In the days just prior to the special election in Alabama, New York Times columnist Howell Raines profiled Odis and Mavinee Bishop, a Greatest Generation couple living in Arley, Alabama, who were split between supporting Roy Moore and Sen.-elect Doug Jones.

Mr. Bishop assured Raines he would convince his wife to vote for Moore.

"No, you won’t," she said.

Mrs. Bishop’s response was reminiscent of Maria Portokalos in "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding," who quipped that "The man is the head … but the woman is the neck."

Speaking of characters, one of the reasons we liked "All in the Family" is because it was rooted in realism. In the weeks to come, we’ll learn just how many Edith Bunkers — how many old-school, traditional, conservative wives, mothers and mee-maws — went rogue in the best way you can in a democratic republic.

It takes a lot for people to break ranks. Perhaps the controversy swirling about Moore’s campaign, like so much sewage, fostered an unspoken kinship between those who credibly accused him of improprieties and the thousands of women in Alabama who have stories of their own, incidents and humiliations they’ve never shared with anyone and probably never will.

LAST STRAW 

Maybe Moore’s biblical bloviating was the last straw, as they watched women who had everything to lose get dragged through the public square.

Maybe it gave new life to the long-buried fear that, even if you tell, you won’t be believed.

Or perchance the election was, as Shakespeare put it, a dish best served cold.

The grand irony is that women, who must always fight hardest to be included in the political process, ended up preserving it.

It is said that if it weren’t for women there would be no churches, because women are the backbone, the driver, the life of the local body. Maybe the spectacle of seeing so many people trampling the Gospel underfoot in a naked bid for political power was a bridge too far.

VALUES VOTERS 

No other special election in a state where most Americans don’t live captured as much attention as this one. It has been called everything from a harbinger of things to come to a national referendum on decency.

Because dollops of Puritanism still linger in the American bloodstream, the "ick" factor of Moore’s penchant for extremely young women couldn’t be ignored.

The "soft bigotry of low expectations," as President George W. Bush coined it, also reared its head as pundits predicted that black Alabamians were disengaged and wouldn’t turn out in enough numbers to matter.

But women are the "neck" in black families, too. In a state where the right to vote was forged in blood, where disenfranchisement is still alive and well, they understood what was at stake. Their birthright includes the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the 16th Street Baptist Church.

They’ve lived with the Roy Moore rumors and racial dog-whistling long before the rest of us heard of him, so perhaps on Election Day they recalled the whispered family stories of how their grandmothers as young women lived in fear of attracting the attention of such men, who held the power of life and death over them and their families.

No one should marvel that Perman Hardy, a former sharecropper from Lowndes County, transported people to and from the polls for 10 hours Election Day and has been doing so for 25 years.

True values voters, such women took up the moral mantle of saving Alabama from itself.

Reach Charita M. Goshay at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Call result in Alabama ‘Edith Bunker’s revenge’

In a Slate interview, the San Francisco 49ers’ Eric Reid said he’s been told the NFL is planning to allow owners to shift money pledged to other charitable campaigns, like breast cancer and Salute the Troops, to the players’ seven-year, $89 million program to fund social justice causes.

It’s a cowardly attempt by NFL owners to shut up ungrateful players. 

Kneeling by NFL players during our National Anthem, for reasons they still cannot articulate, continues. The result? NFL ratings are down and so is attendance. Sunday night’s NFL game attendance was down another 11 percent from the previous week. 

Mostly Southerners and conservatives are upset about this disrespectful kneeling during our National Anthem. We Southern fans only feels it’s appropriate to kneel at a football game when our bourbon flasks fall out of our socks. 

Colin Kaepernick has gotten what he wanted out of starting this protest: dubious leftist awards for himself. In speeches with more "I’s" than an Obama or Trump speech about someone else, he’s shown that he is shallow.

Of course, it’s every American’s right to speak freely — and it's my right to make fun of him or her when it’s stupid. 

But let’s hear Kaepernick out as he lectures us on the oppressive conditions in America while wearing a T-shirt honoring Fidel Castro. 

Apparently, the University of Nevada-Reno, home of the Fighting Blackjack Dealers, didn’t teach Kaepernick history well. Castro killed up to 33,000 people during his brutal communist reign of Cuba. With all the awards the left has given him, Kaepernick feels smart now and thinks he knows history and literature well enough to lecture us.

Both "Hands Up, Don’t Shoot" and Black Lives Matter are founded on a lie. Michael Brown didn’t have his hands up in Ferguson. And Kaepernick’s anti-cop, pro-Black Lives Matter assertions are simply not true. I get that there is tension and distrust between cops and African-Americans. There is also mistrust by white males in the Trump administration about the all-Democrat donor Mueller investigative FBI team. 

In her book, "The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe," Stanford’s Heather MacDonald cites simple Obama Administration FBI crime stats that disprove the lie on which Black Lives Matter is based. 

First, black and Hispanic cops are far more likely — 3.3 times — than white cops to shoot unarmed black suspects. While they make up 6 percent of the population, black males make up 40 percent of all cop killers. Thus, McDonald determines that a police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is likely to be killed by a cop.

Social justice warriors, think about that for a while. 

Black people commit homicide at a rate eight times higher than whites and Hispanics combined. Black people are 13 percent of the population but commit 52 percent of all murders. This puts them into more tense contact with police. That’s the issue about which Kaepernick and NFL players should speak out. If you have a protest, be able to back it up factually. I agree that way too many Americans are in jail for non-violent crimes, and unfair crack sentences. NFL players should focus on that. 

Kaepernick’s buddies from Black Lives Matter even had the audacity to protest my man Elvis’ birthday at Graceland. Elvis sang gospel and blues, wore bling, and bought Cadillacs and homes for his mom. His daughter married Michael Jackson. Good Lord, people, study history and leave The King out of this. Has any white man met you halfway more than Elvis?

The media love the NFL’s faux protests but ridicule the Christian values of Tim Tebow. Tebow played pro baseball after the NFL — not bad for a guy who has never gotten to third base. 

Sports are important to Americans. We take ‘roughing the quarterback’ rules more seriously than we do the NSA deep state violating our Fourth Amendment rights. Psychologists say that football placates man’s innate lust for war.

But, just to make sure they are on the safe side, politicians keep us in a lot of wars. 

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Money that NFL commissioner diverted hasn't silenced players

Florida is fortunate to have state leaders who are eager to build upon the successes of the state’s highly performing college system.

System-wide enhancements that impact all 28 Florida colleges must be a collaboration between our legislators and the higher-education professionals to assure that good intentions such as those proposed in SB 540 do not result in unintended consequences.

One change SB 540 proposes is to revert the system name back to the Florida Community College System. This appears to be a rather innocuous concern. However, it does not reflect the evolution of the system we have become today.

The rebrand almost 10 years ago to the Florida College System was in earnest by design to affirm our mission as colleges serving local communities, but also to reflect the expansion of higher education access through four-year degrees. Negating this advancement could change the perception of our college system as a national leader and as an open-access system leading toward baccalaureate degree attainment.

We cannot afford to take such a step backwards.

The proposed legislation also changes performance funding measures and ties some college funding to the graduation rate of full-time baccalaureate degree students at other institutions who initially come from an associate of arts degree program at an FCS institution.

The FCS institutions’ focus on on-time completion is unparalleled, but they cannot have their funding tied to what those students may or may not achieve after they complete their studies elsewhere. It is simply inappropriate to link funds to the number of enrolled full-time students.

Our colleges serve mostly part-time and transient students, 67 percent of the students we serve. These individuals often have full-time jobs, families and many responsibilities, and can sometimes struggle in maintaining the balance. A student who is full-time one semester may need to shift to part-time another semester due to any one of many reasons.

It is predicted that very few colleges would be able to successfully meet this measure.

SB 540 also places restrictions on colleges paying Direct Service Organization professional staff from state-appropriated funds. College foundations bring donations into the colleges of which 70-85 percent support primarily student scholarships.

The FCS is being wrongly lumped in with university foundations that raise significantly more dollars and fund other things such as travel, research conferences for faculty, and other perceived extravagances. Shifting these personnel costs to be paid directly from foundation donations both goes against the donors’ intended purpose of the donation as well as reduces funds available for scholarships.

It should be our goal to find ways to continue helping students achieve their education goals. These additional restrictions are not the solution.

SB 540 also proposes enrollment caps of 20 percent for baccalaureate programs offered at a Florida college. The rationale being to assure our colleges stay focused on our primary mission as AA degree granting institutions.

However, only 5 percent of our enrollment is in four-year programs, which is a clear indication that our primary mission is firmly in place. Moreover, our baccalaureate programs are workforce-targeted and exist to meet the demands of the local labor market and the needs of students within a community who want to obtain a degree closer to home. There is already a rigorous degree approval process in place and significant market-demand, which we believe is what will ultimately strengthen a community’s workforce.

Just as each college’s student body is different, the needs and workforce requirements of the community a college serves are unique to that area. A main way that colleges ensure they meet the needs of those around them is through local governance. SB 540 seeks to change FCS governance from individual local boards to include a statewide board as well. By removing the ability for a college to directly listen to the needs of its community and adapt quickly, the success of the system and ability to remain relevant are threatened. Nationally, our strong, local control model is the envy of other states.

Legislation that would limit our ability to address student needs and workforce demand is not a step forward. The $286 million budget request by the Council of Presidents, supported by the Association of Florida Colleges, is what will truly help the FCS meet the current and future needs related to degree attainment and local workforce development. These funds are targeted for needs in reducing the advisor/student ratio from its current level of about 666:1 to 450:1 to enhance tracking student progress toward completion, recruiting the best instructors, expanding targeted articulated pathways, and workforce programs.

Throughout the 2018 Florida Legislative Session our 28 colleges with their leaders and students, and the Association of Florida Colleges, will remain committed to working with legislators to develop policies that gives all colleges the opportunity to continue meeting the needs of diverse students and communities they serve. 

Michael Brawer, MS.Ed., DPL is CEO and executive director of the Association of Florida Colleges.

"We cannot afford to take such a step backwards."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Legislation brings unintended consequences for community colleges

Now that the cheers and tears are over and with all the bowl games and the playoffs out, this is the last of the football schedule we’ll do. It includes all the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference bowl games, along with some of the small conferences we have been following in Florida and rooting for through the year.

I’ll begin with Dec. 19's first bowl game and give my picks all the way up to Jan. 1 for the playoff bowls. My crystal ball, as you know, does not work, so I would be guessing, but I think you’ll have an all-SEC-team game, with Alabama vs. Georgia on Jan. 8 for the national title.

Dec. 19, the Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl: Akron Zips vs. Florida Atlantic Owls. Coach Kiffin of the Owls says, "Look at what a great job I did in one year. Please send me back to the SEC." Owls by 21.

Dec. 21, The Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl: Temple Owls vs. Florida International Golden Panthers. The Panthers are a good team but not good enough against the Owls. Owls all over the Panthers by 12.

Dec. 23, the Birmingham Bowl: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. South Florida Bulls. Sorry folks, no lassos in this game. Bulls by 18

Dec. 23, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: The San Diego State Aztecs vs. Army Black Knights. Army all the way every day; push up, set up, all the way, we love, we like, we want more of it. Knights by 3.

Dec. 26, the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl: Utah Utes vs. West Virginia Mountaineers. West Virginia is a hot team today and a cold team the following week. For this game they're hot. Mountaineers by 12.

Dec. 26, the Quick Lane Bowl: Duke Blue Devils vs. Northern Illinois Huskies. The Huskies do not do well in this setting. Duke by 21. They have to get the fans not to feed the poppy.

Dec. 27, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Boston College Eagles, this could be a good game Boston College by 7, on a wish.

Dec. 27, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl: Texas Longhorns vs. Missouri Tigers; the Longhorns need this win for a decent season and they do but only by 1 or 2 points.

Dec. 28, the Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman: Virginia Cavaliers vs. Navy Midshipman. Navy is strong and determined but so are the Cavaliers. Virginia by 13; okay everyone, put away your swords.

Dec. 28, the Camping World Bowl: No. 22 Virginia Tech Hokies vs. No.19 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Now you're in for a treat here. It's a good game for the Hokies to redeem themselves with a big win by 13.

Dec. 28, the Valero Alamo Bowl: No. 13 Stanford Cardinals vs. No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs. Don’t you just love the color "Purple?" TCU by 6.

Dec. 29, the Belk Bowl: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Texas A&M Aggies. WF is looking for an upset here, but the new coach is now part of the 12th man. Aggies by 12.

Dec. 29, The Hyundai Sun Bowl: No. 24 North Carolina State Wolfpack vs. Arizona State Sun Devils. This will be a very close game, with the Wolfpack getting a bad sunburn from Arizona. Sun Devils by 3.

Dec. 29, the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 21 Northwestern Wildcats. A lot of cat fur will be flying in this game, and don’t you just love the color "Purple?" Northwestern by 21. No hair balls please!

Dec. 30, the TaxSlayer Bowl: Louisville Cardinals vs. No. 23 Mississippi State Bulldogs. This big game will fill the sets. The Bulldogs have a fight on their hands and win by 6.

Dec. 30, the Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 10 Miami Hurricanes vs. No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers. Talk about getting no respect and very angry. And you know what they say about angry Badgers. What a mess. Badgers by 14.

Jan. 1, the Outback Bowl: Michigan Wolverines vs. South Carolina Gamecocks. How do you get into the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day un-ranked in the top 25? Gamecocks by 3.

Jan. 1, the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 12 University Central Florida Knight vs. No. 7 Auburn War Eagles: We are always saying, "Give the small conference champion a chance at the big time." In this case we are feeding them to the dogs, so to speak. The Knights put up a good fight but the War Eagles win by 12.

Jan. 1, the Citrus Bowl, presented by Overton’s: No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 17 LSU Tigers. Don’t you just love "Purple?" Tigers by 13.

Jan. 1, the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl: No. 3 Georgia Dawgs vs. No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, the Dawgs run all over the field and the Sooners. Georgia by 13.

Jan. 1, the College Football Playoff at the Sugar Bowl: No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 1 Clemson Tigers. "Sweet revenge, sweet revenge, how sweet it is" revenge. Tide by 20.

Jan. 8, the College Football Playoff National Championship at Atlanta, Georgia: Crystal Ball Pick — No. 1 Georgia Dawgs vs. No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide. "Roll Tide Roll" by 3.

Bill Everett is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He lives in Baker.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: A look at the college football playoffs

I am shocked and appalled by some of the malicious comments that I have read on social media about the horrific wildfires in Southern California.

Comments such as: "burn, baby, burn" or "who cares, it is only California," and so forth. Whether one cares for how California is being run, there is no call for horrible comments to be made. People are losing their homes, animals are losing their lives and these fires are truly a catastrophe.

We need to have compassion for each other; whether we are in Florida or California, we are all still Americans and should love and support one another.

Philippians 2:4 states, "Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."  Let's care and pray for those affected by these wildfires, just as we appreciate prayers when we are going through hurricanes or floods. Be kind and show love towards one another. We are the United States of America; we aren't each other's enemies. Let's band together and help each other. 

This is the giving time of year, Christmas. So let's remember those who are less fortunate.

Here are several worthy programs that need donations:

•Your local congregation always needs assistance for those in need. Check and see what is needed — food or financial contributions.

•Angel Tree through Prison Fellowship gives gifts to the children of prisoners, so they aren't forgotten at this time of year. See

•Samaritan's Purse has Operation Christmas Child, which many churches support this time of year. While the boxes have been turned in, donations are always welcome. See

•United Methodist Committee on Relief can always use donations. They provide disaster relief in our country.  Online: http://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/Support

•The Salvation Army operates all year long providing disaster and other types of relief. Online: http://disaster.salvationarmyusa.org/give/

•Our food bank, Sharing and Caring, always needs donations, both food and financial. Online: http://sharing-n-caring.org/crestviewcontactus.html

•California Southern Baptist Relief provides assistance to those who need urgent help during times of crisis. See http://www.csbc.com/ministry-resources/csb-disaster-relief-ministries

•Presbyterian Disaster Assistance provides assistance to communities that are facing catastrophic events. See  https://pda.pcusa.org/

The words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40 remind us, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."

It is Christmas, be kind! 

Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: It is Christmastime — be kind

The holidays are upon us! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, to quote the old Christmas standard made popular by Andy Williams. But as you indulge in the "much mistletoeing" that Andy sang about, and while your "hearts will be glowing," the Crestview Police Department also wants you to be safe and secure.

Here are a few tips to keep you, your family, your belongings and your home safe during the holidays:

LOCK YOUR VEHICLE DOORS! This is especially important when you’re doing your Christmas shopping and have gifts in the car. If you’ve not done your day’s shopping, put the packages you’ve already bought out of sight in the trunk, if you’re driving a car. Always make sure your doors are locked. When you get home, take all of your valuables out of the car, including shopping, firearms, electronics, cellphones, handbags, etc., and then lock your car before heading into the house.

HAVE US CHECK UP ON YOUR HOUSE. If your family is planning holiday travel "over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house," sign up for our Vacation House Check program. At your request, our patrol officers will make periodic security checks and contact you — or someone you designate — if any concerns are found. To submit a request, download the form from our website, www.crestviewpd.org, or pick one up at our Dispatch Center. You may drop off the completed form at our offices, or fax the form to 682-2080.

TAKE CARE CROSSING THE STREET. Sadly, we’ve had an unusual number of pedestrians hit by vehicles this year. In almost every case, it was because the pedestrian wasn’t paying attention to traffic. Look both ways and look again before you cross. Always cross in a crosswalk when one’s nearby, preferably one with a traffic control light. Put down your cell phone. When your mind’s on phone calls, shopping lists, holiday gatherings, Christmas cookie baking, trimming the tree and Santa’s lists, please don’t become another vehicle-vs.-pedestrian statistic on our list.

DESIGNATE A DRIVER. Andy Williams sang about "parties for hosting." If you plan to savor some spiked eggnog or other alcoholic beverages at holiday events, make sure you have a designated driver who will abstain. My patrol officers are extra vigilant this time of year and won’t hesitate to arrest drunk drivers. As you leave a New Year’s party, don’t let an "auld acquaintance" you’ll wish could "be forgot" be one of my cops or an Okaloosa County Corrections officer.

As the community celebrates this special time of year, my officers, command staff, administrators and I wish you safe and secure holidays, the blessings of a joyous Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year. 

Tony R. Taylor is the Crestview Police Department’s chief of police.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Police chief’s wishes for a safe, secure holiday season

The Christmas season is here again. How’s your Christmas spirit? More to the point, what is it that kindles your Christmas spirit?

My Christmas spirit is more difficult to kindle this year than in previous years. I am now at what one might call "superior vintage," and because I am older I am losing friends almost every year.

This year has been a difficult year for losing friends. With every loss comes a feeling of nostalgia, accompanied by floods of memories of those very close and important relationships, some from as far back as childhood. Much of that is good but it creates a feeling of loss nevertheless.

Friends and family make the world a place of joy and love and that should be emphasized to us with every Christmas season.

Music is a major factor in any Christmas season. Whether it is "Here Comes Santa Claus," "White Christmas" or "Rudolph" it begins to dominate your psyche. The music that really closes the deal, for me, includes "Hark the Harold Angels sing," "Away in a Manger" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem." A night of listening to carols by candlelight at one or another of the churches in the area always seems to be just what the doctor ordered. We love the singing Christmas trees and the annual Christmas parade.

The spirit of Christmas culminates each year with church Christmas programs. The singing of little children and church choirs tell us each year of that wonderful story of a babe lying in a manger with shepherds and wise men kneeling at his feet, of families gathering to renew the bond that was kindled in all of those Christmases past.

I can remember a succession of great aunts coming to visit at my grandmother’s house when I was a boy — Aunt Nora, Aunt Goldie, Aunt Pearl, Aunt Philomena and Aunt Lela. (Don’t you just love those names from the 19th century?)

All of these dear ladies are gone now but their faces are still as crystal clear to me as they were a generation ago. Each would arrive with her tray of divinity, fudge, brownies, and my favorite of favorites, chocolate chip cookies.

Is it any wonder that I can close my eyes today and still smell the wonderful kitchen fragrance that filled the house each year at Christmas time?

Is it any wonder I still spend several hours a week at the "Y" doing battle with the bulges created by the remnants of all those wonderful memories?

Such memories get us ready for the big day, the day we welcome friends and family to our homes as the Holy Family did when the shepherds arrived to "see this miraculous thing," when we open the presents just as the Holy Family did 2,000 years ago with the visit of the Magi, and when we focus on the blessed Christ child who is, lest we forget, the reason for the season.

So we wish for you a growing Christmas spirit that will stay with you all year round, and a wonderful Christmas season with your family and friends.

Dr. Mark L. Hopkins writes for More Content Now and the Anderson Independent-Mail in South Carolina. He is past president of colleges and universities in four states. Contact him at presnet@presnet.net.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Have you found your Christmas spirit yet?

Following a recent terrorist attack in Manhattan that killed eight and injured 12, President Donald Trump attacked the criminal justice system. He suggested that the criminal justice system was partially at fault for terrorist acts.

"We need quick justice, and we need strong justice — much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now is a joke, and it’s a laughingstock," said Trump.

President Trump recently tweeted, "After years of [F.B.I. Director] Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters – worst in History! . . ."

Not to mention the president’s recent attacks against Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team of investigators as "very bad and conflicted people" and his characterization of the Russia probe as a "witch hunt."

Those comments from the president of the United States should alarm anyone who believes in the rule of law.

Bob Bauer, White House counsel to President Obama, wrote recently on LawFare, "the president is successfully bringing the legal process into the discredited conspiratorial ranks of the ‘deep state.’ He is specifically stirring up suspicion of Robert Mueller, but his broadsides have a far wider focus. He has upbraided the whole system — DOJ, the FBI and the courts."

The foundation of American democracy rests on the rule of law. Freedom endures with the notion that all men and women are on equal footing before the courts, and that our government of checks and balances protects us from corrupt institutions.

The faith that we invest in our leaders is always subject to legitimate scrutiny. However, baseless attacks on our institutions shake our faith in democracy.

In 2016, Gallup released a poll that showed only 23 percent of Americans have either "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the criminal justice system. Such lack of confidence is unfortunate and concerning. The poll predates the current attacks on justice-related institutions.

Jason Brennan, a professor at Georgetown University, wrote in Time, "[M]ost voters have no incentive to be well-informed about politics, or to correct their misinformed opinions. They have no incentive to think rationally about politics or to process information in a reasonable way. They have every incentive to indulge their biases and prejudices."

The recipe of demagogic attacks on political institutions, and failure of voters to correct misinformation, is dangerous. Don’t take it from me. Former President Barack Obama warned against staying complacent in the face of rising nativism — citing the rise of Hitler as an example of what can happen if democracy is not defended — reports Crain’s Chicago Business.

"We have to tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly," Obama told an audience at the Economic Club of Chicago. "That’s what happened in Germany in the 1930s, which despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Adolf Hitler rose to dominate."

Obama continued, "Sixty million people died…So, you’ve got to pay attention. And vote."

Whether it was attacking U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel for his ethnicity or the "so-called judges’ that overruled his travel ban or his comments after the sanctuary cities decision, "This case is yet one more example of egregious overreach by a single, unelected district judge," President Trump has displayed little respect for the rule of law.

In 1947, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote, "There can be no free society without law administered through an independent judiciary. If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny."

Judges, prosecutors and investigators should be free from pressure imposed by a political party, a powerful person, a private interest, or popular opinion.

Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Waning respect for the rule of law

Do you ever wonder, "How did it go so wrong?" How did generations of hard workers create a generation of people with time to protest when offended? A whole section of the population who apparently have enough vacation time to take to the streets and demand grease for their squeaky wheel.

I think it’s our own fault. We created these special little monsters, because instead of holding them accountable, using discipline to guide them into various stages of childhood, loving them enough to say no — we told them that they were special. We gave them the feeling that they were all-stars and rock stars, even when they weren’t.

We coddled them. We asked those tiny little people about their feelings and their thoughts. We asked their opinions on decisions that had nothing to do with them. Generation X, we did this, and I’m not sure how we fix it.

We were raised at a time when we did a lot of it on our own. We were self-reliant. We were the first generation where most families saw both Mom and Dad work. We also had a lot of double families thanks to the divorce rates. We made our own lunches. We did our homework on our own time — no one asked if we had any.

We were accountable. We knew the rules and there was little supervision. We played outside all day. I remember my first real bike; it was pink with a banana seat. That bike meant freedom. I had an exact grid; I could ride five blocks to the north but no further than the gas station. I could go west two streets and all the way south down to the highway then up another three blocks on the east side before I reached my boundary. That grid and all the streets in between were fair game until the street lights came on.

We did projects and let our imaginations run wild. We were resourceful; if mom didn’t let us sneak in for snacks, we would go knock a few doors down and Mrs. Ruthie would always have cookies, candies or snacks ready. Mainly because we never knocked without flowers, flowers that we would "borrow" from someone else’s yard.

We were responsible. We had chores. We helped out in the houses we lived in. My main chore was washing the dishes after every meal. (I was convinced that my mother used every possible container in the kitchen to cook). We understood that our families needed help. We took care of our siblings.

We shared. A lot of us grew up in a house with one bathroom; nothing says sharing like that. If you have never stood in line for your turn in the potty then you were obviously spoiled and I envy you. I can remember once even answering the door where my elderly neighbor asked if our bathroom was free because his wife was in theirs.

We were not micromanaged. Yet when it came time for us to raise the next generation, we took all those things and we overcompensated.

We gave them all trophies and praise and we did all the hard work for them, because it’s natural to want better for your kids than what you had — except it turns out, we had the best and didn’t know it. 

Kalynn Brazeal is a conservative, Christian wife, mom, country girl with an MBA, several decades of business experience and a strong opinion. She can be reached by email at kmbrazeal@icloud.com

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fellow Gen Xers — how do we fix this problem we created?