To the Editor:
Second Opinion: TX and SB8. September 8, 2021.
TX and SB8
The Republican-controlled legislature of the State of TX has adopted SB8, a bill which will prohibit abortions after 6 weeks (before most women know their condition). What is also extremely concerning about this law is its enforcement provisions. The woman will not be prosecuted. The law targets the doctor, nurse, receptionist, cab or Uber driver who provides transportation, mother or father, sister or brother, husband, or anyone else who furthers her intent. It is a law which the Taliban and Al Queda would endorse.
TX, in attempting not to fall completely afoul of Roe v. Wade which prohibits states from nabbing abortion-seekers, came up with a new twist: the State of TX will not accuse anyone. Individual private citizens, of TX or elsewhere, can accuse the perpetrators, take them to court and, if the perp is found guilty, receive a $10,000 bounty. Attorneys who defend targets will be held co-responsible for court costs, attorney fees (for claimants) and bounties.
A new career is on the horizon. Take a couple of months off, head for TX with the family, get to know as many people as possible and then go for it. Tell the kids to keep their ears open for any talk of procreation in any fashion and tell them to be able to name names. You will probably lose friends, and you will have to respond to summons’ when the court dates approach, but once you get the business rolling, the TX trips are probably tax-deductible, and you could easily realize $100,000 per annum. HeeeHaw!
Russia and China do this. Urge people to spy and report on their friends for crimes against the state. Let’s see. I look in your open garage and see great stuff that I don’t think you can really afford on your salary, so I have a little chat with the IRS. Your mother-in-law comes to visit, but doesn’t speak English so, just to be sure, I call ICE to have her checked out. You swat your five-year-old on the rump for some amazingly bad language his brother undoubtedly taught him, but I call 911 because I don’t believe in corporal punishment. What kind of world are Republicans trying to create?
TX and other red states are rabid to outdo each other in their quest to humiliate, degrade, and now persecute anyone who does not share the legislature’s religious beliefs. There are a number of federal laws which could render the vigilante provision dead in the water. My guess is that SCOTUS will not find the 6-week ban unconstitutional but will decide that “standing” to sue and it’s “harm” requirements cannot arise by legislative fiat. If not, run for your lives, and blow a kiss to democracy on your way out.
This CA recall is a ruse. Newsom is up for reelection in one year. The events of the last two years speak to his commitment to reduce the impact of the virus. I am certain he did not welcome the loss of taxes. The recall is happening for two reasons: the Republicans are hoping that people are so fed up with the life changes that have occurred, so sick and tired, that they are eager to blame somebody. Or, that Democrats or fair-minded Republicans are so disgusted with politics that they just won’t vote. They’re counting on it. Use your mail-in ballot this weekend and put it in the ballot box in front of the Library, or vote on September 14 by taking your ballot to St. Francis Catholic Church, the official voting station.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore

***

To the Editor:
Well Kelly I guess the email I forwarded to Martin must have really gotten under your skin. I am so glad that you are out there to show all of us Neanderthals how much we don't know about civil rights. So not caring whether or not someone's skin color is different than ours as long as they do their job and didn't blame me for their problems was not enough for you liberals. You focused on black Americans but what about the Japanese who were put in prison camp during WWII. I didn't hear them blaming America, on the contrary they are too busy being engineers, doctors, and IT specialists.
You said Rush Limbaugh was to blame for the lack of servility in American Politics. I doubt you ever listened to his show but I am sure you are a fan of CNN, and MSNBC. I guess all the things they had to say about President Trump were perfectively fine with you.
You had a melt down over my defense of history. In Minnesota we celebrate the Vikings. I suppose we should stop that because they made slaves of the people they captured. Get over it Kelly. History is history and we can't change it. Denying it because it doesn't fit our ideal of what should have happened is not realistic. In fact, it is foolish. Those who deny history are destined to relive it. If we are so bad, then why are so many people clamoring to get into our country.
Dave Johnson, American Patriot,
Fillmore

[National Review article below submitted by Dave Johnson]

What Is An American?
A primer.

Printed September 25, 2001 in National Review.

Written by Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law.

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.

An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them choose.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to power. American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each of them choose.

An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote.

Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history, as each of them choose.

And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes.

Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.

These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.

But in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations.

And America will welcome them.