Tuesday, November 9,2010 -Thomasville Times - 5
OPINION
Thomasville Times
MICHAEL B. STARN
Publisher
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•
LYNN WAGNER
Advertising Director
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USA M. WALL
Editor
editor@tvilletimes.com
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ZACH KEPLEY
Sports Editor
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For Veterans Day -
real troop support
VIEWPOINT
TOM PURCELL
Syndicated Columnist
Ah, Veterans Day is upon
us. What better time to show
our support for our men
and women in uniform?
But have we reaUy been
supporting them?
Sure, we thank them when
we see them at the airport.
We attend parades and
Veterans Day events to
show our appreciation.
And with good reason.
According to the Depart
ment of Veterans Affairs,
nearly 42 million Ameri
can men and women have
served during wartime.
Nearly 1.2 mUlion died
while serving. Nearly 1.5
million were wounded.
Since 9/11, more than 5,200
have died in Iraq ai^d Af
ghanistan. Nearly 36,000 have
been wounded — many have
debilitating injuries that have
changed their lives forever.
We may debate the right
ness or wrongness of various
engagements, but we know
that freedom comes at a steep
price — and we honor those
who have secured it for us.
But are we really sup
porting the troops?
During the peak of World
War 11, American defense
spending was 42 percent of
our gross domestic product.
Everyone — those who
served as weU as those who
stayed home — needed
to unite and sacrifice.
Today, defense spending is
around 3 percent of GDP. The
wars in Iraq and Afghani
stan have required little or
no sacrifice from most.
We haven’t paid higher
taxes to fund the wars — our
government continues to
borrow the money for that.
We haven’t needed to buy
war bonds or work long
hours at a factory to pro
duce tanks and planes.
, We haven’t given up vaca
tions, new cars, gasoline,
meat, sugar and the hundreds
of other items that vyere
rationed during World War II.
Most haven’t done so for
a simple reason: Our sup
port of the troops has not
been a matter of need,
but a matter of choice.
Aside from our goodwill and
appreciation, the fact is this:
Many have chosen to not sup
port the troops much at aU.
As you read this, thou
sands of soldiers are serv
ing in hostile conditions.
Some will be badly wounded
— some won!t make it home.
They don’t want our
pity, to be sure. They are
trained warriors. They
volunteered to serve.
But they could use a little
support — and we don’t have
to sacrifice much to provide it.
“There are many small
things people can do that
can make a world of differ
ence,” says Jerry Newberry,
director of communica
tions for the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW).
Such as assisting the
family of a service member
who has been deployed.
“Family members go
through a long period of
wondering, worrying and
waiting,” says Newberry. “But
they stUl need to deal with the
car breaking down, a child
getting sick, a death in the
family. If you know of such
families, reach out to them.”
Or write an e-mail. The
troops — particularly those
recuperating in military
hospitals — love receiving e-
mails (www.ourmUitary.mU),
letters and care packages.
Donate time. Your local Vet
erans Affairs office, VFW and
other legitimate organizations
are in need of volunteers.
Organize a toy drive for
children of deployed sol
diers. Support the Marine
Corps Toys for Tots pro
gram. Provide gift cards to
troops through aafes.com.
Donate money. You can
give to a variety of needed
services for military mem
bers — or support the Red
Cross to provide basic neces
sities to service members
in military hospitals.
Just go to vfw.org and
click on “Donate” or
“Troop Support.”
Hey, Veterans Day is upon
us. What better time to of
fer real support to our men
and women in imiform?
Tom Purcell, a humor
columnist for the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, is nationally
syndicated exclusively by Cagle
Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
For more info contact Cari
Dawson Bartley at 800 696
7561 or email cari@cagle.com.
www.tvilletimes.com
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Election leaves more questions than answers
VIEWPOINT
D.G. MARTIN
N.C. Columnist
What did last week’s elec
tion mean, really? Was it a
seismic shift, a permanent
one, to long term Republi
can/Tea party dominance?
Or, was it merely a tidal
movement, part of a regular
predictable ebb and flow,
shifting temporary control
from one group to another?
As I sought answers
to these questions last
week, I got only a few cau
tious observations and
lots more questions.
I wUl share a few
of them with you.
The question I hear most
often is, How were North
Carolina Democrats able to
protect aU but one of their
congressional representa
tives and at the same time
get clobbered in the state
legislative races — aU this
when the election was sup
posed to be about national
issues and anger at Nancy
Pelosl and Barack Obama?
The answer? The best
I have is, North Caro
lina is different.
Is there any good news for
the Democrats on the nation
al level? Noted presidential
historian William Leuchten-
burg told me that Democrats
should take cheer from their
statewide victories in the big
states of California and New
York. Assuming those states
are “in the fold” for 2012, the
Democrats have a head start
in the presidential election
of about 85 electoral votes.
Is there any good news
for the Democrats at the
state level? In the short run,
maybe they can be happy
to shift to Republicans the
responsibility of making
the drastic cuts that have
to be made next year.
In the long run, population
growth in the state’s urban
areas might give a glimmer
of hope. Although Senator
Burr won a solid statewide
victory in his reelection
campaign, Elaine Marshall
would have won the election
if it had been held only in the
major urban areas like Meck
lenburg, GuRford, and the
Research Triangle counties,
the parts of the state that
are experiencing most of the
state’s population growth.
What wUl be the result of
the Republicans taking com
plete charge of the post-2010
census redistricting? Will
they be able to gerryman
der the congressional and
legislative seats to lock in
their victory for another 10
years? The power to redraw
these district lines may be
the sweetest reward for state
Republicans. When they
can, they will shift Demo
cratic voters from “toss-up”
districts to solid Republican
districts, giving assurance
of more safe Republican
seats. For Instance, look for
movement of Democratic
voters from Representative
KlsseU’s, Schuler’s, Miller’s
and Etheridge’s (EUmer’s)
districts to adjoining safe
Republican districts. In
redistricting state legisla
tive districts Republicans
wUl be constrained by a
court decision that requires
respect for county lines
when practical. Look for a
lawsuit before it is all over.
WiU there be a rush of
new legislation on social
issues? At the polls on Elec
tion Day, a woman who was
working for Republican
legislative candidates told
me she was angry because a
bill to permit “right to life”
auto license plates had been
“stuck” in committee under
Democratic leadership. That
bUl wUl be reintroduced,
get a prompt hearing, and
wUl almost certainly pass
under the new Republican
leadership. WUl that bUl just
be one of many that wUl
attempt to enact a conserva
tive social agenda by adding
restrictions on abortions and
famUy planning efforts?
How wUl the universities
do under a Republican con-
troUed legislature? Demo
cratic senate leaders Marc
Basnight and Tony Rand
were soldiers for the univer
sities, especlaUy UNC-Chapel
Hill. Without their powerfiU
support, state universities
wUl be in trouble. Cuts re
quired to balance the budget
wUl be painful and could be
devastating, but universities
may face even more funda
mental chaUenges. Some
conservative Republicans
view the universities as “left
wing bastions” where liberal
faculty members indoctri
nate their students and pun
ish dissent in the classroom.
These attitudes could trans
late into efforts to control or
balance the ideology of the
faculty and curriculum.
More questions in
a future column.
D.G. Martin hosts UNC-
TV’s North Carolina Book-
watch, which airs Fridays at
9:30pm and Sundays at 5pm.
For more information or to
view prior programs visit
the webpage at www.unctv.
org/ncbookwatch/. This
week’s (Friday, November 12,
and Sunday, November 14)
guest is Gary Pearce, author
of “Jim Hunt: A Biography.”
From an earlier column:
“Jim Hunt: A Biography”
by long time Hunt aide Gary
Pearce. Pearce’s good story
telling skills make for a good
read as he explains how and
why Hunt became the most
successful North Carolina pol
itician of all time. It is must
reading for politics-loving
Republicans and Democrats.
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EDITORIALS
All unsigned editorials are the
consensus of Editor Lisa Wall and
Sports Editof Zach Kepley