Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2016
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
The First Amendment:
What you may not want to hear
I have been discussing the
First Amendment with one
of my dear friends
who I love, but
we seem to have
found a disagree
ment in one aspect
of it: flag burning.
First, let me
say that I do not
consider flag burn
ing as an act that
should be praised,
coddled or respect
ed; however, I do
not believe it
should be consid
ered criminal.
We have to remember
what the First Amendment
was outlined to protect—
the freedom to be offensive.
What one person finds offen
sive, another person may find
sacred. We see this in practic
es of religion every day.
Once we begin to use
rights and liberty as a mat
ter of convenience, howev
er, we begin to overstep the
boundaries of freedom that
will become acts that will
eventually be used against us.
The argument here is that
people have the right to be
offensive. Conservatives do
not want their beliefs to be
defined as “hate speech” any
more than liberals do, and the
fact that both sides declare
the right to be offensive while
defining opposing views and
forms of protests as “hate
speech” that should be shut
down and outlawed shows
that we as a society have for
gotten the roots of our liberty.
Is flag burning offensive to
me? Of course it
is, but I will defend
the right of anoth
er to offend me
so long as it does
not impede on my
right to life, liberty
or property.
This is where we
begin to declare
that “the American
flag is my flag.”
Well did you
go to the store and
exchange your
own money for said flag, or
did the person offending you
exchange their money for
said flag?
If it is the latter, then you
have no right to dictate what
he or she can or cannot do
with it.
If, however, you are the
one in possession of the flag
and the opponent takes it
from you and sets fire to it,
then you may have a case. If
not, then you have no right
to dictate to them what they
can’t do with their own prop
erty.
I once watched a You
Tube video of a woman by
the name of Ann Bamhardt
who became so disgusted
with political correctness
in regards to Islam that she
bought a Qur’an, book-
marked a few scriptures from
it with raw bacon, read it to
the camera, and then began
tearing the scriptures out and
setting the pages on fire in
order to break free from polit
ical correctness. While Mus
lims will hold their beloved
Qur’an as something to be
considered sacred and infal
lible, conservatives in this
case would probably defend
Bamhardt’s right to do this,
as it does not offend them.
As soon as it is the Bible or
the American flag, however,
conservatives are up in arms
about it.
Do we not see the politi
cal hypocrisy here? Do we
not see that such hypocrisy
has been the foundation of
infringement to our liberties?
We have no more right to
tell our neighbor that they
cannot offend us than our
neighbor has to tell us that we
cannot offend them.
A good friend of mine,
Cameron McGinty, was a
huge Donald Trump support
er throughout the election.
The day after Trump was
declared the official Presi
dent-Elect, Cameron took to
the streets with celebration
using signs, scriptures and
engagement of intellectual
dialect with opponents.
One opponent in particular
came to stand next to Cam
eron with a sign that read
“I’m with Stupid,” referring
to Cameron as “stupid.”
Instead of getting offended
and confronting his oppo
nent, Cameron praised the
man for using his right to free
speech openly and peaceful
ly, pulled out his cell phone.
See Swords on Page 6A
What does the left want?
Even with Donald Trump stand
ing in the wings as president-elect,
I have a real concern for the Dem
ocrats and the left side of the aisle.
I realize that every day brings
change into this world. I admit that
change mostly seems to be for the
better side of life.
Unfortunately, we are seeing a
change and a hatred in politics that
I don’t ever recall seeing and I’ve
been watching politics since 1966.
The left has gone ballistic with
Trump's historical win and the left
can’t handle it.
As a conservative voter in 2008, I
remember worrying about what changes
Obama would make,
Obama was a Presidential candidate
who didn’t place his hand over his heart
when the Pledge of Allegiance was being
said, nor did he wear an American flag
lapel pin, and in fact, made some crude
comment about what this country’s flag
stood for.
He told us up front that he was going
to change this country while his wife was
telling the world that she was ashamed of
America.
The left, which was so sure of itself and
a presidential win in 2016, now wants a
recount of the votes; there are high school
and college students traveling around the
country protesting the election along with
other organizations; and, now the Clin
tons have called for a recount.
The left is displaying a lot of discontent
because they did not get their way.
Of course, the Clintons want a recount
and hope for a come-back win.
Otherwise, some of those foreign
donors that gave the Clintons millions of
dollars might come knocking and ask for
refunds.
The Clinton Foundation could be broke
within a year.
And, I'm sure the Foundation is worried
about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Remember how the IRS and Obama's
cronies investigated and squeezed the
Tea Party organizations along with other
major donors to conservative
clauses over the last eight
years?
It could be pay-back time!
But back to the left in
general.
It appeal's the left has lost
their vision on what's really
important in government and
the purpose of government
as empowered by our found
ing fathers and our Constitu
tion as evidenced in current
activities.
The left has mourned the
recent death of Fidel Castro, a Cuban
dictator and arch-enemy who brought
the cold war into the western hemisphere
and who shouldered responsibility for the
deaths of thousands of his countrymen.
The left has been absorbed in today's
hip-hop culture and has embedded itself
with the entertainment industry and the
national news media.
If you haven’t noticed, ABC, NBC,
and CBS national news have all become
media experts in our pop culture society.
International and national news still draw
the first few minutes of the newscasts but
then the three major networks worry more
about which movie star divorced his or
her spouse and who was seen where than
they worry about providing complete and
unbiased news reporting.
Dancing with the Stars gets more cov
erage than an earthquake in Italy.
Even Michelle Obama has joined the
parade. She and Beyonce have become
good friends.
Michelle publicly admires the “Queen
of pop culture” and earlier this year
Beyonce spent the weekend with Michelle
and her daughters at Camp David.
If I had a daughter I wouldn’t allow the
pop queen to come into the same town
with her.
Nicole James, a pop writer, wrote,
“Beyonce is no longer the singer you
want to bring home to visit. Her music
has become sexual and vulgar, explicitly
See Terrell on Page 6A
jimmy
terrell
American labor is simply
too expensive for low-skilled
commodity manufacturing.
But there’s also the issue
of unintended consequences.
The entanglement of a world
economy has been good in
preventing the destabiliza
tion of other nations. That
has perhaps prevented wars
that might have happened if
the economic consequences
weren't so terrible.
We have had small conflicts
since 1945, but no more world
wars.
That's due in large part
not to politics, but rather to
the economic self-interest of
the world’s leading powers
because they’re so integrated
by having trade relationships.
And on our own borders,
imagine what would have
happened with illegal immi
gration had Mexico not began
to create a stronger economy
from its trade with the U.S.
The creation of jobs in
Mexico by American firms
has raised the standard of liv
ing in that country and helped
prevent what might have oth
erwise been a tidal wave of
illegal immigrants into this
country.
Having a successful, stable
Mexico on our border is very
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
OPEN HOUSE - On Friday,
December 9, we will host two
Open House sessions at ACS
at 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. We
would love to have you join
us.
When people ask me what is
unique about ACS, I tell them
it is the way we love people.
We are proud of our rigorous
academic program, our 100%
college acceptance rate, and
our successful extracurricular
activities, but if we are doing
an excellent job and not shar
ing the love of Christ, then we
are not fulfilling our mission.
If you are considering a pri
vate education, we hope you
will compare ACS to other
schools. When you do, you
will find that we offer the best
value in private education in
Northeast Georgia.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
Buffington continued from 4A
much in the self-interest of
the U.S.
Part of the problem in the
U.S. with its economic dol
drums in the Northern Rust
Belt isn’t just that manufac
turing has shifted to the South
and to other nations. Also at
play is a reluctance — maybe
inability — by those who
need jobs to adapt to this new
information-based economy.
There are jobs available in
the U.S., but many Rust Belt
residents have not gotten the
re-training they need to do
them, nor have they relocated
to areas where those jobs are
available. Instead, they have
adopted an attitude of victim-
hood and now want the gov
ernment to solve their prob
lems for them by recreating
jobs from their past.
That's unlikely. Northern
industrial jobs dominated the
U.S. for decades. High union
wages in the North allowed
for a level of economic wealth
that those in the South couldn’t
even dream about. And it was
those same high union wages,
especially in the auto industry,
that eventually drove Northern
manufacturing firms to seek
cheaper labor elsewhere. The
U.S. government cannot help
people who don’t want to help
themselves.
Trade deals led to economic
Darwinism; adapt and sur
vive, or become displaced.
That’s what many Northern
Rust Belt residents don’t seem
to understand. While they sit
around complaining, people
from other nations are moving
here to take the jobs being cre
ated in our new information
economy.
The white working-class of
the Rust Belt resent that, as
was evident in the election,
but they are doing little to help
themselves to adapt.
That white working class
resentment won’t change the
overall economic transitions
taking place.
The free movement of peo
ple and their intellectual cap
ital is necessary in this new
information economy and will
win out no matter what U.S.
political policies are adopted
in the coming years. One’s
skin color or ethnic back
ground or religious beliefs
aren’t important, only the
ability to function and adapt
to this new economic system
is what matters in the informa
tion age economy.
This country — and indeed
all industrialized nations
around the world — are going
through a time of major eco
nomic transition as we adapt
to this new information-based
economic model.
Nations that adapt through
education, training and flexi
bility will become the world's
next economic leaders.
Nations that resist and
attempt to retrench with
economic Nationalism and
Isolationism will fail.
The old economic order is
dead or dying. Bringing back
millions of old manufacturing
jobs to the U.S. to appease
an angry white working class
isn't going to happen.
The Industrial Revolution is
over and a new economic rev
olution is taking place.
We ignore that reality at our
own peril.
Mike Buffington is
co-publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers, Inc. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreet-
news.com.
November 30, 2016 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Brought to you courtesy of: Akins Ford, Winder, Ga.
Across
1. “-zoic” things
5. Come together
9. “Oh, !”
13. Bowed
14. Strategy board game
15. And others, for short
16. carotene
17. Circle
18. Honky-
19. In a tactful manner
22. It’s a snap
23. Not quite
24. Alias (abbrev.)
26. Benefit
28. Oolong, for one
29. and outs
30. Houses and land (2 wds)
35. “Likewise”
38. “The Daba Honeymoon”
39. “Rabbit food”
40. Cumulonimbus, e.g. (2 wds)
43. “... he drove out of sight”
44. blood group system
45. Highlands hillside
47. Ballpoint, e.g.
48. Stone mounds erected
as markers
51. Methuselah’s father
53. Post-diaper discipline (2 wds)
56. Bridge toll unit
57. Beat
58. Be a monarch
60. Equal
61. Architectural projection
62. The Kennedys, e.g.
63. Annexes
64. Contact, e.g.
65. “ for the poor”
Down
1. “Chicago” lyricist
2. Bassoon, e.g.
3. Italian appetizer
4. Kind of infection
5. Resembling marble
6. Goya’s “Duchess of ”
7. Forger
8. Gorge
9. Information about information
10. Bikini, e.g.
11. Hairy-chested
12. Excessive drinker
14. Owl, e.g.
20. Chop (off)
21. Salad green
24. Boosts
25. Jersey, e.g.
27. Shish
31. Those honored for great
achievements
32. The first transfinite cardinal
(mathematics)
33. Container weight
34. “OurTime in ”
(10,000 Maniacs album)
36. Excerpts advertising new films
37.18th-century card game
41. Check
42.1973 Elton John hit
46. Long, long time
48. Served as helmsman
49. Had a bug
50. Abundance
52. About
53. Spanish appetizer
54. Archaeological site
55. rock, e.g. David Bowie
59. “Star Trek” rank: Abbr.