Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 7-26-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, July 26, 2018 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
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
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
Irony is the depiction of something, gen- erally through the use of words, to express something different from — and often exactly opposite from — their literal meaning. Our old friend “common sense” is generally the best measure in defining anything written which is ironic in nature.
Jon Earnest — Editor
Chris Aguirre — Sports Editor Jodie Reyna — Panorama Editor (interim) Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.”
George Santayana (1863-1952)
Stay indoors — or at least follow these important health precautions
Irony is when an area newspaper runs a
column penned by an extremely liberal New
York City “news content” provider in which
the writer says the conservative news media
is “propping up” President Donald Trump.
First of all, it’s virtually impossible to find any form of the media that could be deemed as being conservative, with the exception of Fox News and talk radio. Their position must be an extremely lonely spot, trying to hold off everyone in the liberal media along with “never Trump” politicians and bureaucrats who are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome!
With today’s prevailing political climate, one would have to con- cede there is more than just a fine line between that which is ironic and that which is embarrassingly stupid. Recently, I watched a guest on one of the many liberal networks attempt to explain to the host of the show how President Trump’s Helsinki press con- ference was somehow worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor or Kristillnacht.
Most of you will remember the enormity of those events be- cause, until the past decade or so, history was still taught in our schools.
Want to know something even worse? The individual who was hosting the show never even challenged his guest over just how ignorant such a statement sounded. Even the most rabid Trump hater must recognize that it’s a non-starter to compare a press conference to these violent events. I’m beginning to fear that America’s “electronic generation” is becoming so dumbed-down as to not realize the negative impact on humanity imposed by both of those atrocities.
Pearl Harbor was a sneak attack on a Sunday morning planned to destroy as much of the American Navy as possible and kill large numbers of citizens and military men and women. Kristallnacht was a free-for-all in Danzig, resulting in murder, looting and van- dalism as a response to a 17-year old Jewish boy allegedly killing a Nazi. The year was 1938.
Sadly, that sorry episode is not a singular event. On an ever- rotating set of issues and false claims, this president is attacked every day and every night by politicians and the media. Demo- cratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee recently voiced support for a military overthrow of this administration.
Common sense and empirical evidence shows, definitively, that there has been no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and yet the Mueller hearings have dragged on for a year-and-a-half.
People, firmly entrenched with the opposition, will point out that there have been a number of indictments but none have to do with anyone colluding with anyone. Anyway, an indictment simply means that someone has been charged — which is a long, long way from a conviction. Some of these individuals have been dogged by the federal government until they have spent all available re- sources and are facing bankruptcy. Most of the charges which they face are simply process crimes and have nothing to do with the election. Essentially, what we are dealing with is a special pros- ecutor in search of a crime rather than investigating a specified wrongdoing which is the norm for such an empaneled group. We are standing by and watching our government spend millions of dollars on a partisan political hunting expedition which is dividing our country deeply and possibly irreparably.
My greatest fear that much of the anti-president rhetoric is becoming so heated and irrational — with claims of treason and equally ridiculous charges — that I have come to worry about the ever present danger of violence. After all, that is the greatest thing our adversaries, including Russia, could ever hope for. Their claim has always been that they will defeat us without firing a shot.
Ever since the 1960s and 1970s, there certainly seems to be a deliberate and measured shift in that direction with American politics moving ever more leftward in government and education. The people of the United States of America elected this man ac- cording to established rules. He seems to have accomplished more in a really short time than anyone I can remember. Leave him alone and let him work!
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
It’s summers like this when I won- der —why in the world do I live in the San Joaquin Valley?
I look at the forecast for Reedley’s high temperatures into next week – 106, 105, 105, 105, 103, 104, 105, 104 and 103. It’s even worse where I live in Hanford — 106, 107, 107, 107, 105, 106, 106, 106 and 105. Am I crazy?
Not really. It’s part of our nature, those of us who have been around these climes for a few decades. We even consider it a badge of honor; it’s a noble price to pay especially if we ultimately reward ourselves with a cooling trip to the coast.
But that doesn’t mean we should recklessly exist out in the sizzling el- ements. Susan Chapman, vice presi- dent of nursing services for Adventist Health’s AMC-Reedley division, said the public should remember to take plenty of precautions when dealing with the heat. They include:
• Take a bottle or two of water with you and sip frequently.
• Avoid alcohol, tea, coffee and hot spicy foods.
• Hot weather can drain a person’s energy, so get plenty of rest.
• Enjoy fresh cool salads and fruits – they contain water to refresh you.
• Stay in the shade. Hats (the bigger the better) and umbrellas are useful.
• Take a cool shower or soak in the tub to cool down.
• Wear lightweight, loose-fitting
clothes.
• Keep the house cool. Bring out
additional fans as needed.
• Choose a sunscreen that has an
SPF of 30 or higher.
Chapman said that older people,
in particular seniors 75 and older, along with babies and young children are most susceptible to the heat. But those with health conditions also can have problems. Anyone with chronic heart or breathing problems should be extra careful. People with mobility problems – for example, people with Parkinson’s disease or who have suf- fered a stroke — also are susceptible. Your medication can be a factor, espe- cially if that medication affects sweat- ing and temperature control.
The most common risk is taken by those considered the most physically active — outside laborers and those participating in sports on a variety of levels. The most important precaution is to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
Chapman, an admitted animal lover, emphasizes to remember your dogs, cats and pets. They should be kept sufficiently cool and hydrated, and dogs should not be walked on hot asphalt or left in vehicles.
The best advice? Stay indoors. Do everything possible not to have to go outdoors and breath the choking sum- mer air further dirtied by the Fer- guson and Horse Creek fires. If you
must move about,
do it in your vehi-
cle that has work-
ing air conditioning
(be sure to stay on
top of that). And
remember, this will
all end in another
two months or so
(right?) before —
God willing — we
resume the battle with the heat in 2019.
•••
The health tip to avoid alcohol, tea,
coffee and hot spicy foods will be put to the test for a few thousand people with this week’s annual Fresno Food Expo. The “Expolicious” public event from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, at the Fresno Convention and Enter- tainment Center halls gives attendees the opportunity to see, taste and dis- cover the state’s finest food and bev- erage brands. In addition, you’ll get to sample hand-crafted hors d’oeuvres and beverages using ingredients from the Expo’s exhibitors.
The participants are Ampersand Ice Cream, Bella Luna Bistro & Bar, Bobby Salazar’s Mexican Foods, Max’s Bistro & Bar, PressBox Sports Grill, Quesadilla Gorilla, Riley’s Brew Pub, Sam’s Italian Deli & Market, The An- nex Kitchen and The Elbow Room.
The taste is worth the risk of a little heat fatigue.
Fred Hall
Jon Earnest
Comparing summits between U.S. and Soviets, Russia
By Earl Tilford
Guest columnist
On June 3, 1961, barely into the fifth month of his presidency, John F. Ken- nedy met with Soviet Pre- mier Nikita Khrushchev. Kennedy requested the meeting in February as an “informal” opportunity to become better acquainted. Kennedy had risen rapidly through the American po- litical hierarchy from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate and on to the presidency. Old guard Ukrainian Bolshevik Khrushchev was among the few in Stalin’s inner circle to survive purges to serve in the Great Pa- triotic War as a Red Army political officer.
Kennedy came to the summit relatively dis- advantaged. He took the blame for the April fiasco at the Bay of Pigs where a brigade of Cuban refugees was overwhelmed by Cu- ban forces under Fidel Cas- tro. The civil war in Laos had the communist Pathet Lao allied with neutralists against a cadre of right- wing generals backed by the United States and the Central Intelligence Agen- cy. Laos was on its way to neutralization.
At their brief meeting, Khrushchev reportedly pushed Kennedy around, threatening war if the Western European pow- ers did not vacate Berlin. When Kennedy left Vienna he feared war imminent. Upon returning to Wash- ington, Kennedy called up portions of the Army and Air Force Reserves, stopped B-52 production and increased acquisition of tactical fighter-bombers
needed to support ground forces and C-135 jet trans- ports to move troops rapid- ly across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In August, the Soviets began building the Berlin Wall.
In early autumn, Ken- nedy and his advisors “drew a line in the sand” in Vietnam with the pro- American Saigon regime of President Ngo Dinh Di- em and the fledgling Army of the Republic of Vietnam structured like U.S. Army lines to repel a convention- al invasion. In late Novem- ber, Kennedy ordered the Air Force to fly air cover under the ruse of training Saigon’s air force and in- creased the number of U.S. Army advisors as part of a covert war coupled with massive buildups of artil- lery and armored vehicles. Simultaneously, Moscow moved from nuclear con- frontation with the United States to supporting wars of national liberation. The result bogged down American forces in South Vietnam in a war of at- trition, bringing Richard Nixon to the White House in 1969 with a promise to end American involvement within four years.
Moscow Summit: May 22-24, 1972 Communist North Viet-
nam launched a major in- vasion of South Vietnam on March 31, 1972. On May 9, 1972, President Nixon inaugurated Operation Linebacker, the concerted bombing of North Viet- nam, to include using B- 52s throughout Indochina, to contain and ultimately defeat that invasion. Twelve days later, Nixon was in Moscow meeting
with Soviet Premier Leo- nid Brezhnev to sign the SALT I agreement limit- ing the growth in numbers of nuclear weapons. The American political public, including Democrats and Republicans, overwhelm- ingly supported the Mos- cow Summit. No one men- tioned Soviet SA-2 missiles and thousands of Russian- built anti-aircraft guns along with MiG jet fighter planes downing U.S. planes over North Vietnam. No- body objected that a Sovi- et Air Force general and a slew of advisors and tech- nicians were directing the air defense of North Viet- nam along with the inter- rogation of Air Force and Navy prisoners of war, es- pecially those with a back- ground in nuclear war de- livery systems, strategies, and tactics.
The Moscow summit opened the door to an era of détente during which the Soviet Union further descended into economic doldrums while America, under President Jimmy Carter, endured a decade of strategic malaise before President Ronald Reagan began a military buildup bolstered by an American economic revival that con- signed the Soviet Union to the dustbin of political his- tory.
Fast forward to Helsinki: July 16, 2018 While President Donald
Trump was in Britain after a successful NATO sum- mit, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence offi- cers on charges of interfer- ing in the November 2016 national elections. Demo-
crats and no small number of Republicans, joined by a majority of the Washing- ton establishment including much of the media, urged canceling Trump’s meet- ing with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Make no mistake: Rus- sia interfered with the American political pro- cess. That is not news nor is it new. The indictments, however, allowed Demo- crats to re-energize their accusations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Moscow, for which there is absolutely no evidence. That’s irrele- vant to Trump’s opponents, which include most Demo- crats and some “establish- ment” Republicans, along with much of the libertar- ian cohort.
The “collusion con- spiracy” hatched from the Russian GRU’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee revealed the Clinton campaign rigging the primaries against Ber- nie Sanders. This alienated some Sanders supporters. The Republicans won be- cause they ran a more strategically targeted campaign. Russian intelli- gence has, however, done well with the usual cohort of useful idiots on the American left to include much of what are now the Democrat Party establish- ment, American academe, and the mainstream media. That ultimately likewise poses a great danger, as does a revived Russia.
Earl Tilford is a military historian and fellow for the Middle East & terrorism with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City (Pa.) College.
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