The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 241, Ed. 1 Friday, August 5, 2005 Page: 4 of 12
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Friday, August 5,2005
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Opinion
ONLINE OPINIONS
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TODAY IN HISTORY
ABOUT US
TODAY IN SUN HISTORY
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In 1963, the United States, Britain and the
Soviet Union signed a treaty in Moscow banning
nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space and
underwater.
In 1980, Hurricane Allen battered the southern
Gene
Lyons
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
columnist Gene Lyons is a
national magazine award win-
ner and co-author of “The
Hunting of the President ” (St.
Martin’s Press, 2000). You can
e-mail Lyons at
Hot topics from The Sun's
online forum, Baytown Talk.
Put in your two cents today:
www.baytownsun.com
Let us hear from you
-m The Baytown Sun welcomes letters of up to 300 words
and guest columns of up to 500 words on any item of public
interest. Guest columns should include a photograph of the
writer. We publish only original material addressed to The
Baytown Sun bearing the writer’s signature. An address and
phone number not for publication should be included. We
ask that submissions be limited to one per month. All letters
and guest columns are subject to editing. The Sun reserves
the right to refuse to publish any submission.
Please send signed letters to: Wanda Gamer Cash or
David Bloom. The Baytown Surr; P.O. Box 90. Baytown.
u.77522. Or, fax them to: 281-427-1880. Or send us an
e-mail at sunnew«@baytownsun.com.
fc-
r
Wther Views
David Bloom,
Managing Editor
Fred Hartman, Publisher Emeritus
1950-1974
Our editorial board
The Baytown Sun’s editorial board meets weekly at 2 p.m.
Wednesday. Individuals are encouraged to visit the editorial
board to discuss issues affecting the community. To make an
appointment, contact Managing Editor David Bloom by calling
281-422-8302.
■ Members of the editorial board include: Wanda Gamer
Cash, editor and publisher; David Bloom, managing editor;
*Jim Finley, retired Sun managing editor; and Jane Howard
,Lee, retired Sun reporter.
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Founded 1922
Wanda Gamer Cash,
Editor and Publisher
In 1950, Hurr’s Grocery was burglarized
for a fifth time. Stolen were 25 cartons of
cigarettes and two boxes of .22 caliber rifle
cartridges.
In 1975, Mont Belvieu Mayor Sam Goss
said a 5 cent tax cut was included in the next
year’s budget
In 1990, Ore city’s recommended budget
for 1990-91 included a 1 cent tax hike.
In 2000, Robert E. Lee and Ross S.
Sterling high schools were prepared for the
first day of school. Administrators dispelled
rumors that construction would postpone
the start of school. The first phase of the pro-
jects was expected to be completed early in
the school year and all renovations were
expected to be completed by the end of
2002.
In 2002, many Baytown shoppers
browsed during the fourth annual Sales Tax
Holiday, but some retailers at San Jacinto
Mall said their sales totals did not meet
expectations.
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RESEARCH
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1 got almost 100 hits, most
traceable to a right-wing
Washington outfit called the
Media Research Center
(MRC), which exists to bully
journalists who stray from the
GOP party line, often through
the dark art of selective mis-
quotation. My favorite was
when MRC honcho Brent
Bozell made the TV talk-show genelyons2@sbcglobal.net.
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
ft
If there’s anything you’ll
never read in this column, it’s
a categorical defense of the
news media. One way or
another, my last three books
have been about the terrible
,hafm done to individuals and
the country by slipshod and
dishonest reporting. Among
those criticized most vigorous-
ly have been some of the
major so-called “liberal” news
organizations — broadcast and
print.
Here’s how I put it in a 2003
Harper’s review of Eric
Alterman’s fine book, “What
Liberal Media?: The Truth
About Bias and the News”:
“‘bias,’ left or right, isn’t an
adequate word for what’s taken
place over the last decade or
thereabouts. Claiming the
moral authority of a code of
professional ethics it idealizes
in the abstract, but repudiates
in practice, today’s Washington
press corps has grown as deca-
dent and self-protective as-any
politician or interest group
whose behavior it purports to
monitor.”
J wouldn’t stipulate a Golden
Age of American journalism,
but 1 would argue that TV
fame and money have become
big corrupting factors.
Celebrity journalists and sleazy
tabloid coverage have existed
since American newspapers
began more than three cen-
turies ago. But the American
press used to be regulated by
an informal but fairly effective
honor system. Now it runs on a
star system not unlike
Hollywood’s. Once a degree of
professional visibility is
achieved, it’s hard to lose.
about the GOP media
machine’s domination of
Washington. “Outfits like
FoxNews, The Washington
Times and Wall Street Journal
editorial page,” it said, “serve
as propaganda organs o f the
Republican National
Committee.” I knew that
would annoy some people,
because one of contemporary
conservatism’s articles of faith
is that although the GOP con-
trols all three branches of gov-
ernment, it’s constantly being
picked on— boo-hoo.
Sure enough, the letters and
e-mails came rolling in. What
really chapped some readers
was my point that the
Democrats have no equivalent
apparatus. One guy wanted to
know if I’d ever heard of
“ABC ... CBS, CNN, NBC,
CNN, the Los Angeles Times,
The New York Times, The
Washington Post.” Actually,
yes, as the sentence following
the one he quoted mentioned
the last two newspapers’ role
in touting Iraq’s WMDs.
But it wasn’t the fellow’s
poor logic that struck me. It
was reading the same com-
plaint in virtually the same
words from a dozen readers.
When that happens, you know
you’re dealing with recycled
’ propaganda. So I Googled the
.. , list of alleged Democratic
I d cite currently imprisoned ,. T . , ,.
,. . r media outlets exactly as he d
Judith Miller as Exhibit A. Her; Presented “•
bungled “exclusives” on Iraq’s “
mythical WMDs did as much
to drive the U.S. to war as the
Bush administration’s fanciful
geopolitical imagineers. If she
were a sports reporter, she’d
have been laughed out of the
profession. Baseball fans
demand that you get the scores
right.
I recently wrote a column
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circuit claiming then-New
York Times editor Howell
Raines had shown contempt
for “real Americans” by writ-
ing that Ronald Reagan
“couldn’t tie his shoelaces if
his life depended on it.”
Bob Somerby at daily-
howler.com tracked down the
quote. Turns out it came from
a book Raines wrote about
fishing. He was quoting a
Camp David fishing guide.
The guide was talking not
about Reagan’s brainpower,
but his lack of interest in tying
trout flies.
People, nobody makes that
kind of “mistake” accidentally.
Meanwhile, if the news
organizations on MRC’s laun-
dry list owe fealty to the
Democratic Party, they’ve an
odd way of showing it. All of
the above pushed the phony
Whitewater scandal for years.
They played Clinton’s sexual
sins bigger than the invasion
of Normandy. Their coverage
of the 2000 election clearly
favored Bush, and their failure
to effectively expose the
“Swift Boat” dirty tricksters
probably decided the 2004
election. Their collective per-
formance during the run-up to
the Iraq war was a national
disgrace.
Otherwise, yeah, they’re
more “liberal” than Rush
Limbaugh.
But then that’s how the fun-
damentalist mind works in
religion and politics; you’re
either with them 100 percent,
or you’re the enemy. In that
regard, no self-respecting press
organization can be anything
but “liberal” in the sense of
sharing a post-enlightenment
'worldview that distinguishes
between fact and belief.
And facts, see, are the
enemy of dogma.
Baytown Memories
Anybody else remember some
of these places/things?
1. “The Green Apple”.,. an old
house located on one of the
state streets. I used to walk
past it on the way to San
Jacinto Elementary (went there
1st and 2nd grade in the late
60’s) and it was painted bright
green with a peace sign on the
front. I remember there were
always scary looking “hippies”
hanging out in front but they
were probably harmless. It was
some sort of official gathering
place.
2. Broom's Barber Shop on
Minnesota Street... always had
a big ol' jar of bubble gum for
the kids.
3. Baytown Junior High (origi-
nal campus)... last time I
passed through Baytown all I
saw was a couple of buildings
left standing.
4. Of course, the Brunson
Theater... who was the man
who was in charge of opera-
tions? He was always a snappy
dresser and he ran the kiddie
shows on Saturdays.
5. The Music Shop on Texas
Avenue (can't remember the
name)... where most of us
bought our band instruments. I
think it was near the Trophy
Barber Shop.
6. The Roseland Park swim-
ming pool... that high dive
seemed like it was 100 feet in
the air when we were little. And
they had the best snow-cones!
7. The Varsity Restaurant...
on Alexander Drive. We used to
race over from Sterling during
lunch just to down a huge buck-
et of their fries.
8. The Decker Drive-In ... last
time I saw that place it was full
of junk and old mobile homes. I
remember going there to see
“The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre" and a few other clas-
sics.
9. Fruit Stands ... there were
several scattered throughout
town, like at the corner of
Bayway and Decker and another
up at the corner where you
turned to go to the Lynchburg
Ferry. Haven't seen these in
years.
10. The Mosquito Truck ... it
used to spray out huge clouds
of dense white smoke and we'd
run behind it getting lost in the
fog. No telling what deadly
chemicals we were inhaling!
> > >
There is still a music shop on
Texas Ave, but it is closer to
Alexander, the Trophy Barber
shop is still there with all the
dead animals ip it. It is where
my son who is now nearly 16
got his first hair cut.
Unfortunantely the Decker
Drive In theater is still full of
junk and old delapidated mobile
homes. A real eye sore.
Roseland doesn't have a pool
any longer now they have some
silly little dancing water thingy.
I don't recall the "Green
Apple" house on the state
streets. Do you remember which
street it was on?
MY
FWMIAL
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(WTTeQ.
IThe spread
|of terrorism
resident Bush was certainly correct,
during a visit to the Egyptian
-,,JI embassy in Washington, to comment
that those responsible for the attacks on
the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik
“have no heart. They have no conscience.”
<■ But the attack demonstrates that whatev-
er the operational capabilities of al-Qaida
as an organization, people with no heart
Jand no conscience seem to be proliferat-
ing-
v‘. Last Saturdays bombings, which killed
scores of people, may have been carried
out by a “home-grown” Egyptian group,
perhaps with links to a group that attacked
hotels in Sinai, about 100 miles north of
Sharm el-Sheik, killing 34 people, last
October.
But authorities are also searching for six
Pakistani men who seem to have been in
.-Sharm el-Sheik before the bombings but to
have disappeared afterward. If Pakistanis
,;did pull off this bombing, it could indicate
a direct link to al-Qaida leaders suspected
of being holed up along the Afghan-
Pakistani border.
It could be more dangerous, as Rand
Corp, terrorism expert Brian Jenkins said,
that people are still being trained in terror-
ist training camps, but sent back to their
home countries not as part of some tightly
organized cell, but with orders to recruit
■and seek targets of opportunity. Such high-
ly decentralized networks can be virtually
invisible to authorities until they strike.
Equally upsetting is what seems like a
"larger supply of suicide bombers. "In the
...old days suicide bombing was a rare
event," terrorism researcher M.J. Gohel of
the Asia Pacific Foundation in London told
the Christian Science Monitor. There were
—30 suicide bombings in Iraq this June, for
example, compared to 18 in June 2004.
Whether the jihadists are working
through coordination or emulation, as Cato
Institute defense and foreign policy vice
president Ted Carpenter said, they seem to
be “going after countries considered an
ally of the U.S. in the fight against al-
Qaida and Islamic radicalism, especially
. those that have been helpful in Iraq.”
Whether this means countries like
M Australia, Japan, Pakistan or even South
Korea should expect attacks is difficult to
tell. The focus for now might be on moder-
'■■ate Muslim countries.
— The Odessa American
his fleet against Mobile Bay, Ala.
On this date:
In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of
Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island in New York
Harbor.
In 1914, the first electric traffic lights were
installed, in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1924, the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie,”
by Harold Gray, made its debut.
In 1953, Operation Big Switch was under way
as prisoners taken during the Korean conflict were
exchanged at Panmunjom.
Today is Friday, Aug. 5, the 217th" day of 2005.
There are 148 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Aug. 5, 1864, during the Civil War, Union
Admiral David G. Farragut is said to have ordered. _________________________
“Damn the torpedoes, fuft speed ahead!” as he led peninsula of Haiti, leaving moretoan 200 dead in
its w^ke. \
In 1984, actor Richard Burton died at a hospital
in Geneva, Switzerland, at the age of 58.
Ten years ago: Secretary of State Warren
Christopher arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, to “build
a bridge of cooperation.” (Christopher was the
first U.S. secretary of state to visit Vietnam since
the war and the first ever to go to Hanoi.)
Five years ago: President Clinton vetoed a
Republican-sponsored tax cut for married cou-
_________________ pies, describing it as “the first installment of a fis-
In 1957, “American Bandstand," hosted by cally reckless tax strategy.
Dick Clark, made its network debut on ABC. One Y631 ag0: New York City’s director of fer-
In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was lies pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of manslaugh-
found dead in her Los Angeles home; her death ter in the wreck of a Staten Island ferry. (Patrick
was ruled a probable suicide from an overdose of Ryan later pleaded guilty to negligent
sleeping pills. manslaughter.)
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 241, Ed. 1 Friday, August 5, 2005, newspaper, August 5, 2005; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1191830/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.