Focus on the election: Part IV
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 12:38 p.m., March 13, 2008
Updated 12:38 p.m., March 13, 2008
Six Emporians representing the city’s mature community drew from history and personal experience when they met on Friday to talk politics for The Gazette’s series on the upcoming presidential election.
Participants were: Deb Burns-Heinitz, retired doctor; Ken Calhoun, businessman; Harvey Foyle, Emporia State University professor and historian; Mic McGuire, pastor; Chester Morris, pastor; and Jeannell Tebbetts, banker.
The state of the U.S. economy, and economy-related issues like government overspending, ranked first for many in the group. Health care, national security, immigration, and internal issues also were prime concerns.
And the majority of the participants wanted less government intrusion and oversight of their lives.
During discussions that lasted about two hours, participants introduced issues that often are buried in national coverage of elections: character and integrity of elected officials, building trust and a relationship with the public, a willingness to work for the good of the country as a unit rather than smaller special-interest groups and a need for honest and thorough reporting.
“The media is playing to sensation at a time when we have dire issues,” Foyle said.
The war has contributed to the nation going off-budget and the government is merely printing paper money or borrowing it from other countries, he said. Roman history parallels what is happening now, and the results then were not good.
“Eventually, your empire collapses,” Foyle said. “We’re not taking care of our home or, like a bird, we’re not taking care of our nests.”
McGuire approached the problem from a social standpoint, citing drug use, poverty, and other related issues that are not being resolved because of the war and its expenses. He returned to those topics several times during the course of the discussions.
“Why is it that we have decided American life is worth sacrificing? That’s a soul issue,” McGuire said. “Especially when we’re not taking care of our families.”
“If you’re not taking care of the basics, the food, the health care ... how can you hope for a better future?” Burns-Heinitz added in support.
The group, however, saw many of the issues as interrelated.
“If the economy tanks, we can’t fund the military ... we can’t fund health care,” Burns-Heinitz said. “Almost everything gets put on the back burner, and that’s a scary thing.”
Much rests on the government’s inclination to mortgage the future.
“We go out and we borrow money from future generations,” Calhoun said. “It’s uncontrollable now.”
Burns-Heinitz wants care of Americans to come first instead of the government interjecting itself into the business of other countries.
“I think we’re irritating the world (by) helping them sometimes,” she said.
Calhoun mentioned the war in Iraq and the “AfPak” war Americans are fighting simultaneously in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“It’s not a war,” Calhoun said. “You’re not going to win them in by beating them over the head.”
“I don’t think we have evaluated our enemy correctly,” Morris said, explaining that he believes their decisions are based on ideology, not on logic.
Calhoun said he believed that homeland security has to be addressed “and obviously the emergence of China. Everything’s interrelated.”
He mentioned Emporia’s companies, particularly Glendo Corp.’s success in international markets, as examples of the globalization of the economy.
“I’m not sure we, as a country, know how to compete in a global economy,” Calhoun said. “I’m pontificating. Maybe we’re not going to do business as a government in the next 100 years like we did the last 200 years. It’s a scary thing.”
“I just shudder at the concept of us running the whole world,” McGuire remarked.
Calhoun said he believed the public lacks confidence in its leaders.
“I think that’s probably healthy,” Calhoun said.
Foyle said that around the time of World War II, Americans began to lose their independence and, instead, began to rely on the federal government for help. Prior to that time, the national government primarily was concerned with defense, state and local governments took care of their units’ economies.
“The families, you took care of yourselves,” Foyle said.
Calhoun reminded the group that the Depression in the 1930s had devastated the nation, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt created an assortment of programs that provided jobs and incomes for Americans.
“I have no problem with those,” Calhoun said. “... We stepped in to (take care of) people’s lives.”
McGuire said that taking care of ourselves involved more.
“I don’t know how we take care of ourselves without taking care of others, especially now that we are moving — whether we like it or not — into a global economy.”
Coca Cola, a solidly American company, is buying water rights in South American countries, Calhoun added.
“Halliburton is part of the reason why we’re in Iraq,” McGuire said, bringing the major oil company into the discussion. “... Well, Halliburton just moved its operations to Dubai.”
“You can’t touch them there,” Foyle interjected.
When talk shifted to trust and confidence in the country’s leaders, Foyle related an anecdote about one class’s reaction to Vice President Dick Cheney’s initial refusal to release personal financial information, and the basis Cheney, who formerly led Halliburton, claimed for his decision.
“Dick Cheney mentioned he didn’t believe he was part of the executive branch,” Foyle said, describing his class’s amusement and amazement at the claim.
“Now he’s the leader and he was saying that,” Foyle said. “It makes you wonder about leadership.”
“These people are not taking care of us,” Morris said. “I would really love to see our government respect our Constitution.”
Calhoun said that the president’s choice of advisors is crucial.
“Hopefully they have smart enough people around them to give them direction,” Calhoun said.
McGuire pointed out that events like 9/11 and oil prices and supplies are not the only crises he sees, and gave intercity drug use in Los Angeles or Dallas as examples of national crises that are not being resolved.
“That’s the only crises we think of,” he said. “We don’t look at the destruction of marriage as a crisis. Just because the majority rules, I don’t believe the majority is always right.”
The group seemed to agree there was potential for a president to make a big difference in American lives, though the political system interferes with the process.
Foyle recalled that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had a presence that made Americans feel secure. President John F. Kennedy, who followed Eisenhower, carried a similar aura; he made speeches across the country to connect with the American people, created the Peace Corps and presented an aura of national leadership.
“I can’t see that I’ve seen that lately,” Foyle said. “... Jimmy Carter tried.”
“Is it because we’ve become a cynical nation? A cynical people?” Calhoun asked.
Morris said he believes there is no unity.
Calhoun reminded the group of the unifying effect of President Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” broadcast regularly on radio.
“Yes, I believe a president can affect change in American life,” McGuire said. “But I think it would be easier if the rest of the government wanted to change those lives, whether for the good or for bad.”
Tebbetts pointed out that each of the panelists brought in different viewpoints to the discussion, though many of them agreed at least in part on many issues.
“I think all of us bring in how we were raised, different points of view,” Tibbetts said. “... I think we all see things from different eyes. We all have this personal baggage. I don’t know how we solve these problems ... although we all think it’s an issue.”
Burns-Heinitz said she had not been impressed by candidates for the last several elections.
“I think our political process chews up the actual honest person,” Burns-Heinitz said.
Overall, the mature group found irony in the reasons for the war with Iraq.
“We are there now partly because of what we did 30 years ago,” McGuire said, causing the panel to recall that the United States had put Saddam Hussein in power in Iraq decades before deciding he needed to be removed from governing. A similar situation existed for years in Cuba, after the U.S. helped bring Fidel Castro to power.
“We’ve made bad choices in choosing our bedfellows,” Morris said.
“A lot of people believe we’ve done a wonderful justice over there,” Calhoun said of Iraq. Schools and roads are being built and significant improvements have been made in the infrastructure. “They’ve done a world of good over there, and those people were terribly repressed. ... That’s how you’re going to win a war.”
The military is proud of the good that has been done, Calhoun said, though it has not received much attention and won’t “unless the press puts it up on the front burner.”
Discussion turned to the poor showing of support for President Bush reflected in national polls.
Foyle, a 22-year veteran of the Air Force, said he believe that much of the 30-something percent support for Bush comes from the military, their families and friends, who believe the President’s performance is “generally good.”
When they voted for which candidates they preferred, “Undecided” and “Neither” often were winners. The mature panelists voted confidential ballots, as they do when they go to the polls for any election.
While they preferred Clinton, with 2 votes, over Obama, with 1 vote, Undecided or Neither garnered three votes in that match-up for the Democratic presidential candidate.
They were almost equally undevided when asked if the country is ready for a woman or African-American president.
Calhoun compared that issue to one that arose when Kennedy ran for president; it isn’t an issue that he hears people talk about.
“I think I heard more about Kennedy being a Catholic,” Calhoun said.
Morris said that race or gender should not make a difference.
“How I look at it is character. Do they have integrity?” Morris asked.
Tebbetts said that race can and does make a difference; she has seen it happen.
“I think that’s wrong,” she said. “I don’t think you should ever vote for anybody because of his color.”
Morris compared Americans’ fragmentation of views to the Biblical Tower of Babel.
“It’s almost like you’re never getting anything done,” Morris said. “It’s so fragmented it’s hard to believe we will ever come together in unity.”
McGuire differentiated between unity and cooperation.
“Unity doesn’t mean we handle it the same way,” McGuire said.
Clinton and Obama both were losers when they were matched individually against Republican John McCain, who, with three votes, won the contest over Clinton’s 1 vote. In both instances, Undecided or Neither received two votes.
The panelists were about equally divided over whether demographics would cause a split among such voting groups as young against old, males against females, and other groups.
And despite differences of opinion and approaches to solve problems, and complaints about the way governments are run by politicians, Tebbetts pointed out that the focus group had proved something about the country.
“It’s still the best place in the world to live,” she said. “I can say anything I want to and walk out that door and not be hung or shot. My family will not be hurt.”
MeToo (anonymous) says...
Studies suggest that the American people will pay at least $2 trillion for the military activities in Iraq. And this is being financed with borrowed money at a time when taxes have been cut. The country seems to be asleep, dreaming that we have an infinite supply of money and can do anything we want. And this idea is somehow seen as patriotic, and anyone who expresses concern is viewed as a traitor. The U.S. is like a family that has no savings, has maxed out its credit cards, and keeps getting more credit cards so it can continue to live beyond its means. In plain language, the country has spent trillions of dollars getting people killed, making more enemies, and ruining our reputation in the global community. And yet people still support the group of politicians responsible for these actions. And people imagine things are better in Iraq when citizens there are afraid for their children to go out of the house and martial law is the only thing preventing civil war. Americans are afraid or embarrassed to see the truth. I hope some of the comments in this article are an indication that people may be slowing waking up. This is a great country, but occasionally our leaders make serious mistakes, and we need to see the truth. A couple of trillion dollars would have solved the impending Social Security crisis for a long time.
March 14, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )