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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
Finding meaning
in the movies
Sunday night marks the annual Academy
Awards, where the top films and performances of
the year will be honored and celebrated.
As an avid fan of cinema, I watch every year.
But the awards have become mostly boring and
predictable as various guilds and societies, along
with the best public relations campaign, tend to
anoint the winners early on.
Even more predictable will be the numerous
politically charged speeches that accompany the
awards. I’m a believer in free speech so they
don’t ever particularly both
er me in either direction, but
political speeches at awards
ceremonies tend to put a lot
of people on edge.
Still, it’s interesting to get
an annual snapshot of the
best the industry has to offer
and what kind of messages
it is putting out.
And there is deeper mean
ing to be found in each of
the Best Picture nominees,
all of which will seem relat-
able to people.
The frontrunner, “La La Land,” about an aspir
ing jazz musician and actress, paints a rosy pic
ture of Hollywood, but anyone who has ever had
big dreams of anything and had to make huge
sacrifices along the way can relate to it.
“Moonlight” is a three-part story about a young
black and gay boy growing up in a rough area of
Miami, struggling to find acceptance and, later in
life, trying to come to terms with who he is. But
one doesn’t have to necessarily be gay or black to
relate to that idea of trying to be something they’re
not and then finding themselves in the world.
“Hacksaw Ridge” tells the story of Army medic
Desmond Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist and
conscientious objector whose heroism saved 75
soldiers at the Battle of Okinawa. Anyone should
be able to appreciate the importance of sticking to
one’s values and beliefs while making a difference
in the world.
“Hell or High Water,” a neo-Western combined
with a crime drama, gives a look into the econom
ic insecurity and sense of abandonment felt by
countless Americans.
“Manchester by the Sea,” my personal favorite,
is about grief but also uplifting in the end. The
main character, after losing his brother, is faced
with being the guardian of his nephew and he
never shies away from that responsibility of look
ing out for his nephew, even as he faces his own
personal demons from his past. It’s a story of
coming to terms with grief through the deep love
of family above all.
“Arrival” goes way beyond a typical science
fiction movie in teaching us that communication
is vitally important to the health of our society.
The world’s conflicts are petty by comparison to
the health and survival of our planet, and we are
all better through strength in numbers.
‘Hidden Figures’
There are three other nominees I haven’t men
tioned, but the one that evoked the strongest
reaction out of me over the past year was “Hidden
Figures.”
It’s the story of three female African-American
mathematicians and their efforts in advancing the
American space program while working at NASA.
Katherine G. Johnson, in particular, calculated
flight trajectories for Project Mercury, which put
Alan Shepard into space and John Glenn in orbit
around Earth.
After watching it, I was inspired by the brilliance
of these three women, but also frustrated on a
number of levels.
Frustrated that it took more than half a century
for these women to finally get exposure and wide-
range recognition for their efforts. But also what it
says about our country as a whole.
We don’t really dream big anymore. We don’t
collectively aspire to many things. The 1960s was
a revolutionary and socially divisive time in this
country, but there was at least some sense of unity
in wanting to be the best.
This was never more apparent than in our
remarkable advancements in space science that
reached a pinnacle when we went to the moon
in 1969.
The astronauts of that era were household
names and heroes to my parents and grandpar
ents.
Half a century later, NASA continues to see its
funding slashed and its potentially groundbreak
ing missions delayed. And I couldn’t tell you the
name of any astronaut in recent years.
Unless it’s following some kind of major tragedy
or catastrophe, Americans hardly seem united
anymore.
The chief slogan of President Trump’s campaign
was “Make America Great Again.” People will take
their own meanings from that, but for me, making
America great again means aspiring to greatness
as a nation and uniting together to achieve things
that serve the betterment of the human race.
Scott Thompson is editor of the Barrow News-
Journal. He can be reached at sthompson@bar-
rownewsjournal. com.
FA5CBM!
RACISM! T
KNTI-SEMlflSM'
NO “
This election will be an
indicator of Trump’s support
During the first weeks of the Trump
administration, a recurring theme has
been the president’s sinking populari
ty in the polls.
New presidents typically enter office
with high approval ratings, and the
numbers will remain high
during the president’s honey
moon period.
That hasn’t happened with
Donald Trump. He entered
office with unusually high dis
approvals and those numbers
have continued to increase.
The latest Gallup poll, for exam
ple, had Trump’s disapproval
level at 56 percent of those
surveyed while only 38 percent
approved.
Trump and his supporters, of
course, dismiss all these poll
numbers as “fake,” and they may have
a point.
After all, most of the pollsters last
fall said Hillary Clinton would win
the presidency - instead, she ended
up losing to Trump in the Electoral
College despite leading him by nearly
three million popular votes.
If the polls can’t be trusted, then
how do you accurately gauge the pop
ularity of the president?
One way is to look at the results of
special elections where candidates
who support or oppose Trump are on
the ballot.
There is just such an election is
coming up on April 18 in Georgia’s
6th Congressional District, where Tom
Price recently resigned to become
the secretary of health and human
services.
This election is what they call a “jun
gle primary,” with all 18 candidates
on the same ballot regardless of party
affiliation. With this many candidates
running, it’s all but assured there will
be a runoff election on June 20.
The 6th Congressional District,
which covers suburban areas in Cobb,
Fulton, and DeKalb counties, is nor
mally solid Republican. Price was
reelected there in November with just
under 62 percent of the vote.
Trump only carried the district by
a 48-47 percent margin over Clinton,
however. That has Democrats think
ing they might have a shot in the spe
cial election, which inevitably will be a
referendum on Trump.
There was obviously some antipa
thy to Trump among a segment of the
district’s GOP voters on Nov. 8. The
special election should tell us whether
Trump’s performance in office has
bolstered or weakened his support
among the party’s base.
Eleven Republicans qualified for the
special election, and the three most
familiar names are Karen Handel, a
former secretary of state, and two
former state senators, Judson Hill and
Dan Moody. These candidates have
so far been guarded in their comments
about Trump, so it will be interesting to
see what they say about the president
in their campaign commercials and
mailers.
tom
crawford
At least two of the GOP candidates
are diehard Trump advocates who
are competing to see which one can
attract more of the president’s sup
porters. They are Bruce LeVell, who
was the head of Trump’s “diversity
coalition,” and business
man Bob Gray, a former
Johns Creek city coun
cilman.
Five Democrats are
on the ballot, but the
two with the most polit
ical experience are Jon
Ossoff, a former con
gressional aide, and Ron
Slotin, who served two
terms in the state Senate
during the 1990s before
running unsuccessful
ly for Congress. All of
these Democrats will be making an
issue of the controversies Trump has
stirred up since his inauguration.
How do you read the results of this
special election? You won’t be able
to do an exact calculation because of
the presence of two independent can
didates on the ballot, but I think you’ll
come pretty close.
Add up the percentages of the votes
that go to the 11 Republican candi
dates. If they total more than 48 per
cent, which was the portion that went
to Trump in November, then Trump
probably has not damaged his stand
ing among the district’s GOP voters.
Check to see if either of the Trump
loyalists, LeVell or Gray, make it into
the runoff. If both of them are knocked
out in the first round of voting, that’s
an indication that Trump’s support
may be slipping.
Add up the percentages of the five
Democratic candidates. If they total
more than the 47 percent that went to
Clinton - and if a Democrat makes it
into the June 20 runoff - that would be
an indication that Trump’s support is
going downhill.
Polls, as we’ve seen, don’t always
give us an accurate reading of the
political landscape. Actual elections
like the one coming up on April 18 can
tell us a lot.
Tom Crawford is editor of The
Georgia Report, an internet news ser
vice at gareport.com that reports on
state government and politics. He can
be reached at tcrawford@gareport.
com.
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Democrats,
please just
shut up
As a political independent, I get to
be critical of both Democrats and
Republicans.
This week, it’s time for a message to
Democrats.
First, please stop acting like idiots.
Not to offend my
mike
buffington
Democratic friends,
but the Democratic
Party is perhaps
the most inept
conglomeration of
politicians I’ve ever
seen.
Democrats lost
the presidential
election against a
flaky-reality-show-
host-who-pretend-
ed-to-be-a-Republi-
can.
Democrats couldn’t even beat Donald
Trump.
Let that sink in.
Democrats, you need to step back and
take a deep breath.
I understand you want to stand up as
the loyal opposition to Trump. He is,
after all, the most inexperienced man
to ever hold the Oval Office. He’s sur
rounded himself with extremist nuts
who think we’re about to face a Muslim
Armageddon.
And don’t get me started on his
so-called spokesmen.
“Alternative facts,” anyone?
Still, Democrats are idiots to think they
can push against Trumpism with a head-
on assault.
Women wearing pink hats and march
ing in the streets won’t do it.
Sen. Elizabeth Warran’s ranting won’t
do it.
Protesting on college campuses won’t
do it.
Hyping opposition to all of Trump’s
cabinet nominees won’t do it.
All of that is just giving Trumpites more
fuel.
Here’s an idea for Democrats: Try
reconnecting with Middle America. Try
to understand why you lost the rural vote,
especially among working-class white
voters.
As a part of that, do some soul-search
ing about the memes you embrace.
Your liberal followers have turned many
college campuses into jokes. Safe spaces
and speech control have become the
bywords of snotty liberal kids who don’t
want to hear anything they disagree with.
Those kids — and they are know-nothing
kids — are as bad as the “deplorable”
Trump followers you disdain.
Tell your young liberal followers on
college campuses to buck up. Hell, they
are a bunch of snowflakes as Trumpites
say. Tell them to get a grip.
And don’t be blind to the very real
concerns many Americans have about
the technology revolution that is leaving
some of them behind. These changes
are happening fast, much faster than
most of us can really grasp. Automation
is replacing people — good jobs have
become more demanding.
Not everyone can adapt to these chang
es. Some people are getting left behind.
As a society, we need to help those who
are getting lost in this new, high-tech
economy.
Democrats should also see just how
scared many Americans have become
beyond economics. People are scared
for their security and the security of the
nation. Trump captured that fear, stoked
it, hyped it and built his successful cam
paign on the backs of that fear.
Democrats need to calm that fear.
They need to become a voice of reason,
of truth, of facts in a world being flooded
with propaganda.
You won’t change everyone’s mind,
but a sense of calmness will serve you
better than hysterical ranting.
In short, Democrats, you need to move
back to middle America from whence
you came. You moved too far to the left
and in doing so, lost your connection
with those you used to represent.
And Democrats, you should try one
more thing: Silence.
Just shut up for a while.
Don’t feed the flames of hatred and
extreme polarization by pushing back on
every Trump tweet.
Your push-back is often just as nutty
See Buffington on Page 6A