4 THE DALLAS POST/Wednesday, February 10, 1988 _Editorial/opinion Tie DALLASC0ST A Publication of Pennaprint, Inc. DEBBY HIGGINS Editor DAVID F. CONNER General Manager Off the Top | BY DEBBY HIGGINS Post Editor For the first time in a long time, I have been humbled. At first, my humble pie was a bit too much to swallow, but eventually my throat (and brain) relaxed enough to get a good belly-full of what it feels like to lose control. I can’t say I Bad tat full feeling, but I quickly realized I could do nothing ut it. It all began when my hot water heater decided to spring a leak and unundate my basement with several inches of nice, cold water. I was lulled into believing this was a short-term, easily remedied situation; the drenched basement the worst of the problem. Boy, was I rong! After determining the miracle of modern ingenuity was beyond repair, I was faced with the prospect of purchasing a new one. Just what I needed! A major cost-outlay right after the Christmas binge and right before tax-time. Minor details compared to what was to come. Thank my lucky stars I have a family member who is skilled in the art of installation. My helpful talented brother said he would take out the old heater and install the new one. Easier said than done, however. Oh, yes, my first major expenditure of 1988 came as ordered; just prior to the first big-time snowstorm of the year. Whew! But in the meantime, two teenageers, with their fetish for -clean, bouncy hair, and a penchant for removing billions of odor-causing skin bacteria several times a day, continued to insist on constantly heating gallons of water in which to bathe. Ever try to fill a bathtub, bucketful by bucketful? I was beginning to feel like one of the brooms in the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice’. A small amount of water doesn’t get you clean - TONS of water are needed to pass the purity and non-odiferous test. Raise your hand to be sure. Carrying water quickly produces muscles like a truck driver and causes intense situations in your back. I have decided the mudern body is not equiped to handle 19th century activities. Meanwhile, back in 1988, my. poor husband comes down with a dandy case of the Russian flu. And then, of course, Mother Nature throws a fastball in the form of the year’s coldest weather. But life goes on; the buckets keep heating, and the war on odor continues to rage. Days, (that seemed like months) go by and the children get sick. And my brother encounters work and time problems, and the weather gets colder, and my family gets sicker, and the buckets keep heating. bond Finally, everything culminated in a new, working water heater, and a trip to the doctor for the sick ones. Life, as I knew it, resumed its normalcy. With my trip to Cancun canceled because life at home took an about face, I had time to reflect. I thought how silly I was to get so bent out of shape over something that at best was minor inconvenience. Our ancestors endured much worse. That pioneer stock braved cold, sickness, famine, hard work, and isolation to survive. They did it and they did it well; and they carried and heated buckets of water fetched from a well, outside, EVERY DAY for their entire lives - generations of lives, really. They nursed their sick and they didn’t cry about it or skip town to avoid it. My problems, on the other hand, rated a one-half on a scale of son things to get upset about. Life was, and can be, much er. So, while I was catering to my aching muscles, I felt pretty foolish about the whole situation. I realized I cannot control overly aspect of living and crying or getting upset does no good. Humble pie is best when taken on the chin. It hurts much less that way and funny thing; the wounds heal very quickly. BY RICHARD FIEGELMAN Special to The Post By the time this column appears in print, the Iowa caucus will be over and the results history. With a total of 11 major (four Republicans and seven Democratic) candidates in the running, questions still remain as to whether any of them are qualified to be Presi- dent of the United States. The Iowa caucus may be unimpor- tant in itself save that the win- ners can stamp ‘frontrunner’ on their foreheads, and hustle up some more campaign fund- ing. Money more than ever is the name of political game 1988. I thought it might be interesting to take a brief look at each candidate, and then examine a few more not in the running who we may see at some future time. First on the Republican side: 1. V.P. George Bush - George’s claim to the job is that he’s next in line. He’s making a ‘half-hearted effort to show us that he’s a regular guy. Sorry George, if you have the silver spoon be man enough to admit it. George knows a lot more than he’s telling about 'Iran- / scam, but yes, he’s too much of -a wimp to stand up and act like a man. Harry Truman would have booted his rear-end all over the oval office. A vote for George is a vote for 'another four years of question marks, kickbacks, and complacency. 2. Sen. Robert Dole - Dole has been too busy throwing pineap- ples in the bushes. The televi- sion specials have been portray- ing him as a man of character, but where he stands on many issues is unknown. We do know that he has a powerful, famous wife. This delivers Oprah Win- frey’s, Phil Donahue’s, Helen Gurley Brown’s, and most employed with book out psychol- ogists’ votes. 3. Cong. Jack Kemp - If you want Ronald Reagan x four, and football on every night of the week, vote for Jack. If you are poor, middle class, intelligent, can walk and chew gum, or human, don’t vote for Jack Kemp. 4. Pat Robertson - No longer calling himself Reverend, Pat is now a politician. Is he going to return all of the dough he made as a Reverend? Ha Ha! If you are human and respect equal rights for all, don’t vote for Pat Robertson. On the Democratic side: BY CLYDE DUPIN Special to The Post The Post says‘ thanks’ The Post wishes to thank Mrs. Arlene Richards Updyke for coming forward to identify the school children in our recently published, old photographs. Mrs. Updyke a Back Mountain resident, is pictured in one of the photos as a student at the Beaumont school in 1908. She was able to call upon her excel- lent memory to recall all but a very few of the names of those pictured. The second photo, also taken at the Beaumont school, was dated 1911 by Mrs. Updyke. We extend our gratitude to this most cooperative Back Moun- . tain native for her assistance. . Look for an upcoming feature story in The Dallas Post about Mrs. Updyke, a lady who has led a very exciting life. Mrs Updyke has lived, experienced, and is a part of much of the rich history of the Back Mountain. Debby Higgins, Editor It was a tough year for moral- ity and ethics. It started with Oral Roberts’ fund raising appeals and got worst with the Jim Bakker sex and money scandal. The Jim and Tammy Bakker PTL scandal was one of the top newstories of 1987. In March, Jim Bakker resigned after expo- sure of sex scandals and finan- cial corruption. In May, Bakker was defrocked by his own Assemblies of God denomina- ‘tion when accused of homosex- ual activity and financial abuse. Then came ex-preacher, Gary 1. Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt - Little is known about Bruce, but he was last seen bicycling across Iowa. No hills you know. Bruce may make an interesting dark horse if the leaders falter. He certainly must have more character than the present (for now) governor of Arizona, Evan Mecham. 2. Sen Paul Simon - Paul is the grass roots candidate. He’s been pounding the pavement. Paul is also a Pee Wee Herman look- alike. If Babbitt’s not careful, Paul may steal his bicycle for this adventure. 3. Sen. Ted Kennedy - Oops, 4. Cong. Richard Gephardt - Dick looks like the favorite in Iowa which could catapult him to the top of the heap. He seems to be a man of level head and even tongue, a rarity these days. If Dick stays away from Donna Rice and arms deals, he sould be taking the oath one ay. 5. Gov. Michael Dukakis - (that’s no caucus) - Mike seemed to be the favorite after the Hart attack, but he seems to be in the doldrums. This could change as the campaign contin- ues. If Mike is elected and proves to be anything like the last New England president, John F. Kennedy, this nation may have hope yet. At least for optimism’s sake. 6. Gary Hart - Gary could be a John Kennedy clone Wy except that Norma Jean is no longer with us. Gary should learn that after his philandering, he can’t expect to caucus. 7. The Rev. Jesse Jackson - Jesse would possibly make an interesting: president, but after his ‘“hymie” remarks of a few years ago, and his association with Farrakhan, that brother- hood jive doesn’t cut any ice here. With maturity, and sepa- ration of church from state, we may be looking at Mr. President 1996. If this country matures with him. 8. Sen. Albert Gore - Albert is certainly a darkhorse. His youth may. offer refreshment, but with a wife named Tipper running around trying to ban albums, he may have problems. If the liber- als start making merry with his last name he’s sunk. No matter what happens, the next ten months will be a fun- filled frolic of name-calling, mudslinging and the usual cheap fare which accompanies our due process. I wouldn’t have it any. other way. See you next week... 87 was religiously rough Hart and the Donna Rice affair which sidetracked the front Tunner for the Democratic pres- idential nomination. Then in December, as though morality and honesty aren’t important qualifications to be President, he re-enters the race. The events of 1987 are a reminder that ethical conduct and morality are inseparable from ultimate values. The ulti- mate values are based on reli- gious faith. The PTL scandal shows what dishonesty and materialistic thought can do when they replace God. Many true Christians have been hurt, but truth and righteousness will prevail and evil will be exposed and judged. | Fiegelman says...what Rooney thinks Rather | a field of winners! just wanted the truth BY ANDY ROONEY Special to The Post A great many of my left-wing, liberal, pinko friends are still angry at Dan Rather because of the confrontation the television news anchorman had with former Vice President George Bush. (I say “former” vice president because once a person becomes a candidate, he stops being what he was and starts devoting his time to running for office. George Bush is being paid for being a full- tne ys president but obviously he isn’t putting in a 9-to-5 day on e job.) . The reason so many liberals are mad at Dan is that they think he has helped George Bush become president. They aren’t mad at him because he asked hard questions or because he was rude to ti vice president of our country. Being rude to a candidate is different from being rude to the vice president. Some people see the Rather-Bush affair in a different light, of course. They're pleased because they think it helped Bush’s campaign and showed Dan Rather for what he really is, a hard- £0re left-winger who ought to move to Moscow if he doesn’t like it ere. | Almost all of us use the little bits of information that come our way to re-enforce the opinions we already have. We sort out the information and reject the stuff that doesn’t work for us. A surve a few years ago showed that 60 percent of the Republicans th journalists have a liberal bias. These people are using the Bush- Rather debate as ammunition of their own and they’re shooting it back at the newspeople. : o Fortunately, I am an even-handed, fair, open-minded neutr observer who does not allow personal opinion or emotion to cloud my view of this incident. I’m able to see right from wrong in the argument between a wimp candidate who answers every question about his involvement in the arms-for-hostages deal with Iran by saying “I’ve already answered that” and my friend, the distin- guished journalist, Dan Rather. I will, however, keep my opinion to myself in this matter and stick to the facts. The day after the ill-starred interview, mobs of reporters and cameramen staked out the CBS News building seeking comment from anyone who went in. “Mr. Rooney,” they yelled, trying to appeal to my ego by calling me “Mister” instead of ‘Hey, Andy!” “Mr. Rooney, what did you think about the Dan Rather interview with George Bush?” \ “I didn’t see it,” I lied, because I had to get to work. I also lied because I like Dan but thought he was a little wrong and didr want to say so on television. What no one understands is that Dan Rather is a news nut. News is his religion. While it is unlikely, Dan Rather is perfectly capable. of doing a rudely aggressive interview with George Bush one day and voting for him the next without telling anyone he did it. This obsession with news and the attempt to suppress personal opinion on the job is one of the attributes Rather shares with his predecessor, Walter Cronkite. When both Democratic and Republi- can leaders were trying to interest Cronkite in running for office, Walter said privately, “If they knew what I really think, probably neither of them would want me.” The public is always uneasy when reporters ask hard questions. Political candidates have made a science of avoiding real answetl and the public seems to accept that. The candidates’ favorite evasive response to a hard question is that the one Bush uses so often. “I’ve already answered that question.”” A candidate uses it when he or she hasn’t answered the question at all and for son reason many Americans accept it. They think the candidate must have answered it and they’ve forgot what the answer was. If everyone but me remembers what George Bush’s answer was to the question “Before it happened did you know about the deal to gve wearin: to Iran in exchange for the hostages?’ let me know what it was. Letters To The Dallas Post: Please accept our heartfelt thanks for the beautiful arti- cle on page 3, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 1988. This masterpiece by a Master Writer concern- ing the death of our “Rosie” December 31, 1987, was appreciated by every member of our family, and by the comments received many, many other people. We purchased 12 copies of Mike Dukakis. Now serving Mike Dukakis wants to bring™y all Americans leadership and economic stability that resi- dents of Massachusetts now enjoy. > : Since taking office unem- ployment in Mass. has plum- meted from 11 percent to under 4 percent, and over 350,000 new jobs have been created since 1983. Mike Dukakis has also cut taxes his third term as Governor, x. ) the paper and gave them to our out-of-town family and friends. We, of course, being long- time subscribers, know and have admired your writing for these many years. : Leo F. Mohen and Family Dear Editor: Sofi “Democratic values in action”, that is one way to describe the political career of Massachusetts Governor three times, balanced numer- ous budgets and has turned Mass. into an economic shows place. This record of excel- lence was recognized when Newsweek magazine asked governors across the country to choose America’s most effective governor. They chose Mike Dukakis. Sincerely, John Clisham Wilkes-Barre “How do you say ‘I love you’ on Valentine's Day? |The Post asks: Ed Fedrow ~ Assistant Foreman Dallas ‘“‘Maybe some candy. Last year she got 21 roses, a bottle of Asti Spumanti, and a night on the town.” Joseph Yurko Joseph Yurko, 37 Hair Dresser Shavertown ~ “Appreciating all the people in my life and love all my family friends and people I meet every day.” Joe Menziff Joe Menziff, 15 Student Larksville “Take her to the food kitchen.” Joe Sims John Sims, 14 Student Harveys Lake “I’ll take her for a ride on my trike.” Bemadine Chimock Bernadine Chimock Wife and mother Dallas Township “Starting out with a beautiful card, a big kiss when he comes through the door and having his favorite meal, lasagna.” Jenny Ondish _ Jenny Ondish, 18 Asst. Manager Kunkle “A sweet card and then dinner . and to the movies.”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers