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Wednesday, November 15,2023
FAYETTE VIEWS
A4 Fayette County News
Schools and Censorship
“Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Conway (a key
Trump advisor) staunchly defended Spicer (Trump’s press
secretary), and said his untrue statements were “alternative
facts.” -Time Magazine (Jan. 22, 2017).
Although I have done very well, I am the son and grand
son of penniless immigrants. I am
grateful for the USA... a unique bea
con of freedom for the world... and the
wonderful opportunities it has given
me and my family. However, I am
very concerned about the increasing
tendency to only teach our national
history in a positive light - leaving out
or drastically modifying the truth.
In the flippant words of the
Trump administration, creating “al
ternate facts” - otherwise known as
lies - when the truth is inconvenient.
Although there is an increased emphasis on alternative
facts due to the culture wars, there is also a long history of
misleading our students regarding our history. I went to high
school in Georgia and New York. In neither place did I learn
much about the negative aspects of American history.
I was in advanced placement classes in one of the best
public schools on Long Island (note - there were very few stu
dents of color). My teacher taught us that the Civil War was
fought for economic reasons. She never mentioned slavery.
Likewise, when my family moved to Cartersville, my high
school instructor in my segregated school indicated that the
Civil War was fought over states’ rights. Slavery was never
brought up.
It was not until college that I realized the truth. The Civil
War was fought because the southern states wanted to pre
serve slavery - the immoral ownership of black men, women,
and children. Many of the states which succeeded clearly
stated this fact.
In the words of Confederate Vice President Alexander
Stephens (a Georgian), “The new [Confederate] constitution
has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to
our peculiar institution - African slavery as it exists amongst
us - the proper status of the Negro in our form of civilization.
This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and pres
ent revolution.”
But it is not just historical racism that has been distorted
by our educational system. Georgia, Florida, and other states
controlled by the right wing of the GOP have decided that it
is politically helpful to stir the pot of white grievance in other
ways. For example, there is a trend toward saying that right-
wing parents versus teachers should decide what is taught
See Bernard, A6
A Child's Drug Problem
A friend of mine, a baby boomer like me, and I were dis
cussing the war, the Jews, the Arabs, Obama’s puppet, Joe’s
dementia, sex-ed in grammar school, drugs, and other such de
pressing subjects when, after a bit of silence waiting for a bite,
my friend abandoned his quest for fishing and asked if I wanted
to hear about his drug problem in his
youth.
Before I could reel in my line, he
began.
I paraphrase his story:
My dad was partly to blame. I
hated school, and many mornings I
would whine to my mom about how
sick I was. Just about the time Mom
was sort of convinced that I should stay
home, enter Dad. He gave my forehead
a quick touch and immediately dia
gnosed my sickness as teacheritis, or
dering me out of bed, post haste.
My best childhood friend Doug, co-mischief maker extraor
dinaire, decided that we should chuck candy cigarettes and
have a real smoke. We got hold of a pack of Marlboros and ab
sconded to our secret, parent-proof treehouse. It was around
midnight, so no problem of visitors, or so we thought.
No sooner than we had puffed a bit and engaged in a smoke
ring blowing contest, there came a clatter, then a loud knock
on our treehouse door. I opened the door, and of course,
plumes of smoke billowed out, blurring the figure outside,
which just happened to be my dad.
He drug me out, drug me down the ladder to the ground
faster than you could say, “I didn’t inhale.” That did not qualify
as an alibi. On the way down the ladder, dad broke off a limb
from the very tree my treehouse was perched in and com
menced to lash my back side, sending leaves and loose ciga
rettes flying.
My mom also did her part to aggravate my drug problem.
She drug me to Sunday school every week; she drug me to fu
neral wakes of people I didn’t even know and was scared to look
at; she drug me into the kitchen and deposited a bar of soap in
my mouth for uttering a profanity. I only said “dammit.”
One time I was at my grandma’s house. I didn’t like her
much because she always smelled like lilac, always gave my
cheeks a hard pinch, and could never remember my name. She
just called me whatever name she thought I said.
I accidentally, and with much regret, hollered at her that
she should turn up the volume on her hearing aid. Mom said I
was being disrespectful to Grandma. She grabbed me by the
ear and drug me to the woodshed behind Grandma’s house
that Grandma built, probably for just such occasions.
There was much carnage.
I got drug to almost everything. I was drug to mow the yard,
pick weeds in Grandma’s garden, and chop firewood. And if I
spoke ill of my teacher or our preacher, I got super-drugged
with corporal punishment to match (See tree limb above).
Mom drug me to Laura Bea’s house, a widow woman
whose husband had passed away. Laura Bea was in a funk
about it and let her yard go to hell, so I had to cut her grass and
cull the weeds. On top of that, I had to gather her firewood and
feed her animals.
What’s worse is if I took one thin dime for my services from
Laura Bea, mom would have drug me to you know where. By
the ears...
Just as Doug was about to go on with this drug problem, a
mighty tug on his fishing line took precedent and his story
ended. Anyway, I hope you get the point, and juxtapose this
analogy of violence with drugs.
“Qui habitat a gun, moriatur, a gun.”
JAMES
STUDDARD
JACK BERNARD
Giving Thanks for Our Veterans
It occurred to me when I began to
contemplate this week’s column that it
would be published somewhere be
tween Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
The two very separate holidays on
this month’s calendar should have a
good bit of overlap. Veterans Day is,
after all, a day where we give thanks
and show appreciation to those who
have served our country in a military
uniform.
Many of us have grown accustomed
to saying, “Thank you for your service,”
when we encounter a member of the
armed services in uniform or someone
who is identifiable as a veteran. I re
cently had an encounter at my gym
where another member struck up a
conversation by mentioning his time in
Vietnam. I thanked him and said, “I
know you didn’t get the thanks for that
when you needed it.”
“Yeah. Too late for that...,” he re
plied and then took a long pause. He
then began to tell me more of his story
and what it was like both serving in
Vietnam and what it was like for him
and his buddies when they came home.
I was glad to have the opportunity to
listen and took the time to let him talk.
Giving “thanks” was not high on the
agenda for many when encountering
Vietnam vets throughout the 70s and
well into the 80s. Hostility was too
often the norm.
The Vietnam War was deeply un
popular - including among many who
fought in it. Most didn’t ask to. It was
the last war when the U.S. used a draft
system to decide who would be sent a
half world away to fight.
The world had changed by the time
the U.S. re-entered large scale military
operations in Kuwait, then Afghanistan
and Iraq. The draft had ended. Vet
erans of the more recent wars have
been volunteers. A much smaller, self-
selecting percentage of our country
have been carry
ing the burdens
of defending our
country.
We have
coupled the de
tachment of
many Ameri
cans from mili
tary service with
the unfortunate
notion that war
is relatively easy. The lead up to the
first Gulf War included political debate
that questioned if our post-Vietnam
era military could even beat Saddam
Hussein’s army in the “mother of all
battles.”
There was real consternation that
the war would bog the U.S. down in the
desert for years and cost the lives of
tens of thousands of Americans. The
need to resume the draft was openly
discussed.
Instead, the objectives of that oper
ation were achieved in roughly one
month once combat operations began.
It seemed too easy, and perhaps laid
the groundwork for entering both Af
ghanistan and Iraq years later with sig
nificantly less clear military objectives.
Our eventual retreat from Afghanistan
was a less-than-stellar way to say
“Thank you” to those who volunteered
to serve in order to hold back the forces
of terrorism in the world.
With the brutal attacks by Hamas
on the innocent citizens of Israel on
Oct. 7, we’re again reminded that the
world is a dangerous place. Additional
follow-on attacks have occurred not
just on Israel but on American interests
in the region. While America is at
tempting to lead with diplomacy, the
precarious state of factions within the
Middle East - along with continued ag
gression by Russia and destabilizing
actions from China - remind us that we
could be involved in a major military
conflict at any time.
In addition to the questions we are
having in Congress about the funding
levels of our own military, as well as
continued military aid to our allies and
humanitarian aid to those in war
zones, this may also be a time to openly
begin a discussion of our all-volunteer
military. Perhaps more need to have a
stake in military actions and outcomes.
We’re constantly reminded how di
vided we are as a country. There was no
greater force to unite Americans into
one people behind one objective than
the role that the U.S. military played in
the middle of the last century.
If the thought that our sons and
daughters would have to leave their
current roles to defend our country is
too disturbing to contemplate, then the
point at the beginning of this column
has hopefully been made. We all know
that we need men and women ready to
fight to defend our country at a mo
ment’s notice.
We should be much more regular in
our thanks to those who have served
and continue to serve. We unfor
tunately also have to be much more
aware that they’re likely to be needed
again in combat operations sooner
rather than later.
CHARLIE HARPER
The Accidental Insurrectionist
Although it took more than two
years, the people responsible for what
happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6,2021,
are slowly but surely being brought to
justice. Expect to pay the consequences
when you take the law into your own
hands - and your actions end up on film
for the whole world to see - to include
numerous law enforcement agencies...
most notably the FBI.
So what, pray tell, has befallen those
who engaged in the most egregious ex
ample of mob mentality since the vil
lagers gathered their pitchforks and
torches and stormed Frankenstein’s cas
tle? Let’s take a look.
***
The deliberate and intentional insur
rectionists, the “stars” of the film, re
ceived the longest sentences for their
involvement in the festivities. Former
Proud Boy leader Henry Tarrio will be
behind bars for 22 years after being
found guilty of seditious conspiracy -
and an assortment of miscellaneous
charges, up to and including gross stu
pidity.
In addition, three other members of
the Proud Boys will be serving 18, 17,
and 15 years for following their leader’s
ill-conceived plan.
One of the other “stars,” Oath Keeper
founder Stewart Rhodes, received a sen
tence of 18 years for seditious conspir
acy. Rhodes was found guilty of plotting
to halt the certification of the 2020 elec
tion results - so that the Great Pumpkin
could remain in the White House.
***
Among those in the supporting cast
are Arkansas’ pride and joy, Richard
Barnett, who will be in jail for 54 months
after being found guilty of civil disorder,
distraction of an official proceeding, and
being an utter and complete jackass. You
probably re
member him as
the man wearing
a flannel shirt
and baseball cap,
sitting in a chair
with his feet up
on Nancy Pe-
losi’s desk.
The fact that
he’ll spend the
next four-and-
one-half years in a cell about the size of
her desk is, well, karma.
There’s also Jacob Chansley, the
QAnon Shaman, who was sentenced to
41 months for obstructing an official
proceeding and unlawful possession of
an endangered species (whatever it was
he was wearing on his head). If it had
been up to me, I would have tacked on
the “jackass” charge as well.
***
There is one person involved in the
Jan. 6 attack you may not be familiar
with, a young lady who simply was in the
wrong place for the wrong reason. That
would be 21-year-old Emily Hernandez
of Sullivan, Miss.
Accompanying her uncle to Wash
ington, D.C. because she wanted to “get
out of the house and leave Missouri,”
her trip to the Capitol resulted in her
being charged with entering and re
maining in a restricted building. Only it
ended up being much worse than that.
Stay tuned.
As for how she got to the Capitol,
that’s because her uncle asked her if she
wanted to “see the Trump speech.” She
agreed to go... even though she had no
interest in politics - or hearing the
speech. She “just wanted to see the
area.”
After the attack, Hernandez was
identified in video footage taken inside
the Capitol. She is seen being encour
aged by her uncle to “get apiece of that,”
referring to the broken shards of the
nameplate ripped down from Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi’s office. For her
involvement on Jan. 6, she received a
sentence of 30 days, with one year of su
pervised release and 80 hours of com
munity service. She also was ordered to
pay restitution in the amount of $500.
But it doesn’t end there. Not by a
long shot.
Once the video went viral, more and
more people were saying really bad
things about Hernandez that, she says,
“made me feel like a bad person.” She
didn’t want to show her face in public,
was losing friends, and “felt hate from
everybody.” She stopped answering her
phone and removed herself from social
media to avoid the negativity. Then she
“fell into a deep hole of depression.”
To forget about things, she started
drinking. Extensively.
Then, on the eve of the one-year an
niversary of the attack on the Capitol,
Hernandez drove her car 60 miles per
hour for more than six miles - in the
wrong lane - before striking an oncom
ing vehicle in a head-on collision.
See Ludwig, A6
SCOTT LUDWIG
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