Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 4-30-20 E-edition

Thursday, April 30, 2020 | 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 For real solutions, political
philosphy needs to change
Recently, I had a reader question the fact that I never offer solutions to any of the problems we discuss here every week. The implication was that if I am going to question something that is inherently wrong, I should have an answer to the problem when sometimes the solution is above one's pay grade.
Often, that solution is patently ob-
vious but unattainable because of cir-
cumstances! Know what? I'm thankful to the reader because nothing is more heartwarming that receiving feedback and responses from readers.
Setting all that aside, the simple truth of the matter is, that here in California, there can be no real solutions until there is a real sea-change in the number of voters registering Republican instead of Democrat. Political philosophy must change to personal responsibility from “what can the productive section of our society do for the non-productive?”
It would also be helpful to eliminate situations where a city or county literally has more registered voters than people of voting age. Los Angeles would be a good place to start. Considering the performance record of out Department of Motor Vehicles was not the most appropriate agency to involve with the registration of voters. The time has come for an audit and purge of this state's voter rolls! Chicago used to be the butt of a joke about browsing the cemetery to register voters. California can't be far behind with our ridiculous meth- ods and the introduction of “ballot harvesting.”
Chicago has always been run as a political machine for Democrat politics. That practice continues unim- peded. California, in recent years, has begun to go down the same path.
Liberalism, through the Democratic Party, has gained such a stranglehold on our state that one political per- suasion is so firmly in control of everything from the statehouse to the governor's mansion unless it is liberal in nature. We've noticed during the distribution of relief money for COVID-19, no effort is being spared to use riders and carve-outs to make the voting parameters of California the standard of the entire country.
Thank you Nancy Pelosi and your $24,000 refrig- erator safely bunkered in a walled and gated estate in San Francisco for sharing your luxurious lifestyle dur- ing a television interview and showing us how the rich and famous “bunker in place” while your fat paycheck continues to roll in. To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, let them eat ice cream — really expensive and exotic frozen delights. To hell with the rest of the peons! We only get in their way except when we write tax checks to pay for their exorbitant salaries, retirement, travel and waste.
The speaker also, for some reason, felt that the Ken- nedy Center, the arts and Planned Parenthood were en- titled to taxpayer money in their unidentifiable needs for recovery from COVID-19. There, ironically, is a correlation because the virus and Planned Parenthood both result in needless death.
Indeed, I am at a loss as to a cure for that kind of thinking except to vote these egregious offenders out office and I don't see that happening since the state has become overwhelming Democrat. Perhaps those who feel I should not be so negative so often but these are the very conditions that makes one cynical when it comes to the body politic.
This is probably a good time to take pause and once again the gentleman who took the time to write what was actually a very nice letter. We hope more of you will open up lines of communication with The Times, your hometown newspaper. There certainly are times and situations when members of a civilized society can politely agree to disagree. Now, that's the American way.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
When sports no longer mimics life, become the team
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“An onion can make people cry, but there has never been
a vegetable invented to make them laugh.”
— Will Rogers (1879-1935)
Do you remember when the New England Patriots won their first Super Bowl? I do.
I fell in love with football via the 1985 Chicago Bears — Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, Mike Ditka and, of course, the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle.’ The Bears’ dominant victory in Su- per Bowl XX forever made me a believer in the sport and the team which I still, sometimes begrudgingly, root for.
What I knew about the New England Patriots were; one, they had horrible uniforms in the 80s, and two, my Bears whipped them in that 1986 Su- per Bowl, 46-10.
That was the Patriots' last Super Bowl appearance prior to Super Bowl XXXVII. And many had the Patriots as big underdogs against the of- fensive juggernaut St. Louis Rams, otherwise known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
Is it starting to ring any bells? Tom Brady, a young quarterback out of Michigan leads the Patriots to a last- minute thrilling victory for the New England Patriots’ first NFL Championship, the first of many to come.
It was truly a special mo- ment in sports’ history, espe- cially when you consider the time table. Remember where we were as a nation when the Patriots won that Super Bowl? It was the first weekend of February in the year 2002 and the nation was still reeling from the horrific attacks of September 11.
Patriotism was at an all- time high in America and a
vast majority of people, from casual viewer to sports enthu- siast, were rooting for the Pa- triots for so many reasons. One reason was the underdog story. After all, who doesn’t like a good underdog story?
But perhaps the biggest rea- son why people were rooting for them was because the Pa- triots represented the nation at the time. At a time when many were wrapped in patriotism for the sake of rebuilding a nation, the Patriots of New England marched in to battle in red, white and blue (and much im- proved I might add) uniforms as a symbolic patriotic soldier — fighting for the future.
On that day there must have been an additional 100 million Patriot fans cheering them on. Sure, those numbers dimin- ished after their fourth or fifth Super Bowl victory, but back then we needed them to win. We needed that victory.
That victory helped us get through a tough time.
Fast forward to the nation’s next rough patch. In 2008 the United States was suffering from a great recession after the housing market was al- lowed to run amok. Enter an- other feel-good sports story to help lift a hurting nation.
But this was more than just another underdog story. This was Thee underdog story of underdog stories, so much so that the team was given a fit- ting new nickname.
I’m talking about the Fresno State ‘Wonder Dogs’. In 2008 the Fresno State Bulldogs base- ball team became the lowest
seeded team in NCAA history to win a major championship by beating the University of Georgia in the College World Series.
Rick Curiel
Fred Hall
It was certainly a dogfight of a series, with both teams ex- changing heavyweight blows throughout the three-game se- ries.
Now, take into account where we were as a nation and where Fresno State had to go before coming out as top dog. The Wonder Dogs were facing elimination after a yo-yo game- one ended in a Georgia victory. And, Fresno State found them- selves down 5-0 a third of the way into game two.
It didn’t look good. But we all know how that story ends.
The Wonder Dogs’ champi- onship victory will perhaps be one of my fondest sports mem- ories of all time.
These stories from the world of sports helped us through some of our nation’s toughest challenges. But in this time, in a world without sports, what will be the story that lifts you up? Well, if you’re one for nostalgia, I can tell you that game three of the 2008 College World Series will be televised on Saturday. Other- wise, maybe this time around we all share in the victory. Maybe this time, we become the team that leads the nation to victory.
Rick Curiel is Sanger editor for The Times.
The itch to reopen business is there, but COVID-19 still looms in picture
I, like every other person in Dinuba, Reedley, Sanger and all surrounding commu- nities, want to see an end to this COVID-19 crisis and the resulting shelter in place. It's been tough staying patient and dealing with no school, church, eating out and generally legal gatherings of people for the past six weeks. It's saddening to see the many small busi- nesses and eateries be eco- nomically devastated by clo- sures and limited operations.
All the same, there remains reason to be a little nervous about COVID-19 in California, and even the Central Valley which has had markedly fewer numbers. There has been the outbreak of positive cases to our most vulnerable citizens –
our seniors – with a third nurs- ing home in Tulare County re- porting multiple positive tests.
The numbers of positive cases in Fresno and Tulare counties continue to climb, an expected development as more testing is conducted and results come in. Still, the areas where new cases have popped up are a bit unsettling. Earlier this week, a Fresno Bee report surfaced about an employee at Pitman Family Farms poultry processing facility in Sanger testing positive. This comes on the heels of several employees of a meat company in Hanford testing positive.
But there continues to be promising signs of improve- ment. As of Tuesday, April 28, 400 of the 1,340 positive
cases in six
Valley coun-
ties have re-
covered in the
eyes of health
department of-
ficials. How
many of those
are in Mid Val-
ley Times cities, we can't say as Fresno County hasn't been that specific in their numbers. If they can pinpoint those fig- ures, we will share.
The promising news ap- pears to be that Gov. Gavin Newsom has hinted that any extended closures are down to weeks and not months. Let's hope for the best before the end of May.
Jon Earnest is Reedley edi- tor for The Times.
Jon Earnest