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YOUR VIEW
Fauquier Times | www.fauquier.com | September 12, 2018
Choose a candidate on values and platform
Disappointed with cell tower’s signal
“… if it ain’t broke, don’t break it,” begins the letter in support of Rob Wittman’s re-election campaign. I’m wondering by what metric the author sees this Congress as functional. After the GOP’s 1.5 trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthy, the national debt tops 21 trillion for the first time ever. The administration and the GOP Congress seek to balance the budget on the backs of federal workers, blocking a pay raise for 1.5 million workers, and by cuts to food stamps (cuts that would affect military families and children) as well as proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, under the GOP controlled Congress, we’ve seen cuts to regulations protecting worker safety, consumer protections, the environment, and more. After all, what does a little coal ash in your drinking water hurt? Furthermore, this Congress refuses to perform their most important constitutionally mandated duty which is to be a check on the power of the executive branch. He then goes on to argue that “… the devil you know, is better than the devil you don’t know.” Actually, as a constituent of Rob Wittman, I know his record quite well and I firmly believe it’s time for a change! I know that Wittman has been in office for almost eleven years and has passed only five of his own bills. Two of these were to name a post office and a section of river, another was the “Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act.” I also know that Wittman has a 0 percent rating from the NAACP, the ACLU and multiple teachers’ and workers unions. I know he has a 100 percent rating from the NRA and a 0 percent rating from the Brady Campaign. I know that he fights vigorously for increased defense spending while his top campaign contributor is the defense industry. I was interested to read that the author, who admitted he is not currently a resident of the 1st District, finds Wittman to be “one of the most communicative congressional representatives” he’s experienced. I am a constituent of Wittman’s and have
I read with interest your recent article on the new cell tower near Casanova and I would like to offer a comment or two. I live 1.2 miles due south of the new tower. Before the new tower we had very poor cell service at the farm. Promises, politics, and policy aside, we still have poor cell coverage. The best signal now is two bars and frequently one What is troubling about the situation is that during the final adjustment and alignment of the tower antennas we frequently had a four bar (max) signal. Neighbors noticed this also. When they finished the project we
Never forget Every September I wear a 9/11 pin on my lapel that says “never forget.” Designed by a Philadelphia jeweler and sold in conjunction with Michael Smerconish on his radio program, all of the profits from sales go to 9/11 charities. Not usually prone to such expenditures, I was drawn to it because the original charity benefiting was the Flight 93 memorial, heroes who should never be forgotten. The planes that hit the twin towers and the Pentagon that day left an indelible mark on their respective cities, but the plane that was forced down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, before reaching its target really only left some scorched earth on a hill. Their sacrifice deserves far better. For many of us, 9/11 is like Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination. We remember where we were and what we were doing when we first heard. I remember being woken up in time to see the second plane hit in
contacted him many times by email, phone, and facebook messenger yet have never received a response other than a generic form letter that doesn’t address my specific concerns. Wittman virtually never has an open, advertised town hall, in spite of many requests by his constituents. Instead he chooses to conduct Facebook town halls or unpublicized gatherings with select supporters. In contrast, his opponent Vangie Williams has conducted innumerable open events with potential constituents from all over the 1st District. Williams is a wife, a mother of six daughters, has a full-time job as a strategic planner, and is in the process of completing a PhD, yet she finds time to attend events multiple nights a week and on the weekends. Williams welcomes the opinions of all as she seeks to become the “people’s Congresswoman.” Williams has rejected all donations from PACs while 47 percent of Wittman’s campaign cash has come from PACs and another 46 percent from large contributors. Vangie Williams has worked for 30 years, overseeing federal contracts which have kept Americans safe. Williams believes in Medicare for all including dental and vision insurance as she doesn’t think hardworking Americans should go bankrupt taking care of their medical needs. Williams has a plan, her INVEST initiative, which would give a tax break to those who need it the most: veterans, service men and women, teachers, and first responders. As we approach the Nov. 6th elections, let’s follow John McCain’s lead, look past partisan labels, and choose a candidate based on their values and platforms. Don’t choose the “devil you know” when there are ample opportunities to educate yourself. Go to Vangieforcongress.com, find an event where you can talk to Williams in person, visit Opensecrets.org and Votesmart.org for more information. Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Scott Carter Midland
Every mother’s nightmare
Andrea Martens Sumerduck
When University of Iowa student, Mollie Tibbetts, went missing while on a run, my heart sank and I had a physical reaction to her disappearance. How often had my own daughters jogged alone against my advice? How often do they still do so? It could easily have been them. When her body was found, I was deeply saddened and couldn’t imagine the grief her parents were feeling. When her alleged killer was arrested, I was relieved. If this man was her killer, he was now in police custody and unable to harm anyone else. When I realized that the suspect was an illegal immigrant, I felt a range of emotions. Among those emotions was dread. Why? I believed that anti-immigration forces would use this alleged killer as their rallying cry for hatred and bigotry and, indeed, that is precisely what transpired. “This is why we have to build that WALL!” and, “Remember Mollie Tibbetts when you vote in November!” When I read the courageous and compassionate words of Mollie’s Aunt, Billie Jo Calderwood, I was filled with gratitude. She stated, “Please remember, evil comes in EVERY color.” “Our family has been blessed to be surrounded by love, friendship and support throughout this entire ordeal by
real time. I remember that it was one of those bright, sunny September days where you don’t want to go to work, because summer is fading. I remember that all hands were on deck at the paper, not because we received a call, just because we knew that was where we were needed. And it was a day where you wanted to be needed. To do something. All day culling stories, building pages and calling anyone we knew who might have witnessed something and had ties to our area. The entire day, the TV on in the background, as we watched the towers fall. One of the remarkable aspects of a monumental moment such as 9/11 is the passage of time. Seventeen years have now passed. Today’s high-schoolers were too young to remember or had
yet to be born. They have only known this country in a time of war. And that’s one of the most important reasons we can never forget. The casualties of 9/11 are still happening today. Just last week, in an insider attack, a U.S. service member became the sixth to die this year in America’s longest war. A war many in this country don’t really pay much mind to. A war longer than the Civil War, World War II, even Vietnam. A war that will soon be fought by many of those children currently in high school, and I’m starting to fear as I grow older, their children as well. Meanwhile, five years after the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri is still out there. Whether he is the mastermind now, or simply a pretender, the videos keep coming. They just don’t make the news anymore. Bin Laden’s death may have provided a convenient bookend for many, but tell that to the men and women down range. Casualties happen here at home
FROM THE EDITOR CHRIS SIX
were back where we started. What was possible and promised from the new tower and what we got is where the disappointment lies. The tower was not an improvement for a lot of Verizon customers. I would like to commend Ms. Pivec of Calvert Crossland for her prompt answers to my calls and questions. A more equitable distribution of signal from the new tower would be a big help to a lot of customers.
friends from all different nations and races,” she added. “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.” When I vote in November, I will be thinking of Mollie Tibbetts and the individuals who tried to leverage her tragic death for their political agenda. I will be voting for the candidates who offer reasoned solutions to our Nation’s immigration challenges. I will be voting for those candidates who support an agenda of compassion, equality, and the rule of law and will hold our Nation’s leaders to that standard. I will be voting for progressive Democrats. I hope you will, too. Kathy Kadilak The Plains
Thanks from Fauquier High Class of 1978 Fauquier High School Class of 1978 expresses its thanks to the following businesses for sponsoring our 40th Reunion Events: • Blue Ridge Seafood Restaurant • Passmore Contracting • Country Chevrolet • Appleton Campbell Plumbing, Heating, A/C, Electrical • JL Ashby Excavating, LL Allen Gibbs Chesterfield as well, and not just to those scarred by war. A recent story in the Los Angeles Times documented the alarming level of cancer deaths among first responders and investigators exposed to toxins in the aftermath of the attacks. “It’s like Bin Laden is still reaching out from the grave,” FBI Agent Thomas O’Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association, is quoted as saying. Not 17 years ago. Today. Many first responders were lost that day. Many lives were lost in the wars that followed. And an increasing number are still dying. Each and every one should be remembered. They chose to sacrifice their lives for something greater: their fellow citizens in a moment of need, the safety of their nation from foreign attack. That’s their legacy, and we should use it to dedicate ourselves to the greater good. To finding a way to bring those war fighters home. To do right by those FBI agents. None should die in vain or in the shadows. Never forget.