Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 11-1-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, November 1, 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 “We will take America without firing a
RHS results should quell criticism
Jon Earnest — Editor / Sports Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
shot...we will bury you! We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of social- ism, until they awaken one day to find they have communism. We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.”
This quote was excerpted from a speech delivered by Nikita Khrushchev to Western Ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Mos- cow on Nov. 18, 1956.
Fred Hall
There’s already been plenty said on social media regarding last week’s incident at Reedley High School where a loaded handgun was found on campus. Some people were upset at how the situation was handled, while a slightly smaller segment supported the coordinated effort between Reedley police and Reedley High School officials.
My take on it? I say the results speak for themselves. A student reported that another student had brought a gun on campus. School of- ficials immediately brought in police detectives, who quietly conducted in- terviews and tracked down the loca- tion of the weapon. By midday, the gun had been recovered and inter- views led to the arrest of two male freshman students. Any deemed “threat” was put down by the time school officials issued an all-call message to students’ parents and school staff members.
No doubt, people are going to
demand how a weapon gets on cam- pus. But outside of installing metal detectors at campus gates and indi- vidually searching students, there’s not a surefire way of preventing this from happening. And most of us don’t want to see a prison camp atmosphere on school campuses.
“Can you set up metal detectors and all types of putdowns? You can, but it’s not creating an educational or learning environment,” said Joe Garza, Reedley police chief. “I would hope that the best solution is parents to have these types of conversations with their children that your respon- sibility is not to make dumb deci- sions like this.”
Many people remember the ner- vous waiting and anticipation when the Reedley High campus locked down in April 2017. That’s when a Snapchat photograph was released showing a student holding a gun. A few hours after the news leaked out, students were released to go
home with parents. There was a seg- ment of parents and family unhap- py with that action.
In a perfect
world, we have
no cause to worry
about our young
people. This was Jon Earnest a professional and
well-executed response that resulted in an ideal conclusion for all except the two students who seem intent on throwing their futures away.
•••
It’s my hope that Reedley’s
citizens have done their civic duty and registered to vote. And if they haven’t already voted by mail, they plan to cast ballots at their precinct poll or send in their mail ballots next Tuesday. All elections are important and have consequences, and the 2018 vote is no different.
With that in mind, it appears to us that the ugly face of social- ism is beginning to overtly appear with the latest rendition of young candidates announcing for public office. Through the years since Mr. Khrushchev’s speech these people maintained a more covert operation. Their initial intrusion was into our educational system because young minds are easier to mold and shape. The universities, especially since the 1960s, have produced millions of graduates with a liberal bent in their politics.
Once the process has begun and as professors of that day grew older and retired, the next generation of instructors were ready and eager to assume the positions created. The process was as simple as reloading...to a point, with tenure and other consider- ations, it has become so entrenched as to be almost uncorrectable.
The Republican party, for some reason, either neglected or ignored the university system as a means of moulding the next generation of voters. The party ceded control of the educational process to the Democrats. Today, we find ourselves reaping the results of the seeds which were sown over the period of a couple of generations.
The tilt toward socialistic government programs has been incremental but steady. More welfare options and governmental giveaways reached a crescendo when Democrats and President Barack Obama pushed through a form of socialized medicine with ObamaCare on a straight-line party vote..
We now seem to have produced so many young socialists over the years that they are out in the open about what they propose and expect to become the norm in the United States. Not only nationalized healthcare but a guaranteed income are some of the ideas being offered for our consideration. Consideration may be too soft a word to use because they don’t seem to care whether you agree or whether it makes any sense economically. It’s what they want to happen. So far, no one has offered any suggestions as to would pay for such a monstrosity. There are always the taxpayers — remember, you would be subsidizing a guaranteed income for everyone.
I realize that most of you are astute politically, but I would remind you that the path toward socialism on which we have been placed has been tried elsewhere and has always been a dismal failure. The most recent example would best be represented by that which is currently happening in much of South America.
Increasingly, Americans are forced to be more critical think- ers. Our university systems continue continue to politicize the educational process rather than truly teach during the allotted time for their classes; media types have become so left-leaning in espousing their opinions instead of reporting without bias on events; the newly minted social media has no standards of con- duct on their “reporting” and political posturing by the deep state speaks for itself. We need to accept no one’s word for granted and peel back the layers to reveal the real truth.
No amount of lies and distortion can cover the fact that, al- though we still have problems, things are better in America than they have been in a long time. The economy is growing at a good strong, steady rate; poverty is down; employment rates are down — more people, including minorities, are working than ever be- fore — income is up and taxes have been lowered which helps create more jobs. There are problems overseas (there always have been) but as a general rule we, as a nation, enjoy more respect and a greater position than we have in quite some time. What’s not to like?
Don’t get me wrong. America is not lost but it will require more in-depth reading and rationalization of all the increasing information we are being fed on a daily basis to guard against this slouch toward socialistic governance.
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
This week, I would like to leave you with a thought to ponder: the United States has become a place where entertainers and pro- fessional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. There are times when I’ve needed a doctor...I’ve needed a teacher...I need a farmer every day...I’ve needed an auto mechanic, a plumb- er, a house painter and a lot of other everyday people.
But I have never, not even once, needed a pro athlete, a media personality or a Hollywood entertainer for anything!
A way to stop billionaire election buyouts
By Harold Pease
Guest columnist
Presently money for elections can come from other countries, states, counties, or districts other than from where the can- didate will serve allowing outside sources, those of wealth — even billion- aires—to buy influence. This often diminishes the power of the citizens them- selves to choose their own representatives.
Moreover, those holding “safe seats,” as for example Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Republican Kevin McCar- thy, can either build up gi- gantic arsenals to “nuke” a popular contender, or worse, handoff their unneeded do- nations to a like-minded candidate in another state to favorably impact elections often adverse to the will of its citizens. These outside influences have to stop.
More funding allows more signs and literature to be distributed, and more newspaper, radio and televi- sion ads to destroy your op- ponent or get your message out resulting in a higher probability of winning. The candidate with the most money and publicity usually wins and the rich, by their funding, select contenders long before the people vote
therefore they dominate the result. In many cases more money originates from out- side a voting district than within. If no candidate could receive money or influence from outside their district, it would stop much influ- ence peddling.
LibertyUnderFire is the lead advocate for ending outside influences in our nation’s elections and thus offers the following new amendment to the Constitu- tion. “All election funding, outside candidate’s person- al wealth, (individuals or organizations), in all feder- al elections shall originate from eligible voters in the district served by the elec- tion and donated since the last election for the same office.”
Billionaires or organiza- tions could still fund causes but not candidates. Propo- sitions are a part of most elections and can be con- sidered without attachment to a candidate. This would not stop, nor is it intended to stop, the funding or cre- ation of ads for or against a candidate, or ballot issues, funded by perspective vot- ers within the district.
Under this amendment the 1996 Bill Clinton cam- paign could not have re- ceived money from China to
Other Opinions
influence the election; nor from any individual not eli- gible to vote for president, nor could Clinton Founda- tion monies be used to in- fluence elections as much of that money comes from international contributors...
Neither could the Koch brothers, Charles and Da- vid, who fund many Repub- lican Party candidates on the right side of the politi- cal spectrum, and George Soros, or Tom Steyer, who fund Democratic Party candidates on the left, influ- ence any federal contest to which they cannot person- ally vote. This amendment would limit the billionaire class to the “purchase” of only their congressman or senator — not a large group of them.
The “rich” have been involved in influencing elections at least since the 1896 “giants of the Indus- trial Revolution” buyout of William McKinley for president when they used their money to bury oppo- nent William Jennings Bry- an. This amendment would not have stopped that as all citizens elect the president — only a rigorous enforce- ment of present law gov- erning individual contribu-
tions could do that.
Nor would it have
stopped J.P. Morgan’s 1915 purchase of the 25 leading newspapers in the United States establishing “Mor- gan editors” over each, pre- sumably to influence public opinion favorable to his in- terests. Nor would it have prevented Morgan and David Rockefeller’s 1921 creation of The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) organization to steer the country into “Wall Street” dominance and global government, which now is self propelling although its founders are deceased...
Nor will it today stop all of Soros’ 11 major influence groups, some of which spon- sor activities that border on treason. Funding Antifa, Ka- vanaugh “Hearing disrup- tors,” and those accosting Senate committee members may have to wait for other solutions. But the amend- ment will prevent most bil- lionaire election buyouts. Expect enormous billionaire opposition.
Harold Pease is a syn- dicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He taught his- tory and political science from this perspective for more than 30 years at Taft College in Kern County.
Thanks from grand marshal
On behalf of my wife, Cookie, we would like to thank the Greater Reed- ley Chamber of Commerce staff, new mascot Ribberto, the frog jumping crew and the community for all their hard work in making the 50th anniver- sary of the Reedley Fiesta Frog Jump contest a memorable one for all.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Reedley Veterinary Hos- pital remains open and in full op- eration. In fact, this year we are celebrating our 25th year proudly serving the Reedley community and plan to continue that commitment for the foreseeable future.
Our hours, as always, continue to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. We look forward to the continued relationships and ser- vice with our valued clients. New pa- tients are always welcome.
John Gray, DVM Reedley
Do research before you vote
Please do the research concern- ing both parties and what each party has contribute to make this country great. If you vote for the wrong per-
son it can decimate and bring this great country back to the dark ages. Read the Constitution and read what the framers desired for the rule of law. Keep in mind we are not a democracy, we are a constitutional republic and of course, a nation under God. This coun- try for generations, has been the beacon
of light for all the world to see.
Please study each candidate care- fully. Will they follow the Constitution as the only bases for the rule of law? That is what the framers instituted in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to be governed by a set of rules and laws, not by men over men. Which party do you think Almighty Jesus would have chosen? Think before you act and the Holy Spirit will guide
you to the right choice. It never fails.
Ray Samaniego III Reedley
Have an opinion? Want to share it?
Weigh in. Let your voice be heard.
Send us your letter to the editor (limit of 300 words) for publication on this page in print and our e-edition.
email to jon@midvalleypublishing.com
God bless.
Eddie Vasquez 2018 Grand Marshal Reedley
Veterinary hospital is still open
We at Reedley Veterinary hospi- tal want to correct an error that ap- peared in an article on Oct. 11. In the article, Dr. Khaira, another veterinar- ian who has recently relocated to the area, was quoted as saying that our practice had closed.
Letters from readers
QUOTE
“They say such nice
things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”
Garrison Keillor (1942- )