Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 341, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 22, 2011 Page: 4 of 10
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Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Thursday, December 22, 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
Website:
www.sweetwaterreporter.com
E-mail addresses:
publisher@sweetwaterreporter.com
business@sweetwaterreporter.com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwaterreporter.com
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.
Patton
CUEST COLUMN
Will Mitt's big bet
be a deal-breaking
campaign faux pas?
For those of us who thrive on politics, there are certain
watershed moments that convince us immediately when
a candidate has just won or lost an election. My first such
memory took place in i960. John F. Kennedy was debat-
ing Richard Nixon. I remember watching that debate with
my dad on our old black-and-white Philco and thinking
to myself, "Nixon sure is sweating a lot. That doesn't look
good." It wasn't, and he lost.
In 1968, Mitt Romney's father, George,
U.y. then governor of Michigan, was a leading
candidate for president — until he said
he had been "brainwashed" concerning
the Vietnam War. Nixon, not Romney,
became the GOP nominee, and was elect-
ed president later that year.
Sen. Ed Muskie was on his way to
the 1972 Democratic nomination until
he delivered a tearful speech about some
n unpleasant things that had been said
1101 9 about his wife. He lost the nomination to
the hapless, leftwing George McGovern.
Fast-forward to 1976. Jimmy Carter was
debating the accidental president, Gerald
Ford, who said that Poland was not under
Soviet domination and never would be as long as he was in
the White House. Say what? Checkmate, Carter.
Four years later, Democrats sought to convince voters
that Ronald Reagan was a nuclear cowboy so they could
brand him as a dangerous extremist like they had Barry
Goldwater 16 years earlier. I remember laughing out loud
when I heard Carter say, "I asked my daughter, Amy, what
issue concerned her most, and she said, 'Daddy, it's nuclear
proliferation."' Bye-bye, White House. Hello, Habitat for
Humanity.
Walter Mondale had two defining moments in 1984. The
first came during his acceptance speech at the Democrat
convention, when he said, "Ronald Reagan will raise your
taxes. So will I. The difference is, he won't tell you. I just
did."
The other moment is the stuff of political legend. In his
first debate with Mondale, the 73-year-old Reagan seemed
to falter a time or two. During their second debate, the
Gipper was asked about concerns over his age, to which
he famously replied, "I am not going to make age an issue
in this campaign. I will not, for political purposes, exploit
my opponent's youth and inexperience." Mondale laughed.
The press laughed. America laughed. And the election was
over. Reagan won 49 states.
In 1988, some genius in the Michael Dukakis campaign
decided it would be a good photo op to have the little guy
drive around in a tank looking like Snoopy. Bad idea.
In 1992, George H.W. Bush made the fatal mistake of
looking at his watch during a debate with Bill Clinton and
Ross Perot. The camera caught it, and that "I'd really rather
be somewhere else" message was instantaneous.
In the 2000 race, A1 Gore made a deliberate point of sigh-
ing repeatedly into his microphone, and invading George
W. Bush's personal space during one of their debates.
Howard Dean's concession after the Iowa caucuses in
2004 became known as the "I have a scream speech." His
meltdown on stage became fodder for late night comics
and was watched endlessly on the Internet. The incident
destroyed what was left of his campaign.
So far this year, Herman Cain had to ask a reporter to
remind him of President Obama's position on the uprising
in Libya, and Rick Perry has had more cringing gaffes and
bloopers than anyone in recent memory.
Which brings us to Mitt Romney's big wager. During a
recent GOP debate, the fading former frontrunner tried to
make a $10,000 bet with Perry over something Romney
wrote in his book. Perry, who seemed taken aback at the
suggestion, told Romney, "I'm not in the betting busi-
ness.'*
Nor should Romney be. The life savings of many
Americans does not amount to the sum Romney so casually
offered to wager. Whether this turns out to be a candidacy-
killing moment for Romney remains to be seen, but with
his net worth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dol-
lars, this is a man with a tin ear.
Reportedly, Ann Romney, the candidate's wife, told him
after the debate, "There are some things you do really well.
Betting is not one of them."
Amen.
Doug Patton describes himself as a recovering political
speechwriter who agrees with himself much more often
than not. Now working as a freelance writer, his weekly
columns of sage political analysis are published the world
over by legions of discerning bloggers, courageous web-
masters and open-minded newspaper editors. Astute
supporters and inane detractors alike are encouraged to
e-mail him with their pithy comments at dougpatton@
cox.net.
STARGAZER
Circumpolar Region in Winter
Paul
Deiiick
Polaris, popular-
ly known as the North
Star, is the star which,
by chance, happens to be
almost exactly straight up
from Earth's North Pole.
As such, it is the only
star which seems never
to move,
always
being in
the same
place
any time
of night
and every
night of
the year.
As Earth
rotates on
its axis, all
the other
stars
appear
to circle Polaris slowly
in a counterclockwise
direction every 24 hours
Some are near enough to
Polaris that they never
dip below the horizon
and are always in the sky.
These stars, and the con-
stellations they form, are
referred to as circumpo-
lar, and their area of the
sky is the Circumpolar
Region.
The Circumpolar
Region is one of the nine
sky regions we'll be pre-
senting in this column
over the next year, and
is the only region that
varies in size epending
up the geographic loca-
tion of the viewer. Since
Polaris doesn't move, its
altitude as seen in the sky
is always the same num-
ber of degrees above the
horizon as the degrees
of latitude from which
it is seen. For example,
with Waco's latitude of
31° N, Polaris is always
31 degrees above Waco's
northern horizon, and
all the stars within 31
degrees of Polaris form
the Circumpolar Region
as seen from Waco.
In Bangor, Maine, how-
ever, the Circumpolar
GUEST COLUMN
Circumpolar star trails over the Meyer Observatory in Central Texas
Photo courtesy of Dick Campbell and the Central Texas Astronomical Society
Region would be larger.
Given Bangor's latitude
of 450 N, Polaris is seen
at 45 degrees altitude,
and thus more stars are
circumpolar.
The Circumpolar
Region as seen from most
mi -northern latitudes
(most of the U.S.) con-
tains six constellations,
all >r most of each being
visible all night and a!
year. These constella-
tions are Ursa Minor the
Little Bear, Ursa Major
the Big Bear, Cassiopeia
the Queen, Cepheus the
King, Draco the Dragon,
and Camelopardalis the
Giraffe. Owing the sea-
sonal variations, different
of these constellations are
prominent in the differ-
ent seasons.
Ursa Minor, always
at the center of the
Circumpolar Region,
contains the Little Dipper
with Polaris at the end of
the dipper's handle. In
the evenings of winter,
most of the Little Dipper
is to Polaris' lower right
with Ursa Major, which
contains the well-known
Big Dipper, further to the
right. The Little Dipper,
composed of mostly
fainter stars, is far more
difficult to make out than
its larger and easier-to-
identify counterpart.
To Polaris' left and
lower left are Cassiopeia
and her husband
Cepheus. Cassiopeia now
looks like a "M" or "W"
on its side and is brighter
than Cepheus which ooks
rather like a stick-house.
Draco, now situated
between Polaris and
the horizon, is now dif-
ficult to see because it
is low. Above Polaris is
Camelopardalis which is
also hard to see, but for a
different reason - it con-
tains no bright stars.
Although all or part
of all these constella-
tions are in the night sky
year-around, d ferent
ones move into promi-
nence as the seasons
progress. During the
coming year we'll look at
the Circumpolar Region
again for its spring, sum-
mer; and fall appear-
ances. Next month, we'll
introduce the Great
Winter Arc Region fea-
turing Orion the Hunter.
Star Parties
The Central Texas
Astronomical Society,
which owns and operates
the Meyer Observatory
at the Turner Research
Station near Clifton, TX,
will have it next free,
monthly observatory
open house Sat., Jan.
14, 6-8 p.m. See www.
centexastronomy.org for
more information.
Paul Derrick is an
amateur astronomer
who lives in Waco. His
website www.stargaz-
erpaul.com contains an
archive of past Stargazer
columns, a schedule of
his upcoming programs,
star parties and classes,
and other basic star-
gazing information.
Contact him at: paul-
derrickwaco@aol.com,
or 254-723-6346, or 918
N. 30th St., Waco, TX
76707,
Postal Service
By Pat W. Williams,
Acting District Manager
U.S. Postal Service
Fort Worth District
As Congress considers
legislation to reform the
business model of the
Postal Service, it must
confront a basic choice: to
permit the Postal Service
to function more as a
business does, or con-
strain it from doing so.
With greater business
model flexibility, the
Postal Service can return
to profitability and finan-
cial stability. A flexible
business model would
speed product and pric-
ing decisions, enable a
five-day per week deliv-
ery schedule, and permit
the realignment of mail
processing, delivery and
retail networks to meet
lower mail volumes. It
would also allow the
Postal Service to more
effectively manage its
healthcare and retire-
ment systems, and better
leverage its workforce.
For an organization
that generates all of its
revenue from the sale of
its postage, products and
services - and is con-
tending with declining
use of First Class Mail for
bill payment - having the
flexibi : ry to quickly adapt
and react to the market-
place is vital. Our imme-
diate goal is to reduce our
annua costs by $20 bil
lion by 2015, which would
put the Postal Service ii
the black and ahead of
the long-term cost curve.
The alternative is a busi-
ness model that prohibits
or delays cost reduction,
perpetuates an inflexible
structure, and constrains
the Postal Service from
being more responsive to
the marketplace. Under
this scenario, and in the
absence of meaningful
and immediate business
model reform, the Postal
Service could soon incur
long-term deficits in the
range of $10 to 15 billion
annually.
Within the limits of
our current legal frame-
work, we have responded
aggressively to a chang-
ing marketplace - reduc-
ing the size of our work-
force by 128,000 career
employees and reduc-
ing annual operating
costs by $12.5 billion
dollars in just the past
four years. However, to
return to profitability we
must move at an even
faster pace. And to do so
requires changes in the
law.
If provided with the
flexibility and speed to
act, the Postal Service
can avoid being a finan-
cial burden to the taxpay-
er. More importantly, a
financially stable Postal
Service that can operate
more like a business can
more readily adapt o
America's changing mail-
ing and shipping needs.
For example, we are
expanding our network
of 70,000 retail part-
ner locations and on-
line offerings so that our
customers will be able
to purchase stamps and
conduct other mailing
and shipping transactions
outside f se traditional
Post Office. Customers
will increasingly be able
to visit gas stations, gro-
cery stores and pharma
cies - which are part of
regular shopping pat-
terns, open longer hours
and weekends, and more
conveniently locate-1 - to
conduct their postal busi-
ness. The traditional Post
Office will always exist ,
but a changing world
demands rethinking the
status-quo and adapting
to the needs of our cus-
tomers.
In a digital world, busi-
nesses and individu-
als have choices in the
way they communicate
Although the Postal
Service facilitates trillions
in commerce annually,
and supports a $900 bil-
lion mailing industry that
employs almost 8 million
people, it must have the
tools and the motivations
to effectively compete for
customers.
In the current debate
about its future, some
have argued the Postal
Service should not oper-
ate like a business and be
allowed to regress back
into a unchanging, tax-
payer-subsidized agency,
and some have urged that
it be privatized and com-
pletely separated from
the government. The for-
mer is undesirable and
the latter is unrealistic,
The answer resides in
the middle - an organi-
zation that performs a
vital national function,
and operates with the
discipline and motiva-
tions of a business that
competes for customers.
If it is to endure as a
great American institu-
tion, provide the nation
with a secure, reliable
and affordable delivery
platform, and serve as
an engine of commerce,
Congress should provide
it with the speed and flex-
ibility it needs to compete
in an evolving market-
place.
The Postal Service is far
too integral to the eco-
nomic health of the nation
to be handcuffed to lie
past and to an inflexible
business model. To best
serve taxpayers and post-
al customers, it's time to
remove the constraints.
A self-supporting gov-
ernment enterprise, the
U.S. Postal Service is the
only delivery service that
reaches every address
in the nation, 150 mil-
lion residences, busi-
nesses and Post Office
Boxes. The Postal Service
receives no tax dollars for
operating expenses, and
relies on the sale of post-
age, products and ser-
vices to fund its opera-
tions. With 32,000 retail
locations and the most
frequently visited web-
site in the federal gov-
ernment, usps.com, the
Postal Sendee has annual
revenue of more than $67
billion and delivers nearly
40 percent of the worl s
mail. If it were a private
sector company, the U.S.
Postal Service would rank
29th in the 2010 Fortune
500. Black Enterprise and
Hispanic Business maga
zines ranked the Postal
Service as a leader in
workforce diversity. The
Postal Sendee has been
named the Most Trusted
Government Agency six
consecutive years and
the sixth Most Trusted
Business in the nation by
the Ponemon Institute.
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Sweetwater Reporter will
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 341, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 22, 2011, newspaper, December 22, 2011; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229644/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.