Opinion Archive

In his Wednesday night address to the Nation, the President finally laid out many of the appropriate steps required to address the ISIL threat, as he came to the realization that his policy of sitting out and leading from behind is simply not a credible option. He is correct in seeking a coalition of not just NATO partners, but also Middle Eastern allies. Additionally, he stated support to the Government of Iraq and friendly forces in Kurdistan, while mentioning the requirement to involve moderate Sunnis in both Iraq and Syria. If his actions reflect his words, our strategy will certainly see air strikes commence in Syria and continue in Iraq, while we increase the number of American troops on the ground and utilization of intelligence assets.

I was recently asked what I learned from the process of running for office. After considerable thought, here is my answer. 

As I watched the Santa Rosa County Primary results come in, my first thoughts were of all the friends I had made in the months leading up to the election.

For centuries many gave their lives for worthy causes. The King of Saudi Arabia warns, ISIS is overtaking Europe , and America is next. The radical Islamists’ cause is “Convert of die!”God rest the souls of our military! They didn’t give in to ISIS, Hamas, Jihad, Al-Qaedi, Boco Haram or the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since Ivan, and in ten months it will be the ten year anniversary of Dennis which was the hurricane that affected Navarre Press and personally, my home the most. It is the reason why we have new siding on both structures and the reason why I was able to put my new refrigerator in my office through the outside wall, not through the door. Therefore, if my office refrigerator ever goes out, I’m not sure how it would exit the building. We also purchased a whole building generator that we have never had to use, thankfully. However, I’d like to say we are prepared but no one is truly prepared for catastrophes like Ivan. If you weren’t here ten years ago, I hope you never have to go through anything similar.

Over the years I’ve seen many changes in Navarre, some that would not have been my choice. As it is, only one person is charged with representing the 42,000 residents of Navarre.  One commissioner out of five speaks for us.  It is time to incorporate – to be our own voice.

Our first Navarre Raider home game is this Friday night. We are playing Wakulla and there is a lot of history with Wakulla. There is something about their refs marching us back with every play when we played them the last time. Hopefully some of the families will be staying in the area – at least overnight. Wakulla is in Crawfordville which is south of Tallahassee. MaxPreps has ranked Wakulla 19th in the state and Navarre is ranked, 46th. We went up in the rankings by 45 points after our win over Catholic. Let’s keep ranking up.

I would like to thank all of the Firefighters and the Forestry Department who responded to the fire in my backyard at 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Without their quick response there is a good chance my neighbors and I would have lost our houses. They were able to not only save our houses but they were able to save our fences as well. Being that close to losing our homes gives me a new understanding of what fires can do and what risks firefighters take to put them out. Thank you again for everything.

Monday night I told my daughters they had to go vote the next day. At first, they said they were too busy, they had to work, and they didn’t know who they would vote for. “I’m not just going to vote for who you tell me to vote for,” proclaimed both of them in separate conversations. Wow. I was super proud they said that. I pointed them to the voter’s guide that we produced and gave them a synopsis of each candidate and my perceived strengths and weaknesses with the condition that it was just my opinion – a very educated opinion nonetheless. I even told one of my daughters that she might consider a candidate and she flatly said, “Sounds to me like they don’t have enough experience,” totally discounting me. Both of them voted and I know this because my oldest daughter texted me that she saw her sister’s signature and said the following, “So, I went to vote and I asked them if they’ve had a lot of youngsters and they said that they’ve actually had hardly anyone.” When I shared her text with Shana in the newsroom she said, “Well, we know she is not a “youngster” if she actually said, ‘youngster.’” It will be a late night tonight as we await the results and we have already decided what kind of pizza to order.

If voter turnout had a voice it would cry “wah, wah, wah” …to be read as a diminuendo, which is the opposite of crescendo. Endless road signs, a steady stream of smiling faces in the mailbox and many energetic handshakes have filled (or cluttered, depending on your viewpoint) our lives in the last several weeks. And for what?