And John McCain’s assessment is dead on. Hagel, he said, “was never really brought into that real tight circle inside the White House that makes all the decisions which has put us into the incredible debacle that we’re in today throughout the world.” Undeniably, U.S. foreign policy is in a shambles. But what were the “decisions” that produced the “incredible debacle”? Who made them? Who supported them? The first would be George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, a war for which Sens. John McCain, Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton all voted. At least Sen. Hagel admitted he made a mistake on that vote. With our invasion, we dethroned Saddam and destroyed his Sunni Baathist regime. And today the Islamic State, a barbaric offshoot of al-Qaida, controls Mosul, Anbar and the Sunni third of Iraq. Kurdistan is breaking away. And a Shia government in Baghdad, closely tied to Tehran and backed by murderous anti-American Shia militias, controls the rest. Terrorism is a daily occurrence. Such is the condition of the nation which we were promised would become a model of democracy for the Middle East after a “cake-walk war.” The war lasted eight years for us, and now we are going back—to prevent a MMAAUURREEEENN EE. WWAALLTTHHEERRSS..........................................PPuubblisshheerr && EEdditoorr JJOOHHNN TT.. WWAALLTTHHEERRSS................................................................................................PPuubblliisshheerr EEmmeerriittuuss RROOBBEERRT POOZZAARRYYCCKI.................................................MMaanaaging EEdditorr JJOOSEE VVAARRGAAS.............................................Prrodducction//Saaleess MMaanaageerr DDEEBBOORRAAHH CCUUSSICCKK..............................................CClaassssiffieedd MMaannaaggeerr MMAARRLLEENNEE RRUUIZZ............................................AAssssisst. CClaassssifieedd MMaanaageerr TTIIMMEESS NNEEWWSSWWEEEEKKLLYY IIss LLiisstteedd WWiitthh TThhee SSttaannddaarrdd RRaattee && DDaattaa AAnndd IIss AA MMeemmbbeerr OOff TThhee NNeeww YYoorrkk PPrreessss AAssssoocciiaattiioonn TIMES, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2014 • 4 Letters To The Editor Times Newsweekly EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL Times Newsweekly Established In 1908 As Ridgewood Times PPhhootoo SSuubbmmissssioonnss AAnndd RReeqquueesstss Photographs submitted to the Times Newsweekly/Ridgewood Times should be in electronic high resolution (300dpi) JPEG (.jpg) or TIFF (.tif) formats. Sharp and clear non-Polaroid photo prints in color or black and white are also acceptable. Photographs submitted will become the property of this newspaper, with the exception of photos or other materials sent for use by The Old Timer and photos which are part of paid announcements. We welcome the submission of unsolicited photos or related materials for consideration of publication, but we cannot guarantee their use. The return of such photos or materials, except in cases as noted above, is not possible. We regret that we are unable to accommodate requests for photos taken by photographers working on assignment for the Times Newsweekly/Ridgewood Times. Reaching The Queens Homes Of Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Woodside, Sunnyside, Astoria, Long Island City, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Richmond Hill, Rego Park, Forest Hills, Woodhaven, Elmhurst & Kew Gardens. Reaching The Brooklyn Homes Of Ridgewood, Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East Williamsburg & Williamsburg. COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any other requirement. CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT 22001144 RRIIDDGGEEWWOOOODD TTIIMMEESS PPRRIINNTTIINNGG && PPUUBBLLIISSHHIINNGG CCOO., IINNCC. 60-71 Woodbine St., Ridgewood, N.Y. 11385 General Pub. Office: P.O. Box 863299 Ridgewood, N.Y. 11386-0299 Periodicals Postage Paid At Flushing, N.Y. (USPS 465-940) TTEELEEPHHOONEE: 11--771188--882211--77550000/77550011/77550022/77550033 FFAAXX: 11--771188--445566--00112200 EE-MMAAIILL: iinnffoo@@ttiimmeessnneewwsswweeeekkllyy..ccoomm WWEEBB SSITTEE: www.timessnnewssweekklyy.ccoom OON TTWWITTTTEER @@timessnnewssweekklyy PPUUBBLLIISSHHEEDD EEVVEERRYY TTHHUURRSSDDAAYY FFOORR OOVVEERR 110066 YYEEAARRSS PAT BUCHANAN All Show, No Go On Immigration News & Opinion Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam war veteran and the lone Republican on Obama’s national security team, has been fired. -SEE BUCHANAN ON PG. 26- Two wrongs don’t make a right on anything—not even in Washington, D.C., where everything always seems to go wrong. Last Thursday, President Barack Obama announced he would take executive action to grant residency and working papers to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. The action would prevent these individuals from being deported, but does not guarantee any path to citizenship. Republicans in Congress seethed before and after the president’s speech, labeling him a “monarch” and an “emperor” for acting unilaterally and failing to broker a deal with Congress. House Speaker John Boehner went as far as to suggest the president “cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left.” The president delivered his own jab at the soon-to-be-fully Republican-led Congress, telling them that there was only one method to make his executive action go away: “Pass a bill.” It’s like that scene from A Christmas Story in which two kids in a schoolyard dare, double-dare and triple-dog-dare each other to stick their tongue on a metal flagpole in the dead of winter. One kid blinked, stuck his tongue to the flagpole and wound up in an awful mess. Thus the immigration crisis is reduced to a political football in this country, kicked around between the parties to score points off each other in polls, elections and campaign cash. It’s nothing new: so many issues have been reduced to political footballs now that they blanket the field, making it impossible to see the grass. Few are going to admit it, but we’re going to say it: both the White House and Congress have been dead wrong on the way they’ve handled immigration the last 30 years. Democrats compared the president’s executive actions last Thursday to those taken by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (Republicans, of course) nearly three decades ago. But those actions amended a bill, the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, that Congress passed in 1986 to provide up to 3 million illegal immigrants amnesty while ensuring greater enforcement of the law. Thereafter, Reagan and Bush 41 issued executive orders to correct flaws in the law that resulted in some immigrant families being nearly divided and deported over immigration status. But the bottom line here was that the presidents acted only after Congress passed a bill. Which leads us to today’s Congress, and the previous several Congresses, that punted on immigration time and time and time again. Afraid of losing votes, afraid of losing campaign cash, afraid of political pushback, afraid of any other excuse they could give, Congress continues to sit on its hands. And here’s what really gets us: both the president and the incoming Congressional leaders know nothing substantial will come of this. How do we know? All you need to do is look at the recent history of D.C. dysfunction to realize that immigration reform isn’t happening. We give this issue a month before both sides find something else to cry about. Ideally, a president and Congress interested in solving problems would work together on a serious immigration reform bill. It would include measures to properly secure the borders to keep the bad guys out and having illegal immigrants presently in the country register with the federal government before pursuing citizenship or public benefits. The bill would also remove the red tape hindering those immigrants legally pursuing residency in the U.S. and/or gaining citizenship—and crack down on employers who exploit illegal immigrants by paying them off-the-books, well-below-minimum wages for manual labor. The U.S. is truly a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of law and order. The immigration system is out of order, and the federal government must get up and fix it now—but we’re not holding our breath. Hey Wreath Thieves: Hagel Didn’t Start The Fire We Will Find You! Dear Editor: Last week, I spoke in reference to two despicable men who stole our wreath and two American Flags from its place on our Woodhaven World War II Monument. This monument, which was placed in this Forest Parkway Plaza area in 1955, honors and is dedicated to Woodhaven residents that sacrificed their lives for us during that war. Every year, the GWDC places a wreath in honor of these brave heros, and it stays there throughout the year untouched. But these individuals who took it not only dishonored our Woodhaven heroes, but America. The GWDC will get another wreath, but just know that this was an act against our residents, our community and America. As I stated last week, we have you both on our video tape. And did we ever get you on video tape. We know who you are. Your completely disgusting act was included in your taking the wreath and flags, you twirling the wreath and then you throwing the wreath and the flags into the Jamaica Avenue traffic lanes. These guys were obviously very drunk. (You can view the video on facebook.com/WoodhavenBID) This story really went viral; I think it touched everyone to see our memorial and our American flag so disrespected. Also, the NYPD is asking for any information on these two perps to be reported to Detective Middleton at 1-718-805-3212 at the 102nd Precinct. The people in Woodhaven are outraged, for you do not disrespect our Veterans and you can not desecrate our American flag and get away with it! We will -SEE LETTERS ON PG. 24- ©Times Newsweekly - 2014- RIDGPROP
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