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Opinion: Future of our children is a major issue, says Potsdam resident

Posted 9/12/18

To the Editor: The news waves have been saturated with eulogies for Aretha Franklin and John McCain since their passing. What are the characteristics these two people have in common? The answer? …

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Opinion: Future of our children is a major issue, says Potsdam resident

Posted

To the Editor:

The news waves have been saturated with eulogies for Aretha Franklin and John McCain since their passing. What are the characteristics these two people have in common?

The answer? Despite their many accomplishments in their chosen fields, almost every eulogy has focused more on their values, kindness, and respectful treatment of people than on their many successes throughout their lengthy careers.

As parents, professional educators and citizens it is important that we focus on what is really important in life. Our children deserve no less than that we model the behaviors we expect of them.

We cannot excuse the behaviors of our president by claiming that the issues he supports are what is important. The future of our children is an issue.

While our current representative in Congress works hard and supports many issues that are important to her constituents, where is she on the issue of the role modeling our children are experiencing from their president? Where is she regarding student loans, separation of children from their parents, tax cuts which are resulting in a runaway deficit that will cause politicians to call for reductions in funding for education, social security, Medicare, and other safety-net programs that are critical to serving many rural, poverty-stricken communities like ours?

We need a representative who will speak out on these issues, whether this is popular with her party or not.

To paraphrase Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.”

Don Mesibov

Potsdam