W E A S C A N D S D Giving Peace A...

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I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Timothy1:12. Portals of Prayer, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis

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OPINION | OTHER THOUGHTS

‘Blaming China’ –The Chinese View

F RO M T H E B I B L E

YO U R L E T T E R S

By The Associated PressToday is Thursday, Oct. 25, the 299th

day of 2012. There are 67 days left in theyear.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct.25, 1962, in a dramatic confrontation be-fore the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Am-bassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demandedthat Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorinconfirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba; when Zorin de-clined to respond, Stevenson said he wasprepared to wait “until hell freezes over” foran answer. Stevenson then presented pho-tographic evidence of the bases to theCouncil.

On this date: In 1760, Britain’s KingGeorge III succeeded his late grandfather,George II.

In 1812, the frigate USS United States,commanded by Stephen Decatur, capturedthe British vessel HMS Macedonian duringthe War of 1812.

In 1854, the “Charge of the LightBrigade” took place during the CrimeanWar as an English brigade of more than600 men charged the Russian army, suf-fering heavy losses.

In 1912, the song “My MelancholyBaby” by Ernie Burnett and George Nortonwas first published under the title “Melan-choly.” Country comedian Minnie Pearlwas born Sarah Ophelia Colley in Center-ville, Tenn.

In 1929, former Interior Secretary Al-bert B. Fall was convicted in Washington,D.C., of accepting a $100,000 bribe fromoil tycoon Edward L. Doheny. (Fall wassentenced to a year in prison and fined$100,000; he ended up serving ninemonths.)

In 1939, the play “The Time of YourLife,” by William Saroyan, opened in NewYork.

In 1945, Taiwan became independentof Japanese colonial rule.

In 1957, mob boss Albert Anastasia of“Murder Inc.” notoriety was shot to deathby masked gunmen in a barber shop insidethe Park Sheraton Hotel in New York.

In 1962, American author John Stein-beck was named winner of the Nobel Prizein literature.

In 1971, the U.N. General Assemblyvoted to admit mainland China and expelTaiwan.

In 1982, the situation comedy“Newhart,” starring Bob Newhart as a Ver-mont innkeeper, premiered on CBS.

In 1992, Grammy-winning singer-song-writer Roger Miller, 56, died in Los Ange-les.

Ten years ago: U.S. Sen. Paul Well-stone, D-Minn., was killed in the crash of aprivate plane in northern Minnesota alongwith his wife, Sheila, daughter Marcia andfive others, a week and a-half before Elec-tion Day; he was 58. Actor Richard Harrisdied in London at age 72.

Five years ago: President George W.Bush visited Southern California, tellingresidents weary from five days of wildfires:“We’re not going to forget you in Washing-ton, D.C.” The Boston Red Sox beat theColorado Rockies 2-1 at Fenway to take a2-0 World Series lead.

One year ago: Deposed Libyan leaderMoammar Gadhafi, his son Muatassim andformer Defense Minister Abu Bakr Youniswere buried at dawn in a secret location,five days after Gadhafi was slain by revo-lutionary fighters.

Today’s Birthdays: Former AmericanLeague President and Baseball Hall ofFamer Lee MacPhail is 95. Former Ameri-can League president Dr. Bobby Brown is88. Singer-actress Barbara Cook is 85. Ac-tress Jeanne Cooper is 84. Actress MarionRoss is 84. Country singer Jeanne Black is75. Basketball Hall of Famer Bobby Knightis 72. Author Anne Tyler is 71. Rock singerJon Anderson (Yes) is 68. Political strate-gist James Carville is 68. Singer TaffyDanoff (Starland Vocal Band) is 68. Rockmusician Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest) is 65.Actor Brian Kerwin is 63. Actor Mark L. Tay-lor is 62. Movie director Julian Schnabel is61. Rock musician Matthias Jabs is 56. Ac-tress Nancy Cartwright (“The Simpsons”)is 55. Country singer Mark Miller (SawyerBrown) is 54. Rock musician Chad Smith(Red Hot Chili Peppers; Chickenfoot) is 51.Actress Tracy Nelson is 49. Actor MichaelBoatman is 48. Actor Kevin MichaelRichardson is 48. Singer Speech is 44.Actor Adam Goldberg is 42. Actor-singerAdam Pascal is 42. Rock musician EdRobertson (Barenaked Ladies) is 42. Ac-tress Persia White is 42. Country singerChely Wright is 42. Violinist Midori is 41.Actor Craig Robinson is 41. Actor MichaelWeston is 39. Actor Zachary Knighton is34. Actor Mehcad Brooks is 32. Actor BenGould is 32. Actor Josh Henderson is 31.Rhythm-and-blues singer Young Rome is31. Pop singer Katy Perry is 28. Rocksinger Austin Winkler (Hinder) is 28. SingerCiara is 27. Actress Conchita Campbell(“The 4400”) is 17.

Thought for Today: “You can tell thesize of a man by the size of the thing thatmakes him mad.” — Adlai E. Stevenson II,American statesman (1900-1965).

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BY KATHLEEN PARKER© 2012, Washington Post Writers Group

ORLANDO, Fla. — Forget “horses and bayonets.”The most important word uttered during the thirdpresidential debate was “peace.”

Mitt Romney, the un-bellicose, used itseveral times to set the tone for what hisforeign policy would be. Anyone who wasexpecting saber-rattling and bring-it-onrhetoric was disappointed.

This may include some Republicanswho had hoped to witness another roundon the attack in Benghazi and the Obamaadministration’s mixed messages in the af-termath, but Romney chose not to go there.It would have been a distraction and cre-ated friction that ultimately would have un-dermined the sense Romney was trying toconvey — that he picks his battles care-fully.

The real point of Romney’s rendition ofcommander in chief was to reveal himselfas the stalwart of America’s power to pro-mote peace and freedom through strength, characterand an unyielding defense of American principles.

Without ever using the word, he was laying out ablueprint of American exceptionalism. Romney reiter-ated his belief that the United States has a vital role inleading the world, in providing succor to nations try-ing to gain a toehold in democracy, in helping thosewho would overthrow oppressive governments.

He got his best shot at Barack Obama when hequoted the president’s comments during what Rom-ney characterized as an “apology” tour in 2009, inwhich Obama conceded that the United States has attimes “dictated” to other nations and been “dismis-sive” and “derisive.”

“We don’t dictate to nations,” Romney said. “Wefree nations from dictators.”

Obama seized on Romney’s use of the word “apol-ogy” and noted that every fact-checker and reporterwho had looked into it said it wasn’t true.

Interestingly, where Romney declined to use “ex-ceptionalism,” a belief in which Obama does notshare, Obama inserted a different term: “America re-mains the one indispensable nation,” he said. Thishas a nice ring to it. How could the world do withoutan America? We may yet find out.

Obama may have chosen this phrase to make up forpast statements that were less than ringing endorse-ments of America’s special place in defense of humanliberty. When asked once whether he thought Americawas exceptional, he said he supposed it was in the

same way other countries think they’re exceptional. “Peace” was the word Romney seemed to like best,

followed closely by “tumult,” which is a strange Rom-ney-esque word that he used five times. He used theword “peace” 12 times (Obama none), especially inthe context of Middle East policy, and managed to tie

our mission of peace to the economy: “Our purpose is to make sure the world

is more — is peaceful. We want a peacefulplanet. We want people to be able to enjoytheir lives and know they’re going to have abright and prosperous future and not be atwar. That’s our purpose. And the mantle of— of leadership for promoting the princi-ples of peace has fallen to America. We did-n’t ask for it, but it’s an honor that we haveit.

“But for us to be able to promote thoseprinciples of peace requires us to be strong,and that begins with a strong economy hereat home, and unfortunately, the economy isnot stronger.”

Both candidates seemed more at homeon the domestic front and spent too much

time on small details that have been covered previ-ously. However, focus groups indicated approval eachtime Obama brought the conversation back to nation-building at home.

The low point of the evening, though most cer-tainly celebrated by Obama supporters, was when thepresident sarcastically schooled his opponent on theneed, or lack thereof, for Navy ships.

Romney was asserting his plan to rebuild the Navy,which he said (incorrectly) is smaller than at any timesince 1917. (According to FactCheck.org, there areslightly more ships now than at the low point underPresident George W. Bush.)

Rather than correct Romney’s figures, Obamatreated him like a child.

“Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses andbayonets because the nature of our military’schanged. We have these things called aircraft carrierswhere planes land on them. We have these ships thatgo underwater, nuclear submarines.”

The president got some laughs, but probably nonew votes. Snark is a winning trait on Twitter, but notso much in the Oval Office. The higher road belongedto Romney, who succeeded in his mission, which wasto remind Americans that their nation is more than in-dispensable. It is exceptional — and they need a pres-ident who believes it.

Kathleen Parker’s email address is kathleen-parker@washpost.com.

Giving Peace A Chance

Kathleen

PARKER

BY LEONARD PITTS JR.Tribune Media Services

About those “binders full of women ...” That, of course, is the infelicitous phrase Mitt

Romney used in last week’s second presidential de-bate when he was asked how he would ad-dress paycheck inequity between thesexes. Romney responded with a homilyabout how, as the newly elected governorof Massachusetts in 2002, he became con-cerned that the only job applications thatcrossed his desk seemed to be from men.

“I went to a number of women’sgroups,” said Romney, “and said, ‘Can youhelp us find folks?’ And they brought uswhole binders full of women.”

And there, the ridicule began. Thephrase “binders full of women” leaptacross the Internet like some digitalprairie fire, wits and twits from Facebookto Twitter to Tumblr all laughing at Rom-ney’s expense. Indeed, there’s a goodchance someone in a “binders full ofwomen” costume will knock at your door on Hal-loween.

But, though there seems to be general agreementthat there is something off-putting about what Romneysaid, there seems relatively little discussion of whatthat something is. As CNN’s Piers Morgan put it, “Idon’t get what’s wrong with it. I don’t get why it madehim a laughing stock.” His confusion reflects the factthat people seem to have sensed something here theyhave not always been able to articulate. So let’s startarticulating.

And let’s begin by acknowledging the obvious: Rom-ney didn’t answer the question. But then, he hardly in-vented the unresponsive response. Most politiciansbob and weave like Ali when confronted with questionsthey’d rather not answer. That’s not what people arereacting to.

No, what was irksome about the governor’s answeris that it seemed 30 years out of date, a relic of a timewhen the person who wanted to seem concerned aboutdiversity performed some act of ostentatious outreach,collected binders full of women (or Cubans, gays or

whatever) from their various advocacy groups in orderto make sure they were part of the candidate pool.

That would have sounded enlightened in 1985. Butas the answer to a question about gender inequity in2012, it just makes you wonder: Were the governor andhis men really so isolated from capable women as re-

cently as 2002 that they had to ask women’sgroups for help? Were strong women really aspecies so exotic the governor needed a na-tive guide to their world?

A pattern takes shape here. Between Rom-ney’s binders full of women, and Rush Lim-baugh branding a woman a “slut” because shethinks contraception should be part of herhealth insurance package, between Rep. ToddAkin’s belief that the uterus somehow filtersout unwanted sperm and Rep. Allen West’schastisement of an opponent’s failure to actlike a “lady,” it becomes increasingly obvioussome socially conservative men are stuck in atime warp. Akin, West and Limbaugh hunkerdown like Davy Crockett at the Alamo, behindmodes of sexist condescension that were get-ting old when the Beatles broke up. Romney

tries to show he “gets it” by disinterring a trope fromthe era of Jheri curls and Max Headroom.

When’s the last time any of these boys had a date? In the world outside their time bubble, women run

states and nations, fight fires and litigate cases, per-form surgeries and grab rebounds. And yes, they stilltend boo-boos and fix meals, too.

Some men are apparently still holdouts from thatworld, like Japanese soldiers on remote Pacific islandswho fought World War II into the 1970s. But as thosesoldiers had to learn — the world moves on, whetheryou accept it or not.

To his credit, Romney at least made the effort. Butthe next time he’s looking for capable women, onehopes someone gives him some apparently needed ad-vice.

Close the binder and open your eyes.

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contacthim via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.

© 2012, THE MIAMI HERALD

About Those Binders ...

Leonard

PITTS

State Champs!Warren Brenner, YanktonCoach, YHS soccer team

As varsity boys soccer coach, Iwould like to thank everyone fortheir overwhelming support of ourteam at the State Soccer Tournamentand afterwards. From press coverage,to radio coverage, to school an-nouncements, all the calls, texts andmessages, we knew we were sup-ported in spirit if not in person. Alsothank you to the girls team and theirparents for staying for our champi-onship game. Hearing the cheers and“Go Big Red” helped motivate us toplay our best.

Thank you, parents, for your sup-port. Thank you, assistant coaches,Wes Chambers and Riley Smith, whosupported me and always believedwe could do it. Most especially, thankyou to the players, for attending

every day, for conditioning whenthey didn’t want to, and for playingwith their hearts and pride for eachother and YHS.

The State Tournament was excit-ing, challenging and rewarding. Onpaper, we weren’t the fastest team,the oldest team, or the biggest team,but we had qualities you can’t definewith statistics. We were well-condi-tioned, we played with the mostheart, the most teamwork, the mostdetermination, and in the end, thosewere the things that made the differ-ence. No one gave us that champi-onship, we didn’t get lucky, it wasn’ta fluke. The team worked hard andearned it. I couldn’t be more proud ofthe way these gentlemen played andthe sportsmanship they displayed.Congratulations to these fine youngmen and thank you to the communityfor your support of their efforts.

W R I T E U S Letters, Yankton Press & Dakotan, 319 Walnut, Yankton, SD 57078

CHINA DAILY, Beijing (Oct. 24): As expected, President Barack Obamaand his Republican rival Mitt Romney resorted to the same old blame Chinasong in the presidential debate in the United States on Oct. 22, albeit with asofter tone.

Both candidates have clung to a get-tough-on-China strategy and donetheir best to throw mud at China throughout their White House race, sowhoever wins the election on Nov 6 is going to need to do a rapid realitycheck.

Each summarized their stance toward the country during the debate.In an attempt to show he has already got tough on China, Obama boasted

that he has brought more cases against China for violating trade rules thanthe previous administration did in two terms.

Romney’s line was that China has done everything it can to harm theU.S., ranging from “manipulating” its currency to “stealing” U.S. intellectualproperty and patents.

However, a reality check will show them that although they blame Chinafor causing trade imbalances and complain that Chinese companies andtheir U.S. counterparts are not competing on a level playing field, the protec-tionist measures that Obama bragged about have not only served todampen Chinese investment in the U.S. that could have created jobs, butcost Americans a lot more.

A reality check would also show them the yuan’s continual appreciationagainst the U.S. dollar and the extent to which China has strengthened its IPprotection.

The most unbelievable part of the debate was the moment when bothcandidates said they would press Beijing to “play by the rules” in shapingties with China.

A reality check will show them that, in international politics and trade,China has been faithfully observing the principles of justice and fairness en-shrined in both the UN Charter and WTO rules.

They might want to ask themselves to what extent the U.S. can say thesame. ...

The PRESS & DAKOTAN Views page provides a forum for open discussion ofissues and interests affecting our readers. Initialed editorials represent the opin-ion of the writer, but not necessarily that of the PRESS & DAKOTAN. Bylinedcolumns represent the view of the author. We welcome letters to the editor oncurrent topics. Questions regarding the Views page should be directed to KellyHertz at views@yankton.net.

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