Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 1-21-21 E-edition

Thursday, January 21, 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
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION Time of extreme opposites
Region's prep student-athletes let it be known that they want to play
Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
“It was the best of times, It was the worst of times, It was the age of wis- dom, It was the age of foolishness, It was the epoch of belief, It it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the Spring of hope, it was the Winter of despair....we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way....”
"Let Them Play" events last Friday, Jan. 15, was an oppor- tunity to student-athletes from around California to make their collective voices heard. Or, at the very least, it gives them a chance to vent about the frus- trations they feel not getting to play prep sports — not just so far in 2020-2021, but stretching back to late March of 2020.
It wasn't surprising to me in the least that the public schools in Sanger, Reedley and Dinuba all scheduled unofficial rallies to go on the record that they want prep sports to return. Sanger High, Reedley High and Dinuba High all have well- rounded athletic programs steeped in tradition.
You have the Apaches in football and their recent years of great success, highlighted by a section championship and state playoff berth in 2016. No surprise that 80 to 100 turned out. There's the Pirates, with perennially competitive girls programs, a stellar soccer foun- dation and improving football, basketball and baseball teams. Between 30 and 35 attended that rally. And there's the Em- perors' all-around strong teams in all seasons, anchored by solid football and basketball bases. Many football players and wrestlers were among the 30-plus who attended that brief event.
It's truly been sad to see this year's Class of 2021 seniors — in all forms of schooling both academic and in athletics — have so many extracurricular activities along with the basic camaraderie that goes with at- tending school on campus. It's likely many students haven't had much of an opportunity to mingle with many classmates, especially at Tulare County schools where it's been strictly distance learning since cam- puses shut down for on-site in- struction last March.
Unfortunately, the situation for any immediate resolution to the state's student-athletes doesn't appear promising. The vast majority of California's counties remained in the purple tier, meaning widespread infec- tions, along with increased hos- pitalizations and deaths. The 2020-21 sports year has been reduced to "Season 1" (January through April) and "Season 2" (March through June). And Season 1 is more in jeopardy with each passing day. Only cross country is slated to com- pete at this time, as it's the only sport allowed in the purple tier (which isn't going away soon). Unless the state amends any qualifications football, volley- ball and water polo will be pre- vented from competing. And Season 2 sports also could be in jeopardy if the COVID-19
conditions don't improve in the next six to eight weeks.
Best wishes
to all our stu- dent-athletes
and students
overall. Hope-
fully the state will have your backs sooner rather than later.
•••
On Tuesday night the 19th,
the Sanger City Council ap- proved the appointment of Mi- chael Montelongo to the vacant District 4 seat during a special meeting. All candidates who had applied for the position were interviewed, and Monte- longo was chosen by a 3-1 vote to fill the seat vacated by now- Mayor Eli Ontiveros.
Congratulations, and here's hoping the council can work to- gether to do what's truly best for Sanger and its residents.
••• Remember, there's still
more than two weeks to sign a petition of support for Sanger native and former Raiders coaching icon Tom Flores in his bid to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If you're over 21, you can electronically sign the petition by going on- line to CoorsLight.com/Iceman.
Jon Earnest is news and sports editor for The Times.
This work by Charles Dickens speaks about a time accented by chaos, conflicts, and despair as well as hap- piness. It, in fact, speaks to us about a time of extreme opposites without any in-betweens. Any of that seem vaguely familiar when considering our contemporary times? Mr. Dickens speaks of a class war between the rich and the poor. When one considers this was writ- ten almost two centuries ago, it seems the writer was extremely prescient.
The two cities Dickens spoke of were Paris and London. Today, this country is being torn asunder by two political parties — the Democrats and the Republi- cans — and is defined by the hatred for a duly-elected president who does not fit the Washington mold. In the interest of clarification, I should say the Democrats and establishment Republicans have joined in the onslaught against a man who was the choice of more than 70 mil- lion Americans.
Pelosi and Schumer have come up with a device called a snap impeachment, which as well as we can determine, requires no evidence or debate. This is nothing more than a repeat performance of Schiff and Nadler's last attempt to remove Donald Trump from office with no evidence of any wrongdoing.
It's difficult to understand why the scorched earth policy being used against an American president — who was to be replaced in less than a week when the action was taken — and his followers. The president had only days remaining in office and Congress is will- ing to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on a personal vendetta. On a personal level, it tells me that they feel they have to destroy Mr. Trump and his family because of the loyal political following the Trumps have accrued represents a real threat to the Washington swamp.
Perhaps someone should tell Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Democrats in the House and Senate as well as the sycophantic media just how ugly vindictiveness is, es- pecially in an adult. The only thing his “25th Amendment” and impeachment action can possibly do is harden the position of the opposition Republicans. There's another election in two years! Even the ten turncoat members of the Republican establishment are going to experience repercussions for their weak-kneed decision to impeach.
In view of difficulties in distributing the Covid-19 vaccine and the economic damage inflicted by the pan- demic, coast to coast, there certainly are greater things to do than harass an ex-president. Four years of tor- ment is enough.
It's just frustrating when one looks back the chal- lenges and ugliness of 2020!
We've experienced a pandemic of a disease which at- tacks the respiratory system and is particularly deadly to senior citizens. How did the people who we elected react to this world-wide virus attack? Exactly as one would have cynically expected of them —t hey did not disappoint.
Countless millions have lost their incomes because one of the bureaucracy — without scientific guidelines — decided to mindlessly shut down the economy. There is no question about this being the most prominent ex- ample ever of politicizing of an act of nature. There were some in Congress, as well as the media, who sank so low as attempting to blame Trump. We need to pre- pare ourselves for one of the most onerous assaults on recordofourcivilrights.Prepareyourself. It'scoming!
Letters from readers
Fred Hall
Jon Earnest
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
'Blind lead the blind...'
"... And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch." — Matthew 15:14
On Jan. 6, we witnessed the just how far pro-Trump support- ers were willing to go to keep Donald Trump in power. Some calling for revolution, others for a civil war. Americans willing to harm fellow Americans. Why?
These people genuinely be- lieve that the election was stolen from Trump. Because Trump said so. Nevermind the fact that he has been routinely dis- honest since he's been in office. The relationship with his base supporters has developed into
a cult like following due to his demagoguery and refusal to de- nounce factions of the extreme right. Historically, such condi- tions have proved detrimental to the welfare of the public. Hitler is an extreme example of this.
The disturbing thing about this is how these people do not require proof that the election was stolen from Trump before engaging in any violent acts against fellow citizens. All they needed was his word. How is one man able to dupe so many Americans? Like the gentleman who responded to my last letter to the editor, who said Trump's greatest achievement was the
COVID-19 vaccine. Trump just happened to be president dur- ing the pandemic. Other than that he has nothing to do with the development of the vaccine. Creating a vaccine was always a priority for the medical profes- sionals regardless of who was in office. Trump credits himself for many things, but I think the storming of the capitol sums up his accomplishments as a presi- dent, he took us to the brink of a civil war.
I can only hope that Trump supporters at least demand proof of election fraud before attempting another coup.
Ray Mendoza Dinuba
Letters Policy
MID VALLEY TIMES invites letters from the public on any topic of local relevance. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or brevity, and we reserve the right to NOT publish them if they could be deemed libelous or profane. Letters should
be 350 words or less, and bear the author's name, address, and phone number. Letters can be mailed, emailed, submitted via our website, or personally delivered to: Editor, Reedley Exponent, 1130 G St, Reedley CA 93654.
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QUOTE
“Integrity with- out knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge with- out integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”
— Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)