Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 189, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 23, 2011 Page: 4 of 10
ten pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sweetwater Reporter
I*MftHSDTO PROQDLY EELIVEBING LOCAL NEWS SIlfOE 1881
-|—v Sweetwater 1 — -■ r*
Keporter Romney a weak front runner
GUEST COLUMN
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/235-4967
Website:
www.sweetwaterreporter.com
E-mail addresses
publisher@sweetwaterreporter.com
business@sweetwaterreporter.com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwaterreporter.com
TU"
MEMBER
2010
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Ron Midkiff
Publisher
Gloria Rudel
ad director
Danica Hickson
business mgr./
circulation mgr.
Tatiana Rodriguez
managing editor
Pablo Rodriguez
composing
Rleu Reyes
production mgr.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for
expression of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except
those labeled "Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writ-
ers and not those of the Sweetwater Reporter.
GUEST COLUMN
Flooding alert
issued for nuclear
power plant
God bless America, and how's everybody?
Nebraska Public Power issued a flooding alert for its
nuclear power plant Saturday as the Missouri River
rose. It's getting scary. If you think USC and Ohio
State can't control their football players, wait until
Nebraska's offensive line includes Godzilla and the
Fifty-Foot Woman.
The U.S. Open crowned young Rory Mcllroy of
Northern Ireland a world hero Sunday after his victory
at Congressional. It looks like golf has a brand-new
king. Tiger Woods is thinking about going back to the
sex addiction clinic in Hattiesburg for their reversal
procedure.
NBC prompted viewer wrath before the U.S. Open
Sunday when the network did a montage of children
reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and left out the
phrase under God. It evens out. A day later the ratings
came out for the most-watched shows in prime time
and God left out NBC.
NBC apologized for leaving God out of its Pledge of
Allegiance piece before the U.S. Open. It fed the per-
ception that NBC is a liberal apologist
for a secular administration. Last week
f ^ NBC News reported that President
Obama's warp lanes bombed civilians
^ \ in Tripoli but in a good way.
Ro s Royce gave auto buyers in
Beverly Hills a peek at this fall's
Phantom on Sunday. They overlooked
; : no engineering detail. To ensure huge
■ sales in Saudi Arabia the voice on 3
1 GPS won't give directions because it
Amnio knows that anyone asking for them is
lirgUS probably a woman driver.
Michelle Obama flew to
I 3111111 Johannesburg Monday to enjoy
a sightseeing tour of South Africa.
She wanted to visit the Apartheid
Museum, which chronicles the struggle against white
rule. She estimates that it's going to take a billion dol-
lars in campaign donations to continue the fight
The GOP Leadership Conference apologized for a
comedian who impersonated Obama at its gala. He did
a deadly impersonation of Obama mocking the GOP
candidates. It was so good that Democrats want him
to give President Obama's acceptance speech at the
2012 convention.
John McCain stood by his remark Sunday claiming
that the Arizona brushfires were likely started by ille-
gal aliens in the state's wilderness. It's a scandal. The
Mexicans were using Bic lighters shipped to them at
the insistence of the Justice Department in an effort
to frame Gillette.
ATF agent John Dodson testified he was ordered
by the Justice Department to let U.S.-made assault
rifles be sent into Mexico. Western gun dealers were
told to stop doing background checks on buyers. The
administration decided to give illegal aliens a pathway
to marksmanship.
Georgia farmers protested the state's new anti-
illegal alien law Monday, saying it's costing them mil-
lions as crops go unpicked and land goes unplowed.
It's very explainable. The state lawmakers all went to
school up north and they think the iPhone has an app
for picking cotton.
Texas governor Rick Perry gave a rousing speech to
conservative activists in New Orleans Saturday, feed-
ing rumors he may run for president. Liberals don't
know what to think. It might take a president from
Texas to topple the U.S. regime in Iraq and finally get
us out of there.
Dick Cheney turned in the manuscript for his mem-
oirs Thursday which will be published as a book in
August. His name has become synonymous with U.S.
presence in the Middle East. Dick Cheney is the only
writer in the world who insists on using a gasoline-
powered typewriter.
Pentagon officials on Monday showed reporters the
next generation of drone attack and spy planes that are
the size and shape of hawks. Talk about dangerous. If
they were to put a backward-facing camera on them,
every male hawk in the sky could be the next Anthony
Weiner.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The Comedy
Store in Hollywood and entertains groups and orga-
nizations around the country. E-mail him at Argus @
ArgusHamilton.com.
Are you tired of the
media and the Republican
establishmentproclaiming
Mitt Romney the "front
runner" for the 2012 GOP
presidential nomi-
nation? If history
means anything —
and it means little to
many these days — it
tells 11s that the per-
son leading the field
at this point is rarely
the eventual nom
nee, especially when
that candidate's lead
is as anemic as is Mitt
Romney's.
Let's take a trip
down political memo-
ry lane to see who led
in June of the year
prior to recent presiden
tial elections. In June of
1971, for the Democrats, it
was Ed Muskie, followed
by Hubert Humphrey,
Ted Kennedy, John
Lindsay, and finally the
eventual nominee, George
McGovern, whose name
was known by so few peo-
ple at that point that he
garnered a mere 5 percent
in the polls.
Going into the 1976
election season, the Dems
again had 10 clue who
they would nominate.
Their favorite candi-
dates, in order, in June
1975 were as follows:
George Wallace, Hubert
Humphrey, Henry "Scoop"
Jackson, Ed Muskie,
George McGovern, John
Glenn, Julian Bond,
Lloyd Bentsen, Adlai
Doug
Patton
Stevenson III, Morris
Udall, John Lindsay, and
an obscure one-term gov-
ernor and peanut farm-
er from Georgia named
Jimmy Carter,
who tipped
the pollster's
scales with an
unimpressive
one percentage
point.
In June 1975.
Gerald Ford
was the acci-
dental presi-
dent, but as
the incumbent,
he was the
front runner
for his party's
nomination. As
the Republican standard
bearer in the 1976 elec-
tion, he went on to lose
to the worst president of
modern times (if you don't
count the current occu-
pant of the Oval Office).
Four years later, in June
1979, after "Jimmy Who?"
had become "Jimmy
Why?", the Democratfront
runner in all the polls —
by more than 20 points
— was Ted Kennedy, who
was challenging his own
incumbent president.
On the Republican side,
Ronald Reagan defied the
historical odds by polling
as the solid front runner
in June, where he stayed
until the convention a lit-
tle more than a year later.
From June 1983, until
the 1984 general election,
it was very much Reagan
vs. Mondale all the way
to a 49-state romp for the
Gipper. And in 1988, rid-
ing the long, popular coat-
tails of his boss , i ncumbent
Vice President George
H.W. Bush was the odds-
on favorite from the early
polling. But the Democrat
polling in June '87 was as
muddled as ever. It was
Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson
and the eventual nominee,
Michael Dukakis, who was
pulling a pathetic 7.5 per-
cent at the time.
By 1992, the Democrats
were desperate to recap-
ture the White House,
but in June of '91, with
Bush's post-Gulf War
approval ratings in :he
stratosphere, it was hard
to see who could pull it
off. In fact, here is the
somewhat whimsical list
of the Democrat "front
runners" in descending
order that summer: Mario
Cuomo; Al Gore; Lloyd
Bentsen; Jesse Jackson;
Dick Gephart; George
McGovern; Sam Nunn; 1 11
Bradley; Ann Richards;
Douglas Wilder; Tom
Harkin; George Mitchell
and — with less than 2
percent — Bill Clinton.
Al Gore and George W.
Bush led in their respec-
tive polls from June 1999
on, and out of it came the
closest election in modern
presidential election his-
tory. But in June 2003,
the "front-running" Dem
lined up to challenge Bush
was Gore's 2000 running
mate, Joe Lieberman, who
was leading the man who
would be their nominee
the following year, John
Kerry.
And finally, there were
the polls c June 2007,
wherein Sen. Hillary
Clinton held a double-dig-
it lead over Sen. Barack
Obama, and America's
Mayor, Rudy Giuliani,
held a soli< advantage
over Sen. John McCain.
So don't let anyone tell
you that Mitt Romney
s the "front runner" in
June of 2011. With all the
candidates not yet even
in the race, his "lead"
means nothing. Even if he
is slightly ahead in these
early polls, he is a weak
candidate who would
probably lose the general
election.
© 2011 by Doug Patton
Doug Patton describes
himself as a recovering
political speechwriter
who agrees with himself
much more often than not.
Now working as a free-
lance writer, his weekly
columns of sage political
analysis are published the
world over by legions of
discerning bloggers, cou-
rageous webmasters and
open-minded newspaper
editors. Astute supporters
and inane detractors alike
are encouraged to e-mail
him with their pithy com-
ments at dougpatton@
cox.net.
HOME COUNTRY
Three-Chord Cortez
"You're awfully quiet this
morning, Steve," Dud said
to his buddy, the cowboy
with the haystack mus-
tache.
"No sleep," Steve mum-
bled, his chin propped
on his hands. The
other members
of the Mule Barn
truck stop's world
dilemma think tank
smelled an issue and
were instantly alert.
You can't save the
world if you don't
have an issue.
"You guys watch-
ing too much late
night TV out in the
bunkhouse?" Doc
asked.
"I wish we had,"
Steve said. "It's just
that dadgummed
Chord Cortez."
Three-Chord was known
far and wide for his exu-
berant incompetence with
a guitar. Steve's boss hires
Three-Chord and some oth-
ers to help on special occa-
sions.
"His guitar playing is ter-
rible," Steve explained, tak-
ing a sip of coffee, "but now
it's worse ... way worse!"
"How could anything be
Slim
Randies
worse than Three-Chord
Cortez's guitar playing?"
Dud said.
Steve looked up.
"He's singing now!"
There was a deadly hush
as the members of the
supreme court of
darn-near every-
thing took that in.
"Not good?" Doc
asked, quietly.
"Not good? Oh
dear Aunt Sadie's
chrome corset!"
Steve replied. "It's
like ... dragging a
milk can iong on
pavement. It's like
removing a guy's
appendix without
anesthetic. It's like
Three-
"We get the pic-
ture," Dud said.
"The worst of it is ... I
mean the worst ... is that
he doesn't know any songs.
Not a one. I mean ... none.
All he knows is one phrase
of one song and he sings
it over and over and over
and he thinks he's the Sons
of the Pioneers. He tells us
this phrase is a sure-fire
way to get women inter-
ested in you. You serenade
them from the front lawn
and the lovely lady immedi-
ately invites you in for cof-
fee and snickerdoodlesi"
"So what's the phrase?"
asked Dewey, who sensed a
new dating tool at hand.
Steve looked from one to
the other. "I'll give it to you
just the way he gave it to
us."
"You don't know what
lonesome is, 'til you start
herdin' co-o-o-o-o-o-ows!"
Steve took that last note
up into a coyote howl and
people were holding their
ears and trying to quiet cry-
ing children.
"See what I mean?" Steve
said. Nods all around.
Doc drew himself up. "I
think the girls ask Three-
Chord in just to keep the
neighbors from calling the
dog pound."
Brought to you by Slim's
new book "A Cowboy's
Guide to Growing Up
Right." Learn more at
http: //www .nmsantos.
com/Slim/Slim.html.
The swi.r.rwMt.R reporter
rpWS 5300-8SGS is published daily
except Saturdays and holidays by HPC
of Texas Inc. (Periodical Postage Paid)
112 W. 3rd, Sweetwater, Texas 79556
Postmaster: Send address changes to:
SWEETWATER REPORTER
P.O. BOX 750.
SWEETWATER, TX 79556
City Delivery $9.00 per month, $90.00
per year, 6-months $50.00, 3-months
$26.00. By mail In-County Rates
3-months $36.00, 6-months $65.00,
12-months $115.00. Out-Of-County
Rates 3-months $50.00, 6-months
$88.00, 12-months $140.00.
Correction Policy
Editorial:
As a matter of policy, the
Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
236-6677.
Advertising:
Publisher reserves the right
to reject, edit or cancel any
advertising at any time with-
out liability. Publisher's liabil-
ity for error is limited to the
amount paid for advertising.
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
V
__ Sweetwater
Reporter
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 189, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 23, 2011, newspaper, June 23, 2011; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229495/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.