Opinion

Enjoying your schadenfreude?

My friend and neighbor on Bolivar, Rusty Cluck, pulls some mighty big words out of his hat from time to time. I confess up front that I got this one and the idea for this column when reading something he wrote recently. He told a woman to “enjoy her schadenfreude,” and I wanted to be certain I understood what it meant. The woman writer has an overly offensive attitude and she is at her worst when writing.

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Do the right thing

The selection of Dr. Timothy Chargois as the new superintendent of the Beaumont Independent School District was greeted with a sigh of relief by beleaguered citizens who hoped the unanimous vote on the usually divided Board of Trustees signaled a new day at BISD. That might ultimately prove to be the case, but as Ringo Starr once sang, “It don’t come easy.”

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The witness

Standing up to Joe ‘Quarterback,’ the bully
 

Dr. E. Jean Pierre-Pipkin was an educator in Beaumont for 45 years. Now 76 years old, the petite woman is retired but her memory is sharp as a tack, and she has not forgotten the brutal actions visited upon her in 2005 at age 70 by Jefferson County Constable for Precinct 6 Joe “Quarterback” Stevenson, who currently wants voters to elect him sheriff.

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Changing times

When Dr. Timothy Chargois was named the new superintendent of the Beaumont Independent School District, there was a sigh of relief heard both inside and outside the district.

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A step backward in health

Hypocrisy continues to prevail in Texas, particularly in the area of health. Governor Perry and others continue to promote the idea of everybody being responsible by their own health care by way of insurance. Republicans also go bonkers by attacking every organization that has ever favored allowing legal abortions – protecting the unborn, they call it. Unfortunately, at the same time, the already born do not fare so well. A recent study has demonstrated that Texas leads the nation in children’s deaths due to abuse.

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Commit the people, then troops

Unfortunately, too many Americans seem to be ignoring the fact that one of the greatest causes for the amount of debt our nation now is burden by is our two undeclared wars.

Rachel Maddow, a MSNBC personality, has recently written a book titled, “Drift.” The theme of the book is that America has begun to drift into a war-like country, too ready to engage in international intervention and adventurism.

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Accountability

School district police must investigate, not cover up

When the Beaumont Independent School District formed its own police department, administrators cited the need to provide security for its many facilities. Accepting their stated good intentions does not diminish the duty to investigate allegations of wrongdoing – rather than cover up incidents the districts might find embarrassing or for which they might be held financially liable.

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Doing the right thing because it’s right

The attempt by the Beaumont City Attorney’s office to protect Kendrick Perkins’ reputation rather than stand by the Beaumont Police Department is appalling. A full investigation would, at worst, reveal illegal actions and, at best, serious impropriety.

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Texas leaders lack vision

An oft repeated adage is that when the leaders lack vision, the people perish. Nothing could be truer as demonstrated by Texas today. Our governor and fellow Republicans apparently believe that the way for Texas to prosper is to keep taxes low, wages low and any benefits or consideration for the average worker almost non-existent. While Texas has provided great opportunities for the wealthy, who are drawn here because of the low taxes and low wages, Texas has not done right by the poor — nor the middle class.

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Evaluating the ‘enoughs’ in our lives

Regular readers know that I try to write about things about which we all have a mutual interest. Recently I have been writing about the wonderful state of Texas and her majestic beauties. I love this place and have called it home now for over a decade.

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