Month: October 2018

THE ROANOKE TIMES

| weaver1888

Published in the Roanoke Times

0n October 27, 2018

 

October 19, 2018

Letter to the Editor

Republicans have a problem this November: Healthcare is the hot issue in the midterm elections, but their stance on it is wildly unpopular. So, they’re trying a bold political tactic: Covering up and making up new facts.

Large portions of American voters want to keep the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. President Trump and Mitch McConnell have both recently claimed that all Republicans feel the same way – even as they fight in court to vaporize those protections and vow to take yet another stab at killing the ACA entirely.

There are 36 anti-ACA Republicans running in unfriendly congressional districts in November – more than enough to flip the House to the Democrats. The GOP could overcome this with an ACA alternative that did everything they claim they want to do: lowering regulations and costs while protecting patients. But this is a fantasy, thanks to another, even more difficult math problem.  This stuff involves trade-offs the Republicans are unwilling to make.

Congressional Republicans don’t say what they would do about much of anything, save “Cut taxes more” or “Try to kill Obamacare again.” This reflects a Trump-era party that has no idea what it stands for anymore, aside from nurturing cultural grievances. In Southwest Virginia, voters cling to these cultural things even when it means their families get less health care, jobs are not available and educational opportunities are second-rate or non-existent. My friends and neighbors, in this election vote for things that will make a DIRECT difference for you and your children. Health care, jobs, and education for our part of Virginia—vote for Jennifer Lewis.

T. Michael Smith

 

RUDE

| weaver1888

RUDE

Bad behaviour

We find ourselves living at a time of incredible rudeness. Everyone needs to have an opinion, on everything, at all times, and this opinion must be delivered forcefully. We have been taught to celebrate meanness. In our country, the rise of a very rude man to a most powerful position has brought into sharp and terrifying focus just how dangerous one moment of rudeness might prove: it might lead us to nuclear apocalypse.

So, what does one do when confronted with rude behavior? Well, we can have the guts to call it out. It’s our duty. The only way to end rudeness is to make a conscious decision to do so. We should not have to put up with rude behavior.

The rage, injustice, and hurt we feel at the inexplicably rude behavior of someone leads us in directions that are uncomfortable and often wrong. For me, the trick to handling rudeness is to pause, take a breath, and ever so gently deliver a sentence as simple as “Just stop.” We can do it with grace. We can handle it well, by handling it without a trace of aggression and without being rude ourselves. Because once a rude person has had the looking glass held up to them and can see their actions through the eyes of others, they are far more likely to end that behavior themselves. This can be done by you, by me, by everyone. You and I choose to be civilized so we can expect others to be civil.