About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2020)
CEO OPINION Shannon Casas Editor in Chief The Times ’ Gainesville, Georgia 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition - July 18-19, 2020 Opinion pages shouldn’t be where curiosity goes to die There are things they don’t teach you in journalism school. Or so I’ve been told. I got my “educa tion” as a beat reporter and metro columnist in a major city that had more than its share of that one commodity that gins up tons of news: people behaving badly. Here’s what I learned. Lesson No. 1: The suits who run media companies may make their living by poking their noses into other people’s business, but they think what goes on in their shops is none of yours. They supervise newsrooms that expose the blemishes of public figures. Yet, because media is a small world, they worry about protecting their image and reputation. Thus, when journalists — reporters, anchors, producers, columnists etc. — exit the building, they’re supposed to keep their mouths shut. These storytellers are taught to keep their own stories to themselves. Fifteen years ago, I left one newspaper to take a job with another. On my last day, the publisher asked me for a favor. “If you speak about us, and your time here, please be kind,” he said with a nervous smile. Smart guy. As the only Latino on the edito rial board, and only the second in the paper’s history, my experi ence was not one big fiesta. It’s a disservice to the profes sion that many journalists take their best stories to the grave. Maybe Big Media wouldn’t have such big problems if they allowed employees, and former employ ees, to speak their minds. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. That’s why the resignation let ter of Bari Weiss — a now former writer and editor for the opinion department of The New York Times — is so epic. It doesn’t just say what so many of us would like to say on our way out the door. It’s also an autopsy, explaining in powerful language what killed opinion jour nalism at once great newspapers like the Grey Lady. Weiss wrote in her letter that she was hired by Times publisher Arthur Gregg (A.G.) Sul zberger to showcase “first-time writers, cen trists, conservatives and others who would not naturally think of The Times as their home.” The experiment was doomed to fail. The worker ants decided they should have a voice too, and they believed that — because their voices had the added benefit of being progres sive — what they had to say was more impor tant than whatever anyone else could offer. In her letter to Sulzberger, Weiss noted: “a new consensus has emerged... that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.” She went on: “Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclu sions.” Then came the hammer: “The truth is that intellectual curiosity — let alone risk taking — is now a liability at The (New York) Times.” Not only are the thought police at the so- called paper of record not interested in hear ing the other side of an argument, they feel it is their solemn duty — as the most “woke” people to ever walk the Earth — to assert that, guess what, there is no other side. And since they’re the most enlightened people in the room, they have no qualms about also being the nastiest. Weiss wrote that she was subjected to “constant bullying by col leagues who disagree with my views.” About these cretins, she wrote, “They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again.’” As someone who has long been scolded by readers for writing about the Mexicans again, I get it. While Weiss’ bosses were cowards who failed to defend her, she said some of them did commend her courage. It’s a shame that she needed defending. “Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require brav ery,” she wrote. Sadly, it does. The woke mob even has its own verb: “two-side.” As in: “We shouldn’t ‘two-side’ police violence.” Or affirmative action, abortion, gun control, wearing masks, or any issue. Gather around, children. Once upon a time, in American journalism, there used to be a place where we hashed out divergent views. The hope was that exposing readers to all sides would help them understand in full the crucial issues of the day. That place was sacred to me for the three decades that I made it my home. It was called the Op-Ed page. May it rest in peace. Ruben Navarrette writes for The Washington Post Writers Group. RUBEN NAVARRETTE ruben@ rubennavarrette.com LITERS We must do better at managing COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 cases have exploded in the U.S. since the July Fourth holiday weekend. This country does not have solid leadership in this pandemic with our current administration. President Trump constantly contradicts advice given by the CDC and experts who are advising him. Trump has threatened to stop funding to states that do not open schools back up quick enough to suit him. It is a careful pro cess to reopen our schools and make it safe for our students, teachers and other personnel. New York City is reopening its schools with a blend of in the classroom time for a couple of days coupled with online study. Masks and social distancing will be enforced and other measures to minimize the spread of the virus. The U.S. has done a terrible job of contain ing this deadly virus. We have reached the 3 million case mark just last Wednesday. Cases are overwhelming hospitals in Arizona and Florida. Supplies are getting so low that N-95 masks have to be decontaminated for second and third uses. This is inexcusable and needs to be corrected. We reopened our businesses too quickly and now COVID-19 cases are on the rise. We are not flattening the curve. Almost a third of all coronavirus deaths have happened in nursing homes throughout the country. In Georgia, Gov. Kemp did task the Georgia National Guard to go to each facility and clean them up from top to bottom. Their methods were so successful that several other states in the country have inquired about their cleaning methods, which were spot on. The only problem is this needs to be done throughout the country. There is a niche that needs to be filled regarding nursing homes and retirement communities that house some of the most vulnerable of our citizens. Safety compa nies need to be created that go to these facili ties and get the employees up to speed on the best methods to safely run these facilities with a minimum of virus spread. There are many furloughed nurses out there who would take a job to help train employees at these places. Our country needs to go back to a partial lockdown in order to flatten the curve on this virus. Other countries are doing a better job than we are in minimizing deaths from this virus. Vietnam has had zero deaths from the virus and only 300-plus COVID-19 cases. Vietnam has a population of 100 million and is about the size of Florida. There are many diseases in Vietnam so the people are used to wearing masks. Victoria state in Australia is about as big as Colorado and has approximately the same pop ulation. Victoria state is going through another lockdown and they have had 22 deaths from the coronavirus. Colorado has had over 1,500 deaths. I know we have to get the economy mov ing again, but we need to start wearing masks where needed and use social distancing when ever possible. I firmly believe that we will have a vaccine soon, but until we do, we need to get ahead of this virus. William McKee Flowery Branch COVID-19 metrics make no sense Why the sudden rise in virus cases? New metrics being introduced are comparing apples and oranges such that comparing to older definitions is irrelevant. Why is it we can always count on the government to make the situation so complex few understand it? The feds as well as the states don’t seem to be seeking “best practices” but are doing their own thing adding more confusion to the public nearly every day. Why aren’t they benchmarking other countries and all U.S. states to benefit from the best ideas wherever they reside? There’s simply a need to reinvent the wheel? Instead, it’s every state for themselves with out consistent and reliable information. All that said, at the end of the day, the inconsiderate fools who refuse to conform to the need to wear masks, social distance and use proper hygiene are a disgrace with such selfish, uncaring abandon. Where were the parents whose respon sibility it is to teach consideration for oth ers when they were little kids? This lack of respect for others is a cancer to our society as Americans. Where are the value systems many of us take for granted but seldom see among the younger set? The cherry on top is that the government is wishy-washy and afraid to require the right behaviors from all citizens. Fortunately, a few state leaders are just now beginning to mandate wearing masks though the modest fines may not have much effect. We should be better than this. Larry Fast Gainesville We need retail stores to require masks Most of us are very concerned about the control of this ugly virus and the spreading of the virus. There are those who do not care about it, many of all ages. I am strongly suggesting that the corporate owners and store manag ers of our department stores adopt a no mas, no shop policy. There are some communities that have done this, and the customers comply. Stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Belk, Target, Kohls, Walmart all need to do this. Of course, owners and managers need a back bone to do this. These stores employees wear their masks, and many of the employees that I have talked with recently, last week, all expressed the need for this. News media talk about bars, beaches, churches, parties, restaurants and others but no mention of our large chain stores. I realize that there are many who will read this will disagree, and I guess that some of the objectors will be some of the same shop pers who do not care about others. My wife and I wear our masks, stay the social distance and even wear gloves when pumping gas. We have family members who are in the medical front lines, and they are all screaming for the public to cooperate now! We really need to listen to those fortu nate survivors say the same request. That’s may story, and I am sticking to it. To all, please stay safe and healthy and please cooperate and wear your mask and stay the distance. God bless each of you. Rich Sheldon Lula Better nutrition could help fight COVID-19 A nutrition strategy offers our community an important path to help recover from the pandemic. As more fully described at plant- purecommunities.org in commentary by biochemist and nutrition researcher Dr. T. Colin Campbell, mortality data shows that over 90% of the people who have died from COVID-19 suffered from pre-existing medi cal conditions, mostly arising from a lifetime of bad nutrition. There is evidence that suggests that indi viduals switching to a healthy plant-based diet would not only decrease chronic disease risk, and sometimes reverse these conditions, but also increase their production of COVID-19 antibodies. And, there is ample information showing that this nutritional effect may begin in a matter of days, enough time for people who are not yet infected by COVID-19 to strengthen their immune systems. A diet of whole, plant-based foods (veg etables, fruits, whole grain cereals, legumes and nuts) can help defend against the worst effects of COVID-19. By addressing diet-related comorbidities while also strengthening immunity, a nutri tion strategy would reduce strain on our hos pital system and thereby improve our ability to keep the economy open once it is restarted. Sheila Krawchuk Gainesville Good luck, baseball players Oh boy, I see the baseball players are get ting ready for the new season. When they get a good hit at bat, they congratulate each other by touching elbows. I suppose the least amount of skin is their choice of not spreading the virus. Apparently, they haven’t seen “The Carol Burnett Show.” On Feb. 26,1968, in the first year of the show and episode 23, Carol and Har vey come from outer space to check on the new “secret weapon” devised by the planet “earth.” In the interview they were asked how they make love, and guess how? They touched elbows! Millions of us viewers were happily enter tained by “The Carol Burnett Show” for its clean and very funny antics. The reruns are still running, and, of course, the shows are all available on the “secret weapon accessory,” the disc! Good luck this year Braves, we’ll be watching your every move! Roger Keebaugh Gainesville Why we need the Electoral College The Constitutional Convention, chaired by George Washington, sweated through the summer, without windows opened lest their deliberations became known. A/C and electric fans were 150 years in the future. By August, most of the Constitution was done except for one important part: presidential elections. Remember, only 13 states, all on the East Coast, existed at that time. The del egates knew if presidential elections were to be by majority vote, states with the most voting citizens would control presidential elections and they felt, since every state was part of the union, all the states should have a voice in the electing of the president. Finally, toward the end of August, they reached a decision, which we know as “the Electoral College.” This is explained in Arti cle II, Section 1 of our Constitution. Briefly, the Electoral College gives each state a voice in the election of our president. Today, some want to do away with the Electoral College and elect our presidents by popular vote. This would mean states heavily populated could very well control presidential elections from now on, and states such as the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and others would have no voice in electing presidents. The original constitutional delegates carefully avoided using the word “democracy” in our Constitution. The called our nation a “repub lic.” Remember, we pledge allegiance to our flag “and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, with liberty and jus tice for all.” Under presidential elections by popular vote, Georgia native Jimmy Carter would have never been our president. I didn’t vote for him, but being a native of Georgia, I am glad Mr. Carter was our president. George Kaulbach Cornelia First Amendment honored at Lula protest I attended the recent Lula protest as an interested citizen. I was impressed with the decorum of the protesters, the city of Lula folks and government, law enforcement and the press that covered the event. Whether one agreed or disagreed with the protest’s premise, the behavior at the event illus trated the proper spirit of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and speak their mind. The Times’ article of July 10, 2020, cov ered the event very well, with one tiny addendum. The article reported that a “group of counter protesters also showed up.” I understand this was written on dead line, with no intended ill will. However, I saw no counter protest, only a half dozen curious citizens. They held no signs, staged no counter protest, didn’t march, didn’t chant and listened to each protester as they spoke. No protester was shouted down or interrupted as they spoke. In fact, many of those listening applauded the protesters after each shared their view. Afterward, several folks spoke individually with the protesters. Certainly, there was pas sionate and even heated discussion — quite healthy and necessary for democracy — but no fights, nothing broken, no arrests and no ambulances needed. Not even a stray dog got kicked. While Lula is not a perfect city, on that day it proved up to the task of hosting diverse — and to some, challenging or opposing viewpoints — in a public forum. All worked together peaceably in the spirit of the First Amendment to have their voices heard, as intended. Such cooperation is increasingly rare, and something to be proud of, in my opinion. Jim Chapman Lula Let’s be more gracious, less divisive Thank you for the excellent column by Shannon Casas in the weekend edition, “We’re not as divided as some think.” I can support this contention with personal experience. Many years ago, I worked with a man named Bob who was a self-described con servative. I was a self-described liberal. We both followed current events and enjoyed discussing politics. After some time, I detected a pattern in our conversations. I might broach a subject by saying, “You conservatives think such- and-such.” I would then explain to Bob what conservatives think. When I finished, Bob would reply, “That’s not what I think.” I would then ask, “What do you think?” When he finished, I would say, “Well, that’s pretty much what I think, too.” Other times, Bob would start the conver sation with, “You liberals think so-and-so.” When he finished telling me what liber als think, I would reply, “That’s not what I think.” Bob would then ask, “Well, what do you think?” After I explained my position, Bob would say, “That’s pretty much what I think, too.” There are those who find it in their inter est to set us against each other. All too often, we play right into their hands. They seize upon and amplify our frustration and anger. Anger makes us feel powerful, so we con tinue to listen to those who make us feel pow erful, and we get angrier and angrier, and we end up pawns in other people’s power games. Bob and I were fortunate that we got to know and respect each other before we began talking politics. We also shared a sense of humor and enjoyed playing prac tical jokes on one another. We found that we agreed on fundamental values. We just approached those values from different perspectives. I can’t do better than to echo the advice in Bill Lampton’s letter to the editor. We should put aside the rhetoric of conflict and pick up the rhetoric of reconciliation. Let’s compete to see who can be the most gracious. Brian E Moss Gainesville Division worsening as we approach 2020 election Thanks in large part to media manipula tion of the masses, our country has become deeply divided — yet many people still believe a charismatic leader will come for ward and restore a feeling of unity among the American people. That spark of hopeful thinking was not too far-fetched back when there was a long-shot possibility of bridging the gap between Demo crats and Republicans, but the era of political common ground seems to have come to an end. Today, because compromise has become a dirty word, I fear that we will emerge from the 2020 election more divided than we have ever been. I also fear that we will witness never-before-seen levels of destructive and uncivil behavior. I hope and pray that my fear is misplaced. Claude Diamond Braselton Political climate leaves Trump as best choice In a recent opinion letter, the phrase “Trump must be voted out in Nov.” caught my attention. That sure sounds good to those on the left, but is there a viable alternative? He is certainly all the Republicans have. What about the Democrats? All I have seen is a bumbling ex-vice president who is so far left and unaware sometimes as to the day and place he is in. But in recent weeks another political party has arisen, “Black Lives Matter. ” According to one poll, they have a 75% approval rate. That is far higher than any other political group. But what would a president coming from that group do for all Americans? Thus far they have only cared for Black lives lost to law enforcement and white men. They certainly haven’t marched or spo ken out for the many Blacks killed by other Blacks in Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Atlanta and many more cities. Those mur ders seem to be of little consequence to them. But for those families involved, their loved ones are just as valuable and their grief just as profound. The mayors of those cities, all Democrats, approved the protests, and even when they got out of hand and burned and looted, even a murder or two, no big deal. Protesters were exercising their rights. The Atlanta mayor may be having second thoughts though, since 28 people were shot in Atlanta over the holi day weekend. Five died. All things considered, I think I’ll just vote for Trump in November. Dwight Bunn Clarkesville Old Joe survived in 1936 and should survive now Old Joe does not stand to create divisions as some people want to claim. This monu ment of Gainesville history has stood tall in everything it was meant to be. When the tornadoes of 1936 devastated a city, Old Joe stood tall amidst the rubble and said that we will survive and return even bet ter than before. Sure enough Gainesville did survive and has rebuilt into a beautiful city in the hills of Georgia. Don’t let Joe fall! Steve Webb Gainesville
