Opinions

Delving into the depths of the past, we present to you for the 20th time our annual Pioneer Edition of The Donley County Leader, included in this week’s Enterprise.

This special section has become a favorite of our readers and advertisers and is certainly a favorite of your editor. For a lover of history, it is easy to become lost in the archives as one story leads to another or the hunt to identify a mystery photo becomes consuming.

It has always struck me as remarkable the ways history repeats itself. Looking back, the current news of the day often bears striking resemblance to the news of yesteryear.

One of the first articles that emerged as we prepared for this year’s Leader, was an early 20th century story about street improvements – presumably just grading – that was being done by the city. The work met with great approval from the people of the day… but unfortunately funds had run out to go any further. The story of our lives.

That story didn’t make the cut for this edition. But others did.

In trying to learn more about a photo of the Pastime Theatre, we ran across a topic in 1935 that seemed just as relevant today as it was eight decades ago… an effort to light what we now know as Bronco Stadium. There was a series of articles building up the idea of lighting the football field, the effort to raise funds for the project, and then ultimately the lighting of the field. Unfortunately for the old Bronchos, the first lighted game – which should have resulted in greater “athleticism” in the cooler night temperatures – ended up in our first loss of the year to the visiting Shamrock team.

It was interesting also that eight light poles were installed in 1935. And from a story we ran earlier this month, six light poles were installed in the 1970s and were replaced with just four light poles this year. Forty years hence, will Bronco Stadium be lit by just two light poles or perhaps a hovering drone that bathes the entire field in artificial sunlight?

We also recently ran a story about commissioners taking on the job of trimming trees on the courthouse lawn. County Judge John Howard told your editor that the county felt the work was necessary because there were dead limbs that could fall and hurt someone. Compare that then to the 1935 article in which my great grandfather called on the county to trim the deadwood from the courthouse trees because a visiting editor had his face lacerated by a dead limb on the courthouse square.

Speaking of family connections, your editor sometimes gets hung up on bits of trivia that may not mean much to the general public but is of high interest to him. This year, we uncovered the obituary of my great, great grandmother, Calista Miller Estlack, who died in 1933 at the age of 74. I posted on my personal Facebook page that article detailing the life of this hearty pioneer woman who did her part to settle the West. And that set off a virtually viral reaction among my cousins and resulted in the exchanging of photos of our ancestor that some of us had never seen.

All this makes me wonder what Ben or Ella or their grandkids might find fascinating after I am long laid to rest in Citizens Cemetery. Will they be as fascinated with our lives as we are of those who came before us? Will they find interest in our weekly struggles and victories?

More importantly, I wonder if our generation is upholding the words of former Mayor W.H. Patrick who called on his fellow citizens in 1938 to “rededicate our lives and talents – our all – to the perpetuity of the pioneer spirit in our beloved land of the Southwest,” and if we are properly passing that determination and those virtues on to our children.

Donley County folks come from hearty stock and we are proud to take this moment to remember those old pioneers who came before us. Let us honor them by continuing to work to improve this place we call home.

We hope you enjoy this year’s Donley County Leader, and we wish you all a very glorious Independence Day.

 

If you didn’t get out of the house last weekend, you missed a terrific time in Clarendon.

Kimberly Britten and Jordan Green breathed new life into an old landmark and launched their Whistle-Stop Trade Days on Friday. Approximately 100 vendors and literally countless customers and on-lookers crowded the former Chamberlain Motor Company property during the course of three days.

There was an air of excitement that surrounded the first of what we expect will become a long line of monthly Trade Days. Estimates place attendance in the thousands, and other local businesses and restaurants benefited from the crowd in town as evidenced by the number of cars parked at those establishments.

Clarendon owes Britten and Green and their families and friends an enormous “thank you” for the time, money, and effort that they have invested in this city and its future. Theirs has been a unique vision, and the courage they have shown in making it a reality is to be commended.

Your editor and his family spent much of Saturday afternoon in the Whistle-Stop beer garden on the north side of the property, enjoying the company of good friends and listening to some very talented local musicians. As one friend said, “It’s easy to forget you’re in Clarendon back here.”

He was right. The Whistle-Stop, with its live entertainment and unique atmosphere, is like nothing you have experienced in our little town.

If you missed the excitement of the first trade days, you’ll have another chance when the Whistle-Stop opens again May 6, 7, and 8 (which coincides with the same weekend the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association will hold a thrilling rough stock rodeo). Go ahead and mark your calendars now.

If the Whistle-Stop wasn’t enough going on for one weekend, the Clarendon Lions Club hosted more than 100 runners and walkers in its fourth annual Chance Mark Jones Roar ‘N Run 5K race on Saturday to raise awareness of child abuse, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church held its annual barbecue dinner on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, a great new family activity was formally opened at Lake Greenbelt. The Greenbelt Disc Golf Club held a ribbon cutting and hosted the first tournament on its newly finished 18-hole course at Kincaid Park.

The committee behind the development of the disc golf course is already working on an even bigger tournament that will be held June 4 and 5 (which will also coincide with the 11th annual Trash To Treasures Garage Sale event and comes one week before the third monthly trade days).

Some people say there’s nothing to do in a small town. But those folks just haven’t stayed in Clarendon very long.

Meanwhile…

Speaking of things going on, The Clarendon Enterprise is proud to welcome its fellow newspapers to our city as the Panhandle Press Association holds its 106th annual convention here this week.

It’s been ten years since a gathering of newspaper men and women was held in Clarendon. The West Texas Press Association held its convention here in 2006; but while the two associations share some territory, the PPA is largely comprised of a different group of folks.

The WTPA is the largest regional press group in Texas with members from Perryton to the Davis Mountains. By contrast, the Panhandle Press is bound a little bit closer to home with its members mostly coming from the Texas Panhandle and South Plains and a few friendly neighbors from New Mexico and Oklahoma.

For most of its history, the Panhandle Press typically held its annual conventions in Amarillo, but six years ago the PPA returned to its birthplace in Canadian and began alternating holding its meetings in Amarillo on odd numbered years and in an area community on even years.

Clarendon and this newspaper has had a long history with the PPA, including having five local journalists serve as president of the association – Sam Braswell, J.C. Estlack, George Wayne Estlack, your humble editor, and now your humble editor’s better half.

We are also proud to have four former Clarendon newspaper men and women as members of the PPA Hall of Fame, and on Friday we’ll add another name to that list. The late Edward E. Carhart, the man who brought the first printing press to the Panhandle will have his name added to the roll that already includes J.C. Estlack, George Wayne Estlack, L.H. Carhart, and Ruby Dell Estlack.

My late uncle, George Wayne, encouraged me years ago to get involved with the state and regional press associations. He said that no one could really understand this business except those who are in it and that I could learn a lot just by being around fellow newspapermen. He was right. But what he didn’t tell me was how close the relationships are that develop within these associations.

It is our honor and privilege to host the PPA convention. We hope that each visitor this week takes home with them fond memories of our community, and we sincerely thank them for their friendship.

 

The Clarendon City Council has some big decisions to make in the weeks ahead, and its members are asking for your input on how they should proceed.

At issue is the town’s aging infrastructure… a theme that is plaguing cities, states, and even the federal government. Roads, bridges, and other things often take a toll from time and the elements. Systems that were built 50, 75, or 100 years ago are now extremely costly to replace compared to their original price tag, and finding money for those upgrades is a challenge.

Clarendon’s street woes are well known, although there has been some progress over the last ten years or so. But the water system is largely out of view and out of mind until a problem starts coming out of your tap.

Many residents for a few years now have been suffering from discolored water. City officials say the culprit for this is miles of cast iron distribution pipes installed about a hundred years ago that are rusting. As long as the water flows well, the color doesn’t have time to set up. But when your service is at the end of the line or in an area that doesn’t flow well, you get can get some pretty nasty looking water.

The city proposes to install about six miles of new distribution lines to improve water quality and solve the red water issue.

The city also notes that it is out of compliance with the state’s requirement for elevated storage because the east standpipe has been taken out of service. The city’s engineer is recommending a new standpipe be constructed on the east side of town to be equal in height to the one on the west side of town.

City Hall would also like to replace the current water meters throughout Clarendon with modern auto-read meters – devices that would use modern technology to measure water usage and a radio signal to transmit those readings to a computer.

The benefit, the city says, is twofold. First, it takes city workers about one week a month to read the almost 900 water meters that are in the ground, which is lost productivity for those men. Secondly, the old mechanical water meters become less efficient over time to the point that they may now 20 percent off in their accuracy. That’s water the city is having to pay Greenbelt Water Authority for but is not able to bill its customers for.

The cost of all these improvements will be about $3.9 million, and city officials are proposing to pay for this with a USDA Rural Development Grant/Loan. The grant amount will be $1.387 million and the loan amount would be $2.522 million.

Now comes the kicker, the loan would take 40 years to pay off at 2.5 percent interest and with an annual payment of about $100,500. To pay that, the city could look at any combination of revenue increases, but the simplest way to look at it – and probably the fairest solution – would be to add $10 per month to everyone’s water bill.

The 40 years is a bitter pill for sure. Who borrows money on a 40-year term? This is not just something that affects us today. Your children and grandchildren will be paying for this, so everyone needs to be sure they understand what’s being done.

Are there drawbacks to the project? Certainly. Any project of this size will come with inconveniences and disruptions to a town’s normal routine. That’s to be expected. There is also the question of how many brick streets may have to be disturbed to install the new lines and how those streets will be put back.

Are there alternatives to funding? In the past, Clarendon has been able to use Community Development Block Grants to replace water lines. Those are federal funds that pass through the state. A few years ago, CDBG money mostly paid for the west standpipe. But city officials say that type of grant money could likely get more scarce or even disappear altogether in the future. They therefore prefer a go-big-and-get-‘er-done approach, noting that it is more economical in the long run. Otherwise, the city could end up paying more for the same work in the long run.

If the USDA grant/loan is what the citizens want to do, then that’s great. But if that’s not what they want to do, then the city needs to know that.

This is why your City Council is having the Town Hall next Tuesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. in the Bairfield Activity Center. This is the citizens’ chance to learn about the project first hand, to ask questions, and to let your thoughts be known. If you have an opinion… or you’re going to have an opinion, take the time to go to the meeting so that your opinion is fully informed.

 

The Trump train continues unabated at this writing, Bernie continues to annoy Hillary on her way to being the Democratic nominee, and America is left wonder what has happened to its political system.

Outsider candidates are making a loud impact in the 2016 presidential campaign, showing that a large number of voters are dissatisfied in the extreme with business as usual in Washington, DC.

On the one hand, you have Bernie Sanders – an avowed socialist – preaching all the things the far left loves… wealth redistribution, “free” this, and “free” that. He is angry, and his followers are angry, that the Democratic Party under B.O. hasn’t done enough and hasn’t gone far enough to makes sure life is equitable for everyone. (Especially for the lazy and the whiners, but I digress….)

Then you have The Donald, riding an amazing tidal wave of frustration, and tapping into the polar opposite of Bernie’s people. Trump’s supporters are tired of empty promises to fix government and tired of what they see as endless “bad deals” whether they be foreign or domestic, economic or foreign policy.

Bernie’s people don’t care how he’s going to pay for it or who’s going to control the government that can give them everything. Donald’s people don’t care about details or who gets stepped on. They are extremes on the same pendulum.

The “reasonable” candidates in both parties seem to be Hillary Clinton – a lying, arrogant, corrupt witch of a woman – and (shockingly to the establishment) Ted Cruz – a Canadian by birth, who has no record of accomplishment in the Senate and is something of a fervent religious crusader the likes of which Texans seem to favor lately.

Barring some cosmic event, Hillary will be the Democratic nominee. The Clinton machine and the total infatuation with her by certain groups of voters (African-Americans and women) will insure that outcome.

Meanwhile, the Grand Old Party leaders are becoming horrified that Trump make soon lock up the delegates needed for the Republican nomination. (Depending on Tuesday night’s outcome, he may have already done it.)

The Republicans, unfortunately, have only themselves to blame for the rise of Trump. The party has had plenty of opportunities to enact real reforms and to walk the conservative walk, but they have largely blown it.

Aside from a few accomplishments following 1994’s Contract With America, national Republicans have failed to deliver. They talk about reducing the size of government, lower taxes, and less regulations. But they have either failed to stop – or outright given us – Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, the “Affordable” Care Act, and a ban on incandescent light bulbs. These guys have talked for years about abolishing the IRS and the Department of Education, but they can’t even muster the energy to end the horror and stupidity that is Daylight Saving Time.

And so a frustrated electorate turns its hope to the extremes, and the nation is shocked by this.

The situation boiled over last week in Chicago. Start with a planned Trump rally, filled with folks intent on “making America great again,” fueled by a steady diet of hot rhetoric, and then add some professional and planted “protestors” – folks who pervert free speech in the pursuit of a leftist agenda and whose main goals are not peaceful assembly but the incitement of racial disharmony and social chaos. It was a recipe for disaster.

We still have months to go in this election, and the outcome looks as bleak as it ever has. There is currently no good person with a chance to win the nomination of either party.

There may be an outside chance that the Republican Party will nominate someone other than Trump, but so far every criticism of him and every attack on him only raises his stature among his followers, striking a chord that resonates with memories of broken promises from those on the right and feelings of disgust for those on the left.

America can only wait and see what happens next.

 

Another Republican debate, another “Sweet Lord, save us” two hours of life wasted.

Six would-be presidents took the stage Saturday night in South Carolina for another round of interruptions, lies, and insults in an auditorium ironically called the “Peace Center.”

South Carolina voters will get to speak soon. Their decision will no doubt continue the weirdness of the 2016 campaign. The Donald won last week in New Hampshire, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (who your editor likes but dismissed in our last issue as being unlikely) came in second. Polls show Trump leading in the Palmetto state, but anything can happen.

Saturday’s debate came just hours after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in his sleep, and as could be expected, replacing the conservative stalwart on the High Court became the center of attention. Unfortunately, that part of the debate showed what’s wrong with the Republican Party… its candidates are crazy.

Some of the candidates actually called for President Obama not to nominate someone to fill Scalia’s seat. He should just wait and let the next president make that decision.

Seriously? So if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had dropped dead in the final days of the Bush administration, would Republican senators have asked him to wait and let Barack Obama name her replacement? Of course not.

The Constitution is quite clear on this… the president gets to make his nomination, and it doesn’t matter if there are four days or four years left in his administration. That’s his job.

Now can he get that nomination through the Senate? That’s another discussion, but this idea that Obama should just step aside and go play golf when there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court is ludicrous.

It is somewhat typical of the Republicans to wrap themselves in the Constitution and just love it to death. That is, of course, until it doesn’t fit their wants or desires. Then they ignore it just like Democrats often do.

Scalia’s legacy is that of a man who loved the Constitution and interpreted as it was written. Republicans who want Obama not to carry out his executive duty on this matter are dishonoring Scalia by not listening to what the Constitution has to say on this matter.

It is understandable that Republicans want to see Scalia replaced with a conservative justice, but frankly the GOP doesn’t have a real good track record lately of appointing conservative justices. Just look at the traitor Chief Justice John Roberts, who really ought to be removed for incompetence for his Obamacare decisions. At least if Obama nominates a liberal, they stay a liberal and everyone knows it.

Meanwhile…

What a great night it was for Clarendon and Donley County during the annual Chamber Awards Banquet last Thursday!

Your humble editor may be biased on this account since he’s also serving as your Chamber president this year, but there were certainly some outstanding citizens nominated and recognized this year. Saints’ Roost Award winner Frances Skelton is as loyal to Clarendon as anyone you’ll ever meet, and the Man and Woman of the Year – Bob Weiss and Katherine Monroe – are examples of people who give more of themselves than most people ever will.

The young people recognized last week also give hope that the volunteer attitudes exhibited by the adult honorees will continue for generations to come, and the Chamber also started an exciting new tradition with the Business of the Year award given to the Sandell Drive-In.

There are many businesses that make Clarendon and Donley County a great place to live, work, and raise a family, but the Sandell stands out as a landmark that Clarendon is known for and as a family-friendly form of entertainment during the hot summer months.

The members of the Morrow family are to be commended for the work they put in to keep the Sandell going, and the memory of Gary and Nell Barnhill should also be remembered for their roles in starting the drive-in sixty years ago.

Congratulations to all the award winners. You make us all proud, and we thank you for all you do to enrich our community.

 

Many primary voters will find themselves in a pickle when they start voting next week.

Texas finds itself in the unusual position of actually mattering in a primary contest for the first time in several election cycles. But the choice of candidates is, well, pathetic at best.

For Democrats, it comes down to two choices… a lying, conniving “democratic” socialist witch or an actual… but honest… socialist.

If you like the current Kitten-in-Chief, then by all means Hillary Clinton is your clear choice. But if you want a more aggressive form of give-it-all-away, pedal-to-the-metal socialism, then Bernie Sanders is your man. If Clinton’s mouth is moving, she is most likely lying. Bernie, as a fellow editor recently pointed out to me, is probably the most honest man in either party. If you make money, he’s going to tax the hell out of you and give the money to other people in the form of free health care, free college education, free whatever. There’s no beating around the bush with this guy.

The Republican side is more complicated. At one time there were between 15 and 20 people running for the nomination, and with the New Hampshire underway as this column is being written, there’s no telling who will be left standing by the time you read it.

Suffice it to say that you just don’t have any good choices. Of all those that were left standing before New Hampshire, your editor is a Gov. John Kasich man. He actually knows what a balanced federal budget looks like because he crafted the last one during the Clinton administration. With the nation’s debt now approaching twenty TRILLION dollars, it would be nice to have a budget guy.

But the reality of the situation is that the front runners – in no particular order – seem to be Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio, and for some reason former governor Jeb Bush hasn’t quit yet (as of Tuesday afternoon). What a disaster of a line up!

Trump would be a train wreck as president. I studied Ross Perot’s campaigns in college, and Trump reminds me a lot of Perot without a filter, which is saying a lot. Late night talk shows and columnists would have a lot of fodder in a Trump administration.

Jeb Bush is probably a super nice guy, but he doesn’t come off as a strong leader. He’s the guy on the beach getting sand kicked in his face in the old Charles Atlas ads. The difference is Jeb isn’t going to bulk up and kick somebody’s tail. Also, the previous Presidents Bush have been disappointments to conservatives in that both allowed the federal government’s power to explode under them.

Rubio is an attractive candidate because he looks good on TV and he has a nice backstory. But he’s just not lighting a fire under anyone.

And Ted Cruz… oh, Lord help us. First of all, if you had even one iota of a problem with Barack Obama’s nation of origin (which was either Hawaii or Kenya, depending on your source), then you should be screaming from the street corner to keep the Canadian-born Cruz out of the White House. But setting the Cruz’s birth problem aside, what has this guy ever done? He has no record of accomplishment in the senate. I can’t think of a thing he has done for Texas. And frankly, the guy has a nasally voice that no one wants to listen to for four years.

Is this really the best America can do? How have we gotten to such a sad state of affairs that literally all of our candidates – in both parties – stink to high heaven?

Maybe a miracle will happen and some unknown candidate will emerge to excite everyone, but as it is, voters in both parties may just have to hold their nose and vote for the person they dislike the least. Right now it looks like no matter who wins, we all lose.

Or maybe we’ve already lost.

 

President Obama’s days in office are numbered, and the end can’t come soon enough for the Kitten in Chief.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the next occupant of the Oval Office will be any better than the current guy. People who say “it can’t be worse” often find out that it can be.

After taking in last week’s State of the Union Address, your humble editor, like many Americans, found himself grateful that he wouldn’t have to sit through another one of those from B.O.

To sum things up, the world is all rainbows and unicorns in Barack Obama’s fairytale world. For example, there was no mention of American sailors being held by the Iranians, just gushiness over the nuclear deal his administration had orchestrated with the regime. We are safer, we are freer, health care is more affordable, and life in general is just dandy, according to the president.

There was little mention of guns even though just a few days earlier the president was crying like a little girl on national television while trying to make a bold statement with executive orders on guns.

It wasn’t long ago that a Fox News commentator got the ax after he proclaimed that the president was a…. Well, we can’t go into it here since we’re a family publication, but the guy was right and probably should have been rewarded rather than fired.

While President Obama may be able to get away with looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, the rest of the country has to live in reality.

The legacy of this president – much like his predecessor – will most likely be the continuing division of the American people. You either like this guy or you really, really don’t.

He wanted to bring change to America. And on that he’s succeeded. Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee, but look who is giving her a run for her money. Bernie Sanders.

Think about it. A self-described, all-out, full-blown socialist is polling strong in the race to be the Democrats’ nominee for president. Can you imagine this happening 20 years ago? Back then, it was bad enough to call your opponent a liberal. This guy makes liberals look like Reaganites, and yet he has a strong following.

Obama’s claims to fame comes down to two things, it seems. The death of Osama Bin Laden (round of applause, please) and the so-called Affordable Health Care Act. The down side of the first accomplishment is that the president sometimes acts like he killed Bin Laden himself, directing the whole thing with a PlayStation controller on a big screen in the White House situation room.

And the downside of the second accomplishment is that health care is anything but “more affordable.” Yes, millions of people have signed up for health insurance… under the coercion of law and the threat of fines by the IRS. And, if you believe the commercials, some slackers can get health insurance for as little as $24 per month. But in the real world, many Americans still can’t afford insurance and are going to get fined by the IRS for not having it; and those who do have insurance have seen their costs continue to go up. Thanks, Barry. Hell of an accomplishment there.

One of the biggest feel-good moments of last Tuesday’s speech was when he put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of curing cancer. I suppose old Joe is somehow going to get this done in the next 12 months, because after that, he will be unemployed.

The cancer bit reminded me of an old episode of The West Wing, in which the fictional staff of President Jed Bartlett considers adding curing cancer to one of his State of the Union addresses. They wrestled with it, and its supporters were in favor of dreaming big and setting lofty goals the same way Kennedy wanted to put a man on the moon. But in the end, they didn’t include it in the fictional speech because it was too far out there. A cure for cancer would be wonderful… but it’s not that simple. There’s not just one kind of cancer to start with, and chances are Congress isn’t going to write a blank check to cure every known cancer.

It’s a sad statement that the fictional liberal White House on television was more concerned with fiscal responsibility and reality than the Obama administration is. Of course, the fictional President Bartlett also always demonstrated more statesmanship and backbone than Obama has in the last seven years.

Perhaps, since the president has checked out of reality, we can all immerse ourselves in Netflix re-runs of The West Wing over the next few months and enjoy an example of true leadership while we run out the clock on Barack Obama and nervously await whoever is chosen to take his place.

 

The wait is over, and happy days are here again. Blue Bell Ice Cream has returned to local stores. Let the angels sing and the people rejoice!

The year 2015 has been a trying one for Texans. We have faced the kind of adversity that tested whether we had the fortitude of early pioneers who lived without modern conveniences. It was a summer that tried our souls and gave us a glimpse of what life must have been like during the Great Depression… or at the very least greatly depressed many of us.

Back in the spring, the troubling news began to spread that there was some contamination in our beloved brand of ice cream. And then, to our shock and horror, Blue Bell voluntarily recalled all of its products from the market for safety concerns.

Your humble editor was like many ice cream aficionados who refused to give in to the fear of some lower lifeform. Bacteria? Sickness? Death? I’ll take my chances. Give me the ice cream.

At our house, we went into full World War II rationing mode. I’d studied history; I’d heard the stories of living through hard times. I knew how to handle it.

We had partial half gallons of Mint Chocolate Chip and Homemade Vanilla. We no longer just served up scoops of ice cream. For the time being, it would be special occasions only, and then only limited samples… a small scoop or less. Enough to keep us alive, but not enough to endanger our supply.

Soon t-shirts and memes began showing up online proclaiming “I survived the Blue Bell famine of 2015.” I refused to participate, because the fact was we had not yet survived… the ordeal was not over.

As the summer wore on, we were doing fine. As other people bemoaned being out of ice cream, our family was safe and secure with its reserve. And then late in the summer, a miracle happened. As we dug through the freezer looking for who knows what, we uncovered an unopened, untouched pint of Dutch Chocolate Blue Bell. Praise God!

Opening that gift from the almighty was an emotional time, particularly for my wife and daughter. It was like the good old days had returned. The strict rations were quickly imposed so we did not get swept up in the moment.

And so life continued. We told ourselves that desperate times called for desperate measures, and we did the unthinkable. We sampled other brands, choked down their lesser quality fare, and tried to squelch the feelings of guilt we had for straying from our true love. Ultimately, that always led to going back for a ration of our favorites.

Then tragedy struck in September. In our hustle and bustle to get to school and work one morning. The freezer somehow got left partially open. When we returned home that evening, our Blue Bell was ruined! Oh, the humanity! What would we do now? We would have to wait, like everyone else, for the promised Second Coming.

Much like the famous advertisement that proclaimed “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer,” we were out of ice cream. There was no substitute to be had.

But hope began to blossom. It was preceded by Internet rumors and the scalawags who like to offer false promises online. Soon, however, it was real… Blue Bell was back. But only in the central Texas area. It’s progression northward and westward was slow, and then frustratingly arrived in Childress and Memphis before landing in our own Lowe’s Family Center this week.

Now, we are made whole again. Our lives are fulfilled and happy. And we have learned an important lesson as we go become engulfed in the magic and miracle that is the Christmas season. We have been taught humility and hardship, but most importantly we have been reminded to hold close to the people… and the ice cream… that we hold most dear. Because we never know when something precious might be taken from us.

We have learned that we must live life to the fullest, and never take for granted that Blue Bell will always be there. This holiday season, treasure it, enjoy it, and share it.

Meanwhile…

The Chamber of Commerce’s “Christmas in Clarendon” has come and gone; and all in all, it was successful. Last Saturday saw a big crowd downtown, shopping with our local merchants, visiting Santa Claus, and enjoying food and special deals on Kearney Street.

Wouldn’t it be great to see that kind of activity every weekend? Our merchants would appreciate it, and it would make a world of difference in our local economy. Every dollar spent at a local store circulates through our town and helps pay taxes for local services, helps local charities, and generally helps our community be more vibrant.

If you didn’t make it downtown last Saturday, remember our local merchants all across town still have plenty of deals for you to take advantage of this season. Let’s make it a merry Christmas for everyone and find those perfect gifts right here at home.

 

Last week, two evil people killed 14 people and injured 21 others in San Bernardino, California.

The perpetrators of the horror were a man and his wife following radicalized tenets of Islam. The couple’s actions and Facebook activity link the couple to being followers of the Islamic State, or ISIS; and therefore the whole thing has been described as a terrorist attack on United States soil.

To that end, Barack Obama took to the airwaves Sunday evening to address the nation as all presidents do during times of crisis or national tragedy. In a rare move for this president, he delivered his remarks from the Oval Office, but he did it awkwardly from behind a podium instead of from sitting at his desk.

And then and there did B.O. proceed to further his reputation as out of touch, as self-absorbed, and as the owner of a failed foreign policy.

Given the timing of the speech, the day before Pearl Harbor Day, it was interesting to do some comparisons of what great presidents do and what this president does.

In his address after the Empire of Japan executed its sneak attack on the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to himself just five times and then he laid out the total victory the USA would pursue and his intention to ask Congress for a declaration of war.

In his address after the brutal attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush referred to himself five times, sought to reassure the nation while making it clear the US would pursue the terrorists as well as those who harbor them, and thanked the Congress for its condemnation of the attacks.

Sunday night, the sitting president referred to himself 20 times, labeled the San Bernardino tragedy as a “terrorist attack” but gave no indication that the US would do anything different than it’s been doing, and then took a political turn by calling for more gun control measures.

If indeed last week’s mass murder was a terrorist attack and not just some random act of senseless violence, then you would think that would call for a more direct manner of response. Some bombings or something. But instead, the American people got nothing but empty words and political B.S.

It is clear that this president does not know what to do about ISIS (or ISIL as he prefers to call the enemy). It’s not that Mr. Obama is evil or the son of the devil or a closet Muslim or anything of the sort. It’s that he’s impotent when it comes to the ability to wield or project American power abroad, and he’s incompetent in terms of crafting a foreign policy that makes others believe America is not to be messed with.

If last Wednesday’s attack was in fact a terrorist strike on American soil, as the president says it was, and ISIS was behind it, then the military response should have been swift, deadly, and overwhelming.

If the American intelligence network is worth anything, then US military commanders and their superiors must know or have some indication of where ISIS leaders and supporters are. If they know those locations, they should kill them and anyone nearby without warning and without mercy.

Once again, if this was a terrorist attack, as the president says, then America is going to have to get serious about going after these people. But this president doesn’t have that in him. He doesn’t know how to fight and doesn’t have the will to fight.

The unfortunate thing for America is that the current front-runners to be presidential nominees aren’t much better. The Democratic front-runner will be no better than the current office holder, and the Republican front-runner promises to take us down a road that will destroy the ideals of religious liberty.

Now more than ever, America needs a true leader to emerge. One who will stand up, speak the truth, and do what needs to be done to send ISIS – and every group like it – straight to hell.