Democrats Should Worry

            If I were a Democrat, I’d be worried about what is happening to my party.  Last week saw two seismic events that will have long-term consequences for the party, one in the primaries and one in the Supreme Court.

            In the New York Democratic primaries, a 28-year old Latina socialist named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley, the 10-term congressman from Queens, even after he outspent her 10 to 1.  If the 4^th most-powerful member of the Democratic House can be beaten by an unknown far-left candidate, what does this portend for the soul of the party?  If a Democratic blue wave sweeps the elections in November, will the Republicans, already in disarray, concede that they are powerless to prevent leftist radicals from leading the country on an unstoppable stampede over a Socialist cliff?

            On the other hand, conservatives can take heart that the Supreme Court at least is not caving in to the leftward shift.  Four important decisions went their way this month: one on a cake-maker’s religious freedom, one protecting the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers, one on the constitutionality of Trump’s travel ban, and, most importantly, one restricting the power of organized labor.

            Nothing could have been more devastating to the power of public-employee unions than the Supreme Court’s decision that a union can no longer collect fees from workers who choose not to join the union.  This decision has pulled the plug on union power; we are sure to see more and more public employees opt out of union membership, depleting its resources even further.  As a long-time member of a Board of Education who witnessed firsthand the abuse of union power, I have little sympathy for the losers in this case.

           

           

Enough Already

            Haven’t we had enough of Hollywood entertainers like Robert de Niro, Michelle Wolf, and Peter Fonda firing F bombs and vile insults at President Trump and his family? Haven’t we had enough of television personalities like the self-absorbed ladies on “The View” attack conservatives for their positions on abortion and religious freedom? Can we stand any more hysteria from the Radical Left when it attributes any challenge to its infallible doctrine on diversity and equality to intractable racism?

            Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant because she works for President Trump. While having a private dinner in another restaurant not long after holding a press conference to explain President Trump’s immigration policy, HHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was surrounded by a mob who then followed her to continue their protest outside her home. So much for the Left’s respect for free speech and the right to privacy.

            ICE agents are charged with protecting Americans by hunting down and deporting dangerous illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes. New York Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon called the agents—get this—TERRORISTS.

            Roused to new levels of moralistic indignation at the images (some of them faked) of caged children separated from their parents at the southern border, ABC, CBS, and NBC devoted a combined 176 minutes of air time to the subject from June 13 to June 18. Worse, CNN and MSNBC compared the detention centers of illegal immigrants to Nazi concentration camps 22 times during that same period.

            When it came time for Democrats in Congress to denounce such odious comparisons, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut orated, “The policy of forced separation reminds us of the cattle cars of Nazi Germans when children were separated from their parents.” What??? Such hyperbole is not just outrageous and despicable, it is an insult to the memory of Holocaust victims. It is obscene.

            Haven’t we all had enough?

Man of the Century

            Time Magazine chose Albert Einstein as its Person of the 20^th Century. The honor was well-deserved, but in my opinion it should have gone to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn for writing what I consider to be to the most consequential book of the century, perhaps of any century.

            In his novel The Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn exposed the political and human failure of the Soviet Union’s socialist ideology and was a major factor in the dismantling of communist dictatorships in Russia and its satellites in Eastern Europe. With 30 million copies published in 35 languages, no other book in modern history has championed the idea of freedom as much as this one.

            Interestingly enough, Solzhenitsyn became a fierce critic of the West as well. He despised our vulgar materialism and our pop culture, especially our addiction to moronic television and bankrupt music. Beyond that, he was a fierce critic of the press. In a commencement address he gave at Harvard in 1978, he attacked the media for its hypocrisy and deceit. “The press,” he said, “…not elected by anyone…has amassed more power than the legislative, executive, or judicial power. And in this “free” press itself, it is not true freedom of opinion that dominates, but the dictates of the political fashion of the moment, which lead to a surprising uniformity of opinion.” I wonder what he would have to say our mainstream media today.

            When it came to the subject of freedom, Solzhenitsyn was a great admirer of America as a bastion of liberty. But he railed against those who would abuse freedom by turning it into license. A freedom without morality and spirituality, he felt, is a corruption of the ideal upon which this nation was founded.

            Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born in 1918 and died in 1998. We should honor him in this, the 100^th anniversary of his birth and the 20^th anniversary of his death, by heeding his words of wisdom, especially now that the socialist ideology he fought to destroy continues to be force-fed to young minds in our universities and echoed by leftist politicians and their sycophants in the media.  

Scary

            On May 22^nd Otto Szentesi and his wife Mimi sailed their 43-foot sloop into Yeopim Creek and tied up at berth 4 on C Dock in Albemarle Plantation Marina. They had heard about the Albemarle Loop and wanted to see what it was all about. They had no idea what they were in for.

            The Szentesis are veteran sailors. Before buying their own boat, they chartered ocean-going sailboats with friends and sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific, going as far as Tahiti on one venture. But when Otto retired as Senior Vice-President for Corning Cable Systems, he said to Mimi, “Let’s buy our own boat.” And that’s how they came into possession of the Hunter 426 christened “Best of Times.”

            Sailing out of Oriental, North Carolina, the new boat owners headed for Exuma Cays in the Bahamas, a snorkeling paradise that Mimi says is her favorite destination in the whole world because of all the sea life. In fact, the Szentesis now go there every January and stay until mid-May. Then they usually head north, sailing to another favorite place, Newport, Rhode Island. Otto says he gets quite a kick out of passing by the Statue of Liberty before heading up New York’s East River and into the Long Island Sound.

            When Otto tied up at the Albemarle Plantation Marina, it happened to be tournament week at the Plantation’s Sound Golf Links. Being a golfer himself, Otto might have stayed to watch 120 young professionals compete in the 2018 Biggs Classic. But something happened to take precedence.

            When I stopped by the Best of Times to say hello, Otto wasn’t there, I was told he had been taken to a local pharmacy by Steve Harris, Commodore of the Plantation’s Osprey Yacht Club. I left and returned an hour later. Otto was back and welcomed me aboard. That’s when I found out why he had gone to the pharmacy. I was greeted below by Mimi who held out her hand. But she couldn’t see me. She was blind.

            Mimi told me the story of her accident that morning. She had been preparing to do some laundry when the Tide Laundry Pod she was handling burst, splashing the strong lye liquid into her face and eyes. She rinsed her eyes out as best she could, but it wasn’t enough. Hence, the trip to the pharmacy for proper medication.

            When I saw Mimi later that evening at the Clubhouse restaurant, she still could only see shadows. She needed to see a doctor. Otto told me they would sail to Edenton the next morning to find an ophthalmologist, but he was unable to locate one. So, he called on Commodore Harris once more to take him to Elizabeth City where he did find one. Mimi was diagnosed with corneal abrasions and chemical burns, but the prognosis was encouraging: in time, with rest and proper medication, Mimi would regain her sight. And she would once again be able to swim among the sea life of Exuma Cays. For now, it was back to Oriental for that much-needed rest.

            On June 3^rd the Szentesis and Best of Times were back in berth 4 on C Dock, this time with friends who had flown in from Oregon to do the Albemarle Loop with them.  At their invitation I went back for another visit.  This time Mimi greeted me not with a handshake but with a hug—she was so glad to SEE me. 

           

Eyesores and Potholes

            I was delighted to read your front-page article about a grant to remove eyesores from Perquimans County. The number of abandoned shacks and vacant mobile homes are an embarrassment. It’s about time we do something about it.

            But we have other problems with our appearance. One, for example, is the large tree that broke in half and now lays by the side of Harvey Point Road opposite Burgess Road. Who is responsible for removing It? The house on that property hasn’t been lived in for as long as I can remember. It, too, is an eyesore.

            Then there’s the section of Church Street from the Ocean Highway (Rte. 17) traffic light toward the center of Hertford. The condition of this street is a disgrace. Maintenance Supervisor Kenny White tells me he has crews out on many Sunday mornings filling potholes. But he is the first to admit that the street needs to be completely repaved. He says it’s a matter of getting through all the red tape to get the project started. That includes getting a contract out for bids and getting Raleigh to appropriate the money.

            White explains that Church Street was once part of Harvey Point Road, but when the bypass was built, Church Street was split off from it. As a result, when Harvey Point Road gets repaved, it’s only from the traffic light going south.

            Kenny White has lived in Hertford all his life and takes pride in his work. “Nobody wants to repave Church Street more than I do,” he says. “I wish I had a genie in a bottle to solve this problem, but my bottle is broke.” In spite of his pessimism, he hopes the work will “get into the system” this summer. We all do—all of us who take pride in the appearance of beautiful Perquimans County.

Double Standards

            People will soon forget Roseanne Barr’s unforgivable and repugnant tweets aimed at Valerie Jarrett.  She is history.  But the issue of people in the pubic eye making inappropriate comments is not going away.  Certainly not as long as Donald Trump spends his early-morning hours tweeting.  But there’s another aspect of this uniquely American phenomenon that calls for an examination of the responsibility of people who are in the position of imposing so-called standards applicable to comments made on social media by public figures.

            One of these is Bob Iger, Chief Officer and CEO of Walt Disney Company. Iger’s is an all-American success story. When I met him in 1988, he was a rising star for ABC, having negotiated what turned out to be a very lucrative contract for ABC to cover the Calgary Winter Olympics. He was then seen a rising star who would eventually become one of the most powerful executives in the entertainment industry. His biggest cheerleader was his dad, Arthur Iger, a good friend who managed my account for a New York advertising agency. We often talked about Bob’s career and his beautiful family.

            But then something happened. Maybe Bob Iger’s meteoric success came at a price. I remember how Art was devastated when his son divorced and moved to the West Coast to pursue his career. He quickly rose to the top and has been there ever since.

            I mention this because Bob Iger has been in the news as the person who approved Roseanne Barr’s firing. He has also inexplicably approved the reinstatement of Keith Olbermann with ESPN, one of Disney’s properties. There’s no question that Ms. Barr deserved to be fired. But Olbermann himself was booted a few years ago when he delivered vile rants laced with multiple F bombs against President Trump.

            If I could meet Bob Iger again, I would ask him, “If your dad were alive today, what do you think he would say about your standards, Bob?”

The 2018 Biggs Classic

            The 2018 Biggs Classic is history. The three-day golf tournament, played May 14-16 and hosted by Hertford’s Albemarle Plantation in conjunction with the GPro golf tour, fielded a full complement of 120 young professionals from all over the country and even one from as far away as South Africa. Monsoon-like rains flooded the Sound Golf Links on the eve of the tournament, but the weather for the next three days was nothing short of glorious.

            Closing ceremonies after the tournament saw a $12,000 check presented to the winner, David Gazzolo of Riverside, California, who shot a 65 on the final day and a total of 14 under par to edge out Drew Weaver by a single shot. Not only did Gazzolo win, he did it in the most spectacular fashion. Coming to the 18^th tee tied for the lead, he refused to play it safe and went for broke. Instead of laying up on the short 334-yard Par 4, he took advantage of a following wind and blasted his drive straight for the green. The ball landed on the putting surface and came to rest only 18 inches from the hole. Gazzolo tapped it in for an eagle, the greatest finish ever in the Biggs Classic’s five year run at the Sound Golf Links.

            In addition to the winner’s check, Gazzolo also earned an exemption to Web.com’s Rex Hospital Open the following week in Raleigh.

            Another check, this one for $2,500, was presented to Charley Hines, winner of this year’s Bruce Biggs scholarship awarded annually to a Perquimans High School senior planning to attend East Carolina University in the fall. Charley will earn another $2,500 upon completion of her freshman year with a 3.0 GPA or better.

            Yet another check, this one for $5,000, is going to the tournament’s designated charity, the Boys and Girls Club of America.

            According to Gary Haugh, president of the GPro golf tour, the Biggs Classic has become the standard for developmental tour golf. Not only is the tournament played on a superb golf course, it is supported by many local sponsors and by the Albemarle Plantation residents who treat players like family and volunteer their services throughout tournament week.