Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 48, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 19, 2017 Page: 4 of 14
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OPINION
4A
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Immigration
hawks angry
after Trump’s
about-face
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
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Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
O' .,
At this point, who DOESN’T want
Trump impeached?”
— Ann Coulter tweet, 7:05 a.m.,
Thursday
y
K
I’M
tm
With
“If reports true 100 percent. I blame R’s.
They caused this. They wanted him to fail
and now pushed him into arms of political
suicide — IF TRUE.”
— Sean Hannity
tweet, 12:11 a.m.,
Thursday
\JIER
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Elite cities should share
wealth with others
“Flounder,
you
can’t spend your
whole life worrying
about your mistakes!
You [fouled] up ...
you trusted us! Hey,
make the best of it!”
— Eric “Otter”
Ms.
Jonah
Goldberg
s Seattle ascended into the club of su-
perstar American cities, its housing
became expensive and its streets
congested. That’s the price of success. These
factors helped prompt Amazon.com to an-
nounce plans to build a second headquarters
somewhere else in North America.
This move could
herald a neat solution
for cities seeking choice
jobs and for those bur-
dened by crowding and
astronomical rents. In
this vast continent of
ours, it’s crazy to shoe-
horn so much ambi-
tion, innovation and
technical prowess into
New York, San Francis-
co and a handful of oth-
er coastal cities.
For the “elite” cities, sharing the growth
would reduce pressure to tear down their
beloved neighborhoods to build forests of
soulless towers — all in the name of improv-
ing affordability. That’s the “remedy” pushed
by developers and foes of zoning, historic
preservation and sane urban planning.
The explosive growth of New York City’s
population has driven the subway system to
near breakdown.
Some see congestion pricing — charging
new fees to drive into midtown Manhattan
— as a fix for perpetual gridlock. That would
encourage more people to use the subways,
the argument goes (but see two sentences
above).
Get this. New York has just “upzoned” the
Midtown East business district to allow the
construction of at least 16 new office towers.
That would bring 28,000 more workers to
the area.
Things have gotten so crowded the city is
removing some subway seats to pack in
more people.
Companies increasingly demand urban
settings where people bounce ideas off one
another and younger workers congregate.
But there are fine urban settings far from the
coasts, and employers are going to them.
Denver and Phoenix, for example, have be-
come magnets for finance companies
strained by the high costs of San Francisco.
Amazon’s casting call included some
specifications. The city’s population must ex-
ceed 1 million. The site must have access to
public transportation andbe near a universi-
ty and international airport.
Amazon has its hand out for tax breaks
and assorted public subsidies. Waving
50,000 good new jobs should bring out a
good number of eager contestants.
Cities cited as likely finalists include Co-
lumbus, Denver, Nashville, Phoenix, Ra-
leigh, San Antonio and Toronto. (Remem-
ber they said “North America.”) A few may
want for artisanal bakeries and curated wine
lists, but add 50,000 tech workers to the mix
and watch the urban amenities grow.
As for those left behind in the elite cities,
they too have reasons to welcome seeing
some of the people headed for other destina-
tions. After all, the cure for very high hous-
ing prices isn’t just more supply; it’s less de-
mand for housing.
And that would take some pressure off
their middle- and working-class neighbor-
hoods. Their low buildings often occupy the
sites developers most covet.
Some cities are already densely devel-
oped. Those on the coast couldn’t grow
gracefully even if they wanted to, because
they are hemmed in by oceans and such.
Other cities, particularly the ones prone to
sprawl, could benefit from added density.
And their older housing stock close to down-
town might need the loving attention of
newcomers.
In the meantime, let’s put in a good word
for smaller cities that don’t meet Amazon’s
size standard.
There’s evidence that some young, edu-
cated people are moving back to the devas-
tated Rust Belt cities their families aban-
doned, places like Youngstown, Ohio. Love
of place draws them, not expectation of high
pay. But wouldn’t companies value having
employees like them?
Let’s see whether Amazon’s move kicks
off a trend to create a second power center
outside the superstar city of a company’s
birth. It would make so much sense, both for
cities burdened with too many people and
for those wanting more.
A
Editorial: Our View
Stratton, “Animal House,” 1978
Civics classes help
ground citizens
efore I continue, let me answer Ann
Coulter’s question: Me. I don’t want
Trump impeached, at least not until
he does something clearly impeachable. Im-
peaching him for policies you don’t like or
even for political malpractice would simply
be a time-wasting tantrum. And I say that as
a consistent critic of Donald Trump, going
back to his flirtation with running on the Re-
form Party ticket in 2000.
That said, Coulter’s reaction is under-
standable and even a little praiseworthy. Af-
ter all, she wrote a book — a whole book! —
in 2016 called In Trump We Trust: E Pluri-
bus Awesome! But unlike a lot of her compa-
triots in the Trump Army, Coulter was driven
by a policy position, not an infatuation. Or
perhaps she was infatuated, but her commit-
ment to the policy was greater than her com-
mitment to the man.
The policy in question: immigration. To
wit, Coulter thinks we’ve had enough of it.
That goes for the children brought here by
illegal immigrants, commonly referred to as
“Dreamers.” President Obama created a pro-
gram, Deferred Action for Childhood Arriv-
als, or DACA, that unconstitutionally (ac-
cording to most conservatives, including the
attorney general) granted a kind of de facto
amnesty to the Dreamers, giving them work
permits and legal residence.
On Wednesday night, Trump had dinner
with the Democratic leaders in the House
and Senate, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen.
Chuck Schumer. These two famously parti-
san Democrats came out of the dinner an-
nouncing that they had struck a deal with the
president to make DACA permanent with-
out providing any funding for Trump’s cher-
ished border wall.
Trump, witnessing the blowback, which
included the new nickname “Amnesty Don”
in a headline at Breitbart News (which until
recently had been the Pravda of MAGA-
land), insisted in a tweet that no deal had yet
been made. But then he went on to sing the
praises of DACA in a series of tweets, making
it clear to all that he wants the Dreamers to
be legalized and the DACA program made
permanent.
In other words, he threw his biggest sup-
porters under the Trump train.
Now I should say, I think Trump is right
on the policy. It would be stupid and cruel to
deport a bunch of people who came here as
little kids and have since assimilated into the
only country they’ve ever known. A large ma-
jority of Americans, including a majority of
Trump voters, agree with Trump (and
Schumer and Pelosi) on the policy.
A recent poll found that only 12 percent of
registered voters want these people deport-
ed. Coulter and former Trump adviser (and
current Breitbart publisher) Steve Bannon
speak for that 12 percent.
The majority of immigration hawks,
however, considered DACA to be the presi-
dent’s most valuable negotiating chip. He
could have gotten funding for the wall — or
perhaps E-Verity, or portions of Sen. Tom
Cotton’s immigration reform legislation, the
RAISE Act — passed in exchange for making
DACA permanent.
Instead, the author of The Art of the Deal
essentially tossed his best chip into the pot as
if it were the ante.
This poses a crisis for two different kinds
of Trump true believers. The “nationalists”
honestly believed he was one of them. Mean-
while, the super-fans honestly believed
Trump was the greatest negotiator and strat-
egist the world had ever seen. Both of these
notions were delusions.
Oh, I’m sure Trump believes much of his
America First talk, but that’s talk. What real-
ly matters to him is praise. It was only a mat-
ter of time before the moth flew to the glow
of public opinion.
The sad thing is that both delusions were
obvious from the moment he descended his
golden escalator at Trump Tower. It will be
interesting to see how the true believers fol-
low Otter’s advice and make the best of their
foul-up.
JONAH GOLDBERG is a fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute and a
senior editor of National Review. His
column is distributed by Tribune Content
Agency.
B
9
alk show comedians are fond of buttonholing peo-
ple on the street and asking them questions about
government and politics.
“Who is the vice president of the United States?” asks
the host.
“Uh, Hillary Clinton?” comes the response.
Yes, it can be funny. But, really, ignorance is no laugh-
ing matter when it comes to the citizenry understanding
the basic organization or premises of government as out-
lined in the U.S. Constitution.
Now arrives the annual Constitution Day survey con-
ducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. And the
news is not good.
Caitlyn Jones, the Denton Record-Chronicle’s education
writer, reported that 37 percent of Americans surveyed
could not name a single freedom guaranteed in the First
Amendment to the Constitution.
It’s short, sweet and so powerful: “Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohib-
iting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peace-
ably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.”
Only 25 percent of survey respondents could name all
three branches of the federal government: executive
(headed by the president), legislative (U.S. Congress) and
judicial (headed by the U.S. Supreme Court).
Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they support
the idea of Congress passing a law prohibiting news orga-
nizations from reporting on national security issues with-
out government approval. Of course, such a system of
censorship would fly in the face of the First Amendment’s
protection of freedom of the press.
These findings are troubling and call out for more
attention to basic civics instruction in public schools and
in the halls of higher education.
But the problem is really much larger. People who have
no clue about the basic structure and operation of govern-
ment are much more likely to believe just about anything
they see on blogs and social media.
Who, for example, would believe Alex Jones, the clown
of right-wing internet radio, when he espouses the nause-
ating theory that the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting
in 2012 was a hoax perpetrated by leftists who want to
take away our guns?
Who, for God’s sake, would believe him when he re-
ported that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats ran a
child molestation ring at a Washington, D.C., pizza par-
T
Froma
Harrop
FROMA HARROP writes for The Provi-
dence Journal. Her column is distributed
by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Letters to the editor
Statues celebrate war criminals
We need to boil down the debate over the
Confederate statue on the Square to basic,
undeniable facts.
Instigation of the Civil War was an un-
constitutional and treasonous act by the ar-
chitects of secession. Confederate soldiers
may have fought for love of their state or be-
cause they were forced, but they participated
in this act nonetheless.
Today, such actions are labeled “terror-
SUBMISSIONS
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letters for length.
Letters should be typed or legibly handwritten
and be 250 or fewer words. We prefer email
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Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
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lor?
Anyone who doesn’t know the vice president’s name or
who cannot name the three branches of government is
detached from reality and floating in a fog without facts.
And that makes them likely to believe anything no matter
how outrageous.
ism.
Military personnel take an oath to “sup-
port and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign
and domestic.” Some argue that the statues
represent pride of heritage and not hate,
even though most were erected during Jim
Crow, as Gen. Lee opposed the construction
of such monuments, citing that they would
obstruct the healing process for such a de-
structive war.
Now, given that it cannot be denied that
these monuments are a result of an act of
treason, how can we tolerate their presence
on public soil?
There are no such monuments in Ger-
many celebrating the Nazi soldier, even
though many fought against their will. I
This day in history: September 19
know of no statue erected in honor of Timo-
thy McVeigh, who bombed a federal build-
ing in Oklahoma City in defiance of the fed-
eral government.
All participants had a choice to not par-
take or support such actions, even if it meant
imprisonment or death.
These statues are essentially celebrating
war criminals, and the exploitations and
death of millions of poor Southerners who
had nothing to gain from the cause.
Grieve the dead; shame the action.
Jeff Felderhoff,
Denton
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 19,
the 262nd day of 2017. There
are 103 days left in the year.
On Sept. 19,1777, the first
Battle of Saratoga was fought
during the Revolutionary War;
although British forces succeed-
ed in driving out the American
troops, the Americans prevailed
in a second battle the following
month.
In 1796, President George
Washington’s farewell address
was published. In it, America’s
first chief executive advised,
“Observe good faith and justice
toward all nations. Cultivate
peace and harmony with all.”
In 1881, the 20th president
of the United States, James A.
Garfield, died two months after
being shot by Charles Guiteau;
Chester Alan Arthur became
president.
In 1915, vaudeville perform-
er W.C. Fields made his movie
debut as Pool Sharks, a one-reel
silent comedy, was released.
In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann
was arrested in New York and
charged with the kidnap-mur-
der of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.
In 1945, Nazi radio propa-
gandist William Joyce, known
as “Lord Haw-Haw,” was con-
victed of treason and sentenced
to death by a British court.
In 1957, the United States
conducted its first contained un-
derground nuclear test, code-
named “Rainier,” in the Nevada
desert.
In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev, in Los Angeles as
part of his U.S. tour, reacted an-
grily upon being told that, for se-
curity reasons, he wouldn’t get
to visit Disneyland.
In 1960, Cuban leader Fidel
Castro, in New York to visit the
United Nations, angrily checked
out of the Shelburne Hotel in a
dispute with the management;
Castro ended up staying at the
Hotel Theresa in Harlem.
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 48, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 19, 2017, newspaper, September 19, 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1131384/m1/4/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .