Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 101, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Page: 4 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Denton Record-Chronicle and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4A
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
OPINION
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Les Cockrell
Region Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
are determined by the editorial board.
Questions and suggestions should be directed to the
Denton Record-Chronicle
314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201
Phone: 940-387-3811
Fax: 940-566-6888
E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
Editorial
Keep veterans
in our hearts
■ ■ ow do you thank someone for preserving our way
mm of life?
Each of us must answer that question as we
prepare to celebrate Veterans Day.
The nation’s observance of a day to honor military
service dates back to 1919, when President Woodrow Wil-
son proclaimed Nov. 11 as Armistice Day to commemorate
the end of World War I.
Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day in 1954,
and although other changes followed, this special day was
eventually returned to its original celebration on Nov. 11.
Some businesses and organizations offer veterans a
free meal or other gifts today as a way of showing their
appreciation, and such gestures are certainly appreciated.
Many area residents participate in ceremonies and
other special events to pay tribute to veterans, including
the annual celebration planned from 11 a.m. to noon today
on the lawn of Denton’s Courthouse on the Square. These
celebrations typically feature speakers, patriotic music
and other activities.
This local celebration was organized by the Denton
County Veterans Services office, along with the University
of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University, and will
include a keynote address from decorated Army veteran
Lt. Col. James Wheeler.
ROTC students from Ryan High School and Denton
High School are scheduled to participate. Members of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of Amer-
ica will perform flag ceremonies, the rifle volley and taps.
Denton’s Central Fire Station will provide ladder trucks
and bagpipes for ‘Amazing Grace” and the memorial
wreath presentation. The Sam Houston Singers and the
Texas Woman’s University Brass Ensemble will also per-
form.
Many elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Michael
Burgess, R-Lewisville, and state Rep. Myra Crownover,
R-Denton, are expected to attend.
Other Veterans Day events are planned across the
county, and we hope you will make an effort to partici-
pate. These observances are a great way to express admi-
ration and respect for the men and women who have
served our nation in the military.
There are other, simpler signs of appreciation for veter-
ans, of course, including taking the time to seek one out
and offer a handshake and a heartfelt thank-you. There
are heroes all around us, and we encourage you to tell
them how much you appreciate their service and sacrifice.
Another way to thank our veterans is to remember
them throughout the year — not just on one day. We need
to make sure they receive the services and support they
have earned and deserve, from medical benefits to help
with monthly living expenses for their families.
Our area offers numerous opportunities to participate
in community programs that help veterans find jobs,
continue their education or readjust to civilian life.
Groups like the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign
Wars and Vietnam Veterans of America are among those
that provide such programs.
These are just a few suggestions — we’re sure that you
can think of many more ways to say thanks to our area’s
veterans. The important thing is to make sure that each
of them knows that their service to our nation is recog-
nized and appreciated.
The worst thing that can happen to our veterans is to
return home and be forgotten.
Don’t let that happen — keep our veterans in your
heart today and throughout the year.
This day in history: November 11
Today is Tuesday, Nov. II,
the 315th day of 2014. There
are 50 days left in the year. This
is Veterans Day in the U.S., Re-
membrance Day in Canada.
On Nov. 11,1918, fighting in
World War I came to an end
with the signing of an armistice
between the Allies and Germa-
ny.
In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard
the Mayflower, anchored off
Massachusetts, signed a com-
pact calling for a ‘body politick.”
In 1831, former slave Nat
Turner, who’d led a violent in-
surrection, was executed in Je-
rusalem, Virginia.
In 1889, Washington be-
came the 42nd state.
In 1909, President William
Howard Taft accepted the rec-
ommendation of a joint Army-
Navy board that Pearl Harbor in
the Hawaiian Islands be made
the principal U.S. naval station
in the Pacific.
— The Associated Press
Foreign countries offer
lessons to Washington
s we debate how recent
election results will affect
government gridlock, I
can’t help thinking about two oth-
er elections, held recently in tiny
Tunisia and embattled Ukraine.
They offer insights to Ameri-
cans fed up with paralysis in
Washington (exit polls showed a
majority of U.S. voters were not
only dissatisfied with President
Barack Obama, but also with
both political parties — and with Congress).
As Obama and Senate Republican leader
Mitch McConnell take to the airwaves
promising to deliver “results” over the next
two years, I suggest they pay attention to
what’s happening in Tunis and Kiev.
Tunisia is emerging as a model of politi-
cal pragmatism that pols in Washington
could learn from.
Inside Ukraine, to the contrary, Russian
support for radical separatists is destroying
any hope of political compromise. Down
that road lies endless conflict, and, in this
case, endless civil war.
In Tunisia, a new secular party, Nidaa
Tounes, beat out the Islamist party, Ennad-
ha, which had swept to power after the oust-
er of a dictator in 2011 Although neither par-
ty won a clear majority in the elections, sev-
eral things were remarkable about the re-
sults.
First, unlike the other Arab countries
that experienced upheavals in 2011, Tunisia
has remained on the road to democracy,
helped by its sizable middle class and wom-
en’s movement, strong unions and geo-
graphical closeness to Europe.
Second, voters ousted the Islamists on
pragmatic grounds — the party didn’t deliv-
er the economic goods; even many devout
Tunisians, who had backed Ennadha in 2011,
voted differently this time.
Third, the Islamists accept the results of
the election, demonstrating, at least in Tuni-
sia, that an Arab Islamist party can operate
democratically. (Ennadha, a branch of the
Muslim Brotherhood, has far more shrewd
and sophisticated leadership than did the
Egyptian branch, which was ousted last year
in a military coup.)
But what is most striking about the Tuni-
sian ballot is that Beji Caid Essebsi, the 87-
year-old statesman who heads Nidaa
Tounes (with nearly 40 percent of the vote),
and Rashid Ghannouchi, the leader of En-
nadha (nearly 32 percent), seem to under-
stand their country can’t move forward un-
less their parties find common ground.
Can anyone imagine such pragmatism in
Washington, where tea-party Republicans
decry compromise as surrender, and Repub-
lican leaders have defined success as oppos-
ing Obama? Will a Republican-led Con-
gress, and a chastened Obama, be able to get
things done?
I spoke by phone to Chema Gargouri to
find out more about the pragmatism in Tu-
nis. A Nidaa Tounes activist, she is also an
entrepreneur and head of a non-
governmental organization that
promotes social and economic de-
velopment. I asked how secular-
ists could enter into a parliamen-
tary coalition with the Islamists.
Her reply: “People are not see-
ing the importance of elections in
changing their lives for the better,
they are fed up, they want a gov-
ernment with vision. Nidaa
Tounes won, but it has no big ma-
jority.
“It would be a big mistake to exclude En-
nadha, the second-most important party; it
might drive the country to a real division be-
tween some areas that are Islamist and some
that are not.
“So there must be a government that is
open for all Tunisians, open to negotiation
and collaboration. What is most important
is the interests of the country. Both parties
will have to make compromises.”
One can only hope that Tunisian leaders
can hold to such a vision. If they do, leaders
in Washington should flock to Tunis to ob-
serve politicians who place the good of the
country above parochial concerns.
In Ukraine, however, one can see what
happens when pragmatic leaders are
thwarted — in this case by the outside in-
tervention of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who
considers Ukrainian democracy a threat to
his dreams of restoring a Russian empire.
The recent parliamentary elections in
Ukraine were won by pro-European parties
that promised to reform the corruption and
centralized economy that are the legacy of
the country’s communist past.
In other words, Ukrainians voted for par-
ties that upheld the vision of the Maidan rev-
olution that led to the ouster of a pro-Mos-
cow president last year.
The small radical parties that were used
by Putin as an excuse to label the Kiev gov-
ernment “fascist” won almost no seats.
Together with the recently elected presi-
dent, Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s political
leaders were ready to offer autonomy and
Russian-language rights to the country’s dis-
affected eastern regions, where so-called
rebels, armed, funded and led by Russian
forces, had stirred up a civil war.
But the word compromise is not in Pu-
tin’s vocabulary. Instead, he backed ersatz
elections in two eastern regions, also held re-
cently, and then recognized the separatist
leaders who were chosen.
Never mind that these elections violated
a peace deal Putin recently concluded with
Poroshenko. Now Russia is in effective con-
trol of eastern chunks of Ukraine.
Ukraine stands as an extreme example of
compromise denied. But in Tunisia, newly
elected leaders talk of compromise in service
of the country. Is anyone watching in Wash-
ington, D.C.?
TRUDY RUBIN is a columnist and,
editorial board member for the Philadel-
phia Inquirer.
Letters to the editor
Fracking election
Now that a resounding majority of Den-
ton voters have passed the ban on future ex-
pansion of fracking in the city, we should ex-
pect and demand that our state representa-
tive, Myra Crownover, stand behind and de-
fend this expression of local control.
Big oil and gas will try to take the victory
away from the people of Denton by going to
its friends in the courts and in the Legisla-
ture. Our own legislator should be expected
to oppose any such efforts.
Michael H. Hennen,
Denton
SUBMISSIONS
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
signature, address and telephone number.
Authorship must be verified before publication.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length.
Letters should be typed or legibly handwritten
and be 250 or fewer words. We prefer e-mail
submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
Denton Record-Chronicle mission statement
We believe a free society, with all its privileges and opportunities, is partially successful because of
a free press that is supported by the community at large.
Our mission every day is to give you unbiased, wide-ranging news of Denton and the larger Denton
County community. We appreciate your subscription or your purchase of this newspaper. By doing
so, you are supporting an independent look at your community, its leaders, its business people, and
its residents.
Without that, we believe that our communities would suffer from a lack of analysis, a lack of in-
formation, and a lack of oversight of taxpayer money. We want to give you something to think
about every day. We hope those ideas lead you to become involved in your community, both with
your commentary and your actions.
GOP win
a rebuke
of Obama
Jonah
Goldberg
v m me know Barack Obama is good at
MJm# least one thing — getting Barack
W W Obama elected president of the
United States.
How good he is at being president of the
United States is a subject of considerable de-
bate. A less debatable
proposition: He is just
plain awful at running
a political party.
People often forget
that among the many
formal roles the presi-
dent has — command-
er in chief, first diplo-
mat, etc. — he is also
the leader of his own
party. And in that role,
he stinks.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
In 2008, Obama was supposed to herald
a new progressive era, the harbinger of a new
New Deal. He flipped several solid red states
blue — or at least purple — and many Demo-
crats, led by Obama himself, believed that a
permanent realignment had arrived.
Then-candidate Obama, fresh on his re-
turn from speaking to an adoring crowd of
Berliners, even reportedly told Democratic
representatives that his candidacy “is the
moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the
world is waiting for.”
Confident that history was on his side,
Obama ran Washington on a partisan basis,
using solid Democratic majorities in the
House and Senate to ram through Obama-
care. It was the most partisan major piece of
social legislation in a century.
The most interesting thing about Oba-
macare, however, is that it was never popu-
lar. President Obama simply couldn’t sell it.
From March 2009 to March 2010, he deliv-
ered on average a bit more than one speech
or statement on health care per week, includ-
ing major addresses to Congress and the na-
tion and numerous town halls and other
events around the USA.
And yet, despite widespread rumors of
his oratorical skill, the American people nev-
er bought it.
That should have been a sign.
In 2010, retiring Arkansas Congressman
Marion Berry warned the president that
Obamacare felt like a replay of the disastrous
“HillaryCare” effort of1993 that led to a his-
toric 54-seat Democratic loss in the House of
Representatives and put Newt Gingrich in
the speaker’s chair. Obama scoffed at the
suggestion, according to Berry: “Well, the big
difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.”
He was right. The Democrats lost 63 House
seats in 2010.
It’s true that Obama won re-election in
2012. Again, he’s good at running campaigns
that are all about him. The problem is that
ability doesn’t rub off on his presidency or his
party, which is ironic given that in 2008 he
insisted that his ability to manage a presi-
dential campaign proved that he had the
management experience to be president. He
was wrong.
According to a lengthy report in the
Washington Post, Senate Democratic opera-
tives were exasperated with the president’s
reluctance to help his party’s candidates get
elected in this week’s midterms. He tasked
his lawyers with monkey-wrenching efforts
for Obama to fundraise for Sen. Harry Reid’s
Senate Majority PAC.
‘We were never going to get on the same
page,” David Krone, Reid’s chief of staff, told
the Post. “We were beating our heads against
the wall.” Capitol Hill Democrats felt this was
just the latest example of the president act-
ing as if he were the head of his personal
Obama party, rather than the Democratic
Party.
And this was before he said — deliberate-
ly — that a vote for Democrats was a vote for
his policies, a statement that caused enough
Democratic forehead-slapping to register on
the Richter scale.
In the election’s wake, any talk of an Oba-
ma-fueled realignment seems delusional.
Young voters have soured on the president.
Hispanics didn’t show up. Contrary to a lot of
spinning early election night, this wasn’t an
“anti-incumbent wave”; it was an anti-Dem-
ocratic, or more properly, an anti-Obama
wave.
The GOP captured Senate seats in Iowa
and Colorado, each of which voted for Oba-
ma twice.
The governor’s race in deep-blue Mary-
land, where Obama campaigned, went to the
Republicans, as did Obama’s home state of
Illinois and liberal Massachusetts. Incum-
bent Republicans triumphed almost every-
where while incumbent Democrats lost al-
most everywhere.
When the next Senate convenes, 25 more
Democrats who voted for Obamacare will be
gone and the GOP’s majority in the House
will be so big and solid that NBC’s Chuck
Todd says Democrats won’t be able to recap-
ture it until at least 2022.
But Obama is still the president, which is
apparently all he ever cared about.
JONAH GOLDBERG is a fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute and a senior
editor of National Review. His column is
distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 101, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 11, 2014, newspaper, November 11, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1125002/m1/4/?q=Christmas+AND+slave: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .