The Times Examiner
6
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
EDITORIAL and LETTERS
Opinion
We want
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from you!
to stimulate the mind
by Bob Dill
Candidate with Brains
and a Backbone
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S
enator Ted Cruz was the first Republican presidential candidate to
formally announce his candidacy. He made the announcement at
Liberty University before a crowd of several thousand people. The
location could not have been better for the “born again” Christian
son of a Baptist preacher.
Typically, Cruz spoke eloquently and with passion without notes
or a teleprompter. He was interrupted by enthusiastic applause following almost every statement. The Harvard educated lawyer is obviously very intelligent and has demonstrated exceptional common
sense, both in the United States Senate and as Attorney General of
Texas. In contrast with other Republican candidates and party leaders, Ted Cruz has a backbone. He has the courage of his convictions
and is willing to stand up to both Democrats and the leadership of his
own party when necessary. He can articulate proven conservative
principles in a manner reminiscent of Ronald Reagan.
The early Cruz announcement is causing a stir in both the liberal
and conservative camps. Talk Show Host Rush Limbaugh said the
Cruz announcement “is either gonna force a whole lot of potential
candidates to move to the right,” or they will decide, “there is no way
they can get to the right of Ted Cruz.”
Limbaugh said the liberal media is very worried about Ted Cruz. “I
know for a fact that they don’t think he is a real contender, but because he articulates conservatism irrefutably, because he does it without a teleprompter, because he does it so well, they are going to try to
destroy him.”
Jim Meyers, writing for Newsmax, listed 12 reasons Ted Cruz is a
strong GOP 2016 candidate.
1. “He is off to an early start.” Cruz has quietly built the skeleton of
a grassroots organization across the nation. In Greenville, an announcement gathering and a rally were held the day of his announcement. LaDonna Riggs, past Spartanburg County GOP Chairman is the
local organizer for the Cruz campaign.
2. “He has strong Tea Party Support.” Cruz is expected to excite the
Tea Party base that has been dormant since being attacked by the IRS
and other liberals.
3. “He has been one of the party’s most outspoken opponents of
Obamacare.” It was Cruz that spoke for more than 21 hours on the
floor of the Senate in opposition to the funding of Obamacare.
4. “He has taken a strong stand on immigration.” He is committed to
securing the borders with Mexico and Canada.
5. “He is seen as more independent than other potential GOP candidates.” His willingness to stand up to party leaders is appealing to
many conservative voters.
6. “He is firmly in the mainstream of Republican voters on nearly
every issue.”
7. “Cruz is a strong campaigner.” He connects with the grassroots
and scored one of the biggest upsets in the 2012 elections.
8. “Cruz could appeal to Hispanic voters more than most other GOP
candidates.” His father was born in Cuba and he was the first Hispanic U. S. Senator elected from Texas.
9. “Past elections confirm Cruz’s contention that the GOP needs a
strong conservative to win the General Election.”
10. “Cruz could reach across party lines to appeal to disillusioned
voters.”
11. “His wife would be a major asset in the campaign.” She has
political, government and private business experience. They have
two young daughters.
Senator Cruz has a father that will be a great asset during the campaign. He is a dynamic motivational speaker and is a living example of
the benefits of both the exceptionalism of the United States and the
miraculous power of Jesus Christ to transform the lives of men.
There are other potential conservative primary candidates. Most
have already tried and failed in the GOP primary arena. Governor
Scott Walker has been a remarkable conservative Governor of a liberal state, however he does not have the ability to rally the conservative base that is necessary for a Republican presidential win in 2016.
Republicans who attack Cruz during the primary season will only
help Jeb Bush who is the obvious choice of the GOP establishment.
Ted Cruz could be the only candidate who has the ability to defeat
the establishment candidate in the primary and save the GOP from
self-destruction. Should Jeb Bush or another “moderate” candidate
win the Republican nomination, it will likely spell the demise of the
GOP for the foreseeable future and sentence future generations of
Americans to life under a socialist dictatorship.
Now is the time for conservative voters to come together and work
harder than ever to elect the best conservative candidate available,
whoever that may be.
PUBLICATION POLICY
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Letters to the Editor...
Dear Editor,
Liberty at Stake Over Supreme Court
Confederate Flag Case!
Monday, March 23, was an important and historic day at the
Supreme Court of the United.
Lawyers for the State of Texas argued that Americans deserve less
freedom, less freedom of speech,
and the Texas Division Sons of
Confederate Veterans (SCV) argued that Americans deserve
more. Simplistic? Yes. But on target. The fight is over the State of
Texas' insistence that the SCV's
proposed specialty license plate
cannot contain the SCV's logo, the
iconic Confederate Battle flag.
The Department of Motor Vehicle Board which oversees the
specialty license plate approval
process held a public hearing in
2011 on the Confederate flag plate
and after what can only be termed
an orchestrated hate-a-nanny
against all Confederate symbolism,
the Board voted unanimously to
disapprove the SCV plate because
of the "offensiveness" of the Confederate flag. Rightly believing the
DMV Board's denial constituted a
violation of their free speech rights,
the Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans sued in an Austin, Texas federal court to rescind
the DMV Bd's ban.
The federal court ruled that the
SCV plate, if issued, would constitute "government sponsored
speech" and therefore if denied
would not violate the SCV's first
Amendment rights. The SCV legal team countered that by bowing to the orchestrated outcry, the
State DMV Board was picking &
choosing what speech was acceptable or unacceptable and
therefore discriminated against
the SCV, violating their free
speech rights.
The SCV appealed the court's
decision to the 5th Circuit United
States Court of Appeal in New
Orleans. In July 2014 in a 2-1 decision the Court ruled in favor of
the SCV, ordering the State of
Texas to give them their plate. But
then Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott, running for Governor and
going against the settled law of at
least 4 federal circuits, appealed
the 5th Circuit decision to the
United States Supreme Court which accepted the case for consideration.
And now the final showdown.
If the court should reverse the
5th Circuit's constitutionally correct decision, all Confederate
themed SCV license plates currently available in AR, LA, MS,
AL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, & MD
could end up on the chopping
block of state sponsored political
correctness. Logos of other organizations considered "offen-
H.K. Edgerton, a lifelong civil rights advocate and former Asheville NAACP
President, and nationally known Confederate Heritage advocate
No Respect for Wimps
Dear Editor,
In June 1975, I was recruited to
be the teacher of a junior-high
boys Sunday School class. My
pastor said every time we got a
neighborhood boy to visit my
class he always came back and
became a regular member. We decided it would be smart to entice
more visitors. We advertised
throughout the community that
the first Sunday in September
would be "Ice Cream Sunday."
Everyone attending our Sunday
school would receive a free cup
of chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry
ice cream. WOW! Did it work! I
had more visitors than regulars on
that fateful day.
Please indulge me for a moment,
let your imagination run, and play
the “What If" game with me. This
DID NOT happen, but what ifI had
announced, "Boys, I can see you
all want to eat ice cream. Let's skip
the Bible lesson today and hold a
one-hour ice cream social. Eat all
the ice cream you want, until we
run out. Never mind that your parents will be disappointed that you
did not get a Bible lesson. Never
mind that all the other classes will
get no ice cream because we ate it
all. What is important is you want
to eat ice cream and I saw to it
that you got what you want.”
What kind of a teacher, indeed,
what kind of a man, would I be if
I had done that? Let me offer a
suggestion: wouldn't it be appropriate to call me an immature, irresponsible, undisciplined, popularity—seeking wimp? I would deserve no respect from you, the
boys, or their parents.
Tuesday 3/17/15, Megan Kelly
asked Mark Hannah why President Obama pulled all of the American troops out of Iraq when he
did, immediately after the tyrannical dictatorship was vanquished.
Never mind that his military and
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political strategists were advocating staying until the new Iraqi
government got stabilized. Never
mind that experts predicted that
creating a leadership void would
invite new tyrannical dictatorships to step in and take over. Mr.
Hannah replied that he did it because that is what the American
people wanted him to do. He saw
to it that the people got what they
wanted. To me, Mr. Hannah was
saying, “Because he is an immature, irresponsible, undisciplined,
popularity—one seeking wimp."
Do you agree?
Frank Hall - Greenville, SC
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The Times Examiner
sive" by self-appointed thought
police could be axed as well.
Ominously besides the Appellant State of Texas, 12 other states:
NC, AR, MO, IN, IL, MI, NM, NH,
CO, HI, OH, WA, 3 of whom have
Confederate flag specialty plates,
have filed friend of the Court briefs
seeking to reverse the 5th Circuits
constitutionally correct decision.
Hearteningly, the Texas and North
Carolina ACLUs, the Rutherford
Institute and other pro-Bill of
Rights groups have filed briefs in
support of the Texas Division SCV.
Whether you love or hate the
Confederate Battle flag, should
the SCV lose, a little more freedom, a little more liberty, dies for
us all. Thank you Texas Division
Sons of Confederate for standing
up for the free speech rights of
ALL Americans! We ALL have a
stake in the outcome!
FAMOUS QUOTES ...
“Freedom is never more than one
generation away from extinction. We didn't
pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It
must be fought for, protected, and handed
on for them to do the same.”
~ President Ronal Reagan
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