Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
Free speech heats up
National debt exploding
If Randa Jarrar was hoping to create a
firestorm last week, she did a pretty good job.
Jarrar blew up the presses last week, engag
ing the right against the left; the free-speechers
against the protected speeches; and everything
in between.
She happens to be the woman who, on
Twitter, demeaned the passing of former First
Lady Barbara Bush.
Jarrar stole the day,
several days for that
matter, from the master
of tweeting, President
Donald Trump.
Following the Bush
death announce
ment, the Fresno State
University professor
tweeted: “Barbara Bush
was a generous and
smart and amazing rac
ist who, along with her
husband, raised a war
criminal.” She added,
“F*** outta here with your nice words.”
She didn’t stop there.
She also added, “I’m happy the witch is
dead. Can’t wait for the rest of her family to
fall to their demise the way 1.5 million Iraqis
have...”
The backlash has come from the media
and through social media but the Fresno State
English professor dug in feet first responding,
“.. .1 work as tenured professor. I make 100K
a year doing that. I will never be fired. I will
always have people wanting to hear what I
have to say; even you are one of them.”
According to a story filed by Leah Barkoukis
(TownHall.com). the university president has
tried to distance the school from the views of
his professor. President Joseph Castro issued
a statement that Barkoukis posted saying,
“Professor Jarrar’s expressed personal views
and commentary are obviously contrary to the
core values of the university...”
The school’s provost Lynnette Zelezny
reportedly “...condemned Jarrar’s comments
calling her statements “disrespectful.” The
provost also disagreed with the professor’s
understanding that she could not be fired.
Jarrar would obviously not survive very
long on my staff and if she were my neighbor
I would be encouraging her to move at every
available opportunity. I would be glad to help
her pack.
A Wikipedia biography identified the writ
er as being bom in Chicago. Her mother is
Greek-Egyptian and her father is Palestinian.
She grew up in the Middle East but returned
to the United States after the 1991 Gulf War.
Her comments have created questions and a
dilemma for all sides of the speech equation.
As a parent, would you want a professor
with these public comments teaching creative
writing to your college student? Is this what
you are paying big bucks to a university for?
Should we draw a red fine defining free
speech, and, if so, what would it be and what
can it not be?
Where do her comments fall in the current
battle fronts on university campuses where
the left is attempting to deny conservative
speakers from even being on campuses, and
for those who do make it onto a campus being
shouted down once they take the stage to deliv
er their message?
To many readers, her tweets border on
hate speech and go beyond the limits of free
speech.
Interestingly, some defenders and activists
have taken opposite sides and others have
remained silent. The silence is not simply on
whether she should have said what she said but
on the fact she attacked an honorable mother
and wife in such a manner and then blamed
her for the actions of her husband and son.
Conor Friedersdorf, writing for the The
Atlantic, said of the current predicament, “I
would grant that critics of the speech in ques
tion are understandably upset; make it clear
that I, myself, find the speech in question to
be offensive; and explain why I neverthe
less oppose targeting the speaker’s job for
expressing it, whether in service of the First
Amendment rights or a culture of free expres
sion.”
Friedersdorf did say pointedly that he felt
“.. .her (Jarrar) behavior is grotesque, imma
ture and embarrassing.”
I would add to his comments that her speech
was unprofessional, unchaste and irreprehen-
sible. Her message is a message of hate and
bigotry and has no place or value in today’s
society.
I’m afraid Jarrar’s words actually add fuel
to the burning questions that many have about
today’s colleges and universities and leaves
many wondering just what are the professors
teaching in the classroom.
A final question lies on the table. Where is
yesterday’s decency?
Jimmy Terrell is retired from a career in
law enforcement in Barrow County and is a
Winder city councilman. He can be reached at
ejterrell65@gmail.com.
There was a time when concern about
the nation’s debt was a major Republican
talking point. Remember a couple of years
ago when Congressional GOP members
were screaming about how much the
nation’s debt had gone up under President
Obama?
Remember when Speaker Paul Ryan
said, “President
Obama has added
more debt than
any other president
before him.
Not anymore.
Now that the das
tardly Obama has
left office, the GOP
has fully embraced
higher national debt
and no longer talks
about deficit spend
ing.
One small exam
ple: Georgia’s 9th Congressional District
here in northeast Georgia is one of the
most conservative in the nation. In 2015,
newly-elected Rep. Doug Collins said
this about federal government spending:
“Many people struggle with debt while
trying to make ends meet. We need to be
fiscally responsible, not point the country
in the direction of further financial hard
ship. When you get in dire straits like this,
you make conservative budget goals and
stick to them.”
Last September, Collins was still sound
ing the alarm: “The American people are
fed up with Washington — and right
fully so. Both parties are responsible for
this pathetic budgeting record and for its
byproduct: a staggering $20 trillion debt.
It’s time to forge a new path.”
And yet, Collins voted for both the
Tramp tax cut and the recently approved
budget that tremendously hiked federal
spending by $400 billion.
Do the math. Lower revenues plus
higher spending equals bigger deficits and
more debt.
That has sounded alarm bells with
some of the GOP’s core supporters in the
business community. A recent article in
Fortune magazine had this to say about
the situation:
“The U.S. government’s huge and
growing budget deficits have become
gargantuan enough to threaten the great
American growth machine. And Tramp’s
policies to date — a combination of deep
tax cuts and sharp spending increases
— are shortening the fuse on that fiscal
time bomb, by dramatically widening the
already unsustainable gap between reve
nues and outlays. On our current course,
we’re headed for a morass of punitive
taxes, puny growth, and stagnant incomes
for workers — a future that’s the precise
opposite of what Tramp champions.”
The article goes on to say that by 2028,
the national debt could go from $15.5
trillion to $33 trillion because of the
combination of tax cuts and unrestrained
spending.
Here’s why that’s a problem. To pay for
the debt, the nation borrows money. That
hasn’t been a big issue in recent years as
interest rates have been historically low in
an effort to stimulate the economy out of
the great recession.
But now interest rates are going up and
means the federal government — and by
extension taxpayers — will have to pay
more interest on the trillions that we’re
borrowing. By 2028, interest could absorb
20 percent of federal revenues.
Absurd.
But here’s another problem: This mas
sive amount of debt is going to tie the
government’s hands when the next reces
sion hits. During economic downturns,
the government spends more money both
in social support services for the unem
ployed and to stimulate the economy.
That’s what was done following the 2008
recession.
During good times, when the economy
is strong, is when the nation has tradition
ally paid down its debt.
That’s what we should be doing now.
We have a strong economy and we should
be paying down the debt, or at least not
adding to it with further deficits. That was
the traditional GOP mantra. It’s called
fiscal responsibility.
Democrats have never really cared
about deficits or the debt. In the past, most
national Democrats have endorsed higher
spending, especially on social programs.
The grown-ups in the room used to be the
Republicans who held back on runaway
spending.
No more. Republicans have learned
how to buy votes, too, especially in a
mid-term election year when they face a
serious blowback in many congressional
districts.
But this isn’t just about higher spend
ing. The massive tax cuts passed last year
is also part of the equation. We all like our
taxes cut. Who wouldn’t?
Yet, those tax cuts are adding to the
national debt, too. We want more spend
ing on our goodies, but we don’t want to
pay for it. That means some day in the
future, our children and grandchildren
will have to pay those debts. We’re leav
ing the nation worse off than we found it.
Most people don’t care about any of
this. They want their tax cuts and they
want higher spending on government pro
grams that benefit them. If it all blows up
in the future, then they’ll worry about it
then. For now, let the good times roll.
The GOP used to be the party of fiscal
responsibility. It used to be led by those
who cared about the nation and who could
see the big picture. It used to be led by
experience and some attempt at wisdom.
No more. The GOP is filled today with
hypocrites. The party has ousted its real
conservatives and, in their place, put pop
ulist demagogues.
Republicans have become no different
than Democrats — both are just looking
at buying their own re-election, the nation
be damned.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher
of Mainstreet Newspapers. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Thompson continued from 4A
Fox News has become
very effective at playing
to its base of older, con
servative whites with its
“Fox and Friends” morn
ing show, tailor-made for
the president’s ego, and its
primetime lineup — which
consists of Tucker Carlson
and his anti-immigration
populist rhetoric, Sean
Hannity, who is now noth
ing more than a state-media
shill, and Laura Ingraham,
who has an apparent prob
lem with athletes express
ing opinions on social
match. Jeffrey Lord and
Van Jones got pretty good
at them during the presi
dential campaign and the
first few months of Trump’s
presidency before the net
work cut ties with Lord.
On both networks, real
journalism has taken a
backseat. On one network,
you get “birther-like cover
age” on a range of issues, as
conservative commentator
Bill Kristol has described
it. On the other one, you get
a competition of who can
talk the loudest and over
the most people.
One might be less bad,
but neither is helpful.
Scott Thompson is edi
tor of the Barrow News-
Journal. He can be reached
at sthompson@bar-
rownewsjournal. com.
April 25, 2018 ~ Crossword Puzzle
jimmy
terrell
issues.
CNN will push back
against the exaggerations,
misleading statements and
falsehoods that pour out on
a regular basis from this
administration, but they
have also let the president’s
“fake news” label on them
become too personal. And
you probably won’t have
to watch CNN more than
about 15 minutes before
you encounter a shouting
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
PROGRAM - Five years ago,
we started a Media Communi
cations Program at ACS, and in
2014, we opened our state of the
art Media Communications Lab
in Founders Hall. The ultimate
goal of our Media Program is to
train students to be salt and light
in the media and film industry.
As part of their training, our
media and film students attend
the Highbridge Festival in April.
The Highbridge Festival is the
premier event at Asbury Uni
versity’s “Engaging the Culture
Weekend,” and has become one
of the top fine arts events in Ken
tucky’s Bluegrass Region.
Eight of our graduates have
gone on to study Media and Film
in college. These students will
soon be impacting our culture for
Christ!
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
AproQQ
1. List of candidates
6. Mast support
10. Patton’s branch
14. Facing
16. Net fabric
17. Routine
18. African river
19. Corpulent
20. Glance at
21. “Little Blue...”
22. Done
24. Be evasive
26. Vast plain
28. Close by
32. Write with a keyboard
35. Harness piece
36. Love affair
38. Accumulate a great amount
40. “People” person
42. Forsaken
43. Military unit
45. Crystal-lined rock
47. Take to the altar
48. Clog creator
51. Existed
54. Kind of drum
55. Descend, in a way
60. Indian nanny
62. Bar bottle
65. Apartment agreement
66. Inheritor
68. Shackle
70. At another place
71. Talent
72. Expensive appetizer
74. St. Petersburg penny
78. Young voter
79. Dip suddenly into water
82. Diminished quantity
85. Live
87. Movies
89. Bounded section
90. Red, white, or blue
91. Bring to light
92. Gizzard
93. Tie
94. Lyric verse
Down
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ticket receipt
Timber wolf
Not present
Sunbather’s goal
Rye fungus
6. Poorboy
7. Appealed
8. Likewise
9. Clarinet need
10. Munitions depot
11. Fabled bird
12. Subway org.
13. Japanese money
15. Scuba
16. Lethargic
23. Dueling device
25. Group of whales
26. Peasant
27. Puzzling
29. Adequate, to a bard
30. Estate measure
Shred
Yet, briefly
“I Got Babe”
31.
32.
33.
34.
36.
37.
39.
41.
Bit of butter
Chess castle
Court shout
Phonograph record
Boston Party
44. The things there
46. Of a time
49. Before
50. Personality
51. Stride
52. Prayer ending
53. Legend
56. Cohort
57. Ralph, to Norton
58. Teepreceder
59. Ship side
61. Cutting tool
63. Moon feature
64. Lifted with effort
67. Initial victory?
69. Female relative
Doddering
Compress
Dark, to Donne
Metric measure
Art
73.
75.
76.
77.
79.
80
Inside
81. Cracker spread
82. Varnish ingredient
83. Be wrong
84. Coral, e.g.
86. Spot
88. Bite
1
2
3
4
5
14
18
21
22
10
11
12
13
17
20
32
33
34
38
43
51
52
53
60
66
71
82
83
84
n
89
92
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