Today Cedar Hill (DeSoto, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 2007 Page: 4 of 18
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Page 4 • Cedar Hill Today • Thursday, March 22, 2007
i
OPINION
Captain America makes us confront ourselves
BRIAN
ALLEN
Today Staff
Skewed World
Order
Comic fans arc always arguing about
who’s bigger, more popular and, of course,
who could beat up who, but the quickest
way to gauge any hero’s pop culture street
cred is to kill them off.
I found out about Captain America’s
death through the mainstream news before
I saw it on the comic message boards, and
when CNN makes you a lead story, you’re
big time. Media outlets such as the New
York Times and “Nightline” were in the
thick of things as well.
That’s not surprising, though, as
Captain America has always been a differ-
ent breed of hero. Marvel Comics earned
its reputation by comic art that reflects
real-life struggles and nobody embodied
that more than Cap.
He was conceived to fight Adolf Hitler,
after all. While many superheroes have
been around just as long as Cap, they’ve
had their origins retroactively rewritten so
they never age past their mid-30s.
Not the “Living Legend of World War
II,” though.
Because Hitler and WWI1 are so impor-
tant to his origin story, it couldn’t very
well be rewritten. So Marvel had its main
superteam, the Avengers, find Captain
America frozen in suspended animation in
a block of ice.
He’s been fighting the good fight ever
since then, even when it put him at odds
with political leaders. Over the years his
character changed from obedient soldier to
an iconic figure who commanded more
respect than the people he took orders
from.
So when Marvel gave us “Civil War,” its
heavily Patriot Act-influenced storyline, it
made perfect sense for him to be the one
questioning orders.
Long sales-driven story short, the
American government passes a Superhero
Registration Act.
Any hero who wishes to continue
actively fighting crime has to register their
real name and superpowers w ith the feder-
al government.
Of course, this divides the Marvel
Universe, and chaos ensues. Captain
America actually changed his mind in the
story’s final issue and surrenders to the
government.
This change of heart eventually leads to
his death, as a sniper mowed Steve Rogers
down as he leaves his arraignment.
Issues of Captain America No. 25 are
already going for more than $100 online,
which is ludicrous.
Ask all the speculators who paid exorbi-
tant prices for the “Death of Superman
See CAPTAIN, Page 16
We must not
lose our stake
in Latin America
KAY BAILEY
HUTCHISON
Special To Today
ion that has become more
important to our national secu-
rity than at any point since the
Pres-
ident
Bush
em-
barked
on his
five-
nation
tour of
Latin
Amer-
ica last
week
and
entered
a reg-
ColdWar
Back then, Latin Amejifca
was a vital front in the fight
against communism, and if
recent events are any guide, it
could become equally impor-
tant in the war on terror.
A fresh wave of authoritari-
anism - fueled by petrodollars,
populism and anti-
Americanism - has cast a dark
cloud over the future of free-
dom in our hemisphere. In
order to deal with this emerg-
ing threat, we need to dust off
the Cold War pi ay book and
become increasingly active in
helping our friends to the
south.
The problem starts (but
doesn’t end) in Venezuela, a
nation that once enjoyed a 50-
year democratic tradition, but
is now in the early stages of a
dictatorship.
Venezuela’s president,
Hugo Chavez, has basically
become a power unto himself.
Earlier this year, elected repre-
sentatives abdicated their
responsibility and gave the
Venezuelan leader the sweep-
ing power to rule by decree for
18 months so he can impose
sweeping economic, social and
political change.
These dictatorial powers
would be alarming in anyone’s
hands, but they’re particularly
dangerous in the hands of Mr.
Chavez.
The strongman rules an oil-
rich nation that exports 1.1
million barrels of oil to the
United States per day, which
amounts to 14 percent of our
total oil imports. Mr. Chavez
has already colluded with
other OPEC nations to raise
oil prices, and when he nation-
alizes multi-billion dollar
crude projects in the Orinoco
Belt, there’s a risk that prices
could jump again.
This could have a severe
impact on the pocketbooks of
American families and small
businesses.
According to some econo-
mists, every time oil prices
rise by 10 percent, on average
150,000 Americans lose their
jobs.
Chavez has used his
nation’s windfall oil profits to
buy political support at home
and stir trouble abroad.
He has said that Venezuela
has a “strong oil card to play
on the geopolitical stage” and
“it is a card that we are going
to play with toughness against
the toughest country in the
world, the United States.”
In his struggle against U S.
“imperialism,” Mr. Chavez has
'found a useful ally in the
world’s largest state sponsor of
terrorism - the government of
Iran.
He is one of the few leaders
to publicly support Iran’s
nuclear weapons program, and
the Iranian mullahs have
rewarded Mr. Chavez’s friend-
ship with lucrative contracts,
including the transfer of
Iranian professionals and tech-
nologies to Venezuela.
In January, Chavez and
Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad revealed plans
for a $2 billion joint fund, part
of which will be used as a
“mechanism for liberation”
against American allies.
This could help achieve
Chavez’s vision, shared in an
earlier meeting with Mr.
Ahmadinejad, when he said,
“Let’s save the human race;
let’s finish off the U.S.
empire.”
Mr. Chavez has grown
bolder by interfering in the
elections of several Latin
American countries, and his
brand of revolutionary politics
has made gains in some of
them.
Bolivia’s newly elected
president, Evo Morales, has
nationalized the energy indus-
try, rewritten the constitution
and promised to work with Mr.
Chavez and Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro to form an “Axis
of Good” to oppose the United
States.
Perhaps most ominously,
the former Soviet client Daniel
Ortega has returned to the
presidency of Nicaragua.
During the 1980s, Mr. Ortega
ruled his country with an iron
fist until U.S.-backed freedom
fighters ousted him from
See LATIN, Page 16
THE
OSCARS
Local races have an impact, too
A good number
of people are bored
by local politics.
This is frustrat-
ing considering the
level of power local
politicians wield in
their neighbors'
lives.
But that being
said, 1 guess it's
safe to say that pol-
itics, in general,
bores a healthy
portion of the
American popula-
tion, regardless of the level.
This is evidenced by any of the local,
state or national voter-turnout results.
Research indicates, however, that more
voters participate in the electoral process
when there is a president, senator or gov-
ernor up for election.
Races for school board and city council
members are the least attractive, only
above those for bond package proposals.
For some, there is more thought and
energy put into their child’s junior high
school race for student council president
than considering the person who might
very well be responsible for deciding to
raise or lower their local property taxes or
the level at which to fund the police and
fire departments in town.
Mid-February marks the beginning of
the local elections process for school
board and city council races.
But buzz for the 2008 presidential race
is overshadowing most everything more
than a year out. Don’t get me wrong, there
is A LOT to talk about even now, from
Barack Obama’s decision to develop an
exploratory committee and run for U.S.
president to Sen. Joseph Biden's “clean”
comments on the Democratic side to rum-
blings of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s
possible consideration for a vice president
post in the Republican party.
From national talk-show pundits to
local newspaper columnists and those in
between, everyone is chomping at the bit
to get in not just their 2 cents, but their
20-cents’ worth; and they will.
A friend called me up last week excited
about the implications of a strong female
presidential contender facing off against,
among others, a charismatic, seemingly
palatable mainstream novice.
He was anxious for my opinion and
eager to spar if it wasn't in line with what
he thought.
We had a lively discussion, but I could-
n’t help thinking this would be wonderful
if similar discussion, debate and dialogue
took place about the city council and
school board level.
Basically, the races are just different
animals, but it’s sad because local politics
can be riveting, particularly with all of the
underlying issues that exist — and there
are always underlying issues.
Initially, it did not appear there would
be contested city council races, but Places
1, 3 and 5 each have challengers in
DeSoto has challengers.
Place 5 in Cedar Hill has four people
vying for that spot, including the incum-
bent.
Another school board race in Cedar
Hill is contested, while another one isn’t.
It will be among our duties at Today
Newspapers to keep the community aware
of why these candidates are running and
analyze the roads they have taken to gel to
this point.
It's sad that most people won’t know
there is an election until it is over and
even sadder that those who do know,
won’t care enough to exercise their right
to vote.
DeSoto’s voter turnout is always low
despite the city's reputation of having
among the most educated populations in
the Best Southwest area, as noted by the
U.S. Census (don’t believe me, take a gan-
der at the 2000 information).
Education and voter registration are
closely connected, and should be, but no
one would know it based on the bottom-
line figures.
I don't know what it’s going to take to
wake people up about the importance of
their local elections.
I know each of the candidates would
practically do cartwheels for as many peo-
ple to cast votes in their respective places
hey maybe that's the catalyst, the can-
didates doing handstands and back Hips to
garner votes.
That would rival the dog-and-pony
shows that take place at the national and
state elections — remember the 2004
presidential election, and I know you
haven’t forgotten the 2006 Texas guberna-
torial race.
I could go on, and I will as all the elec-
tions proceed, but I’ll stop for now.
E-mail Daphne Brow n at
desoto@todaynewspapers.net.
DAPHNE
BROWN
Today Staff
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Gooch, Robin. Today Cedar Hill (DeSoto, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 2007, newspaper, March 22, 2007; DeSoto, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth568754/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.