Page 4 - Dinuba Sentinel 10-11-18 E-edition

Opinion
A4 | Thursday, October 11, 2018
Fred Hall - Publisher Rick Curiel - Editor
In My Opinion
Con rmation is based on qPuali cations, not party lines
olitical partisanship and until we have activism reached its nadir reached the point with the recent confirmation where a media,
hearings in the Senate for Brett Kavanaugh. Thankfully, in a brief moment of sanity, the seat on the Supreme Court was approved by a bare majority and, with the exception of one approving Democrat from West Virginia, the vote was strictly along party lines. If confirmation were strictly based on qualifications, as was intended by the founding framers of the Constitution, that vote should have been unanimous.
Today, decisions on who is qualified to serve on this august body, are almost always based on “whose seat” it is. We’ve allowed
the court to be divided into liberal versus conservative justices. That’s just wrong! Anyone who is chosen should, first and foremost, be a strict constructionist of the Constitution. That document was intended to serve as the law of the land and should not be construed as being malleable in terms of popular issues such as social justice, the environment and others which are currently in vogue. We’ve allowed this hugely important third branch of government to become politicized. That should never been allowed to happen.
The idea of a jurist being able to, on his or her values, interpret the law is a reasonably recent phenomenon. Nationwide, law schools taught by liberal law professors have espoused the theory that a law’s interpretation can be based on social criteria and shaped to fit the views of the judge. We see it every day, especially with the election of Donald Trump, where a lower court judge comes up with such a convoluted ruling that no one really believes it will pass muster on appeal. That seems O.K. with many of today’s Democrats. They seem pleased with having temporarily impeded that which will eventually amount to true, unbiased justice.
Following hard on the heels of
last weekend’s confirmation vote, impeachment of a sitting Supreme Court Justice has been placed
on the table by Gerald Nadler of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California. Nothing could be more destructive of the American system of jurisprudence. The very idea of having a Supreme Court where no one’s job is safe will assure that no decision can be completely trusted. Thank Heaven, the wisdom of our Founders saw the necessity of people placed in such a position having the security of a lifetime appointment was a necessary element.
There has been a great hue and
cry from politicians and their enablers in the media about how divisive our current President has been. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! One of the tactics of politics has always been to divide and conquer, but the real onset seemed to take place during the first Clinton administration. Here was a group of people drawn together to form a “war room” whose very essence was attack and destroy anyone who opposed either their views or agenda.
Over the years since then it seems to have gotten progressively worse
Fred Hall
which should
be completely unbiased, has now become overtly slanted in their reporting. Trump stories are unabashedly
negative and any reports of positive accomplishments in terms of the economy and international affairs are noticeably absent from coverage. If you are part of the reasoned, rational group of American citizens the best way to deal with all this insanity is get active and involved. Make sure you cast a vote this November to make your feelings known. It’s the last, best weapon we have.
By this point in time you should already have or will soon receive your vote-by-mail packets for the General Election on 6 November 2018. These are the same voter packets which were once called absentee ballots. Times have changed dramatically when today so many either mail
in their choices or are certainly encouraged by the government to do so. Time was it was almost a ritual to show up at the voting precinct to express your wishes. Not so much during these thoroughly modern times. Voting, one of our most precious rights, has been reduced to the level of a mail order item.
My wife and I have succumbed to the modern trend but still take our ballots, once we’ve marked them, down to the precinct location to be recorded. For us there is a greater feeling of participation in something special when we extend that little bit of effort. It just somehow feels as if we are more involved in this democratic process.
When your packet arrives, there should be a booklet enclosed which should objectively present both sides of the issue and the exact wording of the wide array of initiatives appearing for your up or down vote. Remember to get past the titles on these propositions because, more often than not, they are misleading. I can still remember one which was titled ‘The Safe Schools Initiative’ when it was an actually a get out of jail free card for felons.
Remember, also, that High Speed Rail was approved by a voting public which had essentially mislead about funding and other issues.
As always, we refrain from making any recommendations because we feel that our readers are erudite people who will make good decisions after doing the necessary reading and research on issues and candidates.
I do find it interesting however that many people have told me they consult the local daily newspaper to see who and what they recommend. They, then, go out and cast their ballot in the opposite manner of what that learned group of scribes have recommended.
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Fred Hall is publisher of the Dinuba Sentinel.
Guest Column
Key to preventing sexual assaults Wcould be in de ning masculinity
hen we discuss sexual assault, we often talk tough hombre.” My brother suffered about women. What should women do to stay from severe anxiety and probably PTSD. safe? He didn’t need to be told to man up. He
Letters to the editor
Elected of cial should pay dept to Dinuba
When I was in school, girls were even trained in women’s self-defense. I don’t know what the boys did during those time periods. Study hall?
Ask any woman what she does to prevent sexual assault and she’ll have an answer. She uses the buddy system when walking at night, or she carries pepper spray, or she doesn’t leave her drink unattended when she’s out, and so on.
We look out for one another. In college I had a friend with an alcohol problem. We’d babysit her or take her home to keep her safe if she drank too much, to keep her from getting assaulted.
Ask a man what he does to keep himself from getting assaulted. At most, you’ll get a “don’t drop the soap” joke.
I think we need to change the discussion. Let’s talk about masculinity. Actually, gender scholars talk about masculinities, plural.
Men express their gender identities in a variety of ways. Some believe that “being a man” requires honesty, courage, hard work, and competence. Others express masculinity through physical prowess, toughness, and daring.
And some think it means sexual prowess with women.
Many gender scholars say that gender is something you do, not something you are. Your gender expression is something you achieve.
When men or boys express emotions other than anger, show vulnerability, or do anything that can be remotely construed as “feminine,” they’re linguistically kicked out of manhood, told to “man up” or “grow a pair.”
I saw my father socializing my brother into his future role as a man from a very young age. If my brother cried or expressed any weakness, my father told him to “be a
needed hugs, empathy, love, and therapy. For straight men who emphasize the
performance of sexual prowess, sex
with women is necessary to achieving masculinity — and women saying no puts
a roadblock in their path to being a man.
For these men, it’s inconvenient that they don’t have carte blanche access to our bodies.
It doesn’t help that vulnerability is “unmanly,” or that we socialize men to repress their emotions instead of feeling them, because those are necessary ingredients in a healthy intimate relationship.
Obviously, this doesn’t characterize all men. However, the pressure on men to achieve masculinity through sexual prowess, devoid of any emotional vulnerability or empathy, serves to create a toxic culture in which some men believe they have a right to women’s bodies.
So when women deny them access to their bodies, some men take it by force.
In fact, a Five Thirty Eight review of recent studies suggested that this kind of toxic masculinity, more so than alcohol, is what leads to sexual assault.
Maybe if we raised men to feel their full range of emotions, to feel confident in their manhood without violating women, and to respect the boundaries of others, we wouldn’t have to teach women to use the buddy system and watch their drinks.
OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in San Diego.
Jill Richardson
On Oct. 5, 2018, public information was made available regarding the civil suit between councilman Kuldip Thusu and the City of Dinuba. A balance of $121,472 is still owed to the City of Dinuba and the taxpayers. The balance is accruing interest.
The city has a shortfall of revenue and is unable to fund vacant police and fire positions. The money owed could fund at least one of those positions for
a year. Time and time again, residents have made it clear public safety is their highest priority. Councilman Thusu has made several public comments about supporting the police and fire departments. As an elected official, he needs to be responsible and ethical and pay his dept to the people of Dinuba.
Chris Launer, Dinuba
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