Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 9-9-21 E-edition

Thursday, September 9, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
In my OPINION Afghanistan latest example
of Washington craziness
Everything seems to point to the
fact that the citizenry of the United
States is more divided now than at
any point since the Civil War. Obvi-
ously, that serves no practical purpose
beyond being a tool of our politicians.
Turning citizens against each other
requires a basic dissolution of com-
mon sense on the part of American
citizens. Hubris and egotism on the
part of political figures positions them
in such a way that they have no problem with lying to their constituency.
Our “leadership” has even found a way to politicize a virus from China and in the process has seriously reduce or even eliminate basic rights guaranteed by the Con- stitution. Government officials have allowed big tech to censor “free speech” at their whim and political leanings.
Pentagon generals like Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie, along with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Aus- tin, are busy worrying about critical race theory, proper use of pronouns, white rage and troops with negative thoughts. I'll say it one more time, the job of our elite military is to kill people and break things—it's not wor- rying about which bathroom or pronoun to use. Consider all of that when you contemplate the reasons Kabul and Afghanistan were such a boondoggle and cost precious lives when it was entirely avoidable.
The bumbling president stands alone because we be- lieve nothing he says and anyway, he's been scripted by a puppet master.
Just when we were beginning to think that Wash- ington politics couldn't get any crazier, Mazie Hirono, senator from Hawaii, mindlessly attempted to blame the Afghanistan mess on Donald Trump and his administra- tion. Her claim was that the previous administration had “slow walked” paperwork for those wanting extraction from that Middle Eastern country. Say what? If my math is correct, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Biden has been president for more than seven months and claims he had his own “Build Back Better Plan” for “saving the world.” At this point, everything he has done has been wrong!
Although Sen. Hirono is somewhat famous for really stupid utterances, she certainly is not alone It seems that the entire Democrat party has become strangers to the truth. This “progressive” bunch certainly bears no resem- blance to the Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy.
The whole Afghanistan/Kabul mess and its defense by Democrats reminds me of the old street hustler shell game or baseball's hidden ball trick. Misdirection in political screwups has joined out-and-out lying as a way to hide the real truth.
Members of the socialist Democrat wing of the party, Hollywood, corporate media and academia would have all of us accept the misleading assumption that Biden did the right thing by leaving Afghanistan. Fact is, those who talk of Biden doing the “brave” thing are busy run- ning a shell game. It would be difficult to find anyone who opposed ending this 20-year entanglement. Claims by Biden that he was handcuffed by Trump's agreement simply don't carry water. Biden never felt compelled to follow previous orders when he was overturning all of Trump's successful programs. Suddenly, the whole thing became Trump's fault, according to this misinformation squad at the White House.
We'll begin with the fact that the final extraction should have been from Bagram. State Department want- ed it from Kabul, where we had an embassy, because they felt we would be able to maintain their presence. Wrong!
Bagram had better access and much more defend- able. Closing it meant we would be releasing 5,000 hard core prisoners and abandon $83 billion worth of muni- tions, guns, planes, helicopters, night vision and other material.
Joe, when you are turning tail and running, evacuate civilians first and then the military! We would have had a deterrent to the boldness of the Taliban.
Sanger may someday tout another Hall of Famer — Milt Minter
Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Fred Hall
Sanger residents soon will be gathering and saluting the Hall of Fame status of a favor- ite son — Tom Flores — later this month in a couple of high- ly publicized and celebratory events. Most residents of the city, Fresno county and region (not to mention the large Raid- ers nation) will rejoice.
But in a matter of months and heading into next year, there could be another "son of Sanger" who could be destined for a hall of fame — the late Milt Minter. Dan Cheney was a longtime friend of Minter, who died at age 71 in Decem- ber 2004. Dan notified me with the news last month that Mint- er, a two-time Sports Car Club National national champion driver, was named as a Class of 2023 finalist for induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. It's truly an honor simply to be nominated for this HOF, as it includes every type of racing legend in all classes (open wheel, stocks, sports car, etc.).
Here is the nominating bi- ography for Minter that was sent to the Motorsports HOF:
"MILT MINTER (1933-2004) (driver) — The two-time SC- CA national champion scored
major upsets against factory teams in Can-Am, Trans-Am and IMSA Camel GT, finishing 2nd in points in the 1972 Can- Am and Trans-Am and narrow- ly losing the ‘74 Camel GT title to inductee Peter Gregg after Minter’s engine failed while leading the season finale. In- ductee Richie Ginther hired him to drive his Porsche 911 and Minter rewarded him with the 1969 SCCA C-Production national crown. A year later he won the 1970 BSR title for Vasek Polak.
"That same year Roy Woods put him in his ‘69 Camaro in the Trans-Am. Against the greatest assemblage of fac- tory teams ever, Minter cap- tured the 1970 Donnybrooke round in a stunning upset. In 1972, Minter tied McLaren’s Denny Hulme for 2nd in points in the Can-Am in his Vasek Polak Porsche 917/10, behind inductee Mark Donohue’s tur- bocharged, newer-spec factory car. For that, Ferry Porsche personally awarded Minter the Pedro Rodriguez Trophy for most aggressive Porsche driver.
"In 1973 Minter won his class and finished 2nd overall at Daytona and 2nd overall at Sebring."
According
to the nominat-
ing process,
Minter is in
the running for
induction in
2023. The Class
of 2022 was
recently an-
nounced and will be inducted in March. The fate of Minter and other 2023 nominees will be discussed and voted on over the winter. The announcement of the Class of 2023 nominees will be in Spring 2022.
WIth his impressive repu- tation and success as a top sports car driver in the late 1960s and early 70s, Minter certainly is worthy of induc- tion. If he is voted in, it's an- other milestone achievement for a Sanger native.
•••
Turning back to Tom Flores,
it's little more than a week un- til he earns that long-awaited Hall of Fame recognition and celebration in his hometown.
Major events are planned for Sept. 17 and Sept. 18. There should be large crowds in at- tendance and plenty of love to go around. It should be a great weekend!
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
Jon Earnest
Letters from readers
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
A fight for our democracy
In response to the letter by Matthew Casarez (Aug. 26):
We live in an imperfect world and will never see ev- erything we expect from one leader. Look around, global warming is taking over this planet with catastrophic weather patterns. California is no exception. There has always been regulation upon regulation in an attempt to curtail these patterns.
During the Spanish Flu pandemic, no vaccine was available and the only medi- cation available was aspirin. Many victims died due to as- pirin poisoning. The populace was ordered to shut down businesses, schools were closed, masks were worn, and there was social distanc-
ing. No variant surfaced. Why?Cooperation and love of neighbor. The virus lost. Unit- ed we stand, divided we fall.
Critical Race Theory is not fed to children but to uni- versity students over 18. Old enough to die for our country. Sex education was taught in school to 12-year-olds, de- cades ago. Discipline begins at home, NOT in the class- room. Discipline is a parent's responsibility and parents also have the responsibility to take part in their child's education.
A policeman disrespected? (Remember the derogatory term "PIG?" This started a long time ago.) Where have you been? Hiding in your safe neighborhood.
The homeless. Many are unavoidable job losses due to
COVID. Blame COVID.
The middle class has al- ways carried the heavier tax
burden. Not new.
You really believe an anti-
vaccine and anti-mask gover- nor will make you feel safe in California? Perhaps you need to find another state.
I urge everyone to vote NO on the recall, or we will see a party takeover that will seek to take away your voting rights. The grab has already started in other states. This power grab seeks to hurt your power to vote in the future as a citizen of this great country and state. This has become a fight for our democracy – in a democratic country. The fight starts with your NO vote now!
Celia Perez Reedley
Letters Policy
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QUOTE
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— Richard Feynman (1918-1988)