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The True Citizen, Wednesday, November 4, 2020 — Page 5A
Michael N. Searles
This article is being written
days before the November 3
election. It will appear in print
a day after the election. The
election season has taken the
energy and effort of so many
people that it is hard to mea
sure its impact. Will President
Trump be reelected for another
4 years or will we welcome Joe
Biden as our new President?
These are trying times because
so much is at stake. The argu
ments and positions are laid
before us. Do we want to make
America Great Again or do
we want to Restore the Soul
of America? Each side has its
diehard adherents. Some are
asking if the nation has crossed
the Rubicon (the point of no
return) and has politics become
so partisan that we cannot agree
on anything. We are faced with
an existential question: Can we
disagree and still be agreeable?
It is hard to imagine 46
Democrats and 20 Republicans
cosponsored the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. The Voting Rights
Act has been described as land
mark federal legislation that
prohibited racial discrimina
tion in voting. It was designed
to enforce the voting rights
guaranteed by the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments and
secured the right to vote for
racial minorities in the South
and throughout the country.
The Voting Rights Act has been
called the most effective piece
of federal civil rights legislation
ever enacted in the country.
Forty-eight senators have
introduced legislation to restore
the Voting Rights Act renamed
the John Fewis Voting Rights
Advancement Act. Of the 48
sponsors of the legislation, 47
were Democrats and 1 was a
Republican (Fisa Murkowski of
Alaska.) The legislation would
require that any state with a
history of voting discrimination
within the past 25 years seek
federal approval before mak
ing any changes to its voting
procedures. It also would man
date that any state, regardless
of its history, obtain clearance
from the Justice Department or
a federal court in Washington,
DC, before making any changes
that would tend to burden voters
TUMULTUOUS TIMES
of color, such as strict voter ID
laws or closing polling places
in areas with large numbers of
minority voters.
Why wouldn’t any of the
other 52 Republican Senators
sponsor the new Voting Rights
Act? The answer is simple
and plain. Bipartisanship can
only be achieved on matters of
lesser concern. When matters
that potentially advantage one
political party over the other,
merit or fairness are given little
consideration.
When President Obama
nominated Judge Merrick Gar
land to fill the seat of Justice
Antonin Scalia, eighteen Re
publican Senators publicly
stated that the position should
not be filled since it was in
an election year. The argu
ment was made even though it
was nine months prior to the
Presidential election. Yet when
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
died on September 18, 2020,
there was a mad rush to fill
the seat. The arguments made
emphatically by Sen. Thom
Tillis (R-N.C.) who in 2016
said, “The campaign is already
under way. It is essential to the
institution of the Senate and to
the very health of our republic
to not launch our nation into a
partisan, divisive confirmation
battle during the very same
time the American people are
casting their ballots to elect our
next president.” The words all
rang hollow when the opportu
nity to appoint a conservative
justice to the Supreme Court
presented itself.
Only two Republican Sena
tors said they did not support
the confirmation of Judge
Amy Coney Barrett due to the
closeness of the presidential
election. The hypocrisy of the
Republican Senators not only
shows the partisan nature of
their actions, it opens the door
to equal and opposite actions
on the part of the Democrats
if they gain control the presi
dency and both Houses of
Congress. We have progressed
down a road where the desires
of the people are ignored and
what’s good for the country is
replaced with what’s good for
the party. We are standing on
shifting sands where the motto
“E Pluribus Unum” (Out of
many, one) no longer reflects
our values or desires.
Diana Royal
CONGRATULATIONS IN ORDER
I was just a kid when I started
working at the newspaper. I’d
seen an ad for a proofreader and
thought, “Oh that’s right up my
alley. They actually pay people
to correct them?” (Insert laugh
emoji.)
I interviewed within days of
seeing the advertisement and
a few days after that, I got the
job. I didn’t know what I was
doing. Sometimes, I still don’t.
The formalities of obtaining
my first real, “big girl” job
were a lot to take in. I ran out
of things to do one day and
left because everyone else was
gone. (I later learned they were
at lunch and that you can’t just
leave the office without telling
anyone.)
The owner of the newspa
per, Roy F. Chalker Jr., had a
nickname — Spooky. I went
through all the different sce
narios as to why so many of
the employees called their boss
that. He must be scary/hard to
deal with/unrelenting. The list
was long. There was even a
“Spooky” wooden cutout in his
office, but a whole year, maybe
longer, passed before I even got
up the courage to ask.
Mr. Jimmy, our editor then,
looked at me like I was crazy.
He was born on Halloween.
Imagine the “ooooooh” mo
ment I had.
Nonetheless, back in my new
bie days, I did find a “spooky”
side to Mr. Chalker, or rather,
an intimidating one. He was
an observer; during staff meet
ings he’d listen intently as
others spoke, soaking up the
information and really mulling
over ideas before weighing in
on them. That was to me then,
as it still is today, a sign of re
straint and patience, an example
of true intelligence. Over the
years, I’ve learned patience
from Roy and to not always
take everything at face value.
Above that, I know in the world
of media, you have to be fair,
you have to ask the hard ques
tions and you have to get every
side of a story. “Just report
the facts,” he’s told me many
times. “Don’t get too involved
or too upset or mad. Our job is
to give the public the facts.” (I
also learned somewhere around
2008 that it’s okay to call him
by his first name.)
A few weeks ago, Roy’s
daughters contacted me about
Oct. 1 marking his 50th year
as publisher of this newspaper.
(The feature story this week
was their idea, and I’m so glad
they got me involved.) He was
in his early 20s when he took
on the responsibility, something
that still seems like too much
to me at 38. I cannot imagine
shouldering the multiple news
papers he had to under Chalker
Publishing. He still comes to
work every day and delivers
newspapers every Wednesday.
This past Saturday, on Hallow
een, he turned 74.
He has watched a once thriv
ing industry slowly deteriorate,
papers and publishing compa
nies close their doors and stop
the ink, advertisers branch out
on their own to utilize social
media, the public lose trust
in the media because bigger
names don’t put in the effort
of fact checking and writing
non-slanted pieces.
Roy doesn’t always agree
with me, but he has always
let me spread my wings. He
listens. He’s let me cry over
things and then said, “Suck
it up now. We’ve got work to
do.” (That’s something every
one needs to hear on a regular
basis.)
Even with our little skeleton
crew now, we manage to crank
out our paper each week.
Because I wasn’t there and
didn’t get to experience those
early days, I will never com
pletely understand the value
of the newspaper/publishing
industry, but I respect and ap
preciate it nonetheless.
Thank you, Roy, for the in
vestment you have made, for
seeking truth and fairness, for
taking care of your employees
and keeping the doors open
during the hard times. Happy
half a century!! And happy
birthday! Now, suck it up.
We’ve got work to do.
GO
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