Forgive Stickland; eminent domain; God’s side?

Forgive Stickland

Pastor Scott Fisher has carried out a negative personal attack campaign against incumbent Jonathan Stickland in the Republican primary for House District 92.

These personal attacks relate to activities that occurred during Stickland’s youth.

On a positive note, Stickland has many outstanding qualities that are absent in Fisher’s campaign.

By all measures, Stickland is a contributing member of society, the hope and dream of every parent.

He has a job, pays taxes, votes, has a family and serves District 92 extremely well by delivering on his campaign promises. I understand he also teaches a Sunday school class.

Perhaps Fisher should attend one of Stickland’s Sunday school classes to get a lesson on forgiveness. He might learn that without forgiveness in our hearts we have nothing.

I believe that District 92 voters should condemn Fisher’s highly negative campaign and vote to keep Stickland working for us in Austin.

Eminent domain

Richard Greene claims that eminent domain was properly used to obtain property for the Texas Rangers ballpark and blamed “wealthy owners of vacant land” for trying to get more than they deserved. (See Feb. 14 column, “At ballpark, eminent domain worked as it is supposed to work.”)

However, several news articles of that time show the courts sided with the land owners to the tune of at least $11 million.

The only way to account for this is either gross incompetence or willful abuse of authority.

Further, the Rangers initially didn’t want to pay the judgments, insisting this was the city’s (taxpayers’) responsibility. This in spite of being lavished with $200 million of largely public monies to build a stadium.

True, there was an election. Voters can freely choose to tax themselves to make rich people richer, but this application of eminent domain in no way passes the test of broad public benefit.

Just more of the hypocrisy that passes for business as usual.

God’s side?

During the Civil War a pious citizen said to the president: “Mr. Lincoln, the Lord is with us. God is surely on our side in this great conflict.”

The great leader replied, “I am less anxious, my friend, to know that the Lord is on our side, than I am to make sure that we are on the Lord’s side.”

Whose side is America on today?

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Forgive Stickland; eminent domain; God’s side?."