Republican Club

by Brian Harmon

LW contributor

Dr. Jovanka Radivojevic is the featured speaker for the next Republican Club meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. in Clubhouse 3, Room 2.

Born in Communist Yugoslavia, Radivojevic arrived via Italy to the United States in 1959, where she attended UC Berkeley and received her medical training at the University of Utah.

She will give a presentation about the life that she remembers in Communist Yugoslavia. “I can remember it very vividly,” she said.

Radivojevic said that in Yugoslavia, there was no personal freedom and life was difficult.

“We went from being occupied by the German Nazis to being occupied by Russian Communists in about one day,” she said.

“Life there was terrible for anyone who was not a member of the Communist Party, which was never more than 10 percent of the population,” she said. “You could not hold a supervisorial or professional job and were always afraid that you would be arrested for something you did or said.”

Radivojevic said that people were even afraid to talk about the long lines they had to wait in to buy food.

“Even in your apartment, you were afraid that someone would be listening,” she said.

Radivojevic said that only party members could own a house or apartment.

“The government had all the power,” she said, “and they used it to brutally suppress any deviance from completely submissive behavior.”

Radivojevic expressed concerned that America is moving in that direction with the dramatic increases in the power of government and the bureaucracy.

••• Republicans should be encouraged that the latest polling data shows the coming recall election tightening up dramatically with the race currently in a dead heat. according to Yahoo. com, KMJ Radio in Fresno, and the political website The Hill.

The Emerson College-Nexstar poll found that 46 percent of voters were in favor of the recall vote against Newsom, while 48 percent said they were opposed. The remaining six percent were undecided.

The two-percent difference is well within the margin of error.

The poll noted that the percentage of undecided voters had fallen by three percent, while those in favor of the recall had risen by three percent since the last previous poll, in mid-July, by the same group.

The majority of Republicans and independents were in favor of recalling Newsom with 80 percent and 54 percent, respectively, saying they would vote to remove him. The majority of Hispanics supported the recall.

The reasons given for support of the recall included Newsom’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the rise in crime and homelessness, concerns about what is being taught in public schools, and the roughly $10 billon spent so far on the high-speed train scheduled to go from Bakersfield to Merced, for which no track has yet been laid.

According to Forbes, Newsom has raised over $34 million, whereas funding for the recall effort plus all of the candidates opposing him adds up to less than $17 million