Friends,
I am a firm believer in supporting your local newspaper, in my case, The
Baltimore Sun. The Sun occasionally prints my letters, but I have had no luck
in getting an op-ed accepted.
It is
obvious that print journalism is slowly disappearing. The Sun like so
many print media outlets has been shedding reporters for the last decade –
going from 400 to about 110 today. Though The Sun is a shell of a
once formidable paper, it still does good coverage of local stories and has
exposed a number of scandals in recent years.
Since
The Sun is a liberal newspaper, it has tried to attract conservatives by
publishing their letters and op-eds. I understand that strategy in these
troubled times. But it can be very frustrating.
On April 10 I submitted to The Sun this Don’t Look Back article as an op-ed,
and I received a rejection email from the Deputy Opinion Editor on April
14. On April 16, an op-ed “Stop blaming Trump for spread of the
coronavirus” appeared in The Sun. It was written by Mick Kemper, who was
described as a “retired commercial banker.” Here is one paragraph from the
op-ed: “He [Trump] has occasionally been overly optimistic or given us false
hope, but only to dampen the level of panic. Nevertheless, if you must blame
someone, then start with the following list. Blame the Chinese government,
which concealed the outbreak and delayed the release of key information. The
World Health Organization that announced on Jan. 14th that the virus was not
transferable between humans, only to back-peddle on Jan. 30th and declare a
global health emergency. The Democratic Party, which distracted the government
through the early days of the crisis with counter-productive impeachment
proceedings. This is classic double-speak.
Kemper makes no mention that Trump cut U.S. funding to WHO, but the retired
banker claims WHO announced “the virus was not transferable between humans.”
This is what FactCheck.org reported on this alternative
fact: “Trump inaccurately said the WHO stated that the novel coronavirus ‘was
not communicable.’ The agency never went that far. In mid-January, the WHO shared
‘preliminary’ information from China that ‘found no clear evidence’ of
human-to-human transfer, but it continued to consider such transmission
possible.” The op-ed is littered with such nonsense. I then wrote a
letter to the editor on April 16, but it was not published. Instead on
April 21, The Sun published a letter from Georgia Corso gushing forth that the
op-ed “was such a delightful breath of fresh air in the newspaper.” Ms.
Corso is an unapologetic right-winger. Later she beat up The Sun a bit
before closing with “ . . . our president who is working hard to bring this
nation to health against an unknown formidable foe” This all leaves me
wondering what is in that Kool-Aid that the Trumpists are drinking.
Kagiso, Max
DON’T LOOK BACK
As a peace and justice advocate, I believe the
media have a role to play during this unprecedented challenge. Our news
providers should highlight the fact that the government’s bungled approach to
deal with the COVID-19 epidemic is not the blame of the incompetent Trump
administration. Of course, President Trump has clearly aggravated the
situation.
The
seeds for failure were planted decades ago, and we should not continue as
before. Otherwise we will dishonor those who will die because of
COVID-19. Will it be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths?
On
March 30, 1967, in a speech to the board of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made this bold statement: “The evils of
capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” This
message has been ignored by all subsequent administrations and almost all of
our legislators.
The
current situation is extremely dire, one reason being a privatized health care
system which focuses on profit. For example, those corporations making
the drugs and vaccines produce what provides the most profit. As King
repeatedly reminded us racism is part of the problem: preliminary data is
suggesting that African-Americans are getting the virus and dying at levels
much above those of us in the majority population.
We must
embrace Improved Medicare for All, and we must prepare for the next pandemic.
This means a stockpile would be developed of medications, personal protective
equipment and ventilators. Vital industries would be under public
control so essential supplies would be produced to sustain humanity rather
than for profit.
This
crisis opens the door for a system change. Today, weapons contractors make us
less safe as tax dollars going to them is diverted from healthcare, social
services and infrastructure. National defense means all of us have
Improved Medicare for All, clean air and water, income equality, good schools
and more.
The government should not spend 60% of the discretionary budget on militarism
to the detriment of social services and infrastructure. It is our
responsibility with the help of the media to convince our legislators of
the need for a transformative shift away from militarism. Spending hundreds of
billions of dollars annually on preparations for war has not prevented the
virus from washing up on U. S. shores. And sanctioning countries during a
pandemic is counter-productive as the virus does not respect borders.
The anomaly of the past versus the future is no better illustrated than by the
USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear aircraft carrier with 4,000 sailors on board
and built at a cost of some $5 billion. This war ship could not
neutralize the virus, and at least 200 sailors and its captain were infected
with the coronavirus. Why was it at sea when the United Nations has urged
all countries to observe a cease-fire?
This
crisis calls for a new understanding of security based on diplomacy and
dialogue, and not on confrontation. However, Trump’s proposed $1.3
trillion discretionary budget for 2021 gives billions of tax dollars to the
Pentagon. For the non-military portion of the budget, Trump makes severe cuts.
The
EPA, for example, has a proposed cut of 27%, which will only exacerbate climate
chaos. The proposed cut of 9% to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
is suicidal.
Once
the epidemic is under control, we should rebuild the economy in favor of the
majority of people, and not the 1%. And then focus on climate chaos,
another deadly global emergency. The scientists have informed us we have barely
a decade to dramatically move from fossil fuels and to engage in sustainable policies
before it’s too late. This means a Green New Deal is a necessity, as
it will help address the climate emergency, fund necessary research, invest in
infrastructure, and create millions of good new jobs.
Those
of us out in the streets confronting our government’s policies need the help of
the media. Without significant transformation, I have grave doubts that
we will be able to mitigate climate chaos.
Failure to confront Dr. King’s triplets of evil will mean the continuation of
endless wars, off-the-charts income inequality, massive student loan debt, mass
deportations and incarcerations, and an unwillingness to save Mother
Earth. We must demand fundamental change, and cannot return to normalcy.
This is
a teachable moment. What will we see post-epidemic? Will nothing
change, and the suffering continues? Or, because progressive voices were heard,
all people will have adequate housing, food, healthcare, and a living wage?
Max Obuszewski is a peace activist with the Baltimore
Nonviolence Center, He can be reached at mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.
"The master class has always
declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master
class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had
nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene
Victor Debs
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