Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor:
My name is Harry Descheene, I am the Human Resources Director for Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers. I have been with Pumpkin Patch, off and on for 22 years. I would like to thank the Calhoun First Presbyterian Church for participating in the project and to let you know what your participation helps provide to Native Americans.
I am a Navajo, living on the reservation all of my life ( 56 years). Pumpkin Patch has been employing Native Americans here on the reservation for over 20 years. Our staff here in New Mexico is 100 percent Navajo, including all management. During the harvest, we also hire Pueblo, Zuni and Hopi tribes (300 workers). Unemployment on the Navajo Reservation is 42 percent.
My experience as an employee and manager is that Pumpkin Patch goes above and beyond what any organizations of the reservation do to take care of their employees.
Pumpkin Patch pays for the transportation of their employees from all of the different reservations, some as far as four hours away. Pumpkin Patch also provides residential facilities ( dorms), laundry facilities, recreational facilities, an upscale kitchen with a chef and kitchen staff, a huge dining hall and extensive safety orientation before workers actually begin field work. Transportation was also provided to and from the fields. After completion of the harvest season, all workers are provided with transportation back to their communities.
For many of our workers it is the only opportunity to provide for their families and themselves. The approximately 1.3 million dollars in harvest labor makes a significant difference in the quality of the lives of my people. Opportunities like this are very scarce on our reservations.
I grew up tending to livestock on the reservation, went to boarding school and worked in local government as an elected official in the capacity of chapter president for 12 years. My salary and benefits with Pumpkin Patch are substantially above what I might receive from other private enterprises in the Farmington area. I have found that the owners of Pumpkin Patch are extremely concerned with the welfare of all of their employees, both full and part time.
Again let me say that I cannot understate the value of the service and work provided to the Navajo people by Pumpkin Patch Fundraisers and Calhoun First Presbyterian Church and other nonprofit partners. Thanks, Harry Descheene
The route taken to arrive at this point:
To many, the playing of the game is all encompassing. To fans, supporters and some parents, the game is the story. No, the game does not begin to tell the story -- especially the beginning. The journey begins far back into the year when the girls begin to play Travel Ball. It continues into the hot days of practice of the later summer months (at this writing one might question if the summer months are over). It does appear we are about to see the cooler air of the fall.
Softball in general, and Lady Jacket softball in particular, has been the theme at the Smith household at the dinner table, in the den and simply riding down the
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two of the most unpopular nominees ever to run for president, yet third-party candidates don’t seem to be making much of a dent this election. Voters have plenty of options, including Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, Jill Stein of the Green Party, and Evan McMullin, the apparent candidate of choice for so-called Never Trump Republicans.
Should voters take a closer look at third-party options this year? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate the issue. JOEL MATHIS
Talking about third parties can bring to mind the oft-quoted prayer of St. Augustine: “Lord make me chaste — but not yet!”
Which is to say: The United States would probably benefit from the emergence of strong and stable third parties that can compete for the presidency, Congress, and even seats on your local school board. The differences between Democrats and Republicans do not contain the full breadth of political opinion in this country, and it’s possible that an increasingly cranky electorate might calm down a bit were it given a few more (realistic) options at the polls.
But, per Augustine: This isn’t quite the year to get that going.
First: Trump is the worst major-party nominee to compete for the presidency in recent memory — and perhaps ever. And while Clinton surely has her problems, we know what we’re getting with her: The republic will survive a Clinton presidency. Trump? He’s a nasty, vindictive narcissist who embodies every stereotype of inherited (and squandered) wealth you’ve ever heard. Every vote possible is needed to defeat him.
One other problem: The major third-party candidates this year just aren’t very good. You’ve already heard about Gary Johnson’s Aleppo problem, and Jill Stein seems to be pandering to anti-vaccination activists. Neither would make a good president, so why vote for them?
One exception: Polls show Evan McMullin, a conservative former CIA officer, running within striking distance of both Trump and Clinton in Utah. ( Apparently Mormons, usually Republican, aren’t so hot on candidates associated with lengthy histories of vulgar womanizing. Who knew?) There’s a chance he could win the state’s electoral votes — and it’s kind of difficult not to root for him.
Why? Because the rebellion of a solid-red state like Utah would give Never Trump Republicans a chance to cleanse their party: If the GOP loses usually loyal voters because of Trump, party leaders will know there’s no point running him or his ilk for president.
Aside from McMullin, though, it’s best to put third- party candidates out of mind for another, better election. They’re fine in theory, but this election is all about ugly, brutal reality. Maybe next time. BEN BOYCHUK
It doesn’t feel like a good time to be a Democrat or a Republican, does it?
Clinton and Trump are the weakest to come along in decades. Both bring to mind that great old song from “The Simpsons” about mediocre presidents. Much like Zachary Taylor, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore or Rutherford B. Hayes, these two are unlikely to ever wind up on our currency.
The third- party candidates aren’t much better. But don’t believe the line, peddled by practically every Democratic or Republican partisan, that a vote for the Libertarian or the Green or the independent conservative is a vote for Trump or Hillary (whichever is worse in your view).
You don’t owe the Republican or the Democrat your vote or anything else for that matter. Much like respect and an honest buck, a vote must be earned. Has Clinton earned your vote? Has Trump?
One of them will win the presidency. But your vote isn’t necessary for their victory. A third party is a perfectly respectable way to go, especially if winning ranks low among your priorities. Failure is not only an option; it’s a certainty.
Libertarians had high hopes for Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld. Both men were successful during their tenures as Republican governors of Democratic states. They may score a technical victory with 5 percent of the popular vote, which would entitle the famously antigovernment Libertarian Party to federal election funds in 2020.
McMullin, an independent, appears to be polling well in Utah at the moment. But when it comes down to it, his chances of winning that state or neighboring Idaho, thereby throwing the election to the House of Representatives — the sole rationale for his candidacy — is vanishingly small.
And Green Party candidate Stein is so far to the left that she is meeting Trump on the right. The other day, Stein said Trump would be a better choice than Clinton because Clinton is so in thrall to corporate interests.
On second thought, it doesn’t feel like a good time to be a Libertarian, an independent or a Green, either. The most powerful vote in 2016 may be abstention. None of the above never looked so good.
Joel Mathis is an awardwinning writer in Kansas. Ben Boychuk is managing editor of American Greatness. Reach them at joelmmathis@ gmail. com, bboychuk3@att.net, or www. facebook. com/ benandjoel