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   Written by on March 9, 2017 at 9:59 am

Prince Edward, Farmville are ONE Community

As we continue to watch the economic stagnation of both the town and county, citizens should demand answers and changes. The VP debate sponsored by LU was a great success and created fantastic publicity for our community, but no one is seizing the opportunity to build on this success.

New hotels being built are the result of HSC and LU. And the only recent economic development in the county was a Dollar General store in Rice, but the permit was denied.

The solution is to create economic development representing both the town and county. Hire a true professional business recruiter with real credentials, and elect a separate and independent planning commission. The town and county can share in the cost and revenues produced by these positive steps forward.

Millions of dollars were spent on Granite Falls, aka The Road To Nowhere. This white elephant is just sitting there while an apartment complex will be built next to a nice subdivision with no logical entrance or exit. Need I remind citizens how much money is being wasted on the municipal golf course, banquet room and pool. That $750,000 banquet room requiring a $37,000 roof should make every citizen take notice about wasted taxpayer money and hold officials accountable. Anyone remember how much the town spent on land to extend a runway at the municipal airport? Where does that project stand and what was the purpose? The town lost $400,000 of taxpayer money on the
sale of Mottley Lake. This loss is another example of very poor planning.

The YMCA is and should be the centerpiece of all organized community physical activity for both the town and county- complete with a new outdoor pool. We have nice parks, but don’t need to spend $50,000 for a consultant to tell us what we need in the next 10 years for recreation.

The county is stuck with The Manor. The silver lining is it’s the best golf course in Central Virginia. A joint effort by county and town would make it a showcase and attract tourism that would far exceed anyone’s expectations. Imagine a beautiful clubhouse there versus the existing municipal banquet room in the middle of nowhere. High Bridge Trail adds to our tourist showcase, but has limited parking in town. Build more free municipal parking. Our famous landmark, R Moton Museum, could be so much nicer if they received some of these funds.

Now the most serious problem in our community. Our public school system requires the combined effort of the town and county. The lack of participation by our town in the public education system has to change. School Board members should be elected from both the town and county. The success of our school system is everyone’s responsibility. Creating meaningful jobs with good wages for our school graduates is the responsibility of town and county officials.

Just divert all the money being wasted by the town and county and focus on economic development, the school system, R Moton Museum, YMCA, The Manor, and new municipal parking lots.

It’s time for change. It’s time for fiscal accountability. It’s time for town and county officials to acknowledge each other’s existence and the urgent need to work together.

We are One Community.

Randal Phillips
Farmville

Hitler and Trump

Growing up in the World War era, evil was in the form of Adolf Hitler and the (NAZI) German National Socialists. The aspects of the war have never been fully understood. One of the perpetual questions asked is: How could such a civilized and cultured people like the Germans give support to a man like Hitler and his regime?  Only in events surrounding the election of President Trump have I gleaned a possible answer to this question.  While Donald Trump has been compared to Adolf Hitler by the left, the unfortunate truth is that there are some similarities:

• A resurgence of nationalism after a period of loss of influence in world affairs

•  A perceived threat both real and imagined from a different intrusive and misunderstood culture

•  Deterioration in the economic prospects and incomes of the working middleclass masses

•  Excessive liberal intrusion by government into the lives of many

•  A seeming drifting away from free market capitalism and toward Bolshevik socialism

•  A distrust and rejection of representative government embroiled in political in-fighting, corruption, and self aggrandizement

•  A questioning of the democratic process

•  A loss of national pride

Hitler, as the leader of his Nazi Party in post World War I era denounced the liberal Weimar Republic and its policies of appeasement. As the German Communist Party, founded in 1919, grew in strength, the Nazis concentrated much of their propaganda on denunciations of Bolshevism, which they characterized as a conspiracy of international Jewish financiers and Communists.

Donald Trump became leader of a rebellious Republican Party who denounced the excessive liberal legislation that favored socialistic practices and arbitrary executive actions.  Like Hitler, he appealed to the working masses and garnered political support that earned him the presidency; and, like Hitler, outlined a program of increased economic improvement, a conservative reversal of socialistic interference in daily life, a stronger military and a more aggressive posture in world affairs.  After years of deliberate lack of border control and the obfuscation of the militant Islamic threat, Trump made moves to control these threats.

In both nations, then as now, elements of the opposition refused to acknowledge a democratic transition of power. The Communist Party of Germany and liberals vehemently and often violently opposed the transition of power.  In this frenzy of unsettled political direction, the zealots of the opposing sides formed support groups.  Out of this chaos came the paramilitary brown-shirts and the infamous SS.  Fortunately for America, while militant anarchists, socialists, racial and ethnic cadres, and liberals try to interrupt governmental activity with shouts and protests, sometimes with actual violence; the Trump supporters have not created an equivalent SA, SS, or Gestapo.  This does not mean that there are no zealots who would join a right-wing organization to fight against the zealots of the Left.

Only lately and under the above circumstances that I developed an incite to understand the problem of just how such a civilized and cultured people could give support to Hitler and his regime.  I personally question whether Hitler came to power to enact the chaos and barbarity that accrues to him since the war.  He was a man of his time and addressed the problems of the German people.  He did indeed enact an agenda that addressed many of the problems and was supported by the German masses.

Trump also has the intent to Make America Great Again.  But the absurd and militant antics of left can create an environment where the right wing zealots feel forced to organize and match absurdity with absurdity.  How much of ‘Hitlerism’ was forced on him by the antics of the left.  History is loathed to address this possibility.  I personally voted for Trump because I truly feared liberal encroachment of government and societal change, a drift away from capitalism and free enterprise.  For this I have been labeled a racist, homophobe, misogynist, deplorable citizen, white supremacist.  I believe in the American tradition of a peaceful transition of a democratically elected president and regime.  Obviously the left does not.  While I am a man of peace, I know other Trump supporters who would use violence to defend the change.  Could the left-wing anti-Trump zealots here in America force us into chaos and barbarity?  Let us hope the good will of the American character will not allow our system to be forced into a despotic defense of the current regime.

It is frightening to think that if I was hurled back to the 1920’s, I just might have supported Adolf Hitler and possibly been a Nazi.  I hope that a future generation will not have to look back on people like me and ask- How could such a civilized and cultured people such as the Americans give support to a man like Trump and his regime?   The cause just might be the hostility and absurdity of the liberal left and not any intrinsic evil of the right.  Like the Weimar Republic, the future of our American Republic may be in the hands of the Anti-Trump radicals.

David Torrence

Meherrin, Va.

Some Letters
We Don’t Print

Dear Taxpayer of Charlotte County:

We received your letter to the Editor today signed Taxpayer of Charlotte County. There are three reasons we did not run it. The first is that you did not sign your name or phone number for verification. We do not publish unsigned or unverified letters.

The second reason is that your letter was almost twice the length we allow for letters. If you send us a more concise version, we will be happy to consider publication.

The third reason is you made accusations (presented as facts) against a public official that, unless you have documentation, would create legal issues.  This could be rewritten to avoid a libel issue.

On the other hand, some of the accusations you made seem to agree with the facts we know.  I will be happy to talk with you off the record and confidentially concerning this. If we can document your statements, we can and will run a story on it.

Thank you

Averett Jones

Editor

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