5A
OPINION
Sttnes
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com
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The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
1A - _ Autistic teen reminds us
10 issues that
keep us divided that kindness is for everyone
Politicians often vow to work together in a
bipartisan manner for the good of America.
Unfortunately, such compromise is jeopardized
by at least 10 major differences that divide our
nation:
Abortion vs. life. If you’re against abortion-on-
demand, you’re pro-life. If you’re for abortion-
on-demand, you’re pro-choice — not pro death
— under the guise of “women’s health care.”
It’s indisputable that, in nine months or less,
childbirth happens most of the time. Even when
C-sections are performed five or six months into
pregnancies, babies often survive and thrive.
Astonishingly, if a mother aborts her child, it’s
legal under Roe vs. Wade; but if a mother kills her
baby the day after it’s born, it’s murder.
Same-sex “marriage” vs. traditional mar
riage. Liberals stressed the importance of “prece
dence” during the confirmation hearing of Judge
Brent Kavanaugh. However, centuries of prec
edent were ignored when same-sex “marriage”
became law during the Obama administration.
Alas, God’s original intent was disregarded: every
human being comes into this world with a biologi
cal father and mother.
Open borders vs. border security. America
is a nation of immigrants, but our laws require
legal entry. It’s illegal to ignore these laws while
advocating for open borders and sanctuary cities.
We’re a sovereign country, not a banana republic.
Bigger federal government vs. states’ rights.
Our founding fathers drafted the 10th amendment
of our constitution to offset unrestricted power by
the federal government. They’d be aghast at the
size of today’s federal bureaucracy.
Business regulation vs. free enterprise. Exces
sive federal regulation stifles business growth,
which was abysmal during the Obama administra
tion. In less than two years, the economy is roaring
since President Trump slashed regulations.
Tax hikes vs. tax cuts. The Trump tax cuts have
created hundreds of new businesses and thou
sands of new workers. Unemployment is down
dramatically and net incomes are up for most
people. The stock market is soaring.
Globalism vs. patriotism. American leader
ship was weak and disrespected during Obama’s
“strategic patience” presidency. Trump’s tougher
stance, especially on fair trade and national
defense, has put America first and restored lost
pride.
Gun control vs. gun ownership. America’s
onslaught of mass shootings is heart-breaking.
Nevertheless, the 2nd Amendment of our consti
tution gives citizens the right to bear arms for self
protection and to deter a government takeover.
Single-payer health insurance vs. free market
health care. The VA struggles to provide quality
health care to its members. A single-payer health
insurance system for every American would be
a disaster. It’s unaffordable and, without compe
tition, government health care would be more
expensive and inconvenient.
Socialism vs. capitalism. Some clueless Demo
crats are championing socialism, a system that
has failed repeatedly. Conversely, capitalism is
the greatest economic system ever designed —
one based on enterprise, not entitlement. Social
ism stifles freedom and opportunity. Capitalism
offers liberty and prosperity.
With such a vast divide on these critical issues,
the battle between liberalism and conservatism
looms as a prolonged, escalating chapter in Amer
ican history. May we have the wisdom to choose
the right path and the courage to follow it.
Dick Biggs
Gainesville
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Your government officials
U.S. government
President Donald Thimp, The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500,
202-456-1111,202-456-1414, fax, 202-456-
2461; www.whitehouse.gov
Sen. Johnny Isakson, 131 Russell Senate Office
Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224-
3643, fax, 202-228-0724; One Overton Park,
3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 970, Atlanta
30339, 770-661-0999, fax, 770-661-0768;
isakson.senate.gov
Sen. David Perdue, 383 Russell Senate Office
Building, Washington, DC 20510,202-224-
3521, fax 202-228-1031; 3280 Peachtree Road
NE Suite 2640, Atlanta 30303, 404-865-0087,
fax 404-865-0311; perdue.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, 1504 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-
225-9893; 210 Washington St. NW, Suite 202,
Gainesville 30501,770-297-3388; dougcollins.
house.gov
U.S. Rep Rob Woodall, 1725 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-
225-4272, fax 202-225-4696; 75 Langley Drive,
Lawrenceville 30045, 770-232-3005, fax 770-
232-2909; woodall.house.gov
Just when you think
there is no place left in this
politically toxic, mudsling-
ing, in-your-face world for
any goodness, along comes
17-year-old Jordyn Moore,
a teenager from Forsyth
County, to happily prove us
wrong.
Jordyn is autistic and
struggles with the skills that
most of us take from granted,
but with the help of support
ive parents, a good friend named Sarah
Chirchirillo and an occupational thera
pist, she is running her own business by
folding, packaging and shipping T-shirts
that say “Be Kind to Everyone.”
The project was the idea of her par
ents, Ben and Jackie Moore, and was
intended as a way to prepare Jordyn to
successfully enter the workforce upon
her graduation from school. No big deal,
just a few weeks in the summer.
So, how did this all come about? Ms.
Moore said, “My husband and I were out
on a ‘date night’ and were talking about
Jordyn and her future. We decided that
we needed to change our focus from
worrying about her to doing something
positive.” From that came the idea
of a T-shirt. And not just any T-shirt,
but one emblazoned with “Be Kind to
Everyone.”
Ms. Moore said her philosophy is we
can be anything we want to be, so why
not be kind? Why not, indeed? She went
to the internet to see if someone was
using that term. No, they weren’t. She
checked to see if it would be available as
an internet address. Yes, it was. Are you
beginning to see a trend here? Like good
things can actually happen to
really good people.
Ms. Moore said, “When we
started out, we were just try
ing to give Jordyn some expe
rience folding and packing
the shirts. We were hoping
we might sell 40 or so T-shirts
to family members.”
That was 8,500 T-shirts ago.
Shipped to all 50 states. So
much for that summer proj
ect. But it gets even better.
Jordyn has become a celebrity at Lam
bert High School. Students and teachers
are wearing “Be Kind to Everyone”
shirts and folks are asking to have their
picture made with her and talking to her
about the project. “It has truly changed
her life,” said Ms. Moore.
As for Ms. Moore, she is beginning to
be asked to appear before school groups
in other states to talk about kindness
being a potential antidote to bullying.
People who have purchased “Be Kind
to Everyone” shirts tell Ms. Moore they
find themselves being — well — kinder
and discover that people are nicer to
them in return. That applies not only
on these shores but to folks who have
worn them overseas. “It’s hard to be a
jerk when you are being kind,” she says.
Now, that will preach.
Growing up in the South, I was raised
to be kind. Remember the Golden Rule.
Love your neighbor. Respect your
elders. Don’t interrupt people while they
are talking. I was taught to say “yes,
ma’am” and “yes, sir” and “thank you”
and for the most part, I still do. There is
always the chance that Daddy is watch
ing from heaven.
But I’m not as nice as I used to be. I
suffer fools poorly. I am impatient and
I occasionally say or write something I
probably would have been better off to
have let pass. Clearly, I am a candidate
for one of Jordyn’s T-shirts. But then,
so is the president of the United States,
members of Congress, the pathetic souls
who produce anonymous rants on social
media, my colleagues in the media and
all the mean-spirited special interest
groups spouting hate. Kindness is in
short supply these days.
That is where Jordyn Moore comes
in. What started out as a small effort to
teach an autistic child some basic skills
for the future has grown into something
far beyond what the Moore family ever
imagined. Where is the project headed?
“We have no idea,” Ms. Moore says.
“I just know our family spends every
evening after dinner in the basement
helping Jordyn fulfill the orders we have
received.” And Jordyn seems to have
found full-time work running a business
that can make a difference in her life
and in ours.
You can purchase your very own “Be
Kind to Everyone” shirt at www.bekind-
toeveryone.com and you can follow this
remarkable story on her Facebook page.
Thank you, Jordyn Moore, and family
for reminding us that we have a better
side than what we sometimes show. It
is hard to be a jerk when you are being
kind.
Dick Yarbrough is a North Georgia
resident whose column regularly appears
Saturdays. Contact him at P.0. Box
725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online at
dickyarbrough.com; or on Facebook.
DICK YARBROUGH
dick®
dickyarbrough.com
JIM POWELL I For The Times
Please, Hillary, don’t campaign again
The Charlotte Observer
Dear Hillary,
Don’t do it. Spare us all. Walk away.
You may be dying to run for president
again. But from all of us sporting those
bumper stickers that say “Any function
ing adult 2020,” we beg you: Don’t.
It’s not that you’re not a functioning
adult. It’s that you would lose, and we
would go four more agonizingly long
years with that same non-functioning
adult in the White House. For those of
us in the Anybody But Trump camp, you
are a massive threat.
Maybe our worries are premature.
Maybe you have no intention of running.
Maybe the op-ed this week in the Wall
Street Journal by your former pollster,
Mark Penn, and New York politician
Andrew Stein headlined “Hillary Will
Run Again” is way off base. After all,
they cite no real evidence that you’re
planning on it.
But forgive us for believing it might be
so. After all, you yourself left the door
wide open in an interview last month
with Recode’s Kara Swisher, telling
her “I’d like to be president” and that
it “would be work that I feel very well
prepared for...”
Oh, lordy.
OK, so you would be very well pre
pared for it. Few people in the nation’s
history have a better resume for the job
— US senator, secretary of state, first
lady, Wellesley and Yale Law graduate.
And you’ve been within sniffing distance
of the job for decades. You even won the
most votes two years ago.
We get why that would all justify a run
in your mind. Except one thing. As you
said in “What Happened,” your book
about the 2016 race:
“I have come to terms with the fact
that a lot of people — millions and mil
lions of people — decided they just
didn’t like me.” You are, as you said in
that book, “a lightning rod for fury.”
So many things would go wrong if you
ran. You would again justifiably be seen
as untrustworthy. The “Crooked Hill
ary” epithet would reemerge and stick.
Your “basket of deplorables” comment
would fire up President Trump’s base.
Your vote for the Iraq war would be
rehashed.
More women won elections last week
than any time in US history, including
more than 100 to Congress. That’s long
overdue and a cause for celebration.
We hope that momentum will continue
in 2020, including with impressive
women running for president. But you
are not the best candidate to capital
ize on this trend. Even amid this tide
and the #MeToo movement, it wouldn’t
take much for Trump and his backers
to blunt or minimize that line of attack,
with you married to you-know-who.
You had the second-lowest approval
ratings of any presidential candidate in
generations and managed to lose to the
person with the lowest. Not much has
changed since then.
You would win the Democratic-lean
ing states, but you’d be no threat to flip
a Republican state and you’d be a dicey
pick in the purple states. Florida? Ohio?
Michigan? North Carolina? Trump.
Trump. Trump. And Trump.
America has a major case of Hill
ary fatigue. And we cringe at the idea
of four more years of policy by tweet,
inflammatory insults, America playing
to its worst fears rather than its greatest
hopes. There’s one way to make that
likely.
The stakes are too high. Please, don’t
do it.
She Stines
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