Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 254, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 12, 2016 Page: 4 of 38
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OPINION
4A
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Messages
from Sanders,
pope similar
but different
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It
ASHINGTON — Imagine emerg-
ing from a rocky political week on-
ly to announce, as Bemie Sanders
did, that, oh, by the way, the Vatican called.
Actually, it was the Pontifical Academy of So-
cial Sciences, but close enough, I suppose.
Hillary Clinton thought bubble: He’s Jew-
ish far crying out loud. What am I, chapped
liver? No, I’m Method-
ist! But if I can become
a New Yorker, lean be-
come a Catholic!
Some people have
all the kismet. Or,
sometimes people just
happen to agree that
communism isn’t real-
ly so bad. OK, I’m ex-
aggerating, but only a
smidgeon.
Sanders is merely a
democratic socialist,
which sounds almost nice but means more
or less equal misery. The pope is something
else entirely. A pastoral leader who washes
the feet of the homeless and eschews the
elaborate trappings of the comer office, he’s
the real deal, as in living as Christ did. He’s
also a great, big troublemaker.
“People think Bemie Sanders is radical,”
Bemie Sanders said recently on MSNBC’s
Morning Joe. “Uh-uh. Read what the pope is
writing [these days].”
Indeed, Francis is a radical, just as Jesus
was in his time.
What’s radical about this pope is that he,
like both Sanders and Jesus, says fresh, un-
traditional things that sound an awful lot like
liberal ideas. But he’s speaking and writing as
the pope, not as a president of the United
States.
W
1 +
ANDWON
JL
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m
no longer
meaning
Conservative
has concrete
i
7
■
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
Kathleen
Parker
bout 20 years ago, when the syndi-
cate that represents this column was
preparing to pitch it to newspaper
editors, I was called in for a meeting with the
sales staff and somebody asked me this ques-
tion:
Or that people who once decried “a cul-
ture of victimization” now whine all day
about how they are victims of biased media,
bullying gays and political correctness?
How to explain that people who once
vowed to safeguard American moral decen-
cy from the nefarious irreverence of liberals
— think President Bush chastising The
Simpsons in the era of “family values” — now
put forth candidates who tell penis jokes?
A few days ago New York Times colum-
nist David Brooks professed to be excited by
this act of self-immolation — “This is a won-
derful moment to be a conservative,” he
gushed — because after this debacle, conser-
vatives will be able to reinvent themselves,
unencumbered by “existing mental catego-
ries and presuppositions.”
Like when a comic book or movie fran-
chise gets re-booted, I suppose. One had the
sense of a man desperately painting lipstick
on a pig.
The right is rotting from within, putrefy-
ing on its own grievance and rage. It seems
bereft of core values and beliefs unless you
count its determination to always oppose
anything the left supports, up to and includ-
ing motherhood and sunshine. That’s as
close to principle as conservatives come
these days.
Given the way they have spumed their
party’s 2012 election “autopsy” report, which
called for greater inclusion and a gentler
tone, one wonders if these folks are capable
of, or even interested in, the reinvention
Brooks predicts. Conservatives do not need
to be “liberal-lite” — no ideology has a mo-
nopoly on good ideas.
On the other hand, when your base is the
Ku Klux Klan, Ted Nugent and people suck-
er-punching strangers at rallies, it’s a sign
that a little self-reflection is overdue.
‘Are you liberal or are you conservative?”
I had a smart aleck answer 20 years ago.
But it occurs to me that if they asked that
now, I’d have to request clarification. My
worldview hasn’t changed.
But I no longer have any idea what “con-
servative” means.
Editorial
A
Gentle response best
for gender issues
‘Are you liberal or
are you conservative?”
I said, “Yes.”
I wasn’t trying to be
a wiseguy. OK, maybe
a little. But I was also
trying to convey my
impatience with our
bipolar political dis-
course, with the idea
that I was required to
pick a team.
I was trying to preserve for myself the
right to think a thing through and come to
my own conclusion regardless of ideological
branding.
But at the same time, I knew what I was
being asked. When they said, “Are you liberal
or are you conservative?” those words had
concrete meaning and embodied real politi-
cal concepts.
But that is no longer the case — at least
where the latter term is concerned.
Once upon a time, when a person identi-
fied as conservative, you knewthe ideas he or
she meant to convey — low taxes, small gov-
ernment, resistance to social change.
But a word that once encoded a definite
set of values and beliefs now seems utterly
bereft of internal cohesion, less a name for
an ideology than for a mood: surly, nasty and
put-upon.
They don’t like the rest of us. Nor do they
seem to like each other all that much, feud-
ing with a bitterness and constancy that
would make even the Hatfields and McCoys
tell them to tone it down. Yes, ideology still
gets lip service, but its importance has be-
come secondary, if that.
How else to explain that people who once
considered Christian faith their foundation
stone have coalesced behind a candidate
who can’t name a Bible verse?
Or that people who once valued a grown-
up, clear-eyed approach to foreign policy
support candidates who want to “carpet
bomb” the Middle East and pull out of
NATO?
*
f Schuyler Bailar is a harbinger of things to come,
gender eventually could become a state of mind in-
stead of a physical reality.
Bailar starred on a Washington, D.C-area high school’s
girl’s swim team. Harvard recruited her to swim in college
and she ended up going there this year.
And that might have been the end of a rather unre-
markable sports story if not for a huge twist that came
next.
I
Leonard
Pitts
CBS’ 60 Minutes profiled Bailar in a riveting story that
had profound implications for how human beings live in
the world.
Schuyler was bom a woman but is now living as a man.
And he has become the first transgender athlete to com-
pete in a NCAA Division 1 sport. He is now a member of
the Harvard men’s swim team. As a woman, she often won
races in high school. Now, he tries to avoid coming in last
during the men’s races. His parents, coaches and team-
mates have supported him through this transition.
Schuyler described himself as a man trapped in a
woman’s body. He had been an attractive girl in high
school and considered himself a lesbian because he was
sexually attracted to other girls.
Then, he decided to take testosterone, cut his long hair
and dress like a man. His voice deepened and his shoul-
ders got broader. The hint of a mustache appeared on his
lip. Then, he underwent “top surgery” meaning his
breasts were surgically removed. And the man inside
emerged.
Schuyler, who is 19, is now considered heterosexual. He
likes girls. During his 60 Minutes appearance, he dis-
played a ready smile and self-confident honesty about his
transition. He acknowledged that he tires of answering
personal questions. Does he still have a vagina? Yes, he
does. Would he ever consider getting pregnant?
“I’m just 19,” he said. “Who knows what could happen?”
A1 of this is very puzzling to people of a certain gener-
ation.
His ideas are aspirational both in scope
and in application. He calls us to love one an-
other, as he should, but love doesn’t usually
enter into the equations of a government-
run economy. It can get rather messy at times
— and mean.
The pope really believes that it’s better to
give than to receive, which is why so many
love him. Sanders thinks more or less the
same way. The difference is that one wants to
raise consciousness about our obligation to
the less fortunate; the other wants to restruc-
ture America’s economic institutions to en-
sure that money trickles down — mandatori-
ly rather than charitably.
Theoretically, this is a noble concept. It’s
how you do it that causes taxpaying citizens
to seek shelter. Let’s face it, most of us work
hard not for the satisfaction of a well-made
widget but for a paycheck.
As the taxman chisels away at such mone-
tary rewards, where goes the incentive to
work hard? This is common sense, obviously,
but less common than it once was, judging
by the popularity of Sanders’ proposals.
His bid to break up the too-big-to-fail
banks sounds awesome enough, especially if
you’ve yet to pay any income taxes. Let’s stick
it to the fat cats and watch them squirm. But
will it really help the poor, or might such dra-
conian action ultimately hurt more than it
helps?
LEONARD PITTS writes for the Miami
Herald. His column is distributed by Tri-
bune Content Agency. His email address is
lpitts@herald.com.
It’s hard to sort out why we’re hearing so much these
days about the transgender community. Part of the rea-
son, no doubt, has to do with politics. LGBT (lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender) activists are now influential in the
Democratic Party, and they shine a spotlight on gender
bias and discrimination. The stories draw media attention
like moth to flame.
But, really, it’s much more complicated.
There was a time when very few men and women felt
comfortable coming out as gay or lesbian. The social costs
— the intolerance — were too great. Schuyler Bailar rep-
resents a cohort of the population that has always existed
among us. But, a generation ago, a man claiming to be a
woman, or vice versa, was just too far beyond “normal” to
seriously consider.
Most people have never experienced gender identity
issues in their lives. They are bom as men and women
and never have a reason to question the gender assign-
ment on their birth certificates. It’s not insensitive to be
puzzled and a bit confused about the emergent trans-
gender community as exemplified by Caitlyn Jenner and,
now, Schuyler Bailar. But it’s not just a passing fad that
will evaporate when the next television season brings us a
new array of social commentaries ripped from the head-
lines.
It’s important for Francis to speak out as a
messenger for the greater good. It’s impor-
tant, too, that we be reminded of our moral
obligation to each other. It’s also his job —
and something else entirely — to conflate a
pope’s message of Christian charity with a
political candidate’s promise to remake
America’s economic system.
The “rampant individualism” that Francis
condemns is precisely what has driven
American ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and
a level of prosperity unmatched in human
history.
That more people are doing less well —
and the middle class has suffered — means
Letters to the editor
Study city candidates and vote
We are being told that the city’s future is
at stake in Denton’s City Council races.
Ask yourself what any of the current
council members — besides Ms. Wazny and
Ms. Briggs — have done for Denton, or for
you, except inviting a 96-pump filling sta-
tion to locate along a congested part of
I-35E, and adjacent to two established, fam-
ily-oriented neighborhoods.
In addition, the facility is to be given the
sales tax receipts for years to come.
According to the Denton newspaper,
there has been a reluctance to enact an eth-
SUBMISSIONS
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there’s work to do, but it doesn’t necessarily
require radical restructuring. The strivingfor
greater equality is always a proper principle,
but, again, is aspirational.
The imposition of equality by a third-par-
ty — the state — inevitably carries the penal-
ty of less freedom. It’s a balance we should
seek rather than extreme measures that
more likely would have a destabilizing effect.
A pope needn’t worry about such things
and is free to ponder the universe through
the pulpit’s lens. He is also free to chat with
politicians who share his worldview, though
from Sanders’ confusion about his Vatican
invitation, it isn’t clear whether he and the
pope will convene. And his invite wasn’t, as it
turns out, quite so beneficently extended.
“Sanders made the first move, for the ob-
vious [political] reasons,” Margaret Acher,
the academy’s president, told Bloomberg
News. “I think in a sense he may be going for
the Catholic vote, but this is not the Catholic
vote, and he should remember that and act
accordingly — not that he will.”
At least one person we can guess was de-
lighted by this amended news. Imagine
emerging from a rocky political week only to
learn, as Hillary Clinton did, that, oh, by the
way, the Vatican just called your opponent.
Miracles never cease.
KATHLEEN PARKERS column is
distributed by Washington Post Writers
Group. Her email address is kathleen-
parker@washpost.com.
ics ordinance.
Typically, less than 5,000 voters decide
who “represents” more than 120,000 resi-
dents of this once-disciplined, friendly coun-
ty town. If this is acceptable to you, stay
home. But if this annoys you, study the can-
didates and vote.
Ae they supporting what you agree
grabs positions [Places 5 and 6]. The mayor
is unopposed — and safe. One incumbent
[Place 4] faces a recall.
Mses. Briggs and Wazny could use help.
We read that some 1,200 Robson Ranch
voters are expected to participate. Civic
pride — civic responsibility!
We salute you.
By all appearances, Schuyler is a nice young man
searching for his place in the world; really no different
than any other recent high school graduate approaching
adulthood. What he deserves from us is a kind and gentle
response, the gift of peace nestled in a live-and-let-live
box. Angrily harrumphing about the world going to hell
in a hand-basket does no one any good.
Attempts to single out transgender men and women
with punitive legislation about public bathrooms are mis-
guided. Ridicule and derision seems a poor strategy.
Thanks to 60 Minutes and good journalism, we now
know more about Schuyler and others who pass through
a world somewhere between male and female.
with?
Larry Jambor,
Denton
Ae they trying to fix our real problems?
Everyone can vote for two of the up-for-
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This day in history: April 12
Today is Tuesday, April 12, space, orbiting the earth once
the 103rd day of 2016. There before making a safe landing,
are 263 days left in the year.
On April 12, 1961, Soviet as Confederate forces opened fire
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin be- on Fort Sumter in South Carolina,
came the first man to fly in — The Associated Press
In 1861, the Civil War began
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 254, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 12, 2016, newspaper, April 12, 2016; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1127553/m1/4/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .