Opinion 4A
The Southern Illinoisan • Saturday, March 22, 2014
EDITORIAL BOARD Bob Williams, publisher Gary Metro, editor Mark Fitton, managing editor Jeff Wilson, online editor
4A
The Southern Illinoisan • Saturday, March 22, 2014
Why Obama scares her T
he most febrile of George W. Bush haters liked to claim during his tenure that the former president “scared” them. There is far more reason to be frightened by President Barack Obama, because fecklessness and inconstancy trigger wars. The outstanding example of weakness inviting aggression was the conduct of the democracies toward Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Though it has been retroactively tainted as shameful cowardice, CHAREN’S the policy of appeasement grew CORNER out of a “war weariness” that Mona Charen was far more understandable than our own. Britain and France suffered millions of dead and wounded in World War I and were desperate to avoid a repeat. The Munich Agreement, which ceded part of Czechoslovakia to Germany (without Czechoslovakia’s consent), was signed by Britain and France in hopes that Hitler’s ambitions were limited, but in any case because they believed appeasement was the best way to avoid war. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Hitler didn’t, to put it mildly, share their abhorrence of war. He welcomed it (when he was sufficiently strong) and he interpreted their appeasement policy as weakness. They’d forgotten the Roman axiom: “If you want peace; prepare for war.” In June of 1961, President John F. Kennedy met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The communist sized up the young president as callow and unimpressive. Kennedy said later that it was “the worst thing in my life. He savaged me.” Eighteen months later, the world was plunged into a nuclear crisis as Kennedy was forced to respond to the USSR’s placement of intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev had concluded that Kennedy could be rolled. The resulting showdown brought the world close to nuclear war. In July of 1991, April Glaspie, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, met with Saddam Hussein and asked very politely why he had so many divisions parked on the border of Kuwait. Later in the same meeting, she said, “We have no opinion on your Arab/Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction ... that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America.” A few weeks later, Iraq invaded and conquered Kuwait, prompting former President George H.W. Bush to launch a war to liberate it. Glaspie said later, “Obviously, I didn’t think, and nobody else did, that the Iraqis were going to take all of Kuwait.” Obama and members of his administration are fond of lecturing Vladimir Putin that he is behaving in a “19th century” fashion, as if aggression has gone out of style like knee breeches. Actually, the second half of the 19th century was quite a peaceful one for Europe, particularly compared with the 18th and 17th centuries. That peace was largely maintained by the British Empire, that is, by overwhelming power in the hands of a peaceful country. Nothing so encourages an aggressor as the perception of weakness in his antagonists. Obama hasn’t even processed that he is an antagonist. Why, he means no one any harm (except perhaps Republicans). Didn’t he reset relations with Moscow? Didn’t he promise in 2012 to show “more flexibility” toward Putin after the election? Didn’t he say, over and over again, that a “decade of war is ending” and that we are going to do some “nation building here at home”? Did he not maneuver the United States into “leading from behind” in Libya? Remember all of those previous appeasers who were surprised that aggressors went further than expected? Consider this report from the BBC: “Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia’s treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian. Russia has defended its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula by arguing it has the right to protect Russian speakers outside its borders ... “ Estonia is a member of NATO. There was a time when that would have been dispositive. But Obama has demonstrated that his threats are hollow and his stated boundaries accordionlike. That’s why Obama scares me. MONA CHAREN writes for Creators Syndicate. Visit the syndicate’s website at www.creators.com.
ADAM TESTA, THE SOUTHERN
Dan Cogdill is the February Golden Pen winner. He wrote about how common sense dictates repairing water lines that cost Marion 500,000 gallons.
Many years away, but home always here
D
an Cogdill’s prize-winning letter to the editor caught my eye because of the clear thinking, conversational tone and sense of humor. His final line, “I admit I am an old geezer who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but whatever happened to good old common horse sense?” sounded like FROM THE something I might EDITOR write. No surprise Gary Metro there. Cogdill and I are not far apart in age – he’s a little older – and we share a fascination with golf, which is arguably the ultimate geezer game. We shared a few laughs earlier in the week during a good conversation when he accepted his Golden Pen. I asked what inspired his winning letter. It bothered him to read news reports about Marion discussing the creation of a lake as a new water source instead of fixing leaks responsible for a loss of 500,000 gallons. “There is nothing wrong with long-term planning, but our politicians ought to be repairing and maintaining what we already have,” he said. “I’ve really been concerned about what’s happening to our infrastructure, not just locally but across the state and nation,” he explained. “It seems like the politicians are only interested in new, sexy type
Voting for the Golden Pen award for February ended with Dan Cogdill of Herrin winning for a letter asking for common sense on the repair of freeze-damaged water lines in Marion. His letter collected a total of 52 votes from readers of The Southern Illinoisan and www.thesouthern.com. Runners-up letters by Alfred E. “Sonny” Sanders of Marion and Jim Renshaw of Carbondale earned 26 and 22 votes, respectively. programs, not in maintaining what we already have.” Recalling the 2008 financial crisis that plunged the nation into what’s now called “the great recession,” Cogdill mentioned the billions of public dollars that could have been used on job-creating infrastructure improvements (roads, bridges and other public works projects) if the funds weren’t diverted for the salvation of the very same investment bankers responsible for the fiscal plunge. Cogdill is a Southern Illinois native. He was born and raised in Johnston City and graduated from the community’s high school. He studied for three years at the Walton School of Accounting and Business Law in Chicago, but moved back to Southern Illinois after marrying his “childhood sweetheart” and classmate. Cogdill and his wife, Carla, today live in Herrin and are the parents of three grown children and grandparents to four children. After returning to Southern Illinois from Chicago, Cogdill worked for the U.S. Treasury Department
as an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. He left the job to open an accounting firm in 1969 with another former IRS agent. It was a good business right from the start because of the startup of the state income tax – which resulted in the new firm preparing more than 600 returns by hand in the first year. Through the business he learned of opportunities in medical group management and transitioned to a new career working with physician groups of 50 or more. It led to a 27-year journey and to career moves to Memphis, Tenn., Winter Park, Fla., Ruston, La., and San Antonio, Tex. He retired in 2006 and the couple returned to Southern Illinois. “I really enjoyed San Antonio, but it was so doggone far away from home,” he said. “We decided to end up our lives back where we began – back at home.”
such as Herrin, Carbondale and Mount Vernon. And were the leaks in Marion in newer subdivisions or from mainly older homes and To the Editor: businesses where low income and When you are up to your waist elderly people live and work? It in alligators, it’s hard to rememhas been made clear that these ber that the objective is to drain residents will have to pay the full the swamp. Maybe the opposite bill for these leaks with terms being is true in Marion. Whenever you made for payment over a period lose 500,000 gallons of water due of time. to frozen, ruptured pipes do you Instead of building new ramps address that problem or focus on resurrecting a failed and very costly off Interstate 57 and elevated roads to avoid being stopped by a train new water reservoir? Even with a once in a great while, some of that new multi-million reservoir, the leaks will continue if the underlying money could be spent in helping those citizens repair their homes to problem is not addressed. avoid future leaks. I realize we are I would like to know the amount talking about different sources of of water lost in other communities
revenue here but the bottom line is that all funding, be it local, state or federal dollars are tax revenues that all taxpayers are responsible for, not just the taxpayers in Marion. The situation in Marion regarding road projects depicts a statewide problem of failed government. New and very expensive projects are promoted and funded while our existing roads, bridges, dams and even residential infrastructure are being mostly ignored. I admit I am an old geezer who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but whatever happened to good old common horse sense?
Common sense lacking
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GARY METRO is the editor of The Southern Illinoisan. He can be reached at 618-351-5033 or gary. metro@thesouthern.com.
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Dan Cogdill Herrin
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