased with the resurgence of American pride – “the new patriotism” he saw during his tenure. He worried that unless we institutionalized an “informed patriotism” – one based upon “thoughtfulness and knowledge” – it would fade over time. The key was to do a better job teaching our kids of what America is about: Freedom. Reagan’s words were prophetic. Our children love our country reflexively with very little of the “thoughtfulness and knowledge” he spoke about. We need to tell our children at the dinner table
and school about freedom and about how rare and fragile it is. We need to make sure our children read and understand our founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, which enshrine our freedoms and limit our government. We need to tell them about our heroes: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony. We need to tell them that the engine of our prosperity is free enterprise. Yes, they need to know we have our warts, but that in 235 years we have done much good: Created a republic, abolished slavery, and liberated millions from the tyrannies of fascism and communism. There could be no better way to commemorate Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday than this. Gary Knepp is an attorney with an office in Batavia. He lives in Milford.
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Ohio is close to voting on Obamacare The effort to get the Healthcare Freedom Amendment on the November 2011 ballot is in the home stretch. Known as The Ohio Project (www.theohioproject.com), it is described on their website as a “ … grassroots effort of Ohio citizens to bring a proposed state constitutional amendment to Ohio’s November 2011 ballot in order to preserve the freedom of Ohioans to individually choose their health care and health insurance.” The ballot initiative would allow citizens to opt out of the mandates found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Petition organizers and supporters argue that the law is unconstitutional, and that Ohioans have the right under the 10th Amendment not to participate in it. To date, the federal government has granted 1,168 waivers to the law. These waivers allow some 2.9-million Americans
to be freed from the law’s mandates. The initiative effort has been going on for the past year, and has recently gained the backBob Turner ing of the Ohio Community R e p u b l i c a n Press guest Party. In Ohio, columnist the Healthcare F r e e d o m Amendment would provide that no law or rule shall: 1. Compel any person or employer or healthcare provider to participate in a healthcare system. 2. Prohibit the purchase or sale of health insurance. 3. Impose a penalty or fine for the sale or purchase of health care or health insurance. To date, the effort has reached more than 303,000 signatures. Ohio counties must reach a num-
ber of signatures that exceeds at least 5 percent of their voter turnout in the November 2010 election. In Clermont County, the voter turnout was 65,000. Clermont has reached the 15 percent level, and now has more than 12,000 signatures. Just about 4,000 are needed for the county to reach 25 percent. That would mean one out of every four voters has signed the petition. Presently, there are only four counties that have reached the 25 percent threshold: Van Wert, Mercer, Auglaize and Fayette. Across the state, the numbers are encouraging. Of Ohio’s 88 counties, 72 have reached 5 percent, 42 are at 10 percent, and 24, Clermont among them, have gotten to the 15-percent level. Obtaining 85,000 or more additional signatures from across the state will allow the initiative to be submitted to the Secretary of
A publication of
CLERMONT
Community Journal Editor . .Theresa L. Herron therron@communitypress.com . . . . . . . .248-7128
State July 6. However, some signatures will most likely be thrown out due to mistakes made by signers, so organizers are trying to get 150,000 signatures. That number should ensure that the amendment makes it onto the ballot. With less than two months remaining to get signatures, petition organizers are looking for help. If you haven’t signed the petition, or know of someone else who hasn’t, please contact me at rdbturner@yahoo.com, or look for petition volunteers at events in Ohio through the end of June. If you’re interested in volunteering to circulate petitions, please contact Jane Brandt at jbrandt8@cinci.rr.com. You can also visit www.TheOhioProject.com and be trained online to be a petition circulator. Bob Turner has lived in Miami Township since 1998. He is a local Tea Party leader and member of the Republican Party Central Committee.
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