Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 96, No. 71, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 22, 2010 Page: 4 of 16
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Page 4 — Wednesday, December 22,2010, Sapulpa Dally Herald
■—■ 0 m
Opinion
The Sapulpa Daily Herald ---
• “ More
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of n notion must begin bg subduing the freeness^ speech
‘lomTSSIo
mklin
By cl Karan
Many times we hear that we need to choose a side, pick a
team, know where we stand and not stand in the middle of the
road. Perhaps though, it is in the middle of the road we should
all strive to walk the path of life.
Now consider the best vantage point to see both sides of any
i sue. Wouldn’t the middle be the best location in which to not
only step away and see the ideas more clearly which we believe
hut also give us the view to get a better understanding of the
side in which we find disagreement?
Does not standing firm in the middle show that we believe in
compromise and humanity’s ability to find peaceful solutions?
Does it not allow us to approach either side without hostility
and be welcomed as we are not considered an enemy?
By walking the central path between issues does not com-
promise our values or moral convictions because those should
be with us no matter where we stand. But it does allow to know
that where we stand can always be a place where opposing
sides can approach us and be heard with an open mind and
heart. And the middle is and has always been the place where
people meet to become the only side.
The Cost Of Leaving
What you do not hear on the
news reports coming
f Afrb '-*nn is
Mien
in school in that coun-
try and how dramatic
the change has been
since we showed up.
According to Greg
Mortenson. co-founder
and director of the non-
profit C entral Asia
Institute, and founder
of the educational
charity. Pennies for
Peace, and co-author
of the #1 New York
Times bestseller.
Three Cups of Tea:
Promoting Peace with Books. Not
Bombs, in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, when we arrived in the
country nine years ago, there were
seven hundred thousand boys in
school. No females allowed.
Today, there are well over nine mil-
lion children in school, and one-
third of them are girls and young
women.
The people of Afghanistan are
most interested in two things. They
want peace and they want education
for their children—just like people
everywhere— and this would not be
happening and would never be
allowed to continue under the
Taliban. These children, growing
up now. are educated. Reading and
v riling are the future of
Afghanistan! What would it say
about America if we left now? How
many people who have supported
this education movement would be
regarded as enemies of the Taliban
and thereby lose their lives? What
kind of message would this send to
the world about American commit-
ment? How would we deal with it in
ourselves—in our own hearts.’
M
II w ' |
Hap Lowry
Man InThe Middle
These schools only exist in the
parts of the country that are protect-
ed by American and
NATO troops—troops
that are working with
the local leaders and
Afghan police. In
some parts of the coun-
try, we have had to
withdraw for various
reasons. However, that
is not true for most
other parts of the coun-
try where we have sup-
port from the local
population.
In Viet Nam,
over fifty thousand
Americans lost their
lives, but the
Vietnamese lost several times that
number, after we pulled out. There
are big differences between
Afghanistan and Viet Nam
We were in Viet Nam due to
the “domino theory” of Communist
domination of the world.
This theory turned out not to be
true. Today, Viet Nam supplies
many goods in our local stores.
Some businesses are leaving China
to take their manufacturing to Viet
Nam. It is one thing to be fighting
a war over some political theory; it
is another thing to be fighting a war
because you have been attacked, as
we were on 9/11.
Another big difference is the fact
that in Viet Nam. we had practical-
ly no support from other nations,
whereas in Afghanistan, the NATO
countries support us.
For these reasons I believe we
must stay and fight in Afghanistan
Not only would we be walking out
on our commitments to millions o::
Afghans and their children in the
schools, but by leaving, the Taliban
would have won and would attack
us again.
Christmas At Katyn
By Dr. PAUL KENGOR
The people of Poland got an early
Christmas present this year. It's bit-
tersweet but long awaited, and indeed
a gift of sorts—and from an unlikely
source: Russia. In Moscow, the State
Duma, Russia’s legislature, passed a
statement conceding Soviet responsi-
bility for the Katyn Woods massacre,
one of the 20th century’s worst war
crimes.
The roots of this atrocity date to
September 1939, when the Nazis and
Bolsheviks jointly invaded, annihilat-
ed, and partitioned Poland. The
Soviets seized thousands of Polish
military officers as prisoners. Their
fate was sealed on March 5, 1940
when Stalin signed their death war-
rant, condemning 21,857 of them to
“the supreme penalty: shooting." This
we now know conclusively through
the surviving NVKD document.
The officers were taken to three
execution sites, the most infamous of
which bears the namesake of the
crime: the Katyn Forest, 12 miles
west of Smolensk, Russia. There,
these Polish men were slaughtered.
The Bolsheviks covered their crime
with a layer of dirt.
The apology from the Duma was
something Poles waited decades to
hear. It was something many of us
who have studied and written about
this incident have waited to hear. And
it is too bad that Franklin Delano
Roosevelt is not around to hear it.
FDR? Yes. FDR. Let me explain.
The Katyn massacre was first
exposed by the Nazis in April 1943.
By then, the Nazis had betrayed the
Hitler-Stalin “Non-Aggression" Pact.
They discovered the mass graves, and
immediately converted the atrocity
into a propaganda coup to split the
Big Three Allies. The Soviets, in turn,
claimed the Nazis had done the
crime. Stalin and his goons attempted
to pin the massacre on Hitler and his
goons. Stuck in between was the civ-
ilized world, which sought to deter-
mine which devil did the deed.
FDR was among those stuck in
between. Where would he stand?
Truth be told. FDR, who was ter-
rific in stopping Hitler, was terribly
naive in assessing Stalin. He was
often inclined to give “Uncle Joe" the
benefit of the doubt. Nonetheless, he
realized the need to take a close look.
Thus, he dispatched George Earle,
former Democratic governor of
Pennsylvania, and a war hero, as spe-
cial emissary to investigate Katyn.
In short order. Earle discerned the
obvious, which was not what FDR
wanted to hear. Not only had the pres-
ident made it a habit to turn a blind
eye toward things anti-Russian and
anti-Stalin, but he needed Russia and
Stalin to help vanquish the Nazis.
This killing field created by
America’s wartime ally would not
look good to the American public.
Earle made his case: “About this
Katyn massacre, Mr. President. I just
cannot believe that the American
president and so many people still
think it is a mystery or have any
doubt about it. Here are these pic-
tures. Here are these affidavits and
here is the invitation of the German
government to let the neutral Red
Cross go in there and make their
examination. What greater proof
could you have?”
FDR was wont to disagree:
"George, the Germans could have
rigged things up."
Earle was frustrated. As he later
put it. including in a Congressional
inquiry. Roosevelt was adamant that
the claims were "entirely German
propaganda and a German plot.’ The
president said to his emissary: “I'm
absolutely convinced that the
Russians didn’t do this.” An amazed
Earle responded: “Mr. President, 1
think this evidence is overwhelming."
It was.
It was also no surprise. The
Soviets had been shipping captured
Poles into Russian territory since
1939. This was hardly a secret, and
was reported in sources like the New
York Times (April 15, 1940).
But FDR refused to believe Earle.
Even then, the debate wasn't over.
Earle saw FDR’s denial of Katyn as a
microcosm of a more dangerous
denial of the overall “Russian situa-
tion." and how the USSR “deceived’
too many Americans, including in the
White House, which was being duped
by "Uncle Joe" and his cronies.
FDR was getting annoyed with
Earle. "George," the president lec-
tured, “you have been worried about
Russia ever since 1942. Now let me
tell you. I am an older man than you
and 1 have had a lot of experience."
The Democratic governor again
pressed the evidence, but to no avail.
George Earle later expressed his
exasperation, saying he felt “hope-
less."
Alas, hope springs eternal. And for
the Polish people, a people of unwa-
vering faith, they never lost hope that
the truth about their loved ones would
be told.even while denied by quarters
as high as the Oval Office. With the
action of the Russian Duma, their
faith and hope was finally rewarded,
not by America’s wartime president
but by the nation that perpetrated this
heinous act.
At this season of faith and hope,
may the souls of Katyn rest in peace.
- Dr. Paul Kenyor is professor oj
political science at Grove City
Collette and executive director of The
Center for Vision A Values at Grove
City Collene.
Workers Comp Issues Slated For 2011 Session
Inhofe Dissapointed With
Repeal Of DADT Decision
WASHINGTON. DC. - U.S. Sen.
Jim Inhole (R-Okla ). a senior mem-
F of the Senate Armed Services
Committee (SASC), today made the
following statement after the Senate,
in a rare Saturday session, voted 65-
1 to repeal the militny's Don’t Ask.
• Tell' (DADT) policy. The vote
caiiK liter the Senate cleared a major
proved 'I hurdle 63-33, paving the
way foi 1 passage:
“I am very pointed with this vote
to repeal DAi For the past 17 years,
DADT has proven tv* work providing
good order and discipline to our
nation's military. To i 'I a policy
that has been successful io o mili-
tary s troop unity and effective ss is
frai y absurd and thoughtles of
Congressional Democrats. As the old
adage goes, why fix something that
isn't broken? To appease the far left,
we will negatively impact up to 60
percent of our combat forces for what
is estimated to be less than 2 percent
of the military population.
"1 echo the concerns of each of our
Service Chiefs of the Army, Navy and
Air Force as well as the
Commandants of the Marine Corps
and Coast Guard. Each of them have
expressed concerns about implement-
ing a repeal of the DADT policy, and
how a repeal will impact troop readi-
ness, recruitment and retention. Like
them, I remain concerned about the
findings of the Pentagon’s study in
which 30 percent of those surveyed
said repealing the policy would have a
negative impact.
With only two hearings held in the
SASC. we failed to uncover the full
magnitude of this repeal and merely
touched the lip of the iceberg. Our
nation's military and its commanders
did not ask for this repeal, and i icy
deserve better than to have a liberal
agenda forced upon them.”
OKLAHOMA CITY - The recent rec-
ommendations of the Task Force on
Vocational Rehabilitation in Worker's
Compensation will be introduced as
legislation in the 2011 legislative ses-
sion, state Rep. Mark McCullough
announced today.
“Our expensive workers compensation
system remains one of the barriers to
economic growth in Oklahoma, and it
continues to fail injured workers," said
McCullough. R-Sapulpa. “The task
force’s work provides a good blueprint
for future reforms and 1 plan to submit
those findings to the Legislature as
action items."
McCullough, an attorney, served as
chair of the task force, which reviewed
the workers’ compensation system and
the issue of vocational rehabilitation
The task force endorsed reforms that
would return employees to work when
possible as a means to both reduce liti-
gation and control costs. The group rec-
ommended that vocational rehabilita-
tion begin much earlier than it does in
the current system and also recom-
mended implementing evidence-based
medical guidelines to identify injuries.
In their report, the task force noted,
“Vocational rehabilitation through our
system is utilized infrequently, rarely
successfully places an injured worker
in a difference occupation, is not attrac-
tive to the injured worker for a variety
of reasons, occurs much too late in the
case timeline and is perhaps cynically
used to settle a claim for a higher dollar
amount with no real belief by either
part that the funds will actually be used
for the purposes of vocational rehabili-
tation.”
"There are significant numbers of
workers who get injured, get a check,
and get walked out the door because
they can no longer be accommodated at
their place of employment because of
their injury,” McCullough said. "When
the check runs out, those employees are
back to zero. We can do better. I believe
we should focus on retraining those
employees in a cost-eflcctive manner
for other work. Helping employees
become productive again serves a valu-
able public policy. If they don't return
to the workforce, they can end up on
disability, lose the pride of productivity,
and become a drain on State and
Federal resources.”
McCullough said his legislation will
include reforms to start vocational
rehabilitation before MM1 (Maximum
Medical Improvement) in certain cases
and may include having a physician's
advisory council draft a set of fact-spe-
cific injuries to serve as a "trigger’’ for
earlier vocational rehabilitation assess-
ment
McCullough said his legislation will
also include many provisions from a
bill he filed last year. That bill, the
product of a Working Group sponsored
by The State Chamber, would turn
Oklahoma’s Worker's Compensation
system into an administrative system.
All states but Oklahoma and Nebraska
have some type of administrative-based
system.
"We passed a suite of bills last year to
make significant changes to our exist-
ing lawsuit-based system and l realize
Republican leadership may want to
give those reforms more time to work,"
McCullough said. "However, if we
decide even stronger medicine is neces-
sary for our ailing workers' comp sys-
tem, I plan to be ready."
Representatives from a wide range of
groups interested in workers compensa-
tion issues either served on the Task
Force or gave presentations to the
group, including organized labor,
employers, medical providers, voca-
tional rehabilitation providers, and
attorneys.
“I greatly appreciate all the groups who
participated and the House staffers who
helped put the final report together."
said McCullough. “I believe we have
an opportunity to now improve the sys-
tem for both the injured worker and
businesses."
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Harmon, C. L. Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 96, No. 71, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 22, 2010, newspaper, December 22, 2010; Sapulpa, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1506811/m1/4/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 20, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.