De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012 Page: 2 of 24
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Page 2/ Thursday, December 20,2012 / DeLeon Free Press
What do you say about a
week like this?
You can use this week’s
tragic school shooting in
Connecticut as a political issue,
I suppose.
You can talk about the
need for gun control, or you can
talk about how bad the govern-
ment is for turning this tragedy
into an excuse to create more
gun control laws.
Any person of any stripe
could make this horrible event
an example of what you want to
make it.
And people have, all over
the news for days now.
As far as I see it, this
comes down to one issue: a
national return to savagery on
one hand and barbarism on the
other.
The German philosopher
Friedrich von Schiller said it
best: “Man can be at odds with
himself in a double fashion:
either as a savage if his feelings
mle his principles, or as barbar-
ian if his principles destroy his
feelings.”
It seems like we have
emerged at one of those
moments.
Personally, I don’t think
this is a gun issue, not because I
typically support the Second
Ammendment, but because I
honestly think the behavior
exhibited by people like Adam
Lanza, or Eric Harris from the
Columbine shooting, or Seung-
Hui Cho from the Virginia Tech
massacre is more the issue than
the guns.
Each one of these people
exhibited narcissistic personali-
ty traits.
A narcissist, simply,
engages in unhealthy self-
absorption due to a disturbance
in the sense of self.
The are many types of nar-
cissists, and our culture rewards
them.
There are narcissistic athe-
ists. They are the ones who are
offended by nativity scenes on
courthouse lawns, and
Christian crosses on war
memorials, and prayers in
schools and at football games.
These people have been offend-
ed by the religious assault on
the ego at some time in their
past, and the mere sight of reli-
gious symbols drives them into
physical revulsion.
There are fanatical and/or
aggressive narcissists, who
fight delusions of insignifi-
cance and lost value and try to
re-establish their self-esteem
through grandiose fantasies and
self-reinforcement. If unable to
gain recognition or support
from others, they take on the
role of a heroic or worshipped
person with a grandiose mis-
sion. They feel no remorse,
they feel no guilt, they feel no
empathy. These are the ones
that might shoot up schools and
office buildings.
There are corporate narcis-
sists who chase profit at all
costs, even to the detriment of
company employees and the
company itself. Related to the
above is the cultural narcissist,
who seeks the acquisition of
symbols of wealth. They derive
their self-worth through these
symbols, and are overly com-
petitive and defensive.
There are also narcissistic
leaders, who tend to take
charge when a group is leader-
less, simply for the self-satis-
faction of ego.
There are many other
forms of narcissism, but these
seem to be a good representa-
tion of the narcissism we see in
our national culture.
It is so prevalent that we
have begun to protect narcis-
sism with misguided laws.
When a narcissistic atheist
like Madalyn Murray O’Hair
was able to remove God from
the public sphere, and was pro-
tected by law, things truly
began to spin out of control.
Looking at Friday morn-
ing’s shooting, I don’t see an
evil gun. I see an evil man, and
I see a society that grows dark-
er everyday. I think the shack-
ling of God in America is very
much a cause for the growth of
this evil.
I mean, what’s wrong with
God? If Adam Lanza had lis-
tened to God, those kids would-
n’t be dead.
God tells us not to steal,
not to kill, not to cheat on our
spouses... in short, not to create
harm in this world.
Sin is, in fact, just that - the
creation of harm.
Unfortunately, in the
United States, God is old-hat.
His prohibitions against greed
and violence have somehow
become less important than the
inner feelings of a malcontent
who doesn’t want to hear a
prayer at a football game.
It feeds our egos to play
mainstream video games in
which killing is the point. We
are omnipotent in that way... we
become gods of fantasy.
It feeds our egos to identi-
fy with a movie star who has no
other creed than death, whether
it be from bullets or bombs or
dmgs or pointless amours. We
spend billions of dollars to sup-
port an entertainment industry
that glorifies violence for the
sake of violence.
They teach our children
violence, but who teaches them
about God, about the impor-
tance of doing no harm?
Some parents do, no
doubt, but the culture itself has
chased God away, and with
him, any real morality.
Oddly, in the entertain-
ment industry, a variety of dif-
ferent forms of narcissism
melds together to create finan-
cial success. You find the
aggressive narcissism of a good
many movie stars incorporated
into a mixture of corporate and
cultural narcissism inherent in
producers and marketers and
directors, and pretty soon you
have a fairly disgusting cre-
ation.
Then they sell this mess to
a highly suggestable public.
It is no wonder that
Lucifer was once, before his
fall, an angel of entertainment.
Refer to Ezekiel, chapter
28: “Thou art the anointed
chemb that covereth; and I have
set thee so: thou wast upon the
holy mountain of God; thou
hast walked up and down in the
midst of the stones of fire. Thou
wast perfect in thy ways from
the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee.
See Jon Q. Public page 3
The DeLeon Free Press, P.O. Box 320, DeLeon, Texas 76444
(Publication No. 150080) is published by Morgan Publishing Co.,
51 weeks per year, at 324 S. Texas in DeLeon. Periodicals
postage is paid at DeLeon, Texas 76444. Telephone: 254-893-
6868; Fax: 254-893-3550; e-mail:ads@deleonfreepress.com, web
site: www.deleonfreepress.com.
Mailed subscription rates per year: By Comanche County post
office-$30, elsewhere in Texas-$35, elsewhere in U.S.-$40.
We will be pleased to correct an erroneous description of any per-
son or organization which may appear in the DeLeon Free Press if
it is brought to the attention of the editor. All reprinting rights are
reserved. Copyright 2012.
Publisher-Jon Awbrey
Editor-Laura Kestner
Office Mgr.-Kay Hodges
Advertising-Betty Wofford
Staff Writer-Sarah Awbrey
Serving the DeLeon area since 1890,
striving to be a positive voice in the community.
10 YEARS AGO
Dec. 19, 2002. Two DHS
students from Linda Lindley’s
advanced learners class -
Amber Stewart and Jami
Brinson - spoke at the Lions
Club breakfast.
With on-going, wide-
spread illness reported district
wide (50 out at the elementary,
61 at the middle school and 25
at the high school) DISD
Superintendent Mary Jane
Atkins announced that schools
would be dismissed early for
the Christmas holidays.
20 YEARS AGO
Dec. 17, 1992. Heather
Carr and Becky Ramirez were
the featured players in the
“Salute the Lady Bearcats” ad.
Quentin Smith and
Jonathan Weaver were the fea-
tured players in the “Salute the
Bearcats” ad.
The following eighth
DISD
From page 1 -
grade band members participat-
ed in a special Christmas
Concert - Misty Wortham,
Amanda Holt, Raecine Sapien,
Jennifer Frasier, Dayva Abbey,
Christie Wacker and Chayla
Barnes.
30 YEARS AGO
Dec. 23, 1982. DeLeon
Bearcats Roman Saldivar and
Gary Suit were named to the
All-Central Texas High School
Super Team and were among
those honored at a banquet in
Brownwood.
John Conklin, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Ron Conklin, and a
senior at DHS, received word
that he’d been accepted into the
US Military Academy at West
Point.
40 YEARS AGO
Dec. 21, 1972. Mrs.
Tommy Butler was the winner
of a $ 100 give-away at the local
JRB grocery store. Making the
presentation to Mrs. Butler was
Garland Bell, local JRB manag-
er.
The DeLeon girls basket-
ball team brought home the
consolation trophy from the
Santa Anna Tournament. The
players pictured with the trophy
were Becky Morris, Paula
Thomas, Brenda Nowlin, Lesa
Miears, Tina Walker and Terry
Perry.
50 YEARS AGO
Dec. 20, 1962. Army Sgt.
Gerald V. Gilchrest, 20, of
DeLeon, participated with other
members of the 3rd Armored
Division in Exercise SABRE
KNOT in Germany.
Mackie Wright, a DeLeon
High School graduate, was
named Wainwright Sweetheart
at Tarleton State College.
Marable also expressed
her thanks to administrative
assistant Angela White for her
help thus far in the transition.
In other action, the board
approved a motion to remain
part of the West Texas Food
Service Cooperative, and
approved selling a bus to
DeLeon Auto, who placed a
high bid of $856.
No bids were recei ved for
the purchase of old air condi-
tioner units belonging to the
old DeLeon high school build-
ing. District maintenance chief
Howard Gifford suggested giv-
ing the units to the ag depart-
ment as a salvage project. All
approved. Marable considered
the salvage project to be a
“learning project that was also
a fundraiser.”
Demolition of the old high
school will be postponed until
at least midsummer, as con-
tracts with the district’s internet
provider will not mn out until
then. A satellite that provides
the district’s internet feed is
located on the building, and
would have to be moved if
demolition began before the
contract ended - a move that
could cost the district tens of
thousands of dollars.
In other news, board
member Cloyd Teague sug-
gested that the school purchase
a banner to honor the Area
Champion Lady Cats volley-
ball team. The banner would
hang in the DeLeon Gym. The
suggestion was met with wide
approval.
Board member Nelda
Priddy questioned the district’s
funding of tuition to Ranger
College for dual credit students
in DeLeon High School.
Priddy said that dual credit stu-
dents in other districts usually
pay their own tuition. Priddy
made no further comment on
the matter. DeLeon ISD board
member Larry Don Womack
said he believed that the
District’s funding of tuition
was “very much appreciated.”
Finally, the board
approved a resolution to nomi-
nate the DeLeon Free Press to
the Texas Association of
School Boards’ 2013 Media
Honor Roll. The Free Press
expressed its thanks for the
nomination.
Chamber News
As Christmas quickly
approaches, the DeLeon
Chamber of Commerce would
like to wish everyone a Merry
Christmas and Happy New
Year.
The DeLeon Chamber of
Commerce and Agriculture
Annual Banquet will be held on
Jan. 19,2013 at the Blue Moon
Cafe. With that being said, it is
time to honor those who have
made a difference in our com-
munity. The DeLeon Chamber
of Commerce is asking for
nominations for our fellow citi-
zen, friends and neighbors who
deserve special recognition and
honor. At our annual banquet,
we will recognize awards for:
Man of the Year, Woman of the
Year, Golden Deeds, Business
of the Year and Educator of the
Year. Please nominate those
deserving citizens to be hon-
ored in any of the categories.
Send a brief description or letter
stating why this person or busi-
ness should receive the awards.
Specify for which category you
are nominating them.
Nominations can either be
brought to the Chamber of
Commerce or mailed to:
DeLeon Chamber of
Commerce, 109 South Texas,
DeLeon, TX 76444.
On Saturday, I had the
pleasure of helping with the
“Breakfast with Santa” event at
Prado’s. We had a great time
seeing so many children smil-
ing, visiting with Santa and
enjoying a wonderful breakfast
buffet. It was a great time to talk
to some old friends and meet
new ones. Thank you Eddie and
Nellie Prado for hosting such a
wonderful event.
If you want to contact the
chamber, you can call us at 893-
2083 or email us at
chamber® cctc .net.
Suspects
From page 1 —
Both were brought to the
Comanche County Jail.
Other arrests are pending
with the DeLeon Police
Department.
According to the
Comanche County Sheriff’s
HOOVES & HORNS
Office, an additional charge
against Garcia includes posses-
sion of marijuana, less than two
ounces. An additional charge
against Beach included aggra-
vated assault with a deadly
weapon.
BY A.W. ERWIN
Also according to the
Sheriff’s Office, Beach’s vari-
ous bonds total $27,500, and
Garcia’s bonds total $17,500.
Both were released on
bond.
Senior
Citizens
Menus
Wednesday, Dec. 19:
Roast turkey, bread dressing,
seasoned broccoli, waldorf
salad, cranberry squares, low
fat milk
Friday, Dec. 21: Meatloaf
w/tomato sauce, mashed pota-
toes, winter blend vegetables,
wheat rolls, apple fluff, 2%
milk
Monday, Dec. 24: Closed
for Holiday
Wednesday, Dec. 26:
Taco salad & chips, seasoned
com, watermelon, peach cob-
bler, low fat milk
Friday, Dec. 28: Creamy
mushroom steak, mashed pota-
toes, peas & carrots, emerald
pears, whole wheat roll, mar-
garine, low fat milk
Monday, Dec. 31: Ham &
beans, combread, spinach, sea-
soned com, margarine, orange
pineapple cup, country apple
crisp, low fat milk
/YtERRY CHRISTMAS/
We heard Oi’Santa holler, as he shot through the night,
“This Bronc’s plum silly an’ won’t turn to the right!”
His fast and fading words seemed to ring so true,....
“Don’t use a Crazy Cayuse when eight reindeer will do!”
F&M Bank
Open House
Farmers & Merchants
Bank will host an Open House,
Friday, Dec. 21, beginning at
10 a.m. with homemade cook-
ies, apple cider and coffee.
They invite everyone to
come by and visit with them
and celebrate Christmas.
Comanche
County
Crime
Stoppers
Crime of the Week
Dec. 17, 2012
The Comanche County
Sheriff’s Office is currently
investigating a Cmelty to
Animal case on County Road
286 near the Hamilton County
line. Between December 13
and December 16 someone
shot two Hereford cows and
one’s utter was mutilated.
Anyone with information
about either of these crimes or
any other is encouraged to call
Crime Stoppers at (325) 356-
3737. Crime Stoppers can pay
up to $1,000 for information
that leads to an arrest and con-
viction of the party involved in
this crime. You can find previ-
ous postings of the Crime of
the Week on the web at
http://www.comanchecoun-
trycrimestoppers.org and our
FaceBook page Comanche
County Crime Stoppers.
Letter to
the Editor
The article that was pub-
lished in last week’s paper
about the nursing home need-
ing volunteers was done with
good intentions. But have the
staff and residents feeling that
the article leads people to
believe that we don’t care or
that we don’t go above to pro-
vide our residents with love
and care. We all do provide the
little things like buying them
cokes or setting outside with
them while they smoke their
pipe. The nursing home does
need more volunteers we all
understand that but the volun-
teer program is to help us
increase their quali ty of life and
to help offer more activities.
For the last five years the staff
has done a secret Santa gift for
each resident to open on
Christmas day. Just an addi-
tional way to say we love you.
More than most of the time we
will buy the residents a gift
before we buy our own family
one because we do care and
love them as if they are our
family.
Carrie Martin and DeLeon
Nursing and Rehab Staff
The DeLeon Free Press
does not doubt the care offered
by the staff of DeLeon Nursing
and Rehab. We were simply
asked to write a story to
encourage local people in
DeLeon to volunteer at the
nursing home, which we did.
There was never any mention
of the staff at DeLeon Nursing
and Rehab, as this was simply
an appeal for volunteers. We
are sure that each member of
the staff does a fine job ami we
are thankful that staff members
often go above and beyond to
serve our most vulnerable resi-
dents. I would hope that the
people of DeLeon would volun-
teer to help at the nursing home
so that money could be raised
to purchase luxury items for
residents, rather than stretch
the pockets of working staff
members who already do so
much, I believe that was much
the point of the article. - Pub.
FOUND. The black dog
pictured above was picked
up at the Shell station on
Saturday, Dec. 15. For
more information call City
Hall at 254-893-2065.
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Kestner, Laura. De Leon Free Press (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 123, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012, newspaper, December 20, 2012; De Leon, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787093/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Comanche Public Library.