The next 4 years can be historic for our country

Last Tuesday’s election results showed that a majority of Americans felt we needed a change from the slippery slope of the governing of our country.

It will be tough to turn around but Donald Trump has shown the fortitude, drive and leadership qualities to do just that.

And the Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House gives him the opportunity for a strong start.

Trump also can vacate some of the Obama unconstitutional executive orders and address the IRS, Department of Justice and the Veterans Affairs incompetency.

The next four years can be historic.

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For the first time in many years the Missouri State government will be in the hands of basically one party (and this time not the Democrat Party).

Every statewide office up for election was carried by at least 6 percent and the Missouri legislature continues with Republican majorities.

Now...let’s see how they govern with this opportunity.

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One of the unsung heroes of last Tuesday’s election was Cape County Clerk Kara Clark Summers and her helpers.

With about 53,000 registered voters in Cape Girardeau County and an estimated vote of 71 percent, she stepped up to see that the voting went smoothly, including over 3,000 absentee voters.

First she had to train 250 poll workers on how to handle IDs and the time required for a 2-page ballot (front and back) of sometimes-hard-to-understand issues.

They set up extra voting booths, etc. in anticipation that many would take 10 to 15 minutes to vote.

They started early Thursday having to deliver all of the necessary equipment and things went off well.

Thanks Kara.

n

In a recent column I attributed a list of rules for “How to Create a Socialist State” to Saul Alinsky. Though I’ve read the books “Rules for Radicals” and “Reveille for Radicals” by Alinsky and the list was plausible...a reader wrote to say that Alinsky didn’t write this.

According to “snopes.com” (which I don’t always find accurate) this was not accurate. According to snopes “the list” is simply a modern variant of the decades-old apocryphal Communist Rules For Revolution!

According to snopes, the closest analog (in form, if not in content) to the reproduced list of “How to create a social state” to be found in the writings of Saul Alinsky, is the following list of “power tactics” Alinsky outlined in his 1971 book Rules for Radicals. Note that Alinsky’s list is devoted solely to tactics (i.e., methods for accomplishing goals) and does not specify any particular targets of those tactics (e.g., health care, religion, gun control):

“Always remember the first rule of power tactics: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.

The second rule is: Never go outside the experience of your people. When an action is outside the experience of the people, the result is confusion, fear and retreat.

The third rule is: Whenever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

The fourth rule is: Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.

The fourth rule carries within it the fifth rule: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.

The sixth rule is: A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. If your people are not having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.

The seventh rule: A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Man can sustain militant interest in any issue for only a limited time, after which it becomes a ritualistic commitment, like going to church on Sunday mornings.

The eighth rule: Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.

The ninth rule: The threat is usually more terrifying that the thing itself.

The 10th rule: The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.

The 11th rule is: If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside; this is based on the principle that every positive has its negative.

The 12th rule: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. You cannot risk being trapped by the enemy in his sudden agreement with your demand and saying “You’re right — we don’t know what to do about this issue. Now you tell us.”

The 13th rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it.”

The book “Rules for Radicals” is a clever read worth your time if you want to understand the political tactics of some liberals.

Tactics which many times I have personally experienced.

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Children’s Science Exam:

Q: Name the four seasons.

A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: How is dew formed?

A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you stop milk from turning sour? (Brilliant, love this!)

A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What is the fibula?

A: A small lie.

Q: What does “varicose” mean? (I love this one...)

A: Nearby.

Q: What does the word “benign” mean?

A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Gary Rust is chairman of the board of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian, as well as a member of the editorial board.