Newspaper Page Text
OPINION
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2024 • PAGE 5
leaves be
Spring is here, which means
it's the time of year when many
gardeners look at their shriveled
flower beds or leaf-covered yards
and think, "How did I let it get this
bad?"
I, too, used to look at the brown,
sad remains of previous plant life in
my garden and think "I should really
clean this out, it looks terrible."
But the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is giving us all a good
reason to leave those leaves right
where they fall.
According to the EPA's website,
many pollinators use old plant
Let those
material to hibernate. "Pollinators
overwinter in places like hollow
stems, piles of wood and leaf
litter," states the EPA's website.
"Leave garden beds and other areas
undisturbed until you see pollinator
activity in the spring."
Now that the bees are starting
to buzz, the EPA recommends
following these steps to help
pollinators help our plants:
• Keep soil still and avoid tilling in
areas that appear to have insect
activity or where you've seen
ground nesting pollinators in the
past. When planting, leave some
areas bare for ground nesting.
• Fill up your fountains and bird
baths to provide a source of clean
water for emerging pollinators.
• Do not use pesticides or
herbicides as they may harm
pollinators and their habitat.
• Incorporate a diverse mix of native
plants best suited for your climate
and region. Visit pollinator.org/
guides for eco-regional planting
guides.
• Create a garden debris area. Leave
some sticks and stems in a pile
year-round to provide habitat for
pollinators.
So, the next time you look at
that leaf pile or dried up remains
from gardens' past, just remember
you're assisting pollinators by not
lifting a finger.
Would you rather...?
There is a popular "icebreaker"
game that can be used to get to
know someone better, which rose to
popularity among Generation X and
has continued sufficiently to now
have its own app on Android phones
called: Would you rather?
I have also noted—in the play of
younger Generation Z participants
and related TikTok videos—that
the choices often take a darker and
more dystopian path with very little
optimism about our future, such
as: "Would you rather have to live
without electricity and your mobile
phone, or lose a limb?"
However, as we look
ahead in this increasingly anti-
climactic election year and
Presidential Election cycle,
neither primary "Would you
rather?" candidate option is
apparently palatable to millions
of American voters. Yes, there
are millions who strongly support
President Joe Biden as well as
former President Donald Trump,
and they believe that each deserves
a second term. Yet, there are almost
as many independents, non-aligned,
Libertarian, and other potential
third-party voters second guessing
if this is the election which might
allow a path for a party or candidate
who does not lead with an R or a D.
For some Democrats, there is
unease with Biden's foreign policy
regarding Israel and related civilian
casualties in Gaza as well as with
promises made—yet not kept—to
various constituencies during the
2020 campaign. Given additional
concerns about Biden's age and
health, cognition and apparent
frailties in public, his base also
seems a bit wobblier.
Trump has had his own series of
misstatements or apparent short-
circuits on the campaign trail as
well as his growing legal challenges,
fines, fees, and pending property
liens. These challenges may help
Trump go down in history as our
most prosecuted presidential
candidate and potentially
president. Admittedly, Trump much
prefers the term persecuted.
Despite these facts—post-
Super Tuesday and the Georgia
Presidential Preference Primary-
each likely nominee has won
sufficient delegates to claim their
respective party nomination. Yet,
the enthusiasm in each camp is
more than a bit underwhelming.
For Trump there are
suburbanites, large blocks of women
voters, and many more centrist GOP
voters who will not support him as
nominee. Judging by not only the
votes received by former South
Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, but
by declarative statements made
by GOP primary voters during exit
polling in nearly 20 states, roughly
20 percent of the GOP voting base is
not with Trump and claim they
will not support his re-election.
Additionally—under the
promises not kept banner—Biden's
support is much softer among Black
voters, a demographic he needs
to win by more than commanding
percentages to retain the White
House. In exit polls, Black men have
shared that the incumbent president
is not who they consider their
party's best hope. Many younger
Democratic voters simply are wary
of having an ailing octogenarian
carrying their banner.
Georgia's Presidential
Primary followed Super Tuesday,
with both party nomination
outcomes becoming
clearer. Yet nearly 500,000
Georgians voted early or via
absentee. Georgia has more than
7 million registered voters, and the
combined GOP and Democratic
Preference Primary vote was roughly
862,000 ballots. The turnout, which
was split between the two parties,
comes to a total barely greater
than 11 percent.
Yes, Biden and Trump won
each contest by vast majorities.
However, there were multiple
other candidates on each ballot
in the event that voters chose
to express their discontent with
their upcoming weak "Would you
rather?" options. This means that
nearly 90 percent of Georgia voters
expressed no preference for either
party or candidate.
I have previously voted
Libertarian and other third-party
choices, and it appears I will be
doing so again this fall. To be
successful, a third party should
now be securing ballot access—
as the Libertarians have in most
states—and grooming a magnetic,
knowledgeable candidate with the
comparative stamina and youth to
handle the rigors and stress of one
of the most demanding jobs on the
planet.
In November, I suggest that
each voter actually participate, vote
their conscience, and not feel bound
solely to select from the lesser of
two evils - if nothing else to send
a message to both major parties
that there still is a political center in
this nation, and that voters deserve
candidates with common sense and
who are focused on the common
good and on solving the nation's
problems, more than getting their
way, blocking the other party or
settling political scores. At least, that
is what I would rather.
Bill Crane is political analyst and
commentator in metro Atlanta, as well
as a columnist for The Champion, DeKalb
Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is
a DeKalb native and business owner,
living in Scottdale. You can contact him or
comment on a column at bill.csicrane@
gmail.com.
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