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Editorials/Columns
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Terrorism In Red White And Blue
merica has a problem. And, contrary to popu- lar belief, it isn't one
that can be easily resolved with a border wall, travel ban or a pipeline connecting inner city youth to prisons.
No, the dilemma this country has a hard time deal- ing with is the reoccurring presence of the most deadly terrorist these shores have ever seen.... the white, male, mass shooter.
When it comes to death tolls, outside of the question- able architects of the Septem- ber, 11th 2001 event, you would be hard pressed to find another group responsible for spilling more innocent blood during coordinated attacks over the last 20 years than in- dividuals who fit this profile.
Of course, no one likes to refer to these sick souls as ter- rorists. That's a term nor- mally reserved to describe Arab members of the Islamic faith.
But, the fact of the matter is that, the actions of men like Dylan Roof, Stephen Pad-
dock, and now Devin Kel- ley (the man who killed 26 people inside of a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas last Sunday), are just as radi- calized and destructive as any black flag-carrying member of ISIS. The only difference being the motivation behind the slaughters.
We always hear about the extreme vetting process and the criminal deportation pro- gram that are designed to keep Americans safe from dangerous foreigners who may want to do the country harm. But my question is, what about the slightly unsta- ble white guy working part- time at Home Depot who still has an axe to grind with the world about how he was treated in high school? What's the plan to protect us from him?
This is the individual no one wants to talk about. The apple pie eating, baseball watching, deer hunting, mili- tary veteran, super patriot, fa- vorite son and salt of the earth, with the clean criminal
record, who's not supposed to be doing these types of crazy- ass things.
While all of the attention is focused on the dark- skinned immigrant who speaks broken English, he's the one who keeps doing the most damage. But, for some reason, the media, members of law enforcement and elected officials continue to act as though the threat he presents doesn't exist. As if all of these episodes are simply isolated incidents that don't speak to an issue much larger than the easy availability of guns?
I guess I can't fault Amer- ica's dominant society for liv- ing in denial. After all, it's much easier to blame your neighbor's kid for the prob- lems your child is having than to face the grim realization that your own poor parenting may have brought rotten fruit to harvest.
Maybe one day it will fi- nally dawn on them that con- tinuously pointing the finger at others isn't going to stop these types of tragedies from happening. I just hope, by the time it does, it's not too late for the rest of us.
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Don’t Be Fooled By Proposed Tax Reforms
So, once again Republicans show middle-class and low-income Americans that they value large busi- nesses and the wealthy in its proposed 2017 Tax Re- form Bill.
For instance, after criticizing the Obama adminis- tration for the continued rise in the country’s deficit, Conservatives recently proposed tax cuts that would increase the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.
Furthermore, the tax reform plan includes cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, even though many corporations currently pay far less or nothing at all.
In a study of 258 American corporations, for the pe- riod 2008–2012, the companies paid on average a 21.2 tax rate.
Eighteen of the companies (7%) paid no federal in- come tax at all. Indeed, more than half of the compa- nies with off-shore profits paid higher tax rates to foreign governments where they operated than they paid in the United States on their U. S. profits.
While offering singles and married couples a dou- ble standard deduction, the Tax Reform eliminates or reduces deductions for mortgage interest, medical ex- penses, property taxes, state and local taxes (all im- pacting homeowners), personal exemptions, student loan interest, health insurance and teacher classroom expenses.
Are you surprised that the tax reform will not ac- commodate the average citizen as much as it will the wealthy and big business.
In all honesty, since it doesn’t take rocket science to reach that conclusion, we wonder why veteran Re- publicans refuse to read the writing on the wall.
Another View Revisited
The Ultimate In Hypocrisy
BY SAMUEL KINSEY
ver the years, many
different artists of all genres have performed the National Anthem at various sporting events. Of all the performances of the National Anthem that I have wit- nessed, there are four that ranked the highest in my mind: Marvin Gaye; a duet with Marvin and his daugh- ter, Nona Gaye; Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin.
In 1983, Marvin Gaye was chosen to sing the An- them at the NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles, Califor- nia. He only had one re- hearsal. However, it didn’t go well and he was late for his performance on game day. But when he did sing, he stole the show. It was so good that one writer described it as na- tional healing. He received
national acclaim for his ren- dition. As an encore, the NBA invited his daughter, Nona Gaye to sing the Anthem at the 2004 All-Star game, again in LA, and with the use of video, they paired it as a duet with her and the version by her deceased father; it was an awesome performance.
And who can forget the version by Whitney Hous- ton at Super Bowl XXV right here in Tampa, Florida in the old Tampa Stadium? Some rate it as the all-time best per- formance of the Anthem. It was recorded as a single and afterwards included in a CD, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances.
Finally, on Thanksgiving Day, November 2016, at a game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings, Aretha Franklin sang a heart-wrenching ver- sion of the Anthem that had a
Southern Baptist gospel fla- vor. It was so well done that it would make good, church- going folk want to jump and shout. She sang for slightly over four minutes.
Many sports writers, TV commentators, radio an- nouncers and some on social media made crude remarks about the length of the song. Of course, there were many who enjoyed her performance and had nothing but praise for her. The critics were there and I have to ask, “What was their message?”
The protest continues and others are joining in. Among the more recent to join in- clude the U. S. Fencing Team, four young White men, two of whom took a knee when the Anthem was played in honor of their championship vic- tory. They kneeled, not out of disrespect to anyone, but in support of those who are seeking social justice which is more than can be said for one NFL owner who referred to the players as ‘inmates run- ning the prison.’
Just another view.
A
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