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ollie Ahuattce The ADVANCE, August 16, 2023/Page 7A
A free press is not a privilege but
organic necessity in a great society.
-Walter Uppmann
COMMENTARY
out of
CONTEXT
A compilation of quotations on a variety of
issues by national, state and regional writers,
well-known personalities, just plain everyday
people and from various publications
collected by the editors of THE ADVANCE.
Quotes for our Times:
Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives: Biden's crumbling
defense opens door to even bigger impeach
ment inquiry.
As former Bush press secretary Ari Fleisch
er said on "Hannity," "If I was pitching clients
right now and I said, 'Hey, before we get go
ing to this meeting, I've got George Bush on
the line. He just wants to talk to you about the
weather. Hey, Mr. President, it's great to have
you here.' Everybody in that room would go,
'Oh, he can get the president on the line. Isn't
that something?' Everybody knows what that
would be. The difference is no politician I've
ever worked for would have gotten on that
line. It would have been unethical. It was cor
ruption. Joe Biden got on the line more than
20 times. That is corruption."
Katie Pavlich, Editor of Townhall.com: The
Biden family bank statements have landed.
The new documents also include pho
tos of then Vice President Joe Biden with a
number of foreign individuals Hunter was
engaged with, despite Biden saying he was
never "in business" or ever spoke about the
dealings. He had dinner with them after pay
ments were made to Hunter Biden.
Matt Vespa, Senior Editor at Townhall.com:
Speaker McCarthy sets a trap for Biden on im
peachment.
When Hunter's laptop was exposed, Joe
Biden's Justice Department worked overtime
stymying any investigation into the president's
son. That knowledge worked its way up to the
attorney general's office, which appears to
have lied regarding the independence of
these federal investigations into Hunter Biden.
Merrick Garland should also be impeached,
but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
is starting to set a trap for Joe Biden on im
peachment. The red line McCarthy estab
lished was the White House's refusal to turn
over financial documents.
Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D, former Lt. Gover
nor of New York State and author: Biden's DOJ
attacks the rights of defendants. You could be
next.
Trump's entitled to his opinion. After all,
Smith's calling him a criminal. If the govern
ment were trying to lock you up for the rest
of your life, you'd have a lot to say, too. No
matter what you think of Trump, you should
be alarmed by what Smith is trying to do.
Trying to muzzle any defendant goes con
trary to what the Bill of Rights and two cen
turies of American law stand for: putting the
rights of the defendant ahead of any other
considerations.
The Babylon Bee: Chicago Mayor says
that due to negative connotations we should
stop using the word 'Chicago'.
"You can call it 'The Windy City' or 'Down
town Deep Dish' but do not, under any cir
cumstances call it Chicago," said the mayor
of Chicago. "That just wouldn't be appropri
ate."
The city formerly known as Chicago has
been under particular strain of late due to
large "mob-like" gatherings disrupting busi
nesses with "loot-like" behavior. Mayor Bran
don hopes that calling the city literally any
thing else will cause the problem to go away.
At publishing time, the crime rate of the
City-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named continued
to rise for some reason.
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The fear factor
Donald Trump has gotten
indicted yet again, and, as
usual, most of the other Re
publican candidates have been
sympathetic, if not outright
deferential, to him.
It’s another episode that
raises the question: Can some
one who is afraid of Trump
defeat him?
Of all the advantages that
Trump has in the competition
for the 2024 Republican nomi
nation — immediate past pres
ident, ability to generate enor
mous media attention, etc. —
perhaps foremost among them
is the fact that the other Re
publican candidates are afraid.
It’s hard to think of anyone
who has ever won a major-
party nomination while show
ing fear, especially of someone
else in the field.
A successful candidate
might be careful around cer
tain issues or constituencies,
or back off of an unpopular
position. But being clearly
scared by an opponent is
something else, entirely.
George W. Bush and John Mc
Cain might have hated or dis
dained each other in 2000,
same with McCain and Mitt
Romney in 2008, or Romney
and Newt Gingrich in 2012.
But no one was ever clearly,
demonstrably afraid.
Until now.
When asked about Trump,
most of the candidates might
not actually lick their lips, or
swallow hard or begin to blink
faster, but you wouldn’t be sur
prised if they did. Generally,
they’ll evade questions, reject
the premise or revert to an an
swer that has been as carefully
crafted as an official statement
by one of the parties negotiat
ing the Paris Peace Accords.
You can almost see them
thinking:
Maybe he’ll leave me
alone.
Maybe he’ll make me his
veep.
Maybe there will be a bet
ter time to attack him later.
If they can help it, his op
ponents will never say Trump’s
name — he’s the most un
named major politician in
American history. Mike Pence
has tended to call him “my for
mer running mate.”
This means that Donald
Trump’s political dominance
of the rest of the field extends
to a kind of personal and psy
chological dominance.
A key aspect of the Trump
phenomenon from the begin
ning has been how he’s brought
the subrational element of pol
itics that’s always been there,
but usually relatively sub
merged, to the fore — more
Frans de Waal, author of
“Chimpanzee Politics,” than
Richard Hofstadter; more
Dana White than Lee Atwater.
This raises the possibility
that not taking Trump head-on
means more than simply miss
ing the opportunity to make
the case against him. It also
means implicitly acknowledg
ing his status as the Big Man of
Republican politics, and the
rival’s status as a subordinate
player in the world Trump cre
ated and rules.
The only one who’s really
not playing this game is Chris
Christie, who gives as good as
he gets and also needles Trump
and initiates fights against him.
If Christie can achieve a break
out in New Hampshire, it will
be based, in part, on winning
points on strength and courage
while doing and saying what
no one else dares. (Also-rans
Will Hurd and Asa Hutchin
son criticize Trump, too, but
more politely and convention
ally.)
All that said, the other can
didates are reacting to a genu
ine conundrum — Republican
voters might be open to an al
ternative to Trump in theory,
but they don’t want anyone to
criticize him. How to square
that circle is the biggest chal
lenge for the rest of the field, at
least those members of it genu
inely running to win.
Please see Lowry page 9A
GRITTY
A Case for Trump
to Not Debate
With Mike
Pence now qualify
ing for the Republi
can debate in Mil
waukee on Aug. 23,
there are now eight
candidates qualified
to participate.
However, one of
those eight is former
President Donald
Trump, who suggests that he is not in
clined to show up.
“When you have a big lead, you don’t
do it,” noted Trump.
“Am I going to stand up there by guys
with zero, one, two, three percent —
maybe four — and have them ask me
hostile questions?”
He now says he’ll poll supporters.
Fox News, the network carrying the
event, RNC Chairperson Ronna McDan
iel, and some of the other candidates are
urging Trump to debate.
But I think there is a strong case to be
made that if what we want this election to
be about is navigating toward the best in
terests of the country and its citizens, it
may be best for Donald Trump to not
show up in Milwaukee.
Consider, for instance, that within the
last week, bond rating service Fitch down
graded U.S. debt from AAA to AA.
This is the result of U.S. debt and
deficits skyrocketing into outer space.
But this critical development is barely
getting news oxygen when the really big
story is Trump’s latest indictment and
now his deliberations about whether to
participate in the Republican debate.
When only 19% of Americans say
they are satisfied with the direction of the
country, and considering that that per
centage has been over 40% only once in
the last 15 years, it is reasonable to as
sume that Americans, justifiably, are not
pleased with the current state of affairs.
Downgrading by a major credit rating
agency its estimate of the ability of the
United States to pay its creditors is just
Please see Star page 9A
By Star Parker
ers for Maui
haina — their home — vanish in the
raging inferno.
One minute, the people of La-
haina were going about their days
(grocery shopping, folding clothes,
working, etc.), and the next minute,
without warning, they were fighting
for their lives — all the while won
dering where their loved ones were
Amber and Gene Nagle in front of a magnificent banyan tree in
Lahaina. The big trunk behind them covers over half an acre.
I remem
ber hearing
a Polynesian
legend when
my husband
and I traveled
to Hawaii in
2020, just before the COVID pan
demic shut down the world. The is
landers spoke of Maui,
a demigod with super
human abilities, who
raised beautiful islands
from the floor of the
Pacific Ocean, lifted
the sky to snare the
sun, and created fire —
all to benefit mankind.
But the people of the
Hawaiian island that
bears mighty Maui’s
name were powerless
last week when faced
with the sudden, dead
ly wildfires that raced
violently across the is
land, driven by winds
from an offshore hur
ricane.
Many had no time to escape
the fire. Others ran toward the wa
ter and jumped into the safety of the
deep blue Pacific. The Coast Guard
rescued dozens of people as they
bobbed up and down in the rolling
waves and watched the village of La-
and hoping family and friends made
it out alive.
From the safety of our sofa in
northwest Georgia, my husband
and I watched the news coverage of
the wildfire over the weekend. They
showed the shocking before and af
ter shots, and we grieved to see the
charred rubble where buildings and
homes once stood. Then he and I
reminisced about visiting the friendly
village in 2020 and standing under
neath the sprawling branches of the
town’s banyan tree.
The tree was planted in 1873.
Banyans are known for their unusual
network of branches that grow out
ward and descend, forming more
roots, from which new trunks emerge.
When we were there, we marveled at
its many trunks and its leafy can
opy that covered over half an acre.
A sign in the park noted that the
tree was thought to be the largest
banyan tree in the United States.
But the wildfire engulfed the
Lahaina banyan tree in flames,
and it is too early to know if the
tree will survive. It’s probably
gone forever.
Next, we talked about the
people we met in Lahaina on va
cation that year. Tourism is a way
of life there, and they welcomed
us with open arms and love.
We ate at their restaurants and
shopped in their businesses. We
shared and laughed with them. I
bought a wooden carved whale’s
tail — a souvenir — from an old
er Hawaiian man on our last night on
vacation. The craftsman posed with
me and taught me to fold my fingers
into the shaka hand gesture — curl
ing my three middle fingers while
extending my thumb and baby finger.
Please see Amber page 12A
From the Porch
By Amber Nagle