Text gcdc (lower case) to 573-398-7829 to get information on how to join us!
A Discussion on When Life Begins
Since states have been given the final say over if and when abortions are legal, the political debate continues. Debates will hinge on the question of when is the beginning of human life that should be protected by law. Defining when human life begins is not a question science can answer. It’s a question of politics and ethical values (The Conversation-Summarized Version).
Dennis (Warden) indicates that it’s a scientific fact that life begins at conception. You say that 80% of Americans view biologists as the group most qualified to determine when a human life begins, and that 96% of biologists affirm that human life begins at conception. But those statements are not true.
Steven Andrew Jacobs who provided those statistics carried out a survey that was supposedly representative of all Americans, but his methods for conducting this research were not sound. The result is that his survey does not carry any statistical or scientific weight. So, it’s simply not true.
This appeal to scientific authority does not take into consideration discussions of people’s values and is based on faulty reasoning. The question of when life begins is not only of biology, but of philosophy, politics, psychology, religion, technology, and emotions. Understanding what it takes to be human involves a lot more than biology.
Scientists can’t establish when a fertilized cell, embryo or fetus becomes a human being. There is neither scientific consensus on when human life actually begins nor agreement that it is a question that biologists can answer using science.
Scott Gilbert is the author of the standard textbook of developmental biology and has identified five developmental stages that provide plausible beginning points for human life.
1. Fertilization – a zygote is formed with full human genetic material. Of course, almost every cell in everyone’s body contains that person’s complete DNA sequence. If we view this as a human life, the shedding of skin cells would be akin to terminating a life.
2. Gastrulation – 2 weeks after fertilization – Embryo loses the ability to form identical twins or triplets, and becomes a biological individual, but not a human individual.
3. 24 – 27 weeks of pregnancy – human-specific brain-wave pattern emerges in the fetus’s brain. The legal standard for human death is when this brain-wave pattern does not exist, so you could look at this stage as when human life begins.
4. Viability – This is the standard that Roe v. Wade decision centered on, and it starts at the point when a fetus typically becomes viable outside the uterus with the help of available medical technology. Today that stage is about 24 weeks.
5. Birth Itself.
The point is that biology does not determine when human life begins. It is a question that must take into consideration our values and what we take to be human. Having a functional genome, tissue layers, a notochord, a beating heart…none of this matters if the organism cannot survive where humans survive.
You own your body when you have the authority to make decisions about what is done to it and how it is used on the basis of your own interests and desires. It is a fundamental part of moral standing for humans.
So, when we talk about “her body, her choice,” it has to be a woman’s choice to continue a pregnancy. She is the person most affected, and the person who takes all the risks. Pregnancy is not a risk-free proposal.
Therefore, I don’t think that cells similar to skin cells, or cells that have no brain-wave activity, are a human life, and a woman must have the opportunity to determine whether she chooses to carry the pregnancy forward or to terminate it.
Most of America agrees. In a Pew survey conducted nearly a year after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion, 62% of U.S. adults said the practice should be legal in all or most cases.
If we vote, we succeed.
Karen Dorton
Whiners, Cheaters, Scared Cowards
Gasconade County on a bad day will probably vote 70 percent for Trump in the upcoming election. Recent events make me wonder just how scared are some of them and just how many of his supporters have decided that they are the only real Americans that count? I spent the last four years hearing whining about cancel culture and how the poor Republicans were being picked on.You would think with such a vote advantage in Gasconade County, that they would not be scared of anything? Yet somebody is so cowardly that they feel the need to steal signs out of my yard and my yard is not the only one.
I had a Harris sign in my yard and as an American exercising my free speech, somebody is so scared it might effect some other voter in a positive manner, they have to try and cheat to make their voice louder then it already is. They have learned well from Trump who also tried to disqualify voters voices in that he didn’t think they were real Americans enough to count their votes just so he could cheat in a similar fashion for the win. Does it really pay in America to be so scared that you cannot convince Americans to vote for you or your candidate that you have to cheat? I have a suggestion for a judge if he hears a case before an election for sign theft. The judge should sentence that person to replace the signs he took as well as making him buy one and display it in a prominent place at his residence every day until the election is over. Free speech be damned for him, as that would just be justice.Sign thieves do not realize what being an American is all about.
Glenn Woemmel Rosebud
The World Isn’t Waiting
Faithful to a Fault
Dennis Warden’s self-inflicted ignorance on the subject of climate change is irresponsible and reprehensible. As a faithful crusader for climate denial he searches for confirmation from the outermost fringes of science and then compounds his bias by condescendingly granting “respect”tothosewhodisagreewithhimfortheirsinceritywhile“drinkingthecool-aid”. Well, that’s the same “cool-aid” that 97% of climate experts drink—peer reviewed, genuine, climate experts—the same vast preponderance that Dennis studiously navigates around until he can find someone with a lab coat that will tell him what he wants to hear.
On another environmental topic Mr. Warden suggests that people who recognize that we have overpopulated our planet and should acknowledge that reality with conscientious reproductive restraints are “brainwashed” and “hysterical”. We’re not sure where Dennis’s expertise lies but we would counsel him to steer clear of environmental issues altogether. (January 20-23)
Midterm Reflections: The past midterm elections have provided something that, if you look closely enough, fits in with the Season of Thanksgiving. It was anticipated that a Red Wave was preparing to sweep across the country as candidates who sought to feed off misplaced anger from the Big Lie sprung up seemingly everywhere. It worked in the primaries, it should work again…except it didn’t. It seems that Republicans and Independents caught on to the way they had been manipulated by radical leadership within their party and swam against the current of the much-hyped Red Wave in our political wars. There’s a maxim in real warfare that says generals are always preparing to fight the next war with their experiences from the last one and are therefore unprepared when techniques and technology change. That had been the situation for many conservatives who, like all voters, had grown used to the exaggerations and enticements of their politicians and had learned to routinely allow a little Kentucky windage to understand what was really being said. Those were the old political skirmishes. Starting in 2016 rules were changed, Donald Trump brought a polished audacity and double down bravado to politics that was new. Russia decided to cause havoc in our elections and that had its local voice on mass media when bottom feeders like Alex Jones realized there was good money to be made getting people riled up and being distrustful of their institutions. Enough bombast and screamed outrage and he made himself believable as did a chorus of voices on Q and other right wing sources of misinformation. People were convinced and became front line troops in wars that were as much about cultural differences as political issues. We weren’t ready for this kind of visceral combat but the movers and shakers on the right saw how to shift opinion just by crossing their fingers and went with what worked. Until…(and we don’t know if Ecclesiastes’ “to everything there is a season” or folk wisdom’s “you can’t fool all the people all the time” is more appropriate) voters had had enough of being led around by their raw vulnerabilities.
It’s something to be deeply thankful for. We will still not agree on everything. So what! That’s what our unhindered democratic process can deal with. But just maybe we’ve learned how to see through our new-age grifters and con men and can return to trusting time tested sources of information, reason, and our own empathetic humanity. We have a lot to look at and be thankful for when we’re not being blinded by peddlers of hate and lies. (November 2022)
Less Divisive or More?
Does Mr. Warden understand what it means to be less divisive? His column on that topic raises doubts. While flying the flag of offended sincerity and fair journalism he goes out of his way to attack our President for using the term “semi-fascism” as applied to the MAGA movement of Donald Trump. Curiously it’s not the “fascism” he objects to but the qualifier “semi”. It’s as though Mr. Warden has so attuned himself to viewing the world from the distant partisan right that he can no longer recognize anything in the middle ground shades of reality. Black or white, red or blue is all the pallette Mr. Warden needs to color his world view and that’s a shame because we need people in influential positions, such as he, to lead us out of our politicized trenches and toward some middle ground of reasonable open-mindedness. Mr. Warden also seems oblivious to the waves of self-serving misinformation that are flooding the nation aimed primarily at, and promoted by, the political right. The Big Lie that Trump won our last presidential election compounded by the denial of complicity in the January 6th insurrection leap immediately to mind as well as the postured outrage at Mar A Lago when top secret documents were reclaimed by the Justice Department. When such all-too-obvious facts are pointed out by broadcasters and pundits Dennis yelps “bias” as though it’s impossible to make a statement on politics without doctoring the truth. Regrettably, it seems he might simply be judging others by his own standard of reflexive combativeness. (September 2022
Pop Goes the Weasel
Weasels use weasel words and behave…weaselly. That is exactly what the previously disgraced-from-office Eric Greitens is doing these days as he slinks away from his latest gun-toting campaign ad. In this most recent version he, astoundingly, leads a group of heavily weaponized commando- types on a home invasion raid in search of RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). Panned across the board he’s now labeling his effort as a “metaphor” (weasel word) and just a joke (weasel, weasel). While “RINO hunting” may have had a clever ring inside his narcissistic, little, power-hungry noggin, is this man totally oblivious to the temper of the nation? We’ve got armed crazies shooting up our schools, attacking our Capitol and terrorizing any group they don’t like. We’ve got the gun industry so deep into the psyche of many guys that they need to have a gun collection like a tricked-out Rambo or feel they are no man at all. And wouldn’t it have been refreshing to hear, instead of veiled threats, some genuine reaching out toward reason and national tranquility. The one illuminating feature that Greitens does contribute is an estimation of his target audience. He clearly sees the Trump diehards as able to be sold any bill of goods if it salutes the BIg Lie, packs, and is willing to intimidate rational dissent for the sake of staying in lock step. We realize that many on the right can’t hear anything we Democrats have to say. But if you can interpret weasel, listen to and watch one of your own. (June 2022)
Wagging the Dog…or Just Simple Chaos
(Letter to the Editor-Gasconade County Republican)
“Our President will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability tonegotiate, So I believe that he will attack Iran sometime prior to the election, becausehe thinks that’s the only way he can get elected.”
Donald Trump, 2011. Trump proceeded to say that again on Fox News at least 3 more times. Of course, Obama did not start a war, but Trump does seem to have limited ability to negotiate and, as we have seen in the Ukrainian situation, will do anything to get elected.
There is a movie called Wag the Dog made in 1997 staring Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro. It’s about a scheme to start a “small war” in order to detract from a presidential scandal. Since the thought was once in Trump’s mind….wonder if it had any bearing when he brought us to the brink of war by killing an Iranian government official on foreign soil. Did he indeed wag the dog? We will probably never know for sure…but it’s an interesting thought since Soleimani had been around a long time and was immediately replaced. So what did the deed accomplish in it’s immediacy except to change the narrative from Trump’s recent impeachment? To be sure, Soleimani was an evil man and we are glad to be rid of him but his organization remains intact and whatever terrible plans were being made to hurt our embassies, our bases and our fellow citizens can still be undertaken. Until the recent protests due to the passenger plane brought down by an Iranian missile, the killing of Soleimani resulted in the unification of a previously divided Iran. So it is quite possible the full ramifications of this have not been felt yet. Are we safer?….doubtful.
But alternatively instead of wagging the dog, this actually could be just another chaotic implementation of an Iranian foreign policy which seems to have no goal or strategy.
The Iranian Nuclear Deal was painstakingly negotiated and put in place by the US, UK, Russia, France, China , Germany, the UE and Iran. All parties agreed that the deal was working well and that Iran was adhering to all parts of the deal. These countries’ leaders were shocked when the President withdrew the U.S. from the deal, promising a better deal and tightening sanctions. He did not negotiate a better deal, and Iran’s bad actors retaliated against our crushing sanctions. Since this incident they have announced that they are ignoring more aspects of the deal. They may end up closer to having nuclear weapons as a result of this.
It is sad to say, but the Trump White House has been poor at implementing their policies and keeping to a coherent message. Because of thousands of documented lies over the past 3 years, they lack credibility. We need a president who will unite us instead of attacking those who disagree with him and calling them unpatriotic or worse. One who will make America strong, compassionate, steady and respected again. We will be working for that!
(Letter to the Editor-Gasconade County Republican)
This is in response to the well composed and thoughtful letter written a few weeks ago titled “Immigration and Civility”. We do agree with several points the writer made. Immigration is a very complex issue which recently has also become very divisive. As we said before, we are for legal immigration…but we also are for all people attempting to immigrate to be treated with fairness and, yes, civility. To answer the writer’s question “why not work to change the immigration laws?” We have. The house under Speaker Pelosi has sent over 60 bills to the Senate in the past year plus. Several of these of these were bills which address some aspects of the immigration issue. A quick search found HR3239, HR 2203, HR3625, HR 6, HR 3670, HR 3722. Not that long ago bills sent by one branch of Congress to the other went into bipartisan committees to be worked on until they were acceptable to both sides. That currently is not happening in the Senate. Mitch McConnell has let all these pieces of legislation sit on his desk without taking any action toward them. Besides immigration, there are a bills to lower prescription drug prices, to close the loopholes in gun background checks, to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, to safeguard our water and natural resources, to extend flood insurance and more. To not consider any of these, in our opinion, is wrong.
There are two other points the writer made with which we have issue and they are abortion and health care. All of the top Democrats are NOT “in favor of abortion any time, any place”. No one wants widespread abortion. We all want it to be as rare as possible but also to be a choice which is safe and legal when a woman and her doctor determine it is needed…. .as it is now under the law. Abortion has been around forever and no change in the current laws will stop it from happening….just make it unsafe. We also wonder why those calling themselves pro life are not for ready access to affordable birth control and reproductive education to prevent the need for abortion. Also, pro-lifers seem to not be in favor of affordable child care, health care, and access to affordable food and services for families. If only they cared as much for babies already born as they seem to for fetuses. If only they cared as much for women as they do for fetuses….then they would really be pro life.
Regarding health care, those who are currently on Medicare do seem very satisfied with it. And aren’t we glad that the Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Congress gave us this program! It was controversial but worked out well. As to all Democrats being for a single payer system, that is also not a true statement. Some of our presidential candidates are, but there are several of those who are not. Some are for fixing the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicaid for those who need it, while others of us can keep their current insurance if they like it. Our party is debating these issues. At least Democrats have worked to address the inadequacies of our current health care system. The Republicans controlled the government for 2 years and did nothing. There is no one at the White House working on a health care plan. Instead the Trump administration is currently in court trying to end coverage of preexisting conditions and other aspects of the Affordable Care Act which are popular.
It is sad that we are having to have an impeachment inquiry. We urge all to watch the hearings with an open mind. It may end up being partisan…but we hope not. We see possible crimes there, bribery, extortion, abuse of a powerful office, and a shadow foreign policy being run by the private attorney to the president. But not since the Civil War has our country been this divided. We get our news from sources which confirm our pre-held views instead of looking at both sides of an issue. All of us are guilty of this. At least here in Gasconade County, we can listen to each other. We thank this newspaper for promoting this! We thank you for listening to our views. We are excited to announce that now we have a website. According to voting records there are a couple thousand of Gasconade County voters who have supported Democrat candidates. If you are interested in joining us or learning more about us click onhttps://gasconadedems.org/ Ifyouusethedonatebuttononourwebsiteallfundscollectedfromnow until November 25th will go toward Operation Christmas!
Who is Kidding Who?
(Letter to Editor: Gasconade County Republican)
Recently, when this paper looked into the source of today’s political unrest it found an answer inspired by Sen. Roy Blunt’s comments on recent challenges to Presidential legitimacy. The conclusion reached was that, “This is just another attempt by Democrats to unseat a duly elected President….” Leaping from the still open question of concern about Russian meddling in our election to a blanket condemnation of Democrats as just sore losers, conveniently skips over a lot of very-recent, very relevant history. (cruel treatment of immigrant families, painful tariffs, climate change denial, defending racists, ignoring mass shootings, selling weapons to Jamal Khashoggi’s killers, attacking the press, betrayal of the Kurds, strong arming Ukraine for dirt on Joe Biden, to name a few issues) In so doing it actually provides the real answer to the question it purports to explain. We are a nation at war within itself because the black arts of spin and manipulation have displaced honest debate as how we process our differences. Politicians on both sides have long leaned to judicious pruning of the truth, just a lawyers do in court, but there was a measure of restraint because they feared being exposed and shamed. That’s changed. In the arms race of weaponized lying and manipulation there have been two major breakthroughs that have brought us to where we are. One has been the slow, steady decline of morals and integrity in the general population. That’s a harsh thing to say, but we all know it’s true. We’ve lost the moral high ground that moderated political excess–many of us have become cheering accomplices. Secondly, a bold champion has emerged on the scene whose audacity and shameless verve have inspired his side to reach depths never before dared. Politics has become a game in an arena where gamesmanship and not truth is the standard, where power and not the general welfare is the goal. Democracy is a sacred institution. It honors each of us with the responsibility for our own fate and for those around us. It reflects who we are. Our democracy is shaking–not because Democrats are decrying the abuses of power by this President, but because their just complaints are being muffled by a choir of pretense. Think it over. We control the rest or unrest in our country. Our choice is between fairness and the shortcut of political opportunism. If you’re not willing to be totally honest, quit the fauxlamenting of our sorry state of affairs….it’s only making things worse.
(Letter to the Editor: Gasconade County Republican)
As a Democrat Club and as a party, we would like to define ourselves…rather than have others define us. We believe in inclusiveness, compassion, equality, diversity, justice, facts, peace, truth, and caring for our planet. The policies we support reflect these values. We feel very strongly that the current administration’s actions and policies do not reflect these values. We are not for open borders as many claim…and support legal immigration, but feel that all applying for asylum should be treated humanely until their claims are processed. We are for foreign policies which honor long time treaties and support long time allies rather than brutal dictators. This would do a lot to help our country become again “that shining city on a hill” and bring back respect for our country. We are for the rule of law, for facts to be made public, for all three branches of our government to remain equal and for Congress to do it’s job…including oversight of the executive branch. We support democracy…not a dictatorship. We support truth, openness and honesty from those who are elected to serve us. We are against a foreign country meddling in our elections.
(Letter to the Editor: Gasconade County Republican Dec. 2020)
There’s a movie showing now that offers, by example, an antidote to what ails this country. It stars Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers or “Mr. Rogers” as many of us would know him from his children’s show. This dramatized story echoes an earlier documentary on the soft-spoken neighbor who always opened his show by slipping on a cardigan sweater and slippers. He was, astoundingly, the same man off-screen as on. The slow, gentle manner of speaking was not contrived for his show but a way to tread thoughtfully and gently as he engaged and encouraged people of all ages. From his own childhood he carried scars that made him aware of trouble directed his way and anger and hurt in himself. His was the most human of reactions to that history… he didn’t want others to suffer as he did. His message was that no one was perfect but everyone was important and could benefit by understanding themselves better, considering and appreciating others. He simplified his speech but not his insights and spoke honestly at all times respecting even his youngest visitors to think things over for themselves, find positive ways to deal with their feelings. Such healing requires absolute trust and that responsibility shaped his integrity. Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers, care, honesty, and dedication to others…all of one piece. Justifiably, he was hailed in a skeptically-inclined magazine article as a genuine American hero.
His life begs the question, “Why should that standard be beyond us on a personal level and for the people we select, as our best, to represent us in government?”
If troubled children primed to lash out and disillusioned adults awash in cynicism were his target audience how different from that are we as a nation? How does President Trump’s approach rate for healing our country?
No matter how hard we squint, I think we all know Donald Trump does not feel obligated to speak the truth. His approach is more aligned with expediency than integrity.
His empathy is also not as principled as “everyone is important”. He tends to favor “winners” (by any means), the well-heeled, autocrats, and mostly of course, himself (because he checks all those boxes).
Mr. Rogers’ guiding star was people at peace with themselves and one another. And here is Donald Trump’s gravest failing and abuse of power. Harmony does not recruit him an ego- feeding army of loyal followers. To achieve that he has goaded people, good decent people primarily, already hurting economically or socially, and told them to resent liberals who are characterized as looking down their noses at them. He repeatedly brands his scapegoats as “elites” and thereby drives home a potent wedge of wounded self-respect into our nation. It has worked. We are well and truly split. Issues are no longer thought through, they are simply assigned the labels of “ours” or “theirs” and the battlelines are drawn. Getting a voting bloc to look the other way with wrongdoing or forget their principles is easy peasy when people will die to maintain their sense of worth. Anorexics will starve themselves to death for it. It is the cruelest and most invisible type of manipulation. It’s use defines how Donald Trump stands in relation to Fred Rogers. Can you say, “Anti-hero?”