We’ve come so far since Neanderthal days
Last week, President Joe Biden said that Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, both Republicans, were guilty of “Neanderthal thinking” because they removed statewide mask mandates! It’s reminiscent of Hillary’s calling us irredeemable “deplorables,” or candidate Barack Obama remarking that bitter smalltown voters “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
Yep, that’s pretty much how the political elite think about us. That also explains why they continue to support mandates that force citizens to do whatever they want us to do. It’s almost as if they believe people won’t wear masks unless we are forced to wear masks.
Back in the old days authorities gave recommendations and guidelines. But, with all the Neanderthal thinking going on the past decade or so, the only logical recourse remaining for authorities is martial-like mandates. Nowadays, all a mayor, a board, or a governor needs is a pen and a phone.
Last week the Senate passed the $1.9 Trillion stimulus bill, Covid relief bill, pandemic aid bill, and American Rescue Plan. What’s in a name? It’s all government money, right? For context, after President Biden signs this bill, the U.S. will be $30 Trillion in debt! All parties in Washington are responsible for raising our national debt to that height!
President Ronald Reagan said, “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.” Doesn’t seem that many dollars ago. What have our two national parties bought with the newest debt? What’s actually in the stimulus/relief/ aid/rescue bill? Probably a heck of a lot of “Neanderthal thinking.”
Where does the government get its money? Well, Reagan had a saying about that too. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
Unfortunately, Americans have been slowly boiled in that pot of taxes, fees, licenses, and tolls. We’ve become accustomed to paying our fair share for just about everything we do. That’s where most government money comes from.
The Covid pandemic has really put a squeeze on those who govern. On one hand, they got to force people, businesses, and organizations to do whatever they wanted us to do, including closing down. Over the past year, many have grown accustomed to following these mandates, while some of us have grown weary of them. On the other hand, however, closing down or restricting business reduced the amount of money government received, not to mention the salaries and wages workers needed.
In the old days, most people acted responsibly following guidelines and recommendations. Sure there were exceptions just like we’ve seen under the mandates. Businesses acted responsibly and continued meeting customers’ needs. We trusted our neighbors, colleagues, businesses, and organizations to be responsible and follow the guidelines.
Nowadays, that is “Neanderthal thinking,” like letting children read Dr. Seuss books, or letting them play with gender specific Potato Heads. Children should be learning about transgenderism, and girls should learn to be good sports when biological boys beat them in high school sports. We’ve come so far since Neanderthal days!
Coming off an opening week of two wins, the Malvern Lady Leopards softball team opened week two with two impressive wins on the diamond in the Poyen Classic Monday.
The Lady Leopards opened the 2021 season with a shutout, 13-0, win over Haskell Harmony Grove. Last Friday, the Lady Leopards hosted Hot Spring County rival the Bismarck Lady Lions at Morrison Park. The Lady Leopards had a stellar performance against county competition and pulled out a 14-2 win.
This week started with the Lady Leopards competing in the Poyen Classic. The Lady Leopards opened by playing the hosting Poyen Lady Indians and pulled out a shutout, 5-0, win. Later Monday evening, the Lady Leopards took on Cossatot River. The Lady Leopards trailed early but had a big fourth inning to get the win 8-6.
The Lady Leopards run in the Poyen Classic continues Saturday with another county rivalry matchup. The Lady Leopards are scheduled to take on the Magnet Cove Lady Panthers at 10 a.m. Saturday in Poyen.
Malvern 14, Bismarck 2
Following the Lady Leopards opening day win, the squad took on the Bismarck Lady Lions at Morrison Park
Friday. The Lady Leopards were able to take an early lead and held it through five innings to secure victory.
In the first inning, the Lady Leopards drove in four runs while holding the Lady Lions scoreless. The Lady Lions had one run in the second inning, but the Lady Leopards matched with their own run to lead 5-1.
The next two innings fell scoreless for the Lady Lions while the Lady Leopards added another five runs, four in the third and one in the fourth. The Lady Leopards recorded four additional runs in the fifth inning while holding the Lady Lions to just one run to get the win 14-2. For the night, the Lady Leopards held the Lady Lions to
just two runs on five hits. The Lady Leopards had 14 runs on 16 hits that included a home run each from Malvern’s Katelyn Minge and Audrey Carr.
Malvern 5, Poyen 0
In their first game in the Poyen Classic, the Lady Leopards took on the host team, the Poyen Lady Indians. Once again the Lady
Leopards got off to a hot start by scoring three runs in the first inning. The next three innings fell scoreless but the Lady Leopards added two more runs in the fifth inning to clinch victory over the Lady Indians. For the game, the Lady Indians had just two hits while the Lady Leopards tallied five runs on three hits.
Malvern 8, Cossatot River 6
In their second game Monday night in the Poyen Classic, the Lady Leopards had to come from behind to get the win. The Lady Leopards opened with one run but Cossatot River took the lead with two runs of their own to lead 2-1. In the second inning both teams scored two runs to keep Cossatot River in the lead, 4-3.
Cossatot River extended their lead by two runs in the third inning after scoring one run and holding the Lady Leopards scoreless. Going into the fourth inning, Cossatot River held a 5-3 lead over the Lady Leopards. The Lady Leopards found their groove in the fourth though and scored five runs to take the lead 8-5. Cossatot River only managed one run in the fourth inning to fall to the Lady Leopards 8-6.
The Lady Leopards recorded eight runs on seven hits against Cossatot River Monday. Cossatot River had six runs on nine hits for the game.