“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” –– Proverbs 11:29
The right wing is peddling lies about immigrants again, such as claims immigrants are criminals, rapists and murderers, are an ”invasion” taking jobs away from American citizens, and the most ridiculously evil lie that some immigrants killed and ate their neighbors’ pets. Why do they lie like this? The reason is not so much about immigrants or immigration policy. It’s about justifying hatred and discrimination against anyone meeting their “immigrant” profiles, whether they are U.S. citizens or not.
The favorite targets for lies from today’s Republicans are any group with less power — immigrants, Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ — those least able to fight the right. Perhaps, though, they have made a big mistake in assuming that women are in a group of minority power. They messed with women’s rights and are already inheriting a bit of the wind.
To dispel these lies, citizen members of minority groups must stand together and vote with the Democrats who believe that all men and women are created equal. United we stand, and “we aren’t going back,” not back on women’s rights and not back on all civil rights, including the right to vote and the right to privacy in our individual lives. They’ve “troubled their own home,” so we should VOTE so “they shall inherit the wind.”
Mary Bell Lockhart
Alpine
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I am still reeling from the article The Sentinel published on the front page of the paper taking up four columns plus a photo and then 3 half-page columns and 3 full-length columns on the 2nd page, titled “Woman arrested for impersonating an attorney, string of alleged crimes in her wake.” I was afraid it was about a mass murder or something of major community significance. No, it was about a local woman who lost her job and was behind 2 months in her rent.
It went on and on about how she forged attorney signatures, identity theft, hacking into a co-worker’s computer. All of these are unproven charges based on a former coworker, untraceable text messages, “unnamed” friends. It read like an ambitious reporter trying to do “Bob Woodward” style investigative journalism without having the required ethics, knowledge and experience.
The subject of the article was a former “burn” nurse, one of the toughest jobs in the nursing field, who had not only suffered emotionally from her extremely challenging profession and the pandemic, as did most healthcare workers. Unfortunately after moving to the area, she was fired from a job in a local mental health program for seniors after a conflict with a newly hired office worker who worked under her. The office worker was also eventually fired for unknown reasons, but she sure was included in the article with lots of unproven information summarized in what came across as a “poor me” attitude. The article went on and on like a poorly written tabloid article. Not only was the subject vilified, the former employer was named 3 times, for no necessary reason, except to cast doubt on their organization.
All I could think about was this is a local community paper that should be part of drawing the community together and helping the citizens by keeping us informed about what is important. If The Sentinel felt this was so important, to more than the landlord, the information could have been summed up in a simple, short 3” high column statement. Instead, this young woman who is obviously stressed and having serious emotional problems was cut up and hung out to dry. And to make matters worse you put her picture on the front page so everyone would recognize her. Shame on you Sentinel. This is not a “bad” person, dangerous to the community, but someone who has had a career in a very stressful healthcare job caring for people that few people will attempt or can endure. She is obviously having a breakdown. She needs the support of the community, not “shaming.”
I could not help but think of the classic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850 about a village in Puritan New England. The subject, “Hester,” did not fall under the scorn of the community but continued her way, never admitting guilt, and eventually lived out a life far more honorable and fulfilling than most of her detractors. I hope Sarah can get the help and support she needs from friends and the community to do the same.
As for the handling of the senior mental health program, The Sentinel could vindicate themselves by publishing a well written, more personal article of the program that includes stories of persons that benefited by finding and enjoying a new life after experiencing the common pitfalls of aging such as failing health, loss of a partner and friends, or estrangement from children or family. I know you have previously published an article on the program, but it did not come from the hearts of the people participating. It would require a reporter with a lot of empathy, respect and willingness to listen to what people had to say without judgment. I’m just not sure after the article you just published anyone would be willing to trust talking to one of your reporters no matter how much you guarantee anonymity, but it might be worth a try.
Fonda Ghiardi
A proud, happy senior with little patience for nonsense
Fort Davis
Editor’s note: In our series on mental healthcare, The Big Bend Sentinel did ask several healthcare providers if they could ask any of their clients — whether named or not — to share their stories, including Senior Life Solutions. Those providers did not respond with anyone, which is understandable since it’s very difficult for people to talk about their mental health.
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Vote yourself
Vote with your whole self. Vote for yourself and those you love. Do not let party or peer pressure or some idea about “identity” tell you how to vote. Your vote is YOUR voice. Use it!
Ultimately, we have only ourselves, with our unique perspectives and experiences, to guide these decisions. Being judgmental is a mistake; “Judge not lest ye be judged” is a sound precept in life and in politics. However, our judgment is all we’ve got. And while economics and international law may require specialized study and arcane vocabularies, we size up people every day. Critical thinking is needed to take on policy, but we also have our common sense to size up people. Our heads get us so far, but our hearts and our guts count for more in the long run.
Informing ourselves makes us better citizens, and while it is difficult to do that in this polarized political atmosphere with so much conflicting information bombarding us from so many uncertain sources, it is essential. But how much can we rely on what we think we have learned? Policies have unintended consequences. People change. And when circumstances change, what we have known becomes irrelevant, and we must stretch our minds to deal with new realities. How, then, to decide which candidates deserve our votes, or whose platforms will solve our problems?
But what will appear on your ballots? People. Their names. Individuals.
As the election approaches, voices discussing it have become louder and their messages more combative. The only area of agreement seems to be that we should consider policies, not evaluate the people for whom we are going to vote. What is important, say the talking heads, is not the flawed human beings whose names appear on the tickets, but the policies they favor and the plans they put forward.
Claire Anderson
Fort Davis, Texas
