Sheriff's Corner

One word…. Civility. Politics have gotten so out of hand this year and so much hatred abound on both sides. Politics have never been so bad. I watched a show on the Smithsonian Channel the other night where it showed the debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. They disagreed but were still civil with each other and even complimented each other genuinely. I remember civics and history classes where the teachers did an excellent job presenting both sides and explained the great things both sides did. I have a great respect for the Democratic Party for pulling the nation out of troubled times and putting people back to work.

Now about the election. I have to say that I respect a balance of power that the Democrats have the House and the Republicans have the Senate. Now if both sides don’t go radical it will be a good fit.

In two years we’ll have another presidential election and choices will be made. While some people will want to see the Electoral College eliminated and go with a popular vote, I’m opposed. Most of the population of the United States is based in the cities and urban areas. Which, in a popular vote, would eliminate your vote in Kimball County and the rest of farm, cattle and rural communities. Now there are hardworking great people (Republicans and Democrats) in our cities but do they have different views and needs? We could even look at the differences states… I think most people who live here would never think of moving to California or New York. With that said, both states have farms, cattle and rural areas. I’ve traveled extensively and both states have areas that are beautiful and have great people. The differences are the cost of living and what I call happiness. I didn’t include the crime rates because like Nebraska we have a high crime rate in certain parts of our cities.

You can’t force civility and you can’t make anyone civil. I do believe that whether you’re Democrat or Republican you can set the example of what civility is. I’m a product of the 60’s and 70’s and though there were tough times with massive protests about civil rights and equal rights… we learned from our lessons of the past and we became more accepting to differences and civil. The other thing that shaped me at the time, actually all of my life, was music. Music of the day never had violence and almost always had a positive message. It is said, music is a universal language and I personally know several people in Europe, Asia and the Middle East who learned English from listening to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, John Denver and even Garth Brooks. Having said that, not one of these people were hateful or evil.

In closing, if you would like to rebuke this Sheriff’s Corner, it’s your right. I’ll exercise the greatest CIVILTY and respect your opinion and you. Pass this on and set an example.