Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2006
Jiuusimt Bailg .ijmmuti
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Bth will be battleground
Democrats and Republicans are
putting money and energy into a
congressional race - the Bth - that
has been tagged “up for grabs.”
Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall, who
has worked to endear himself to Middle
Georgians through diligent attention to
the interests of Robins Air Force Base,
will face formidable opposition in the
General Election in November.
His opponent is Republican Mac
Collins, who formerly represented the
district. He did not seek reelection so he
could run for
United States
senator, a
race that he
lost.
Marshall
was elected
to fill the
position that
Collins gave
up.
Despite
Marshall’s
popularity,
this is shap
ing up as a
hard-hitting,
close bat
tle, with the
national par
ties keeping
their eyes on
the race and lending support.
Republican National Committee
Chairman Ken Mehlman was in the area
a week ago boosting Collins. We probably
can expect some prominent Democrats
in the area before the election.
Some political analysts believe that the
Republicans are in danger of losing con
trol of the House this fall. Every House
seat is important and the one here in the
Bth congressional district is one of only
four in the country in which Republicans
believe they have a chance of unseating
a Democrat.
The Bth district is weighed in favor of
a Republican. However, Marshall can
expect many Republicans to support him
because of his strong military ties.
Outcome of the election is anyone’s
guess at this time.
Ungrateful, to say the least
Thousands of Americans were
stranded in Lebanon when Israel
began bombing the country in an
effort to defeat Hezbollah terrorists.
Almost all of them were there of their
own free will. Some were tourists.
Thousands were there for high paying
jobs and freedom from paying United
States income taxes.
Nevertheless, this country mounted an
expensive and dangerous rescue mission
to get them out of Lebanon.
And look what happened. Many of the
refugees have been critical of the speed
of the rescue mission, the facilities pro
vided them on a ship to which some of
them were taken and other reasons.
In our opinion, they are ungrateful
wretches. They’re lucky American tax
payers got them out of harm’s way and
brought them home.
WORTH REPEATING
“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July,
but Democrats believe every day is April 15.”
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
40th President of the United States
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Some political
analysts believe that
the Republicans are
in dangep of losing
control of the House
this fall. Every House
seat is important and
the one here in the Bth
congressional district
is one of only four in
the country in which
Republicans believe
they have a chance of
unseating a Democrat.
To teachers: Use it or lose it
Public school teachers are receiv
ing a SIOO gift card to purchase
supplies. This gesture on the
part of the state has been round
ly applauded. However, there is one
string attached to the cards and it has
received little publicity.
Last Saturday the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution wrote that teachers must
spend the SIOO only during the four
day sales tax holiday this coming week
end. If they don’t, they will lose the
money. Use it or lose it.
It puts quite a restriction on teach
ers, who may not know before they get
into the new school year what supplies
they really need. However, that is the
restriction. Hopefully, all teachers will
be aware of it to cut into the amount of
money they annually spend on supplies
out of their own pockets.
■ ■■
Four men, looking for money, went
to a Morehouse College student’s home
in Atlanta, and waited all night for
him to come home. They tortured him
for six hours, then dumped him, still
alive and crying out for help, in the
trunk of an automobile, where he died.
The excuse for torturing and killing
him was because he “disrespected”
one of the criminals. Sounds like what
some Muslims say when they kill a
female member of the family who vio
lated their code. It’s all about culture,
whether some religious fanatics or
scum in this country.
The word “disrespect” has been ele
vated by them to the point of being
reason enough to commit murder.
■ ■■
Andrew Young endorsed Mark
Taylor for governor. Now he has
endorsed Cynthia McKinney for U.S.
Representative. Will Taylor be smart
enough to get out of this dilemma?
■ ■■
Mayor Ray Nagin’s “chocolate city”
~ z ** o, 0* ssh / —Of course X plan to \
J keep my campaign j
\ on the high ground!
Israel should keep on rolling
This column’s beginning will cer
tainly offend those at England’s
Cambridge University, who lec
tured and tutored me on the way to
helping me earn what has proved to be
a relatively useless but much-appreci
ated advanced degree in International
Relations.
But here goes. Roll, Israel, roll. Don’t
stop. Don’t look back. Don’t let diplo
matic pressures keep you from getting
the job done in Lebanon.
Many in the international community
are saying that what started as Israel’s
reaction to the kidnapping of two of its
soldiers is fast becoming either World
War 111 - to quote my mentor, Newt
Gingrich or is simply the continu
ation of a long-standing conflict. But
I would argue that the Israelis have
rightfully chosen this moment to treat
the events of the past weeks not as a
response to ongoing hostilities, but as
the necessary management of an inter
national crisis. Let me refer readers to
a collection of essays called “Managing
International Crisis.”
While the 1982 publication date may
seem out of touch with the realities of
the new millennium, rest assured that
its fundamental ideas still apply.
In this collection of essays, the
late Karl W. Deutsch, then Stanfield
Professor of International Peace at
Harvard University, wrote a chapter
entitled “Crisis Decision-Making: The
Information Approach.”
Deutsch helped develop The World
Society Foundation, an organization
devoted to researching and advancing
the idea that what often appear to be
issues facing individual nation-states
are actually issues that are global in
OPINION
is turning into the crime capital of this
country in a hurry, despite the fact that
New Orleans is only partially restored.
Already there have been 77 murders
this year and National Guard troops
are being called on to keep the peace.
Before Hurricane Katrina the “Big
Easy” led the country in murders each
year.
Is restoring such a city worth the
price it will cost?
■ ■■
Not all the so-called “refugees” from
New Orleans are anxious to return.
I have been told that one of these
refugee families is hunkered down in
Centerville in a home for which FEMA
has been paying SI,BOO a month rent
almost a year.
Why should they ever want to go
back?
■ ■■
The ultimate oxymoron: “Lasting
peace in the Middle East.”
■ ■■
It also is amazing that a large number
- possibility a majority - of Americans
believe that the economy is in bad
shape, despite the fact that unem
ployment is at, or near, an all-time
low, more people have jobs than ever
before, the stock market is in great
shape, and people are spending money
on entertainment and luxury items at
an unprecedented pace. The hate-Bush
media has done a good job of brain
washing a large part of the electorate
on this subject.
their implications.
Professor Deutsch would likely dis
agree with my use of his essay. I’m
employing his work as a way to illus
trate that a legitimate nation-state
- in this case, Israel - should use every
measure at its disposal to completely
destroy a non-nation-state - Hezbollah.
The truth is that it’s the traditional
definition of an international crisis, as
defined by scholars like Deutsch, that
has consistently allowed Hezbollah
and many other terrorist groups to
survive, and to strike again and again.
His reasoning is cited by many experts
today as prima facie evidence that
Israel is not justified in its aggressive
actions, and that in fact no genuine
“crisis” exists.
I’ll use Deutsch’s own reasoning to
justify my rather bold premise.
First, he argued, there must exist a
major turning point, so that there are
strongly different outcomes possible.
I would argue that Israel’s pursuit of
Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the ter
rorists have established themselves,
will have one of two results. Either
Hezbollah will be completely disman
tled, or Israelis will keep being mur
dered for years to come.
Second, the late professor suggested
that a true crisis is a situation in which
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
JHp :
. JiL
Matthew
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
■ ■■
The U.S. House or Representatives
has passed a bill that would raise the
minimum wage and also give a break
to taxpayers who would like to leave
their estates to their families instead
of paying most it to the federal govern
ment in taxes. Senators who claim that
they want to help poor people with a ,
higher minimum wage may sacrifice
this raise in order to punish some
wealthy people by rejecting the bill.
Senators who vote against this bill will
be exposed as hypocrites if they do not
vote for the higher minimum wage,
which they have been demanding for
a long time.
■ ■■
Critics complain about the low num
ber of voters who turned out for the
primary elections and point to the
fact the number will be much lower
for the runoffs. They deplore the low
turnout as “poor citizenship.” The U.S.
Constitution does guarantee American
citizens the right to vote, but there is
no compulsion for them to do so. In my
opinion, it probably is good when the
turnout is low. At least, the people vot
ing are interested in their government
and probably have an idea what they
are voting on.
* * *
If a major recreation park develop
ment that is now in the planning stag
es becomes reality it probably will be
located on Lake Joy Road on property
behind the present Publix Shopping
Center, which faces Highway 96.
■ ■■
Won’t it be great when all the pro
posed five-lane roads in North Houston
County are completed? Such con
venience may be too hard to take.
Nothing, however, can alleviate the
traffic congestion between Vinson
Parkway and Houston Lake Road on
Watson Blvd.
a lasting decision is inescapable. As
an example, he cites the 1962 Cuban
Missile Crisis. I agree. With Cuba,
there was the chance that one nation
state might have launched weapons
without provocation. A crisis, indeed.
Third, Deutsch says the crisis must
place at stake the values of at least one
of the parties. This one does. Israel
respects life and takes action only
when provoked. Hezbollah takes inno
cent lives at random and without prov
ocation. Finally, according to Deutsch,
the situation must not be a “chronic
crisis.” But therein is the fallacy of his
definition. Unless a nation-state such
as Israel chooses to treat a situation
such as that with Hezbollah as exigent
in nature, then the situation will by its
very nature become chronic.
Let’s face it. The United Nations,
Western Europe and the world of inter
national diplomacy demand that every
situation be “managed.” But does any
one really believe that United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is an
unbiased referee, given his immediate
accusations against Israel following
the loss of UN personnel several days
ago? He’s not. Sorry, folks. In this case,
cooperation turns an emergency crisis
into “a chronic one.” And a chronic cri
sis is just what terrorists thrive on.
With all due deference to the great
scholars such as Deutsch, whose writ
ings I followed, I stand by my rather
pedestrian declaration - roll, Israel,
roll.
To find out more about Matthew
Towery and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and car
toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate
Web page at www.creators.com.