Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 197, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 3, 2011 Page: 4 of 16
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Viewpoints
Page A4 ■ Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLYDEUVERIN® LOCAL NEWS SI NTH 1881
T—\ Sweetwatei A
Reporter
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/235-4967
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TU"
MEMBER
2010
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Ron Midkiff
Publisher
Gloria Rudel
ad director
Danica Hickson
business mgr./
circulation mgr.
Tatiana Rodriguez
managing editor
Pablo Rodriguez
composing
Bleu Reyes
production mgr.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for
expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled "Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
Argus
Hamilton
GUEST COLUMN
Newt Gingrich
to enter hot dog
eating contest
GOP candidate Newt Gingrich announced he'll enter
the July Fourth Coney I and hot dog eating con-
test. This could be highly instructional for House
Democrats. Newt Gingrich has shown that he doesn't
back away from wiener scandals, he either eats them or
he marries them.
Stephen Colbert convinced the FEC to let him raise
unlimited corporate funds for his mock presidential
campaign. It could ruin his artistic objectivity with
crowds. Once a comedian has ten thousand dollars in
the bank, he'll still make fun of Republicans, but he
doesn't mean it.
Charlie Sheen told Sports Illustrated that he used
steroids when he played a pitcher in the movie Major
League twenty years ago. It disappointed a lot of his
fans. It could cost Charlie election to the Porn Client
Hall of Fame if he's found to have used
performance-enhancing drugs.
Prince William and Kate began
their one-week tour of North America
T "S gg* fc Thursday, beginning up in Canada and
ending in Southern California. When
they get to Los Angeles they're going
■ , / to visit all the movie studios anc Skk
4. Row. That's how much Kate wants to
| ■ meet Lindsay Lohan.
— 1 Lindsay Lohan was released from
her ankle bracelet Wednesday and
freed from house arrest after serving
thirty-five days indoors for stealing a
necklace. She must now do community
service and she must also attend an -
shoplifting classes. The textbooks are chained to the
desk.
President Obama demanded a dozen times at
Wednesday's press conference that rich people who
own corporate jets pay higher taxes. It's obvious he was
taunting Rush Limbaugh. Obama not only ripped rich
guys who own corporate jets, he said it twelve times for
3 hard of hearing.
President Obama told the country Wednesday that
his two daughters Sasha and Malia are more diligent
than Congress. He got their ages wrong while praising
them. For one reason or another the accuracy of birth
information is always a problem with this particular
president.
President Obama told ABC News that his girls would
have Secret Service protection as they start dating if he
gets re-elected. He added that means they'd never get
into a car driven by a boy drinking a beer. It's always
the same pitch, vote Democrat or the children are going
to die.
President Obama urged the GOP Congress Wednesday
to raise the debt ceiling another cou e of trillion dol-
lars to avoid disaster. He says we must keep spending
money until we're out of debt. This statement proves
more than any piece of paper that he really was born
in America.
The U.S. Senate agreed Thursday to work over the
holiday weekend to reach a budget deal and avoid
default. The lawmakers don't want to go home and face
their constituents at July 4th picnics. Too many of these
parks have trees and most of the people with trucks
have a rope.
Anthony Weiner's wife Huma left him for a month
of world travel Tuesday. Her mother is from Pakistan,
her father is a Sikh Indian and she was raised in Saudi
Arabia. Standing in line behind her at the airport secu-
rity checkpoint is the closest thing there is on earth to
eternal life.
JFK Airport had a security breach Wednesday when
a Nigerian man boarded a flight from New York to L.A.
without a valid boarding pass. Any terror mission is
a lost cause anyway. Al-Qaeda hac every intention of
destroying Los Angeles but subprime mortgages beat
them to it.
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday
that Congress can force U.S citizens to buy health
insurance. Liberty was nice while it lasted. Between
Congress's power under the Commerce Clause and the
Supreme Court's power under the Due Process Clause,
Americans are pretty much left with the power to decide
when they go to the bathroom, unless they're on an
airplane.
Argas Hamilton is the host comedian at The Comedy
Store in Hollywood and entertains groups and orga-
nizations around the country. E-mail him at Argus@
ArgusHamilton.com.
OTPOURRI
It's not about the fireworks
Students of history tell
us that something like the
American Revolution was
bound to happen in the
social and political climate
of the 1700s. The amazing
fact - which we still cel-
ebrate - is that it was suc-
cessful to the extent of cre-
ating a world power.
A concept known as
"natural law" became
popular in thei7th
century. It was origi-
nally found in the
Greek philosophy
known as stoicism.
Stoics believed that
the universe is gov-
erned by an eternal
and undeniable law.
The rational princi-
ple behind that law,
often referred to as
logos, was believed
to be in every per-
son. Following that law
made societies secure, as
their members were fol-
lowing the law of nature.
Disobedience to it was not
natural, and out of harmo-
ny with the society. Laws
of man which contradicted
logos were not true or just
laws.
This theory reoccurs
briefly in the writings of
some of the early Christian
philosophers. Thomas
Aquinas wrote that natural
law was the part of God's
law which was understand-
able by humans with our
limited wisdom. Human
laws which are in harmony
with natural law are the
application of God's law to
human society. Laws con-
trary to natural law are seen
as unjust.
As time passed, and
society passed through
the Renaissance and
Reformation, the idea of
natural law changed a little.
The inclusion of religion, or
a deity, began to be empha-
sized less, and the rights
of each individual were
emphasized more. Since
most governments ofthe day
were monarchies, the idea
that all people are created
equal, with the same rights
under law, was on a colli-
sion course with tradition.
The Reformation started
people questioning things
which had been accepted.
With Calvinist, Lutherans,
and Methodists, as well as
the Society of Friends and
others springing up, each
claiming that there was no
hierarchy in God's soci-
ety, the middle and lower
classes began questioning
the societal hierarchy which
dictated that some people
had more rights than oth
ers through the accident of
birth. The argument of the
era was that man, in his
natural state, is free and the
equal of all others, although
TEDBITS
July 4, 1993. We were
more aware of fireworks
than freedom ... A long walk
that began before daylight on
this holiday morn-
ing was a search for
answers, a desperate
search that brought
unexpected results.
Serious fam-
ily problems and a
recent job lay off had
my mind in turmoil.
The separations
and upheavals in
our lives were still
intense as We began
a week long confer-
ence in Colorado
Springs. The beauti-
ful scenery plus our
long time friendship
with the conference speak-
ers were welcome.
So, long before daylight
on July 4th, I was out walk-
ing. A mountain stream I
encountered was of special
interest, probably due to my
growing up on the plains of
West Texas. I followed the
stream for about three miles
and finally came to a road
and bridge over the stream.
The bridge had a sign that
read "Rocky Mountain
Creek". I stood on the bridge
and enjoyed the sights and
sounds of what West Texans
only see on post cards. The
stream, about 20' wide was
tumbling over rocks with a
small water fall.
I was where I wanted to be
because the beautiful scen-
ery and sounds of the stream
were so different from all
the turmoil of the past few
months. I was becoming
lisa
Peterson
somewhat insecure in that
freedom. By joining in a
society, such rights as are
necessary for the conimor
good are surrendered, and
all others retained.
At the same time that this
was going on, the colonies
were encouraging immigra-
tion. Taming a
new land is labor
intensive, and
discouraging the
French - who were
already on the
continent - took
numbers. The
people who chose
to ave England
and the con-nent
were not those
with high posi-
tions in society.
As all of us know,
the majority of
those to come to
our shores were malcon-
tents, religious dissent-
ers and criminals. Those
who survived made their
way through hard work -
proving the point of those
believing in natural law.
In the midiyoos, the aver-
age resident of the colonies
considered himself a sub-
ject of the British throne
He was a Protestant of
some flavor, rural, agrar-
ian, and spoke English
(although some colloquial-
isms were already creating
an American version of the
language.) He considered
himsel: trivileged to be part
of the English system with
its enlightened monarchy
acquiescing in the demands
of the Houses of Lords
and Commons. The term
"American" was not heard.
Colonists were proud of
their cities - Philadelphia,
Boston, New York, and the
like Literacy was empha-
sized so that the populace
could read the Bible. As
a result, newspapers and
philosophical tracts were
not only popular, but shared
throughout the land. While
not bonded together in any
manner, the colonists were
creating a body of peo e
with similar interests. This
concerned the mother coun-
try, as the seeds of inde-
pendence come from such
unity.
At the conclusion of the
French and Indian War, the
British Parliament was faced
with a large debt. Rather
than tax the home folk, who
had little other than trade
to gain from the war, they
chose to tax the colonists
who were spared becoming
French subjects. The col-
onists, however, were not
particularly appreciative of
the opportunity to bear the
burden. They resisted the
additional taxes, in part by
sending representatives to
Parliament to argue their
case. The response was yet
more taxes. This vicious
circle is a large part of
what led to the >hot heard
round the world" on April
19,1775-
Well over a year of the
rebellion was fought before
the Continental Congress
determined to declare for
independence. Based on a
vote in that body two days
previously, it was designed
to unity the colonies and
encourage overseas support
for the Cause. In writing the
Declaration, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, Roger Sherman
and Robert Livingston
drew on the popular con-
cept of natural law "We
hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pur-
suit of Happiness/* Neither
Thomas Aquinas, the sto-
ics, nor any other advocate
of natural law could have
explained the philosophy
more succinctly.
Many of us are, perhaps,
too caught up in the "pursuit
of happiness" to remember
the origin of the term. Ours
is the only nation which
can trace its roots to the
philosophical revolution of
the 17th and 18th centuries.
The other revolutions creat-
ed nations which still have
difficulty governing their
people. Our Declaration
of idependence has been
copied but the result on
these shores has yet to be
imitated. Creating the first
nation in the course of world
history to be born of revo-
lution of war, the first to
test the new theories of the
separation between church
and state, of the sovereignty
of the people, written con-
stitutions and governmen-
tal checks and balances,
the simple Declaration was,
as Jefferson said, a Flame
which spread over the
globe.
Most of us are reading
the Sunday paper in the
evening, after a weekend
of family, fun and recre
ation - possibly even travel.
Some have been guests of
the Sheriff for having cel-
ebrated a little too much.
Perhaps now is a good time
to reflect on the events of
236 years ago when lives
and fortunes were lost in an
effort to declare the equal-
ity of mankind.
Lisa Peterson is the
County Attorney for
Nolan County. Comments
about this column may be
e-mailed to editor@sweet-
waterreporter.com.
Freedom
bitter and really needed for
something to happen in my
life. Little did I know that
the something would be the
Rocky Mountain
Creek.
As the sun
came up, I could
see more of the
stream and really
liked what I saw.
My mind was
completely lost
in the sights and
sounds. Slowly
I began to focus
on the deep pond
near the bridge;
I was able to see
every pebble on
the bottom as it
Was crystal clear
and seemed to be stand-
ing still. I looked carefully,
relishing the examination,
maybe like a 10 year old boy
from West Texas would or
perhaps like only a 52 year
old could that was desper-
ately searching for meaning
in life.
As I looked, something
very strange became appar-
ent; the stream and pond
had no life of any kind, no
frogs, no bugs, no fish, no
turtles, no plants, nothing.
Ted
Weaver
It was totally lifeless! I could
not understand why until I
looked up and saw that the
sun had now illuminated a
previously unseen sign. The
sign read, "Contaminated
Water, Do Not Drink." All
of a sudden, the lack of life
made sense; the stream was
dead because it was con-
taminated!
Then slowly I began to
see my life ... just like the
stream, my sign read par-
ent, employee, pastor,
Christian. I looked like an
employee, parent and pastor
and sounded like a Christian
but did not produce life
because of contamination.
I had allowed bitterness
and resentment to ruin me;
to make me be only a look
alike.
I fell to my knees, repent-
ed and asked God to forgive
me. My focus had been total-
ly directed towards others
and towards circumstanc-
es. Now I could see ME. I
vowed with God's help to
stop trying to have the right
sign, right sound and right
scenery; but to become real,
pure and holy so that my life
would produce life and not
death.
So, as the sun came up on
that July 4th, with eyes and
heart freshly opened, I was
now more aware of freedom
than fireworks.
Named Writer ofthe Year
in 2005, Ted Weaver is
also an accomplished pub-
lic speaker, educator and
auctioneer. Mr. Weaver
held positions as the
Manager of the Chamber
of Commerce and Mayor
Pro-Tem in Sweetwater,
Texas. Contact Ted Weaver
at TedWeaver@juno.com
or by phone at 719-964-
5268.
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 197, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 3, 2011, newspaper, July 3, 2011; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229503/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.