No party lines drawn in cancer battle

Last week, I had the honor of representing Alabama on Capitol Hill by traveling to Washington with more than 700 of my fellow American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across the country to urge Congress to make cancer a national priority.

Together, we called on Congress to support lifesaving policies that help people prevent and better treat cancer. We asked legislators for their support in increasing federal funding for cancer research, backing legislation to improve patient quality of life and removing cost barriers to colorectal cancer screenings for seniors.

When I met with Congressman Mike Rogers, I told him that cancer is nonpartisan, and that Congress should seize the opportunity to pass critical legislation that can help end cancer as we know it.

I also let our lawmakers know that Alabamians and many others across the country rely on them to support legislation that will help reduce the cancer burden, potentially making cancer history. With more than 1,650 people dying from cancer every day, we must take legislative action on these important issues.

I encourage you to join us, giving us a stronger and louder voice in the fight against cancer. Visit acscan.org to be connected to people like me in your community.

Patriotic tradition

We have all enjoyed the Avenue of Flags placed along Victory Drive. They are placed by volunteers prior to holidays.

For years a handmade trailer used to raise and retrieve the flags was parked behind the Veterans Center at 1000 Victory Drive. The flag poles we left on it between holidays.

Now that the trailer has been stolen, the Avenue of Flags will become a real challenge. We need to replace this trailer and it will cost $3,000.

Please respond as soon as possible, as we have two missions on the horizons, one in October, and another in November.

We need the citizens of the Valley who enjoy seeing the Avenue of Flags to send a taxable deduction to MOAA, marked for Flag mission, to Major (Ret.) Thomas Lokey, P.O. Box 6613 Columbus, GA 31917-6613.

Historical denial

The Confederate Battle Flag is to history what the climate change debate is to science … a denial of facts. White supremacists recognize it for what it is: a racially charged symbol. (I would argue that this is the only clear-headed thing they have ever done.) It doesn’t represent a culture of hate because white supremacists use it; they use it precisely because it represents a culture of hate. I believe that when someone who is not a white supremacist flies this flag, or wears it, or in some way displays it, they are in denial; they are wearing blinders to its true meaning.

Here’s a simple test that might result in a clearer vision:

Take a sheet of paper, and draw a line down the middle. Label one side Caucasian, the other side African-American. Every time you see the Battle Flag displayed in some way, notice who is displaying it and put a mark in the appropriate column. I haven’t done this myself; it seems pretty obvious to me what the results would be.

The writer Aldous Huxley said, “Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored.”

Reality’s threat

Education is the safeguard against the unfettered regression to corrupt capitalism, unresponsive governance at all levels and its dedication to division, hatred and quest for unaccountability to the citizenry. It can prosper only by defaming and condemning learning and manipulation of the least among us by the 1 percent filthy lucre crooks who now override the protections guaranteed in a true republic.

I am fortunate to have earned an undergraduate degree, graduate degree, professional licensure and numerous continuing education courses at the leading universities in the U.S., and it has created a stature that accords me honor and respect in my travels to Mexico, England, France, Italy and beyond.

Here, I am condemned for being educated and pursuing dignity as a mandate for the least among us. My activism is rooted in my devotion to the Sermon on the Mount (The “Beatitudes”) and thus embraces the esteem my profession is accorded within my chosen faith.

I can only lament that I have experienced far better circumstances under the New Deal, New Frontier and Great Society that elevated America to its rightful prominence post-World War II. From Nixon, through Bush x2 and now Trump, right-wing lunacy has rendered us irrelevant and currently irredeemable. Educators, media, professionals, “liberals,” minorities, women and anything other than corporate greed is condemned.

What have we gained? A hopelessly divided nation, without legitimate purpose, that is irrelevant at home and despicable globally. The current Pied Piper of stupidity is flushing his ignorant lemmings into oblivion and we are equally condemned. Where’s God and decency in all of this, or are the Beatitudes more “fake news”?

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "No party lines drawn in cancer battle."