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Show 8A Emery Cojnty Progress Castle Dale. Utah Tuesday December 4 2001 Commentary WlhiaGs Wrorngj Witilto (Somseirwailiwes? By SHELDON RICH WAN You u ant to know what's wrong with conservatives? Heres what's wrong. Tim Hutchinson of .Arkansas is w idely regardid as the most conservative member of the Inited StaUs Senate. He's someone the national Democrats badly w ant to defeat next year in their bid to take firm control of that body. So w hat does Hutchinson believe? He recently said, Government can do good things, but government, like large corporations or large labor unions, ...if left unchecked can be a threat to individual liberty... The kind of country I think w e should be is going to be one where individual liberty is enhanced, not restricted by in government who think they know better than the individual." This sounds like a ringing endorsement of individual freedom. But if you look closely you will find gaps large enough to drive a Ford Explorer through. Government, like large corporations or large labor unions, ... if left unchecked can be a threat to individual liberty." Here Hutchinson repeats a classic fallacy, namely, that government is like other institutions, such as corporations and unions. It is not. Government has one feature that makes it different in kind, not just degree, from ev erything else in society. It has the legal power to use physical force against people w ho have not themselves used force against anyone else. This power fiscal force begins with taxation and proceeds through everything government does. It is difficult to imagine government without that power. Government may compel peaceful individuals to do things they would rather not do and stop them from doing things they wish to do. Only government can legally force people into the army and into combat where they might kill or be killed. Only government can legally take people's money against their will. Only government can legally forbid people to pay willing employees less than a legislated minimum wage. Only gov ernment can legally imprison you for taking a drugyou wish to take. Only government can legally demand that you pay for schools you abhor and refuse to use. Only government can legally decree that you will surrender part of your income for the sake of the poor, the middle class, and the rich. And only it can legally punish you if vou refuse. If you or I as private citizens attempted any of these things, we'd be and rightly so. But criminal jailed activities are magically rendered v irtuous if done by people elected to office or hired by bureaucracies. That's moral alchemy. Hutchinsons problem is not merely that he cant see the distinction between government and everything else. His blindness to that distinction opens the way to the very government meddling he says he opposes. If, as he believes, corporations and unions are a threat to liberty if left unchecked," then who do you suppose will have to do the checking? The government, of course. Thats what the open socialists of the Democratic Party say also. They would agree with him entirely that government must be powerful enough to prevent abuses" by private organizations, which in fact have no inherent power to violate anyones rights. (Any such power that unions and corporations have is granted by government. Fbr example, unions can force nonmembers to pay dues only because Congress passed a law making that possible. Without that law, union threats would be treated as extortion.) Hutchinsons position, then, obligates him to support all manner WHf ARE PEOPLE SECURITY? WHAT'S WRONG With Wliile I have always known that chickens could not fly, it was not until last week that I discovered chickens could climb fences. I wish I had known that. While my parents were on their extended vacation I stopped by their house to make sure their chickens and cats had plenty of wrater and food. Not that I really needed to bother, my dad left enough food out for his animals that he could have taken a vacation of several months and they still would have had plenty to eat. But since both chickens and cats are incapable of using a hammer to break the ice from their water troughs, I made a habit of stopping by every morning to do that for them. The last thing I wanted was for my dad to come home and find his chickens with their beaks frozen in the ice because I failed to break the ice for them (although the mental picture of such a sight was tempting). So every morning I would swing by their house and see how their animals were doing. When I stepped out of the car I was invariably met by their old tom cat, appropriately named Tom. He would greet me by intertwining himself around my legs until I shooed him away. I am not particularly fond of cats, but there is another reason for shooing this particular cat away. If he is of a mind to (and he quite often is) he will attempt to spray your pants leg with his own particular scent, thereby markingyou as his property. He has tried this to a number of people over the years, including myself, so his reputation precedes him. And if you shoo him aw ay before he can accomplish his spraying, he will simply go and find your car. On one occasion I was in my car, backing out of my parents drive- way when I noticed that my mother was laughing hysterically. What I discovered w as that old Tom was attempting to spray the front of my car and as I backed out he backed up, not wanting me to get away without a proper spraying. After shooing Tom away I would check on my dads prize pet, Big Red. Big Red is a big, red rooster which my dad is particularly fond of, even though he cant tell you exactly why. Big Red is not allowed in the hen house anymore because, how do I delicately put this, he has a particularly amorous appetite, so much so that my dad became concerned for the health of the hens. They were losing feathers at an alarming rate. So, needless to say, Big Red has an attitude, a particularly bad attitude you might even say. Since he cant be where he wants to be (in the hen house with the hens) he has taken it upon himself to be a bully. He is the attack rooster of the Davis family. If "Another provision In tbs Microsoft ett lament Is that Stsvs Ballmer and are not allowed to high five each other In public." Bill Gates the GOVERNMENT people IF Monitoring THROUGH ARE GETTING LINES WITH STUFF THEK SHOULDN'T HAVE? Ma'am have 13 ITEMS 12 ITEM in THE OR EXPRESS I'M GOING . LESS LANE. To HAVE TO ASK foU TO X uc COME WITH ME a of government intervention in the peaceful, productive affairs of private organizations. This includes antitrust laws and myritid regulations of the terms of production and employment. In other words, Hutchinsons seemingly innocuous statement concedes a major premise underlying socialism and the meddlesome welfare state. comes to mind. In this regard, it is appropriate to note that Hutchinsons brother, former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, has just become chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The impulse runs in the family. (Richman is senior fellow at The Future ofFreedom Perhaps if Hutchinson were confronted with this argument he would revise his philosophy. But I rather doubt it. Conservatives talk a good game about liberty, but despite being shown their fallacies time after time, they stick to a wide range of government interference in our private lives. The war on drug users ; anti-freedo- m Foundation.) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR When Chickens Climb Fences L DAVIS UPSET About federalizing airline CONFUSED By JAMES By Tim Huber POLITICALLY CORRECT you come into my parents yard and show even the slightest hint of fear, he will spread his wings and chase you here, there and everywhere. One member of my family is chased about the yard almost every time she comes for a visit. She hates that rooster. She will remain nameless however, because although she may be afraid of the rooster, she is not afraid of me. Big Red and I get along well enough I suppose. He knows I am not afraid of him and I know he is not afraid of me, so we leave each other alone. After making sure that Big Red and the cats have wrater and food I would go and check on the hens and gather the eggs. Big Red would always be in the vicinity when I did this because he hoped I would be foolish enough to leave the gate open. After a week or so of this routine I noticed that the hens and Big Red werent eating all that much of their food, but since my only real experience with chickens is at the dinner table, I wasnt sure what else to give them that they might like. But chance had it that I discovered another food which they were fond of. While feeding the cats one morning I happened to spill a good portion of the cat food on the ground and before I could do anything about it Big Red had come over and gobbled it up. After that I started scattering some cat food in the chicken coop for the chickens, and they were grateful. On the day that my parents were to return home I stopped by to check on the animals and paused to wonder if you feed chickens cat food could they possible become catlike? I wondered this because as I was going back to . check on them I happened to notice that one of the hens was climbing the chicken-wir- e fence. I watched this hen for a time, not quite believing what I was seeing because, like I said, I was not aware that chickens could climb fences. But this hen was doing a fine job of it, so much so that I became concerned she might get out. So I circled around to where she was and there was Big Red, silently encouraging her and lookingvery excited that one of his hens might actually make the escape to the other side of the fence. I shooed her off the fence and was treated with a particularly sour look by Big Red. He looked at me that way and I could tell he wanted to hurt me for my interference with the Jail break, but I was not intimidated. Get used to it Red," I said. And no more cat food for any of you." seem to think our National Anthem Disgraceful Spectacle The incident became a disgraceful spectacle in my view. From this point on, I have no interest in whether the Jazz win or lose. In my mind they are losers in character. My apologies to any on either team who may have shown proper respect but who were not shown on the screen. I have always had a lot of admiration for the Jazz and the community service projects they sponsor. I want no part of the kind of people that - , and the Stars and Stripes are a waste their time. I hope that all veterans . would regard them in the same light . On Oct. 30 was excited to sit in front of my television to watch the special opening exercise of the Utah Jazz and the Milwaukee Bucks in the opening game. The opening had a powerful, patriotic theme. It began with Larry Miller giving a very good opening talk. He was followed by Lloyd Newel and his Spoken Word. His theme was patriotism and loyalty. The Tabernacle Choir follow ed with several patriotic songs, including the National Anthem. This was an outstanding and patriotic opening ceremony. At least it was up to the point where the cameras panned over players of both teams. What a total letdown. Not one player within view of the cameras stood at attention or had their hand over their heart. They were all shuffling their feet, looking up at the center screen, some were chewing bubble gum and blowing bubbles while the National Anthem was being sung. It would seem that those with talent to make millions of dollars and to be treated like high princes would be more willing to give thanks and show respect for the country that makes it possible for them to capitalize so richly on that talent. This is to say nothing about the message of insolence they send through their actions to the young of this nation who look up to them. 1 with disgust. L Young St. George , ; . ; . - Paul Good-by- e to Emery County . Due to circumstances beyond our control Zenna and I made the decision to move back to Minnesota. The decision to make the move is in to Zennas health. She is now in the stage w here she requires care. We felt we would have more family support by living near our son and my brother. This was not an easy decision to make, I assure you. The 20 years we have lived in Emery County has been ; very rewarding for both of us. People of Emery County, as a whole, appreciate each other and go out of their way to help their fellow man. We are leaving behind many cherished and 24-ho- ur . dear friends and relatives. I thoroughly enjoyed my 10 years of teaching at Castle Dale Elemen- tary. The staff, parents and students ' at Castle Dale Elementary are special. I enjoyed the 10 years I served as chairman of the Emery County Republican Party. Zenna and our involvement inpolitics. . We met many interesting people. We are grateful to the many friends and relatives who came and . helped us sort and load our belong-- . ings. It was my desire to spend time ; seeing as many friends and relatives as possible, however, my brother was, anxious to be on the road. It was a good idea as we were just ahead of a snowstorm in Colorado. We have enjoyed the opportunity of living in Emery County and hope we , have been an asset to the citizens of !i the county. - Warne and Zenna Llntorf M 1 I Huntingtoq t . r si Letters to the editor should focus on public issues rather than private personalities or entities. All submissions must bo verified ' : prior to publication. V The Emery County Progress reserves the right to edit letters not only to satisfy space constraints, but potential liability concern ; j : ; i; t p V v p |