Columnist Allen; deer disease; policing; CEOs and taxes

Columnist Allen

Cynthia M. Allen’s opinion columns are long, pontificating statements of common ultraconservative thinking.

In her Friday column, “Lessons for all sides in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Minnesota shootings,” Allen, as usual, twisted facts to suit her opinions.

Example: “Those on the left ... have been forced to concede that their rhetoric ... may have contributed to the murder of five police officers ...”

Please tell us what left-leaning rhetoric contributed to the police deaths in Dallas, and exactly who conceded that it did so.

The inflammatory rhetoric of politicians like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick seems much more likely to incite violence, but now is not the time to explore that subject.

If this column was truly written in a conciliatory attempt, couldn’t Allen for once resist inserting her reactionary bias? Be a truth-teller. That would be a much-needed change for the positive.

In her Friday column, Cynthia M. Allen veered from her fairly balanced early comments regarding the Dallas debacle of a few days ago to directly attribute the actions of the shooter to anger “about the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Perhaps he had given her a prior interview regarding the motivation for his plan?

Most indications are that those influenced by that movement were peacefully expressing frustration over the unequal application of the basic principles of civil justice.

Deer disease

Robert McFarlane must not have read the piece he was commenting on (“Texas rules go too far in deer disease fight,” July 5) when he falsely claimed that deer breeding operations are “the only places” where chronic wasting disease has been found (“Don’t let deer disease live and spread to humans,” July 7).

It was first found in Texas in 2012 in free-ranging animals in the West Texas Hueco Mountains, and it was found in free-ranging animals in the Panhandle earlier this year.

McFarlane also wrote that should CWD “get into the wild, the genie cannot be put back into the bottle.” The genie is already out.

CWD is in the free-ranging deer in Texas and about 20 other states. Free-ranging animals have spread the disease, and scientists also believe the disease can appear spontaneously, especially after its discovery in Norway this year, seemingly out of the blue.

And, as McFarlane concurs, the state needs to do more CWD testing of free-ranging deer.

Right now, the state tests fewer than 1 percent of these animals and has no good idea of where CWD is and isn’t among the free-ranging herd.

McFarlane is rushing to conclusions. Based on these facts, to single out deer breeding operations is simply irresponsible. The state needs to focus on free-ranging animals — and fast.

Policing

I disagree that African-American police officers should police African-American neighborhoods. (See Thursday commentary “Black communities should have black police officers.”)

The only way to resolve diversity is to become familiar with the differences of cultures.

African-Americans must not feel uncomfortable around white police officers and white people must not feel uncomfortable around African-American police officers.

In the words of President Obama, “There is no black America, there is no white America. There is only the United States of America.”

We must also live up to the words in the Pledge of Allegiance: “One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

CEOs and taxes

I had to giggle about your July 8 editorial (“New York is taunting us, but note what CEOs say”).

Most cutting-edge CEOs realize that taxes, or lack thereof, can be that 1 or 2 percentage points that help them keep their jobs and, more important, their employees.

I don’t know if I want to meet a CEO who lightly considers taxes. Maybe that’s why many companies are moving to Texas.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Columnist Allen; deer disease; policing; CEOs and taxes."