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By J. Edward Howell Jr.
Your Turn

I was born in the family home on Smiths Ferry Road in Southampton County ninety years ago at 7 a.m. EST.  Yes, all eleven pounds of me breathed my first breath of air. For my Mom, my birth was not easy. Because of me, she suffered eclampsia, but she endured, and all was well. 

I chose to tell you this because life can be hard, even at its best. As I celebrated my ninetieth birthday, I spent my morning in the doctor’s office and my afternoon at the hospital for blood work and a urinalysis. I am not complaining; I am simply telling you that life presents challenges to us, and we either give in or say, “Woe is me,” or we pull up our big boy pants and move on through the distressing times.  

Now, I want to shift to a situation in which we have the power to change. President Biden loves to bullhorn us and tell us how good everything is. He tells us that 19% inflation is a good thing—it is progress. Ask the single mom who pulls up to the gas pump and can only afford to buy a few gallons of gas. Yet she has to drive her kids to school and then drive to work. Ask her if times are “good.”

As Israel fights for its own safety for their citizens, Biden condemns Israel for committing war crimes. When Biden pulled out of Afghanistan, he left $80 billion worth of arms and, planes and tanks at Bagram Air Base for the terrorist regimes. Biden also airlifted thousands of undocumented people out of Kabul, leaving documented Americans behind and several American service members dead. Our armed forces are no longer the warriors they once were. They cannot meet their recruitment quotas. 

Biden says he knows what he is doing, and it is good. Biden began the inflation surge when he took office, shut down the Keystone Pipeline, and denied the oil producers from drilling any new sites. He thinks it is better that we buy oil from dictatorships like Russia and Venezuela than to use our own. The truth is that the United States has greater oil deposits than the Middle East. To fool the people when gas and other fuel prices began to rise, he drew down on our Strategic Oil Reserve to increase supply temporarily. It is down to its lowest point ever. If war comes, we must give soldiers bicycles to go to war. 

High fuel prices increase the production costs of every product. Transportation costs have to increase due to higher fuel costs. Every step of modern manufacturing and the food supply chain is affected by high fuel costs. Biden says manufacturers are raising prices and causing “shrinkflation” to steal from consumers. Mortgage rates have increased to the point where young couples trying to buy a house cannot afford one. 

And I end with this: Biden is showing signs of severe dementia. He appears unable to make decisions, even of a personal nature. For example, which way do I go to get off this stage? It is up to us, both me and you, to decide whether we want to save this Republic. Voting for Biden will only accelerate the nation’s demise.

In closing, I warn you of the seriousness of this election. The country is about evenly divided politically. The present Democratic leadership is determined to keep the White House. Whichever way the vote goes, the integrity of the election will be in question. When words and debate fail, what is the alternative? You tell me. The political temperament is more heated and more determined than in 1861. Will the color of our uniforms be the same?

J. EDWARD HOWELL JR. is a native of Southampton County. He can be reached via email at jimmy9298@charter.net.