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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2008
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher -
Chris Bridges, editor • Email: cbridges@barrowjournal.com
The first gift
of Christmas
was a child
THERE ARE several dozen smiling
faces in this week’s newspaper, faces
which mute the cynics and renew the
faithless.
This newspaper compiled photos of
area children in a
special series of
pages this week.
These children
are those in
whose hands rest
all of our dreams.
Where but in
the eyes of a
child can you see
both the past —
little Tommy has
granddad’s eyes,
sister Suzie has
her mother’s hair
— and the future — Blake wants to be a
fireman, Jane a doctor.
Tomorrow is a memory of today by
the children, youngsters whose inno
cence is our joy, whose faces light up
our homes and whose wonder keeps
tradition alive.
Many cultures believe that it is the
old who keep traditions, who pass
down the wisdom of years and the
touchstones of life. But it is the young
who are the torchbearers. Without a
new generation to teach, traditions
mean very little.
It is that faith in the future and our
collective desire to pass the cultural
torch which makes Christmas a spe
cial season. It is a season of faith,
not only of religion, but also in our
humanity. Even with the kitsch and
commercialism being blared around
us, the fundamental desire for “peace
on earth, good will to men” rings
through. Our social conventions may
sometimes be shallow, but somehow
generation after generation will touch
the core of the Christmas spirit and be
renewed.
For some, it is a season of mixed
emotions. Amid all the gaiety, there
are the memories of friends and fami
ly who are gone. The music, the smell
of a Christmas tree and the annual
nesting of families bring back the bit
tersweet thoughts.
For others, it will be the last
Christmas together. There are those
who face the inevitable end and even
having lived a good and long life is
little consolation to the families who
will miss them.
But in the faces of their offspring,
of the great-grandchildren who laugh
and play around them, is the faith that
pulls life forward. Without the laughter
of children, there would be an empti
ness in their wake.
And so, the torch is passed and the
traditions continue, someday to be
in the hands of those who now play
around the Christmas tree and peek
up the chimney.
The past and the future come
together at Christmas — the memories
of our own childhoods mixed with the
new memories now being formed by
our children. They will someday look
back at this special time and smile
just as we do at our own childhood
memories.
And someday our children’s chil
dren will tug at the Christmas tree orna
ments and be amazed by the shimmer
ing Christmas lights along city streets.
They will sing in church plays and
perform in school concerts.
They will sit on Santa’s knee and
promise to be good so they can get that
new bike.
They will look at the nativity set and
rearrange the pieces, always making a
special place for the Baby Jesus.
They will want to watch the tape of
Rudolph until they know every line by
heart.
They will ask 1,000 questions about
the sleigh and reindeer.
They will leave milk and cookies
because Santa’s sure to be hungry.
They will check the stockings every
day, just in case.
They will eat too much candy and be
happy about it.
They will hope.
They will dream.
And they, too, will someday know
that the first gift of Christmas was a
child.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of
the Barrow Journal and Mainstreet
Newspapers, Inc. This is his annual
Christmas column.
Being thankful in difficult times
It’s 5 a.m. and I’m fresh off a 3 p.m. - 3 a.m. shift in
the ER. I’m a social worker there, which is, at times
boring — as in, “Bring me a Coke, or a blanket, or help
me make a phone call.”
It is also, at times, quite har
rowing — as in, “Call this man’s
family and tell them he has
died in an ‘MVC’ (motor vehicle
crash), and, get them here right
away to identify his body and
claim his valuables.”
Really, really bizarre work —
good work — but often really,
really bizarre work.
Tonight’s shift started out slow,
which meant I had time to com
plete my “holiday bereavement
cards.” These are personal
notes written to anyone I’ve tried to help through an
awful experience during the past year.
This year’s list included families of a “GSW” (gun
shot wound — in this case, fatal) to the head; a prema
ture and quickly fatal stroke; a suicide; a foreseen, but
still very sad heart attack; and a 10-week old baby’s
death.
Serious stuff here. These people are hurting intense
ly this holiday season and here I am, fretting about Mr.
Clark finding work.
Around 1:30 in the morning, as it often does, ER
hell broke loose.
A woman transferred from another hospital, bleed
ing badly, is in need of surgery tonight. Her distraught,
but clearly strong and connected family, signs the
consent forms and tries to deal with the news from
the surgeon that, “she probably won’t make it through
this...”
The wife and daughter of a man with untreated high
blood pressure hear that he has suffered “a massive
stroke from which he won’t recover.”
Such strong women they were, praying and crying
and talking to him, touching his chest and telling him
how much they love him and how much they needed
him to get better, while at the same time saying good
bye.
There was an intubated man, also transferred from
another hospital, his injuries the result of an MVC. In
this case, his girlfriend apparently dropped him off
Let’s shut this
IT WAS a moment for the history books last week as
15 Georgians gathered at the Golden Dome to play their
role in finalizing the Electoral College outcome of this
year’s race for president.
The ceremony was duplicat
ed in state capitals around the
nation as the members of the
Electoral College formally decid
ed that Democratic nominee
Barack Obama would become
the first African-American to be
elected president of the United
States.
Republican candidate John
McCain, who lost the election
to Obama, carried 52 percent
of Georgia’s popular vote so he
received the state’s 15 electoral
votes, which were officially cast
by 15 persons selected by the state Republican Party.
Gov. Sonny Perdue told the electors sitting at antique
wooden desks in the state Senate chamber that their
actions symbolized the peaceful transition of power that
takes place with every change of administrations.
“We understand the other side got more votes and
we accept that,” Perdue said. “We’re Americans, and
I want this administration to be successful because I
want America to be successful. We’ll have another shot
in four years.”
The certificates from the electors for Georgia and the
49 other states will be forwarded to the U.S. Senate,
where they will be formally counted and a winner
declared in a joint session of Congress held on Jan. 8.
The Electoral College is a process as old as the
American republic, but it has also been a target of
criticism for many years. You can say that it’s unfair
because presidents, unlike every other elected official
in this country, are not required to win the office by
popular vote. You can also make the argument that
it thwarts the will of the people because it allows a
candidate to win the presidency even if he receives
fewer popular votes than his opponent - as we saw with
George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
Critics also contend that the “winner take all” aspect
of awarding a state’s electors to one candidate effec
tively disenfranchises those who vote for the other
candidate: this would include the 1.8 million people
in Georgia who voted for Obama, as well as the five
at the ER and left. As head injury patients often are,
he was combative and somehow ended up heavily
sedated and on a breathing machine — no family,
friends or girlfriend in sight, no numbers in the chart
or anywhere on him to call.
Add to all that, the poor panic attack girl who was on
her second ER visit. After the seventh panic attack of
the day and you really begin to count your blessings.
After all, it is the holiday season and many of us
have brightly lit Christmas trees or other holiday deco
rations shining in our homes. We have loved ones and
good health and holiday plans that involve good food,
much laughter and excellent fellowship. It’s hard to
imagine, as we gather near our Christmas trees or
Menorahs or whatever, that some — in fact, so many
— folks are struggling so hard, just trying to make it
through the aftermath of a terrible tragedy.
On the way out of the hospital I stopped to look at
the huge Christmas tree they put up in the main lobby
each year. It’s three stories high and replete with lights
and great big shiny ornaments. Even though the hos
pital was quiet and dark, almost eerily so at 4 a.m., I
swear I heard a few strains of Silent Night swirling up
around that beautiful tree, lifting softly and sweetly
into the night.
I thought about all the sad situations and difficult
times happening to people in rooms all over this big
place — and I said a heartfelt prayer of thanks.
My life certainly has some very real, very big-seem
ing problems looming relentlessly over our heads,
even as we try to solve them. The brightness of my
New Year, given the state of the economy and Mr.
Clark’s continued unemployment, is in no way guar
anteed. But I do have a healthy family who will gather
around my Christmas tree again this year and once
again, we are all, in various degrees, okay.
Life, and God, are good, and I see that, and I hear
that, in the faces and words of so many of the people
who pass through the ER, having such very terrible
days. They talk of love, and faith, and happy memo
ries. There are no words of hate at an ER bedside.
There are only tears, and hope, and sometimes — to
those serving at that bedside — a reminder of how
thankful we all must be.
Lorin Sinn-Clark is a columnist for the Barrow
Journal. She can be reached at lorin@barrowjournal.
com
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million people in California, the four million people in
Florida, and the 2.7 million people in New York who
voted for McCain.
While the Electoral College system has not been
eliminated, it is slowly changing. Two states - Maine
and Nebraska - now provide for a portion of their
electoral votes to be awarded to the candidate who gets
the most votes in a congressional district. This feature
enabled Obama to get one electoral vote in Nebraska,
even though McCain carried the overall statewide vote.
Several states have also adopted laws that provide
for their electoral votes to be awarded to the candidate
who gets the most popular votes nationwide - with a
proviso that these laws will only take effect when they
have been adopted by states controlling a majority of
the electoral votes.
Maryland last year was the first state to adopt this
“national popular vote” compact and similar bills have
been passed by New Jersey, Hawaii and Illinois. The
same measure has been introduced in Massachusetts,
New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.
A group of Democratic legislators in Georgia plan to
introduce their own version of a “popular vote” bill in
next year’s session
“This is not a partisan issue, this is an issue about
expanding democracy,” said Sen. Nan Orrock
(D-Atlanta) at a news conference held shortly before
the Republican electors met at the capital.
While nearly 47 percent of the state’s voters supported
Obama, they “will have no voice, no representation in
the votes today that are cast for Georgia,” Orrock said.
“We believe it’s time for a change in this state and
time for a change in this country,” said Rep. Stephanie
Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur), who called the Electoral
College “flawed and outdated.”
“I should think this is a non-partisan issue, because at
some point this state could turn blue and Republicans
would want their votes to count,” Benfield added. “This
is something everyone should be supportive of.”
It is not likely that the popular vote bill will be adopted
in Georgia’s Republican-controlled legislature, but the
idea is obviously picking up support in other states.
“I think momentum is growing,” Orrock said. “It’s not
going to happen overnight - change rarely does.”
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s
Georgia Report. He can be reached at tcrawford@
caDitolimDact.net.
Time to
remember what
is important
THE ECONOMY is in the tank.
Multi-billion dollar industries in our
country, which operates on a tree-
market system, are begging for a
handout.
It’s enough
to make the
common
working man
and woman
— the ones
who hope for
even a small
raise after 12
months of
back breaking
work — bitter.
Yet, as much
as it would be,
and is, justi
fied, to be madder than you know
what about these things, I don’t find
myself thinking about them. At least
I’m not thinking about them this
week.
The timing is simply not right. My
mind is on thoughts of more impor
tant things like family and friends
and co-workers, past and present,
who made my every day existence
bearable.
Christmas is here again and I
refuse to allow myself to fall in the
steel trap of bitterness. There’ll be
plenty of time for that when the cal
endar turns to January and a new
year.
For now I find myself thinking of
Christmases past when as I child I
was fortunate to always have plenty
of presents under the tree. I realize
not all children are as fortunate. As
a child you just assume everyone
else has as much as you do. As you
grow older, you realize that is not
the case.
I find myself thinking of my grand
parents and how the holidays were
always associated with them. I recall
numerous Christmas Eves spent
with my paternal grandparents and
then Christmas morning with my
maternal grandparents. These holi
day traditions lasted for years and I
think now what I wouldn’t give to be
able to enjoy one more Christmas
Eve and one more Christmas morn
ing with all of them.
I find myself thinking of my grand
parents a great deal this time of
year. We continue a tradition today
of eating an old-fashioned Southern
breakfast as a way of honoring my
maternal grandparents. I don’t even
have to close my eyes to instantly
recall seeing what it was like during
those times in my grandparents’
home on Christmas morning. We
didn’t always have the Christmas
weather Bing Crosby sung about,
but the family gathering was perfect
all the same.
While Thanksgiving is the holiday
associated with being thankful, I
find myself giving thanks for so
much during this time of year as
well. It’s about family and friends
and all that we have been blessed
with. It’s easy to think about what
we don’t have or what we think
we have been denied. No doubt in
many cases it is justified in thinking
those things.
But I realize I have been blessed
beyond anything I have deserved.
From a strong family support system
to being employed full-time since
graduating college to recently fulfill
ing a professional goal, which I had
begun to wonder whether or not
it would ever happen, I have been
blessed mightily.
That’s why I try to share some of
my blessings with those I know. It’s
about giving a co-worker who has
been a friend something special at
Christmas and seeing the look of
appreciation on their face. It’s about
gathering with family and not think
ing about work or politics or the
problems of the world, even if only
for a little while. It’s about realizing
what’s truly important in our lives
and making sure we emphasize
those things more.
I trust this Christmas is the best
yet for you and your family. I thank
you for your bringing our paper into
your home and I look forward to a
great 2009.
Chris Bridges is editor of the
Barrow Journal. E-mail comments to
cbridges@barrowjournal. com.
chris
bridges