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Creston News Advertiser Tuesday, July 8, 2014
OPINION Monica, wherefore art thou?
I never figured on feeling sorry for Monica Lewinsky. She was too much like an Atlanta Hooters waitress I once interviewed who wanted to file a sex discrimination lawsuit. You asked for it, I thought. I felt much sorrier for the country than I did Monica in 1998, and for a progressive administration being held hostage by Congressional hypocrites who delved into matters that weren’t really their business. But I didn’t despise Monica. There were too many other more repellant creatures on which to heap scorn: Linda Tripp, a Monica “friend” with less loyalty than a gnat; Kenneth Starr, who put one in mind of a backwoods lawman, a Barney Fife on morality patrol. Monica’s recent essay — she’s
King Features commentary Rheta Johnson
decided at age 40 it’s time to speak up and give her version — made some good points about feminism and its failures. Let’s face it. All great movements have failures. Monica quoted from an old story about a panel of celebrity women brought together at scandal time by The New York Observer. One woman writer, Katie Roiphe — considered by many to be anti-feminist but that’s beside the point — said this: “I think what people are outraged about is the way that (Monica) looks, which is interesting. Because we like to
think of our presidents as sort of godlike, and so if J.F.K. has an affair with Marilyn Monroe, it’s all in the realm of the demigods .... I mean, the thing I kept hearing over and over again was Monica Lewinsky’s not that pretty. ...” It got worse. Erica Jong (“Fear of Flying”) said she thought Monica had third-stage gum disease, and Nancy Friday said if Monica ever needed work she could “rent out her mouth.” Another called Monica a “not-brilliant” woman, probably a relief as a sex partner after Hillary. So if Monica had been slim, prettier and a movie star with better gums and a degree from, say, Harvard, the jokes would have been less vicious? Women, at least, would have rushed to her side and said, “Wait a minute here, the man
deserves half the blame”? Nah. The world doesn’t work that way, never has. Women are the ones who wear the scarlet “A” and the maternity clothes. Men wear smug looks on their way to the locker room. Monica makes the point that even Hillary didn’t blame Bill. She naturally blamed Monica — whom she called “a narcissistic loony toon” — and herself. She said she (Hillary) had been emotionally neglectful. And while technically the affair was consensual (to her credit, Monica never claimed otherwise), the president was older, should have been wiser and was in an employer role. Women owe a lot to Bill Clinton. I thought about him this week
when his Supreme Court appointee Ruth Bader Ginsburg correctly wrote a scathing dissenting opinion about the Hobby Lobby contraceptive issue. We wanted to forgive him. Averting our eyes was the party line. Maybe we should have felt compassion, too, for the young woman who made a horrible mistake and still is paying for it. The one thrown off the bus and under the wheels. *** To find out more about Rheta Grimsley Johnson and her books, visit www.rhetagrimsleyjohnsonbooks.com. (c) 2014 Rheta Grimsley Johnson Distributed by King Features Syndicate
Steve Martin hosted an Independence Day show HOLLYWOOD — Happy Tuesday, everybody, and God bless America. Steve Martin hosted an Independence Day show in the Hollywood Bowl with a fireworks show, the L.A. Philharmonic and the Air Force Band. The audience was lucky. In most parts of L.A. the Fourth of July is more about reassuring yourself that what you just heard was fireworks. Bank of America said the U.S. overtook Saudi Arabia as the top oil-producing nation last quarter. It’s due to the success of hydraulic fracturing of shale in old U.S. oil fields. It’s such a magnet of opportunity that last month alone a dozen earthquakes left California for Oklahoma. President Obama had a service member citizenship ceremony at the White House on July Fourth. Fifteen foreign-born soldiers and sailors became citizens. At the end of the ceremony, Mr. Obama handed them Hawaiian birth certificates in case they ever want to run for president. Los Angeles police seized a ton of illegal fireworks and arrested the roadside vendors on Friday. The ban on fireworks in many cities doesn’t stop true patriots. You can have my fireworks when you pry them from my cold dead fingers, which are right over there by the sidewalk. Alex Rodriguez asked his lawyer to reduce his bill Thursday
Topical humor Argus Hamilton
due to the lengthy suspension his advice got him. It’s humbled him. In a press release, A-Rod thanked all his family, friends and fans for their support, and then he thanked all the horses and cattle for their testosterone. Germany’s soccer team defeated France in the World Cup quarter-finals Friday, sending German fans in the stadium and in Germany into a frenzy. Old habits die hard. The match was extra tough for the French because part of their team was cooperating with the Germans. The National Football League announced the referees are going to crack down this year on excessive celebrations. The dancing and finger-wagging and high-fiving is out of hand. NFL players are being ordered not to show off too much after a touchdown, a sack or a murder. The White House acknowledged the failure of the Border Patrol to stop the recent flood of refugees from Mexico. Guarding our border is a tough and grueling job. If we want to get the job done and done right, we’re going to have to hire Mexicans to work for the Border Patrol.
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Letters to the editor
Honor our veterans From Marion E. Chubick, U.S. Army veteran Creston
I think it would be great to have a salute to our veterans in the paper at least once a week of those living in and around Creston, Union County, starting with the
From Marsha A. Wilson Creston city councilperson
To the person or persons who thought it was cute to torture a goose, may you never sleep again! I am sure it had to be more than one person, cause catching a goose is not an easy task. How can someone ruin a beautiful day? A day we celebrate our free-
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Kyle Wilson
Managing editor
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2014
dom, and then torture a goose. How would you like it if someone tied firecracker’s to your private parts and then light them? Probably not too happy, so how do you think that goose felt as it slowly died? You are downright sick and unnormal. I know as full as the park was, someone had to see these idiots doing this. If you did, please
report the names to the law enforcement office. If you wish not to release your name, you will not have to. If these sick people have done this to one goose, what are they doing to the family pet? Family children? Family members? Please help us find out who did this inhumane act of torture. Thank you.
20, 30, 40 points from the matrix. 2. Is the CAFO opposed by the surrounding neighbors? If it is subtract 20, 30, 40, 50 or 100 points from the matrix. 3. Does the owner of the CAFO live anywhere in the county? If not subtract 20, 30, 40, 50 points from the matrix. Gov. Terry Branstad opened up Iowa to CAFOs and the Iowa Legislature concurred with it. When he returned as governor again, he appointed on the nine-person Environmental Protection Commission Gene Ver Steeg, Brent Rastetter, Max Smith, Nancy Couser and Cindy Greiman, all who own CAFOs or have a financial interest in building CAFOs and manure pits. The Environmental Protection Commission is the final recourse for friends and neighbors who are worried about the health of their families when a CAFO moves into their neighbor-
hood. You, the Union County Supervisors, are also answerable to the children of Union County who will ask in the future: “Why didn’t you stop the CAFOs who came to our county and polluted our waterways and destroyed our health?” Deny the matrix for the sake of the health and public welfare of the people of our county. Let the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approve the building and expansion of the CAFOs. Gov. Branstad helped start the expansion of corporate owned hogs in Iowa; now let his administration and DNR be held accountable for the pollution of our waterways and the harm to the health of the people of Union County. Let’s feed the hungry without exploiting our friends and neighbors or poisoning our air, soil and water.
Stop CAFOs Creston
641-782-2141
Desert Storm and others still going on. I think at least three names a week would be great. All you would need is two veterans and two ladies who may have served in the military meet once a month to come up with the names. Just an idea, but I thought a worthy one.
Goose abuse
From Karon Finn
Richard Paulsen
WWII personnel first. We are losing around 1,000 WWII personnel every day, and we need to thank them many times over for the great sacrifice they have given for God and country, that we enjoy the freedom we have today. We also need to do it for those that served in the Korean, Vietnam, Cold War,
The Union County Board of Supervisors is an autonomous group. They are answerable only to the citizens of Union County at election time. Matt Wedemeyer, an Adair County supervisor, who voted to build or expand the confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), whether the matrix was passed or not, was quoted in a Creston News Advertiser article as saying that the supervisors don’t have the expertise to judge the convoluted matrix. The No. 1 job of Union County Supervisors is to protect the people in their county. More CAFOs are a threat to the health and public welfare of the citizens of our county. The matrix, to be fair, should contain the following questions: 1. Is the CAFO on the watershed of any of the county’s waterways? If it is on the watershed subtract