Antietam National Battlefield seeks public input

NEWS AND OPINION:

There are some big plans for a well-known Civil War battlefield.

The National Park Service is in the process of amending a 30-year-old management plan for Antietam National Battlefield, site of the “bloodied single-day battle in American history,” the service said in a public announcement.

The new amendment is intended to “guide the evolving management of the historic battlefield landscape,” among other goals. It makes for interesting reading; there’s “Alternate A” and “Alternate B” plans regarding trees, meadows, stone walls, wildlife, creeks, trails, historic structures, farmsteads and much more.

The public is invited to weigh in on this weighty project; the battlefield itself is located in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

“The purpose of the plan is to develop comprehensive and sustainable land-use strategies that will preserve significant landscape elements and integrate natural and cultural resources. The plan will define the framework for the treatment of the battlefield describing specific guidelines and tasks aimed to maintain and enhance its historic character. Some of the issues the updated plan will address are invasive plant species, pests, erosion of the battlefield, protection of witness trees, improving agricultural and watershed stewardship and climate change impacts,” the Park Service said.

“Public participation is vital to the planning process,” it noted.  

Interested? You can review the assessment of the site and offer comments online through Aug. 8. Visit the planning website at Parkplanning.nps.gov/antilandscape.

Written comments are welcome at this address: Superintendent, Attn: Landscape Management Plan, Antietam National Battlefield, P.O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, Md. 21782.

THE PLOT THICKENS

Some wonder whether the current curse of inflation, increased taxes and other financial woes is part of deliberate White House plot.

Is it? One analyst cites a historic quote from a Russian communist revolutionary to help answer that question.

“Vladimir Lenin supposedly once said, ‘The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.’ There’s some doubt as to whether this line is genuine; regardless, it seems like a pretty good description of what the Biden administration is doing to America’s middle class,” wrote Glenn H. Reynolds — a law professor at the University of Tennessee and founder of the InstaPundit.com blog — in an essay for the New York Post.

“Inflation is running rampant. The Producer Price Index, the most useful measure of general inflation, is up a whopping 16.3% from April 2021, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” he continued citing the administration policies — such as curbing oil drilling or pushing organic fertilizers — which added to hefty gas prices, among other things.

“So does the Biden administration actually want to see middle-class Americans reduced to poverty and privation? Or is it just too stupid to foresee the obvious consequences of its own actions? At this point, I’m not even sure which is worse,” Mr. Reynolds said.

“But with the midterms coming, no amount of talk about gun control, abortion or other Democratic hot-button issues is going to distract Americans from what’s happening to their pocketbooks,” he noted.

And Mr. Reynolds’ one-word reaction to that political development?

“Good,” he declared.

FOR THE LEXICON

“Omicron OMG or LOL.”

This suggested name for a coronavirus variant is from Ed Morrissey, senior editor for HotAir.com, using popular shorthand for “Oh, my God” and “laugh out loud.” He is fed up with media hysteria over each warning from the medical community that a new variant has surfaced.

“Americans have had it with COVID Chicken Littleism. Variants will come and go, just as they do with the flu, which can also be lethal for vulnerable populations. We have to make sure we have the proper resources to deal with the inevitable outbreaks, but the idea that we need to live in a permanent emergency posture is not just unrealistic but unsupported by the data we have at present. That’s the kind of data presentation we used to expect from the media, but which has been sadly lacking for most of the past two-plus years,” Mr. Morrissey wrote in an essay for HotAir.

“This is not a pandemic any longer. It’s an endemic disease which we have to incorporate into our normal pattern of living, and quit freaking out unless the data makes it clear that freaking out is an absolute necessity,” he said.

WHERE’S JOE?

President Biden was in his Delaware beach retreat over the weekend, his third visit to the spot since June, according to the Cape Gazette, which follows the news of Delaware’s “Cape Region.”

The Republican Party, of course, is not particularly thrilled by such activities.

“While Joe Biden vacations nearly every weekend, Americans are forced to cancel their summer plans due to skyrocketing prices. Joe Biden’s priorities lie in Rehoboth Beach, relaxing on vacation ­– and not with the American people,” said Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Vaughn in a statement.

Another GOP observer has a different take on the question of Mr. Biden’s whereabouts.

“It’s a question we frequently ask: where is Joe Biden? Since the beginning of 2022, Biden has participated in just two press interviews, one of which was in print. By contrast, Kamala Harris has done at least 36 press interviews since the beginning of the year – or 18 times as many as the commander-in-chief,” said Jacob Schneider, deputy director of rapid response for the Republican National Committee, also in a statement.

“So, what exactly is Joe Biden doing? Certainly not talking to the press,” he added.

POLL DU JOUR

• 85% of U.S. adults say the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction.

• 79% say the state of the nation’s economy is “poor.”

• 69% disapprove of the way President Biden is handling the U.S. economy.

• 45% disapprove of the way he is handling the coronavirus pandemic.

• 45% disapprove of the way he is handling gun policy.

SOURCE: An Associated Press/NORC Center hill of 1,053 U.S. adults conducted June 23-27 and released Friday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.