Opinion

“The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort.” — Will Rogers (1879 1935) American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. “More old coffee drinkers solving the world’s problems, and more prayer.

Early in the morning, the catfish play tag. If you’ve ever seen a dog, get the “zoomies,” you’ll be picturing something very similar to the burst of energy Ictalurus lupus gets when the day’s first light hits the canals.

As a result of the surprising recent book, “Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics,” published in 2023 by U.T. history professor H. W. Brands, pointed out that extreme partisanship in U. S. politics has a 200+ year history. Although our first president George Washington thought that parties were unhealthy for our fledgling democracy, that was soon undercut by the developing factions of Hamilton-Adams, who favored a strong central government, and Jefferson- Madison, who favored state government and agriculture. Those factions rose to extreme lengths during the presidential electoral college contest between Adams, Burr, and Jefferson. Ultimately, Jefferson prevailed in the tied electoral college contest when the Federalist Hamilton belatedly decided to support Jefferson over Aaron Burr to win the presidency in 1801. That election, when Adams declined to attend the inauguration of Jefferson, resulted in almost a lifetime of animosity between Jefferson and Adams who had been respected colleagues during the revolution, and diplomats in Paris seeking a treaty between the U.S. and England to end the Revolutionary War. In the brief period prior to their same-day deaths on July 4, 1826, both Adams and Jefferson sought reconciliation with one another by exchanges of letters. In the last few years, extreme partisanship appears to threaten the stability of our country with some partisans saying that democracy is not necessary for the proper functioning of our republic. It behooves all citizens of all parties to respect democracy by accepting the wishes of voters. Only then can the foresight of our founders, admittedly not initially respectful of all races and genders, ensure that the rights of lawful voters will prevail

The Big Bend Arts Council and the other businesses lost in the fire on May 26 would like to thank the Board of ArtWalk Alpine, Inc. for their fundraiser, “Let It Rain” which ran from Friday, June 28, with live music, 15 bands, at the Granada Theater through to Saturday as a silent auction, fajita dinner and music at the American Legion Hall. They volunteered and worked to make that weekend a tremendous success! The American Legion provided the space for Saturday, along with their wonderful kitchen facilities, and the ArtWalk Alpine Board volunteered along with members of the Big Bend Arts Council and members of the Lions’ Club in food prep, serving, and management of the silent auction. Donations from businesses and individuals for the silent auction were overwhelming and so generous. This Saturday fundraiser was focused on providing funds to the 27 artists of Gallery On The Square who lost all of their artwork and displays in the May 26 fire. These funds will be used for art supplies, etc. so that these artists can begin anew.

You may have been told that illegal immigrants are voting in our elections, receiving welfare, bringing in most of the fentanyl, raising crime rates, and taking your jobs. All lies. This is the same tactic Hitler used to demonize Jews as causing all the ills in Germany in the 1920s and 30s.

Davis Mountains State Park Interpretive Ranger/Volunteer Coordinator The Davis Mountains of Far West Texas occupy a special place in the hearts of many. Maybe it’s those cool mornings during the late summer monsoon season or endless expanses of clear blue summer skies.

Recently, I was getting a haircut and teasing my longterm stylist about the lack of inspirational quote décor in her salon station compared to the one next to hers. Of course, she knows that teasing her is how I show my love and appreciation to her for not re-sculpting my earlobes with her straight razor or making my hair look like it was styled with a package of firecrackers.

We had wonderful learning experiences attending Bluebonnet Girls State in our State Capital Austin, thanks to the American Legion Auxiliary who sent us there. Lolly Lockhart, a “citizen” from Alpine in 1956, returned in 1957 as a counselor and, after completing her RN, as a camp nurse in the early 60’s. Mary Bell Lockhart was a citizen in 1966 and our older sister, Joyce Lockhart Wildenthal, was a citizen in 1954. Our experience was much like the one described in a recent Avalanche for the 2024 Boys State; the high point was being able to “occupy” the Texas Capitol building and practice being legislators in the Senate and House chambers and hear speeches by the current elected State legislators. Apparently, that is not the experience of today’s Girls State citizens. Bluebonnet Girls State has been moved to Texas Lutheran University, a private religious university in Seguin, Texas, an hour away from Austin. It is underfunded and current legislators are not speakers as they are for Boys State. Those who think that Girls State should be restored to its former home in the State Capital should join Vikki Goodwin, an Austin area Legislator, who is working to get that changed. She can be reached at Vikki.Goodwin@house.texas.gov |512-4630652 | P.O Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768.

When I was researching the history of Fort Lancaster (1855-1861) for Texas Parks & Wildlife, one of the original sources was the inspection of the post in 1860 by Joesph Mansfi eld, the Inspector General of the Army. The report included an excellent map. Fort Lancaster was one of the most isolated posts in Texas, and no civilian settlement existed. It was located on the Overland Trail between San Antonio and El Paso and built close to good water sources, Live Oak Creek and the Pecos River.

As we celebrate the 4th of July things I’ve read come to mind. The Greek Plato, and student of Socrates, believed if people in a country stopped involving themselves in politics the people would then be governed I would like to commend Jim Street’s editorial in the Avalanche (20 June 2024, page 6), bringing attention to the practice of allowing no cameras in court. He makes a good point that trials and court proceedings ought to be public by their inferiors. Huey P. Long, a Governor of the State of Louisiana, said Fascism would come to America under the guise of Anti-Fascism, i.e., ANTIFA. To paraphrase POTUS Abe Lincoln, if America falls, we will have done it to ourselves. If all three were alive events, and the ease of recording these now makes that not intrusive. Unfortunately, there is a trend nowadays to make everything secret and proprietary, usually in the name of security. The Big Tech companies do this all the time, with to see this current U.S. Democrat Regime, would they see their predictions as accurate? With these thoughts in mind, there may be two hundred, or more, reasons to not vote for Democrats in November, and yes there’s a detailed list of reasons available simply for the their secret algorithms harvesting our data; the government does it with secret courts (the latest FISA extension is a good example, and, by the way, the congressman for this district voted for it); and even the news media tries to do it with attributions asking. As a former Democrat, I say God Bless America, and may the U.S. Republic soon be rid of its many ridiculous and self-destroying practices. James R. Le Blanc Fort Davis, Texas