Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:
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March 22
The Vicksburg Post commends a local Catholic diocese for identifying clergy accused of child sexual abuse and encourages other faith communities to do the same:
The Catholic Diocese of Jackson took the bold step … of identifying 37 former clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.
Eleven priests and one deacon who once served in parishes in Warren County were credibly accused of the sexual abuse. Thirty of the 37 were accused of sexual abuse while serving in Mississippi with the investigated cases happening between 1939 and 1998. The other seven worked in the Mississippi diocese but were accused of abuse in other states.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz publicly apologized at a news conference outside a cathedral in downtown Jackson after the diocese published the list on its website as part of the Catholic Church’s international reckoning.
“Every case of abuse represents shattered lives and damaged families and communities,” Kopacz said. “I hope that releasing this list will demonstrate a new level of transparency and a sincere desire to accompany victims of sexual abuse as our God of compassion and justice demands. I apologize to all the victims of abuse, to their families and to the faithful who have been hurt by this scandal.”
“The good thing for me as a retired priest in Vicksburg is that the priests on the list are all from the past,” said the Rev. P.J. Curley, retired pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church.
“There isn’t any priest on the list from the present, which tells me that our diocese really is doing a good job in the protection of children, and we priests are being more educated.”
Many of the accused abusers listed have passed away and will never be held publicly accountable on this side of eternity for their alleged crimes, but many of the victims - who were boys and girls age 5-17 at the time of the abuse - are still living daily with the crimes committed against them.
We pray for them.
But we also applaud the diocese for publicly acknowledging the atrocities that have racked the Catholic Church around the world. Their transparency is welcomed and should be an eye opener for other denominations that often times sweep such sexual abuse allegations under the rug.
Abuse of any kind, but especially on children by anyone should not be tolerated and there should be justice, but first there must be acknowledgment from all faiths that sexual abuse is taking place against our young people by those we trust deeply.
Online: https://www.vicksburgpost.com/
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March 23
The Dispatch of Columbus says a bill passed by the legislature opens the door to dark money campaign contributions:
There are two kinds of elected officials: Those who believe in open government and transparency. And those who do not.
In Mississippi, the latter group is also known as Republicans.
In the Golden Triangle, they are also known as Rep. Gary Chism, Rep. Jeff Smith, Rep. Rob Roberson and Sen. Chuck Younger.
… The Mississippi Legislature passed House Bill 1205, which opens the door for dark money to be poured into our elections.
Prior to this law, the sources behind most of the money raised by politicians and political groups were publicly disclosed. Candidates, parties and political action committees - including the super PACs that are allowed to accept unlimited amounts of money - all reported the names of their donors to the Federal Election Commission (for federal elections) or the Secretary of State’s office (for state elections) on a regular basis.
When the source of political money isn’t known, that’s dark money.
In 2018, the U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service announced that nonprofits with 501(c) status would no longer be required to disclose the names and addresses of their donors on tax documents.
However, the policy change did not apply to reporting requirements for 501(c)(4) organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, Organizing for Action, the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood.
That, we assumed, was a step too far.
But it wasn’t a step too far for the Republicans in the Mississippi Legislature.
HB 1205, which passed strictly along party lines, now allows any and all organizations with any kind of 501(c) status to contribute money to political campaigns without revealing their identity.
We are disgusted by this bill, and especially disappointed in our local legislators who voted for it.
Our position is simple: Voters have a right to know who is funding our candidates’ campaigns. If a candidate is getting money from Planned Parenthood or Americans for Prosperity, that says something about that candidates’ positions. It also informs us if a candidate is beholding to interests outside the state or if his campaign is funded by his fellow Mississippians.
Why anyone, regardless of party, would think it’s a good idea to deny the voters that knowledge is difficult to fathom.
So shame on you, Gary Chism.
Shame on you, Jeff Smith.
Shame on you, Rob Roberson.
Shame on you, Chuck Younger.
Your vote ensures our political campaigns will be corrupted by dark money.
Online: https://www.cdispatch.com/
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March 26
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal advocates for retaining the Electoral College, saying it protects rural areas:
Speaking in Mississippi last week, Democratic Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren called for a change to the method the United States has long used to select its presidents.
During a televised CNN Town Hall at Jackson State University, Warren proposed an elimination of the Electoral College.
“I believe we need a constitutional amendment that protects the right to vote for every American citizen and to make sure that every vote gets counted,” Warren said in response to a question about expanding voting rights.
“.We need to make sure that every vote counts. And I want to push that right here in Mississippi because I think this is an important point. Come a general election, presidential candidates don’t come to a place like Mississippi. They also don’t come to places like California and Massachusetts because we’re not the battleground states. Well, my view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the electoral college.”
We support the general sentiment of protecting voting rights. The irony of Warren’s comments, however, is the fact that the electoral college is built on the principle of protecting rural states like Mississippi. Its creation resulted from a compromise made by our founding fathers in order to ensure the views of states with small populations were not overshadowed by their larger brethren.
Warren’s criticism is that the current system focuses too much attention on states with competitive presidential races, the so-called battleground states. Going to a true popular vote, however, would shift all of the power to the major population centers. Candidates would quickly find they had a much greater return on their time by focusing on dense cities. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and Philadelphia - which are already financial and cultural hubs - would also dominate the political arena. Not only would candidates overlook small states like ours, they also wouldn’t be likely to spend time in rural areas of larger states like New York or California.
And the shift would go deeper than where presidential candidates spent their time. Such a system would also incentivize peddling influence in the places that pack the most people - those are the areas that would receive the bulk of federal spending, would be the beneficiaries of favorable policies and would produce all of our Supreme Court justices, cabinet members and presidential running mates. In short, rural America would become virtually irrelevant on the political stage.
The current system is not broken. It is a carefully devised strategy to preserve the power of states like Mississippi. Its elimination would be a grave and costly mistake.
Online: https://www.djournal.com/
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