Newspaper Page Text
OPINION
April 14- 20, 2016 » Page 7A
riisiErcfiiMr
Chamblee takes one worry out of online shopping
I love it when a simple,
sensible solution is found
to a problem, and when
that solution is actually
implemented without much
cost and delay, that’s even
better.
My hat’s off to the city
of Chamblee for coming up
with an answer to a 21 st
century problem involving
transactions between
individuals who meet online
via services such as Ebay
and Craigslist.
While the vast majority
of online purchases take
place without incident
and buyer and seller walk
away satisfied with each
gale@dekalbchamp.com
Lifestyle Editor
receiving the item/payment
expected, occasionally
that’s not the case. Crimes
have been committed in
some situations where
individuals meet and an
assault, robbery or even
murder has taken place.
Reports of these crimes
make many people wary of
engaging in a transaction
that begins at one of these
sites or similar ones.
Chamblee now has
two Transaction Exchange
Zones—both at the police
department (one in the
lobby and one in the
parking lot) where anyone
can come to exchange
merchandise and money
under the watchful eyes
of the police. They’ll also
check items’ serial numbers
to ensure goods aren’t
stolen. And a camera
system is in place to record
it all. Chamblee police just
ask that individuals call
them first before coming
over so they are prepared.
Obviously this will deter
some individuals with bad
intentions from taking ne
gotiations any further once
the police department is
mentioned as the meeting
site. Another benefit is that
should disputes arise over
amount to be paid or quality
of goods at the exchange,
police personnel are right
on site and the situation is
less likely to escalate.
This is the type of
simple and sensible
service that other police
departments should
adopt and publicize. It’s a
tremendous benefit to the
community and shows the
police department’ goodwill
toward those they serve.
While I haven’t made
any online purchases that
require meeting a stranger
to exchange goods for
cash, if I decide to do so,
I’ll make a beeline to the
Chamblee Police Depart
ment. Thanks, Chamblee, I
sure hope other municipali
ties follow your lead.
ONE MAN'S OPINION
So...here's the situation....
“...There has to be
some type of punishment,”
responds GOP frontrunner
Donald Trump to MSNBC’s
Chris Matthews on March
30 during a live-televised
Town Hall from Green Bay,
Wise.
Hypothetical questions
are, with good reason, the
bane of many a candidate’s
existence. Reporters and
pundits love them, as they
are able to engage in flights
of fancy and the occasional
“gotcha,” under the guise
of attempting to share with
their audience, listeners
or readers how the mind
of a particular candidate
works. I have often warned
candidates that if you are
going to walk down that
road, and respond to the
hypotheticals, be prepared
in advance with a wide
array of potential responses
on the major issues of the
day which are clear, concise
and easy to recall.
Instead, we are
blanketed, or perhaps
trumpeted is a more
appropriate phrase, with
catch phrases like “make
America great again,”
“build a 50-foot wall” or
“...just bomb the sh-- out
of them and take the oil.”
Simplistic non-solutions,
many of which may fit on a
bumper sticker, typically are
impractical if not impossible
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
Columnist
to implement in the
complicated, layered and
real world in which we live.
The same Donald
Trump who avoids Megyn
Kelly of the Fox News
Network, sees no danger or
illogic in sitting down with
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews,
a practically self-avowed
partisan for a town hall chat.
Matthews throws Trump
a hypothetical curve ball:
“President Trump and a
more conservative Supreme
Court have outlawed
abortion. But abortions
still occur. Should there
be criminal prosecution or
punishment? Who should
be punished?”
Trump, who at first
struggles, says, “Well...
there would have to be
some form of punishment,
yes.”
“For the women?”
Matthews further probes.
“Yes, for the women,”
Trump replies.
Matthews attempted to
get sentencing options out
of Trump, but by then the
candidate appeared already
aware of what he had just
stepped in.
Trump, who spent
decades self-labeled as
pro-choice, now declares
himself pro-life. With this
answer, he was able to
inflame and anger both
sides on perhaps the
hottest social issue of our
time, while simultaneously
accentuating the GOP’s
greatest Achilles’ heel
among female voters.
Trump’s campaign
quickly issues a formal
follow-up statement,
retracting his statement to
Matthews, now indicating
that it would be the doctor
or technician who will be
prosecuted if abortion is
made illegal. Score two for
Matthews. He has the GOP
frontrunner acknowledging
a potential goal of making
abortion illegal, and allowing
that he might prosecute the
prospective mother.
And then days later,
Trump’s campaign
acknowledges what most
in the GOP leadership
have understood for a
few decades, Roe v. Wade
is now the established
law of the land. Abortion
can be restricted, but not
abolished. In 1992, during
the Planned Parenthood
v. Casey deliberations,
eight of the nine members
of the Supreme Court
had been appointed by
Republicans. The lone
Democrat on the court at
that time was a dissenter
in the original Roe v. Wade
decision. And yet that case
upheld a women’s legal
right to an abortion, while
also allowing states to
place restrictions on the
timing and particulars of the
procedure.
The handful of folks I
know who are strong Trump
supporters will argue, yell
at and repeatedly tell me
that I just don’t get it. I
understand their beliefs and
mindset; I also happen to
believe that they are wildly
under- and misinformed. A
majority of those who have
told me they have voted for
or plan to vote for Trump
also shared that in many
cases they have not voted
for decades or have at least
sat out the past several
election cycles. I again
understand the why on this,
though I don’t agree with
that behavior either.
Former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has
been struggling with an
uninspired Democratic
Primary base vote, a
stronger-than-expected
challenge by Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders and an
email review by the FBI
which just won’t seem to
fade away. And now, with
a few minutes on MSNBC,
Mr. Trump has given her
an ace to play in the fall,
at practically no cost. No
wonder his casinos all went
bankrupt.
So here’s my
hypothetical situation: A
documented chauvinist,
with a long track record of
hateful Tweets and public
statements takes on a more
experienced, albeit flawed,
female opponent to lead
a country that is poised to
elect its first female chief
executive. Whose odds
do you like better in that
scenario, in a country with
a voting base that is 54
percent female?
Bill Crane also serves
as a political analyst and
commentator for Channel
2’s Action News, WSB-
AM News/Talk 750 and
now 95.5 FM, as well
as a columnist for The
Champion, Champion
Free Press and Georgia
Trend. Crane is a DeKalb
native and business owner,
living in Scottdale. You can
reach him or comment on
a column at bill.csicrane@
gmail.com.