On Your Mind is the Herald/Review’s telephone opinion line and is intended as a public forum for our readers. Comments represent the opinions of callers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper or any specific knowledge that we have. Readers may share their opinions by calling 458-0332, or by e-mail to svhoym@transedge.com or regular mail at 102 Fab Ave., Sierra Vista AZ 85635. Due to the volume of submissions, comments will be limited to 150 words or fewer. Comments are edited. Comments for the week also can be viewed at www.svherald.com, under “Opinions.”
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Nov. 6
When I joined the Army right out of high school at age 18, I had to perform KP (kitchen police) for 19 hours per day, every other day for four months until I received my top secret security clearance. My background, only as a high school student, was squeaky clean. Had the investigators discovered any associations with radical Muslims, terrorist bombers, racist preachers or other revolutionaries, I would never have received my clearance — and the related trust and confidence of my country. I understand that things change in this world, but that is my paradigm. To see a person (whose country of birth is in question) who has all of the above associations moved right into the White House is very disturbing. What to do?
Nov. 7
It’s been three days now since the election. I still have a sticker in the back window of my pickup truck that says “Proud Republican.” In the last two days I’ve had three people who have seen that sticker, strangers I did not know, come up to me while I was putting gas in my truck or going to the store and ask me, “Sir, what are we going to do? What is going to happen? What do you think is going to happen?” There’s been a change all right. I’ve already noticed it. There’s change in the air. There’s a change in people. Some people who supported Barack Obama are getting very rude already. Other people are very worried. Yes, that is a change you can believe it. Believe me, I see it coming, the change in America, but I don’t think it’s going to be for the best.
It’s that time of the year when we need to be thinking about other people. I hope all you military retirees who have civil service retirements or incomes and your spouse works, too, will remember that there are a lot of poor still in this town. I hope you will all get your act together and donate to Toys for Tots and to the food drive and everything else. Not everyone is as lucky as a lot of us. Not everyone has a job, or a well-paying job. So, please do your part, especially this year because things are so bad for so many people. I know I can’t afford it, but I will find the money and give up something of my own to help somebody else. I hope you will, too.
Congratulations to Allison Taylor on earning her Girl Scout Gold Award. Way to go Allison. Also, congratulations to Susan Veney-Malcou on earning her Girl Scout Silver Award. Way to go Susan. These awards are the two highest awards that a Girl Scout can earn. A lot of time and hard work went into their projects. Congratulations to both of them.
How does the service stations here in Sierra Vista justify continuing to charge $2.69 per gallon when the national average has dropped to $2.35. In Tucson, it’s between $2.33-$2.35.
Nov. 8
I read the (Nov. 8) At a Glance, “Obama apologizes for séance remark,” with total disgust. President-elect Obama joked, in front of reporters at a press conference, about 87-year-old former First Lady Nancy Reagan holding séances in the White House. It was a crude and untrue remark because Mrs. Reagan never held any séances in the White House. And this comes after Obama promised bipartisanship in his acceptance speech. Once again Obama gets a pass by the mainline media. If a Republican president-elect had ever made such a crude and untrue remark about a former Democratic first lady, he would certainly be excoriated by the mainline media for days on end. The double standard is the typical ploy of the mainline media, which should rightly be considered as an arm of the Democratic Party. The mainline media bears a great deal of the responsibility for the divisive politics that exists in America.
With his stellar eloquence President-elect Barack Obama has instilled high expectations in me. He promises to tackle over a trillion dollars of bailouts already on taxpayers’ shoulders, give me a tax break, give me socialized medicine, pour out billions more to pull public schools out of the endless quagmire, guarantee billions for every American kid to get a college education, pour out billions to rebuild infrastructure and create jobs, and give me another stimulus check to boot. Guess what? I won’t have to pay a dime because loyal Americans who earn over $250,000 will pay for it all. Shucks, even if he has to print more paper money, depleting the value of the dollar still more and increasing our national government debt, why care? This is America and this is one thoughtful president-elect, don’t you think? It’s like living in Shangri-La, even in a deep recession. Wow.
Let’s see. You’re stopped for a school bus that’s picking up and dropping off kids and you get rear-ended. The cops arrive and no citations are issued. I think Stevie Wonder could have figured out who was wrong in this case.
This is in regard to Fred Stickler’s letter to the editor. His starry-eyed idealistic love affair with the rich needs a reality check. I guess profligate spending is merely a character weakness of the poor and has nothing to do with the most sophisticated pervasive marketing and propaganda machine the world has ever seen. Who controls and owns that machine? Who do the poor work for? Could it be in the interest of the rich to keep the poor slaving away their lives for little more than room and board to pay the interest on the government debt?
Freedom is just a hallucination created by a pathological lack of paranoia.
Nov. 9
As an educator who voted against the Tombstone budget override I offer the following: The superintendent’s expressed view that voters simply voted down arts programs is nonsense. It only shows how his priorities are out of whack. The school district spends too much money on sports programs and their associated transportation costs. Tombstone High could easily afford enriching arts and music programs that actually educate. Instead they choose to take students out of class for too many hours every week to bus them all over the state for sports that accomplish little toward the students’ futures. Parents who desire to hinge their child’s success on the small chance he/she could be the next football superstar should send their kids elsewhere. I know all the arguments about sports’ team and some leadership-building, but shame on Tombstone’s leadership. I know firsthand how little the students (and their parents) do to make up missed classwork due to sports.
A new national poll says 64 percent of Republicans consider Sarah Palin their top choice to run for president in 2012. I couldn’t believe it when McCain chose her the first time around. This is even more amazing. Is there any thinking going on in the Republican Party or are they just hoping to fool the American people? Sarah Palin is even more right-wingish that GWB. Her intellectual level is about the same as GWB, however. This election has proven one thing for certain: The American people are just not that stupid.
I am sick and tired of the off color racial jokes and slurs. They aren’t funny and they just reveal your ignorance and your arrogance and show your bigotry. I am truly grateful that America didn’t vote the way Cochise County did. It was an eye-opener for me. I wonder if there is a correlation between right-wing conservative thought and rude behavior? I’ll bet you there is. No wonder service in this town is so horrible. And when you do find decent service (a rare event) it is a shock. In spite of gas prices, I’m going to do my significant shopping in Tucson. The chamber of commerce suggests we shop locally. I would if local businesses made any kind of move toward honesty and fairness. I have been burned by a couple of local businesses lately. I had to fight to get my money back, and it is just not worth it any more.
Guess what is next, the conservatives will be desperately trying to convince the world that the election results are meaningless. The fact is the post-Bush-Rove Republican Party lost big time because it has driven away women, the young, suburbanites, black Americans, Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans, educated Americans, gay Americans and, increasingly, working-class Americans. Bush was a divider not a decider; and McCain tried to use the same tactics. Now just watch the spin the Republicans try to put on it. They will claim that we are still a center-right country. The truth is that the center has shifted. Positions that used to be thought of as left-wing — healthcare, global warming, the war — have become firmly mainstream. Grieving is perfectly natural and normal. The Republicans need to get past the denial stage and move on into the depression stage. As long as they remain in denial they will be a stumbling block and pretty much useless.
The election has been over almost a week now and too many of those campaign signs are still littering the highways, the corners and the streets. All you people who were so anxious to put up your political campaign signs, get out there and take them down with as much enthusiasm as you put them up. For the ones who have taken them down, thank you. Let’s get on the stick you other people and clean up the corners and highways.
I was happy to see the comment about the students and employees being afraid of the cafeteria manager. I am that substitute teacher. I have worked at other schools, and they are very, very good.
Nov. 10
This is for the pretenders who think that they are chasing money-changers out of the temple: There isn’t really any problem with putting up Xmas decorations so early. The holiday season is a time when there are heightened numbers of depression, domestic disputes and worse because things didn’t go as well as one might have hoped for. Early decorations are “gentle reminders” to save/prepare so that Xmas can be Christmas for them also. What’s wrong with that?
I’d like to reply to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s Nov. 10 article, “Show me the money.” Friedman wrote: “So to everyone overseas I say: Thanks for your applause for our new president. … If you want Obama to succeed, though, don’t just show us the love, show us the money. Show us the troops. Show us the diplomatic effort. Show us the economic partnership. Because freedom is not free. …” If in the past Friedman had supported our departing president and country with such a statement, it would take away the sting of hypocrisy. Now let’s see Obama bring about his promise of change, namely, Europe coughing up more money, more troops, diplomatic effort, and economic partnership.
I’d like to take this opportunity to give thanks to the professional men and women of the Bisbee Fire Department. Our organization conducts weekly meetings in Bisbee. This past Friday a longtime lodge member needed emergency medical attention and the Bisbee Fire Department response was extremely professional. Our longtime member had been provided olives and had an extreme allergic reaction. Additionally, our beloved member had just listened to a motivational speech by the lodge president and the combination of the speech and the allergic reaction proved to be too much to handle as he collapsed on the street with heart attack-like symptoms. Thanks to the Bisbee Fire Department, he was supported and cared for by the Copper Queen Hospital, another class operation. The only question our lodge members have is why would anyone provide this member olives knowing he was allergic to them? Thanks again to the Bisbee Fire Department.
With two wars, a slowing economy and an unpopular president this election should have been a slam dunk for Obama. He should have won by 20 percent. But the American people reject socialism/leftist extremism. “Why then” you may ask “did Obama win if Americans reject this?” Here are the three reasons why: 1) The media loved him and pumped his propaganda into the American mind every chance they got, from the time he was running against Hillary right up to Nov. 4. The “mainstream” media should actually be forced to register as a 527 group with all the help they gave. 2) Democrats’ close friends at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for creating the “perfect storm” at just the right time. 3) Obama breaking his pledge to accept public financing. Preaching against others who use money to gain influence and power as he paid $700 million to influence and buy an election.
About beating a speeding ticket: There are online groups advertising software to help speeders beat a fine. Without even looking at the ads, we already know how to beat a ticket is, don’t get one. Drive within the posted speed limit.
I’m glad to see the Herald is consistent every year. They always forget to cover the Marine Corps Ball, the biggest social event of Sierra Vista every year. And they never ever wish the U.S. Marine Corps “Happy Birthday” on Nov. 10. It’s the 233rd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. All the Herald thinks about is the U.S. Army, not the U.S. Marines.
Editor’s note: If you have pictures or information about the event, we’d welcome it just as we do with other community events. Either drop a couple of pictures with information by our office at 102 Fab Ave., or e-mail it to svhnews@transedge.com.
In the Old West, a poor actor who wouldn’t leave the stage got tomatoes thrown at him. So it is with Sarah Palin, who is too dumb to know her 15 minutes of fame are over. Go back to your job, Sarah, and your kids, and please don’t come back.
I believe the manager of one of our grocery stores needs to find a different city to live and work in. I don’t even know if he lives here but I’ll tell you he has two boxes for a food drive for the valley in Phoenix. He doesn’t even put anything out for our local firefighters collecting for the local community. And when asked during golf tournaments to donate he gives nothing. If he’s not part of our community he should be gone.
I’d like to respond to the comment about Gas City and taking down their Christmas decorations. In October, I went to Big Lots and it was all stocked with Christmas items. It made me sick to think we were going to have three months of Christmas advertising. It makes it unexciting after that. So, get rid of it and do it in December when it should be.
Somebody complained about Gas City and their Christmas decorations. Get a grip. It’s not only Gas City. Have you been to the Ethel Berger Center lately? It really looks good, too.
Nov. 11
I would like to thank the young man and woman who were from the VFW, and were at Gas City on Sunday morning, with the Poppy Drive for the veterans. I told them I was a volunteer and was going to visit some seniors in assisted living. I want them to know I took them the little poppy flowers and they loved them, they brought back a lot of memories, they made my day and made a lot of seniors happy. Thank you.
About this year’s Veterans Day parade: I noticed there were many people with large dogs that were barking out of control. People actually brought as many as three or four to sit right next to you while you were trying to enjoy and pay tribute to the veterans. One dog almost got a hold of the horse the sheriff was riding on. Can you imagine what would have happened if the dog would have gotten in contact with that horse. I know this is a free country. And the parade was a representation of the veterans who fought for us to be free. There is a place and time for everything, but to having a dog constantly barking while you are trying to hear the school band play as they pass by or almost losing control as your dog tries to nip at the horse, is more than rude and unaccept- able.
A perception seems to be prevalent among Democrats/liberals that President Bush has run this country off a cliff. Pelosi and company in Congress would have us believe the economic woes are the fault of the Bush administration. How convenient to have such a handy scapegoat. In reality, years of questionable mortgage lending practices, encouraged by liberal members of Congress, started this mess. And tell me again how the Bush administration conspired with OPEC to reduce oil production, thus jacking up our prices at the pump. That is pure fantasy. The Surge worked in Iraq. We can begin bringing our troops home next year. Ironically, the Obama administration will get credit for winding down our military presence there. The 9/11 attacks were the last ones we have had on our soil. Thank you, President Bush, and all of your dedicated security personnel who have kept us safe from more attacks the past seven years.
President-elect Obama, it is reported, has urged President Bush to send the auto makers financial help. I say yes provided they double or triple the vehicles gas mileage.
