p.

Weekly Express

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Opinion
The Conservative View

The Oath
As I watch the headlines of the day I often wonder how. the founders of our nation would react if it were possible to transport them from their time to ours. We modern day Americans have simply accepted an ever increasing government in our lives. We have forgotten the words of one of the founders who spoke about the role the federal government in our lives. As James Madison wrote in the Federalist No. 45, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce' I feel that the founders understood the virtues of
By Russell Turner

having ,local control of government instead of the entire country being dictated to by some bureaucrat in Washington DC. While all citizens have common needs, different parts of the country may have vastly different problems to be solved. I feel that I know the needs of my area better that someone sitting behind a desk in our nation's capital. Over the past several months there has been much talk about the problems in our nation and the failure of our elected officials to obey their oath of office. Every elected official swears to obey the laws of the land and the Constitution of the United States. I have observed many politicians simply repeat the words with no intention of being true to that oath. The main reason they fail to honor their oath is very simple. Their desire to win reelection is greater than their desire to follow the rules; it is a sad situation when politics gets in the way of doing the right thing. While we like to

blame the politicians for their lack of conviction, until we voters start taking the oath of office seriously, we will never solve the problems we are experiencing. It seems like many of our citizens are pre-occupied with getting their share of the pie instead of demanding that our leaders obey the oath they took. When we take the time to look at the state of our programs such as Social Security and Medicare, it makes me wonder why more citizens are not holding our elected officials accountable. They're instrumental in perpetuating the problem. If we are intent on holding out for the government to fix it, though, it is like waiting for a thief to give your stuff back. It's not going to happen. I have found that doing the right thing is often unpopular. Until we Americans learn to appreciate honesty, integrity and the importance of the oath of office, we had better get used to living with our problems.

Rich Lowry
column
By Rich Lowry

The

The Murders That Don't Count

Helping students aspire to success

By Bryan Gonterman, President. AT&T Oklahoma

thropy, engaging people and technology to create new and AT&T is honored to help different solutions to social America's children Aspire to problems. In today's world, the mosuccess. One in four students - bile Internet is omnipresent. more than 1 million students Students - of all ages - are a year - fails to graduate high adept at using this powerful school with their class. This is resource, and it is critical that one of our nation's most criti- its potent power be harnessed cal problems, particularly for the cause of education. in an era when competition Our AT&T Foundry innovafor jobs among people and, tion centers will work with indeed, among nations is be- educators and other companies to find fresh or atypical coming evermore intense. Over the last four years, approaches to improve eduour Aspire program has cation. The new Aspire will worked with organizations also leverage technology to across the country to help connect with students in new reverse this trend to reach and more effective ways. And the national goal of a 90% you can expect to see a parhigh school graduation rate ticular emphasis on gamificaby 2020. AT&T Aspire has tion (using game techniques already impacted over 1 mil- to teach students math, scilion students with $100 mil- ence, and other applications), We're excited to expand mobile applications, video our investment in this great lion invested since 2008. Although the high school and social media - the com- resource - our children's edudropout rate has shown im- munications environments cation - with our new comprovement, we can do more. in which many of today's stu- mitment. In fact, we're doubling down dents are most comfortable There's no doubt that our on American students and to instill a new level of excite- investment in Aspire is an inment into learning. America's future. But technology alone will vestment in America's future, In our continued effort to not solve the education chal- and, indeed, our own. At address this critical issue, we By Sheldon Richman AT&T, we believe that people When President Obama are excited to launch a new lenge. It takes people too. are the critical differentiators We plan to take our curspoke before the American phase of Aspire - a $250 milin our industry, especially lion investment planned over rent Job Shadow program given the lightning-fast pace Israel Public Affairs Comto a new level with the Asfive years that will further of technological evolution. mittee some weeks ago, he build on our existing initia- pire Mentoring Academy, a And Aspire helps to create a admonished those who entive to help more students program that will provide pipeline of diverse talent for gaged in "loose talk of war" graduate from high school more opportunities for our all U.S. companies, including about Iran. Apparently, his secretary of state, Hillary prepared for careers and col- employees to work closely AT&T. lege, and to ensure our nation with students most at-risk of Our children are the key Rodham Clinton, didn't get is better prepared for global dropping out to help them to our future. And joining the memo. succeed in their classrooms The Associated Press recompetition. together in Here in Oklahoma, public and in life. Students and where our the communities ported this week, employees and U.S. Secretary of State Hillofficials and educators have mentors will be matched on customers live and work, we the basis of shared interests ary Rodham Clinton made placed a premium on education, and we are delighted to and will work together to can make a difference in the clear Saturday that time is have had an opportunity to explore and solve real-life, lives of students and families running out for diplomacy on-the-job business prob- and in our own communities over Iran's nuclear program play a role in their success. and said talks aimed at preWith our new phase of As- lems. They will also have the and across the nation. To learn more about the As- venting Tehran from acquirpire, we'll take a "socially in- opportunity to participate in novative" approach that goes e-mentoring, specifically in pire program or to apply for ing a nuclear weapon would beyond traditional ilan- the fields of science, technol- funding, visit www.att.com/ resume in mid-April. With ogy, engineering and math education-news, speculation over a possible U.S. or Israel military attack adding urgency to the next round of discussions in Istanbul set for April 13, Clinton said Iran's "window of opportunity" for a peaceful resolution "will not remain open forever" She also expressed doubt about whether Iran has any intention of negotiating a solution that satisfies the U.S., Israel and other countries that believe Iran is trying to ./<- .3," 1 develop nuclear weapons. That s another memo Clinton seems not to have reIre ceived. Both American and Israeli intelligence say that formerly Westville Weekly Times Iran has neither started to USPS 021-706 build a nuclear weapon nor Leah Morse, Publisher/Editor to do so in Send Letters to the even decided also regard the John Morse, Contributing Editor future. Both the Iranian government as a "raJoy Chuculate, Graphic Arts tional actor:' (The American Jessica Workman, Staff Writer news media occasionally reEditor to: ports this, but then goes back to stating, as though it were uncontroversial, that Iran is Published weekly every Tuesday nuclear arsenal.) weeklyexpress@ building a the conflicting sigPhone: (918) 723-4444 or 918-797-2267 So why Fax: (918) 723-4448 or 918-797-0520 nals from the U.S. governweeklyexpress@sbcglobal.net ment? This conflict can be 601 W. Chincapin seen in Obama's own statesinglobal.net ments. While he calls for diP. 0. Box 370

Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets a month ago. When someone fired 37 AK47 rounds into his Detroit home at 4:30 a.m., he was mortally wounded while dozing on the couch. He was 9 months old. No one made the multicolored teething ring he got for Christmas or his toy hammer into national symbols of random violence. Last year, Charinez Jefferson, 17, was shot and killed on a Chicago street. "She begged the shooter not to shoot her because she was pregnant," a pastor explained. The alleged assailant, Timothy Jones, 18, shot her in the head, chest and back after seeing her walking with a rival gang member. New York Times columnist Charles Blow did not write a column about Jefferson's killing as a symbol of the perils of (STEM). Some 100,000 being a young black woman students participated in the in America. AT&T Job Shadow initiative with Junior Achievement to date, including over 2,100 in Oklahoma. Local community organizations will be vital to the success of Aspire and our plans call for providing financial support to those groups that deliver genuine results in helping students learn. Thanks to the commitment of our employees and many Oklahoma organizations, our initial $100 million investment in high school success and college and career readiness has made a positive impact. The Oklahoma Aspire investment has amounted to over $3.3 million since 2008.

Last June, a stray bullet from a confrontation on a Brighton Beach, N.Y., boardwalk killed 16-year-old Tysha Jones as she sat on a bench. A 19-year-old man, out for revenge after an earlier scuffle on the boardwalk, was charged in the shooting. Tysha's heartbroken mother was not featured on all the national TV shows. In January, 12-year-old Kade'jah Davis was shot and killed when, allegedly, 19-year-old Joshua Brown showed up at her Detroit house to demand the return of a cellphone from Davis' mother. When Brown didn't get the phone, he fired shots through the front door. No one held high-profile street protests to denounce gunplay over such trifles. Everything about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida is a matter of contention. About this, though, there should be no doubt: If Martin had been shot by a black classmate, if he had been caught in a random crossfire, if he had looked at a gang member the wrong way, his death would have been relegated to the back pages of the local newspaper. Not a cause, not even a curiosity: Just another dead young black man. Nothing to see here. Please, move on. Jesse Jackson is right that "blacks are under attack:' According to a 2005 FBI report, blacks accounted for 13 percent of the population and 49

percent of all homicide victims. In 93 percent of the cases, the killer was black. Half of the victims were ages 17 to 29. That works out to 4,000 murders of young blacks in one year, overwhelmingly at the hands of other blacks. In the communities where these killings occur there is, to put it in Jackson's inimitable terms, no justice and no peace. There is no comparable epidemic of half-Hispanic neighborhood-watch volunteers like George Zimmerman shooting young black men. An injustice may well have been done in the handling of the Martin shooting, but let's not fool ourselves. Zimmerman could be arrested, convicted and hanged tomorrow, and it will have no effect on the lives of young black people in communities beset by social disorder. Whatever happens to Zimmerman, the drip-drip of spilled blood will continue, all but ignored except in the police blotter. In America, the lives of young black people are cheap, unless they happen to fit the right agenda. Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.
(c) 2012 by King Features SyncL, Inc.

Clinton's loose war talk

plomacy and warns against loose war talk, he has imposed harsh economic sanctions that make the daily lives of average Iranians miserable, has rejected "containment," and boasted that he doesn't "bluff' If Iran is not building a nuclear bomb, if it has not decided to do so, and if Obama wants to . use diplomacy to discuss Iran's uranium-enrichment program (which its government says is for peaceful purposes), why is he pushing sanctions designed to bring the Iranian economy down? Wouldn't it make more sense, if there is really something to negotiate about, for Obama to treat the Iranian regime with respect? The saber rattlers will say that sanctions are needed to get Iran to the negotiating table. But that's an evasion. The official experts, as well as others, say no bomb is being built. Iran is doing what it is free to do under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enriching uranium for medical and energy purposes. It is subjected to inspections and its uranium is under seal by the International Atomic Energy Agency. There is no constructive purpose to the sanctions and war talk. Clinton aggravates an already dangerous situation when she talks ominously about windows closing and clocks running. She sounds bent on war, with Obama just a bit less so. Why? Two reasons suggest themselves. It's an election year. The Republican presidential candidate (unless it's Ron Paul) can be expected to portray Obama as insufficiently bloodthirsty. Mitt Romney hopes we'll ignore Obamas expansion of the criminal drone war in Pakistan and Somalia, his due-processfree assassination of Americans in Yemen, his autocratic intervention in Libya, his continuation of the brutal occupation of Afghanistan, and his signing legislation to codify the president's power to detain even American citizens indefinitely without charge or trial. Romney's foreign-policy team are some of the same people who gave us the lie-based invasion of Iraq, which was responsible for the deaths of well over a million people and the creation of more than four million refugees. Word is that the presumptive candidate plans to hammer Obama on his handling of foreign affairs. According to the Washington Post, "In his speeches, Romney has proposed a more confrontational approach to China, Russia, Iran and other countries:' The Obama campaign may have calculated that they can't afford to look weak on Iran. Yet this is not the only reason. Israel's top officials appear to have decided that an attack on Iran is imperative. But without U.S. help, Israel's air force can do no more than set Iran's (peaceful) nuclear program back for a brief time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues his threatening talk, supported by the Israel lobby in the United States. Israel-partisans in the U.S. media routinely channel Netanyahu's war talk to the American public in order to build sympathy for the nonexistent Iranian threat to Israel. Obama says he wants peace not wan When will he begin to act like it?
Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation (www.fff org).

Subscribe Today!
Have an opinion?

Westville, OK 74965 Periodicals Postage paid at: Westville, OK 74965 POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Weekly Express P. O. Box 370 Westville, OK 74965

or fax them to 918-723-4448 or

Deadline for the Weekly Express is now 4 PM FRIDAY.

weeklyexpress@sbcglobal.net

Copyright 2012 Weekly Express