Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Opinion
“Difference of opinion leads
to enquiry, and enquiry to
truth. ” -Thomas Jefferson
our views
Bad attitude
not a crime
IT’S LONG been an unspoken rule among police
officers to make subjects pay a little more if they
have a bad attitude. It’s common for some vague
charge like “interference with custody,” to be piled
on top of other arrest charges if a subject mouths
off to an officer.
Two recent incidents, one in Braselton and one in
Hoschton, take that to a new level, however.
In Braselton, a man was charged after he filed a
report against an officer over how his arrest was
handled. He was asked if what happened in the
report was true and when he said “Yes,” he was
charged with filing a false report
In Hoschton that same week, a man was almost
charged for laughing at an officer.
There’s a serious question here if a line is being
crossed. Should citizens be charged for what they
say to a cop, or their attitude? Is verbal disrespect
for a cop a crime?
Every circumstance is different, of course. But it
seems like a stretch to suggest cops should be im
mune from some degree of verbal backtalk. Cer
tainly, charging people with a crime for having a
bad attitude should only be done in very rare and
threatening circumstances.
When society gives a man or woman a badge
and a gun, we are giving those individuals unique
and special power. That authority to detain or de
prive others of freedom should be exercised with
restraint.
In addition, while some people backtalk cops,
sometimes the person behind the badge is to
blame. Arrogant or abusive cops do exist. Some
times, as in the case of nearby Pendergrass, en
tire police departments adopt a culture of abuse
and arrogance. Is it any wonder that when some
one encounters an arrogant cop, a verbal backlash
happens?
That’s not to say the two recent incidents in Bra
selton and Hoschton were provoked or unwar
ranted. But they do appear to come very close to
crossing a line between exercising control of a situ
ation and going too far by slamming someone for
what they say, not what they’ve done.
Cops have a tough job. Criminals often have a
bad attitude. But when you sign up to wear a badge,
such situations go with the territory.
If you can’t handle that, then you shouldn’t be
wearing a badge in the first place.
The Braselton News
A Publication of The Jackson Herald &
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
Mike Buffington Editor & Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
Angela Gary Managing Editor
Kerri Testement News Editor
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Less Than
lO Sutures
Greater Than
10 Sutures
letters
Student letters discuss community concerns
Editor’s Note: Eleventh grade students in Kay-
shelia Mitchell’s language arts class at Mill Creek
High School recently wrote editorials commenting
on issues in the community. This is a sample of
some of those editorials.
Drinking, drugs a
community problem
Dear Editor:
Teen drinking and drug use is a major problem
in our community. There have been many teen
deaths in our area in the past couple of years due
to drinking and driving.
However, not all deaths are alcohol related.
Unfortunately, some are drug related.
This recent football season, many students
have shown up at football games drunk or high
on drugs. At school functions, the administra
tors have the abusers arrested and kicked out of
school for alcohol and drug use. Also, there are
drug/alcohol episodes at school dances, which
generally causes fights between students.
These days, you can buy drugs or alcohol any
where. There are kids all the time using a fake ID,
or buying from others. It is obvious there needs
to be a better watchout for kids and bigger con
sequences for those who choose to do drugs or
drink.
If there is a solution to decrease the death rate
for teenagers for both drunk driving or drug over
dose, we need to find it. Teenage students don’t
understand that one bad choice could cost them
their life.
Sincerely,
Taylor Newman
Dear Editor:
Teen drinking and drug use is a very big conflict
in high schools and the community these days. It
causes many deaths of teens because of over
doses or being killed in a car accident.
The popular thing to do these days is to come
to a school function, like a football game, prom,
and homecoming. I believe that it is a waste of
time and if teens are caught they should have a
big punishment because if they think they are old
enough to drink, then they are old enough to step
up and take the consequence they deserve.
Fake IDs are one of the way teens get their
hands on alcohol. Many gas stations and liquor
stores are not being strict and checking IDs as
well as they need to. They are just “worked” about
selling and making money.
To help solve this problem, gas station owners
and liquor store owners should be tested and
made sure they are following the law. Conse
quence should be given to the store owners and
the teens.
Drugs and alcohol seem like a cool thing to do,
but could affect you, life in the long run and also
take your life or the life of someone else.
Sincerely,
Amanda Milby
Free clinic would
help STD problems
Dear Editor:
I believe that our city, Buford/Dacula, should
have a local free clinc. A free clinic would make
our community a better place. People could go to
get help and not have to pay a dime. It is good for
the less wealthy people in our community.
People could get checked for STD’s and AIDS.
Many high school students in my school have an
STD. Chlamydia is the biggest STD in my school
at this time. It seems that this specific thing is
growing rapidly in teens today.
Also, teen pregnancy is a big issue in society. I
know many teens who are pregnant. Some kids as
young as 12-years-old.
I have a few friends who are pregnant. Having a
free clinic they could get those girls (who choose
not to use protection) on birth control.
This step would make a difference in my area.
The free clinic could also be where teens could
have somewhere to go and somewhere to have
someone to talk to. The Hamilton Mill area would
be a wonderful place for a free clinic, in my opin
ion.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Olivia R.
Contrarian state
WHEN IT COMES to the ebb and flow of political trends in America, Georgia has
always been a place where the voters take a different course from their counter
parts in other states. As political science professor Chuck Bullock expressed it in
a recent essay, “For decades the politics of Georgia and the South rarely moved
in sync with that of the rest of the nation.”
Indeed, Georgia is usually five or 10 years behind the curve
whenever there are major changes in national or regional
politics. It’s almost as if we want to make sure something has
been tried and tested everywhere else before we’re willing to
give it a try.
Other states have gone back and forth between electing
Democrats and Republicans as governors. Georgia voters
didn’t elect a single Republican governor during the entire
duration of the 20th century.
When most of the country was electing Lyndon Johnson
president by a landslide in 1964, Georgia went for Barry Gold-
water. When the other states were picking Ronald Reagan
for president in 1980, Georgia’s voters stuck with native son
Jimmy Carter.
Other Southern states flipped from Democratic to Republican control of state
government throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Georgia was the last state
in the Deep South to turn over control of its political machinery to the Republican
Party by electing a GOP governor in 2002 and giving both Houses of the Legisla
ture a Republican majority in 2004.
Georgia voters were so late to catch up with that trend, in fact, that other South
ern states had already started flipping back from Republican to Democratic gov
ernors (as in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia) by the time Sonny Perdue
was elected as the state’s first Republican chief executive.
Off-year elections were held in many states last week and the results indicate
that much of the country is moving away from Bush Republicanism and more
towards a Democratic Party viewpoint.
Kentucky voters threw out incumbent Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher and
replaced him with Democrat Steve Beshear. Democrats recaptured control of the
state Senate in Virginia for the first time in a decade and picked up several seats
in the House as well. A former Democratic governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, is
expected to win a U.S. Senate seat next year that is currently held by a Republi
can.
Even in the conservative stronghold of Mississippi, Democrats took back control
of the state Senate from the GOP (although Mississippi voters did reelect their
Republican governor, Haley Barbour, by a wide margin).
For the most part, the results of last week’s elections reinforced the trend lines
of 2006, when Democrats experienced a nationwide resurgence and took majority
control of both the U.S. House and Senate.
This nationwide trend, of course, does not appear to be having any impact on
the contrarian state of Georgia. Our voters reelected Republican governor Sonny
Perdue to another term in 2006 by an imposing margin. The GOP remains firmly
in control of the General Assembly and probably won’t lose that control anytime
soon. It’s hard to imagine, at this point in time, that Georgia’s electoral votes in the
2008 presidential race will go to a candidate from any party but the Republican
Party.
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top state officeholder on the ballot for
2008, doesn’t have anything to worry about as he tries for a second term. Cham
bliss has about $4 million in the campaign treasury for his reelection effort and is
apparently so formidable an incumbent that no Democrat of any stature will even
oppose him.
The prospective challengers to Chambliss include a DeKalb County official who
no one takes seriously, a former TV newsman who can’t raise any money, and
several other guys that no one’s ever heard of or will ever remember.
The few Democrats with the credibility to even make it a competitive race
against Chambliss - Max Cleland, Roy Barnes, David Poythress, DuBose Porter
- have given no indications that they will get into the ring with him.
So let the rest of the country turn Democratic if it wants to. Georgia’s message
to the other states will continue to be: you guys go ahead. We’ll wait a few years
before we decide if we’re going to follow.
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news
site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.
Too dark too soon
IS IT JUST me, or has the time
change really thrown you out of the
loop?
I don’t mean the kind of time adjust
ment that occurs after the New Year
-when you keep writing the previous
year on all documentation for about
three months.
No, this year’s time change has re
ally affected me. I now want to go to
bed at 9 p.m., because that “seems”
so late since it’s been dark for several
hours at that point.
It seems odd that
while the sun is
setting, “Oprah”
is still on the air
at that time (her
show starts locally
at 4 p.m.). And it
seems like chil
dren have just a
few minutes from
the time they step
off the school bus
until the street
lights come on
- indicating it’s
time to come home
for dinner.
During my freshman year of high
school, I had to be at the bus stop at
6:20 a.m. That’s such a dreadfully-
terrible time to require a 15-year-old
to be functioning, ready to conquer
algebra within the hour.
I don’t remember seeing light
during those early mornings at the
neighborhood bus stop. The flashing
red light of the school bus was the
only hint of color down that long, dark
street.
Those were the times that I wished
light would come earlier. Now, on the
weekends, it’s either my cat or baby
that wakes before the crack of dawn.
I consider myself a morning person,
but even a morning person has to
enjoy sleeping in past 6:30 a.m. on
the weekends once in a while.
* * *
You have to love some of those
headlines on the websites of most
major newspapers, especially The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
I’ve heard the AJC has people
whose only job is to just write head
lines — and one headline this week
on their website caught my eye: “Man
marries dog.”
It’s straight and to the point — as it
turns out some guy in India really did
marry a dog. I clicked on the link and
learned that the man married the dog
because he believed it would remedy
a curse from an incident 15 years
ago when he killed two other dogs.
Another headline on a different
news website read: “Learn from
Britney Spears’ retirement plan.” Oh,
really? I thought the girl was burning
through every cent she earns (report
edly more than $700,000 a month)
without saving anything.
A click on the link confirms that
sure enough, she ain’t saving a dime.
The story goes on to offer other
people in their 20s advice on how to
save for their retirement.
Britney has been at the center of
some pretty wacky (and apparently
true) headlines this past year. For
once, this headline offered a glimpse
into the pop star’s life that could actu
ally benefit others with a lesson about
retirement savings.
* * *
In about five weeks, our living room
will become more packed with toys
from Christmas, especially electronic
toys.
I used to try to avoid giving my
friends’ children electronic toys as a
favor to my friends — that’s one less
annoying toy constantly flashing,
singing or moving on its own.
But my daughter loves some of
those toys — she loves clapping to
her singing puppy, she starts tap
ping her head when one toy sings
“Head and Shoulders,” and she’ll sit
on her Winnie the Pooh riding car just
to push the horn numerous times to
activate a singing Pooh.
I don’t get as annoyed with those
electronic toys as I thought I would
— but they are a bit creepy. Walk
away from the singing puppy and he
starts saying “I love you” and “hug
me.” Leave the electronic piano for
a while and it starts playing its own
songs to entice a child to play along.
Approach the musical soup bowl and
it starts singing the alphabet song.
The toys nowadays are getting so
sophicatated that even they require
the attention of someone playing with
them.
Kerri Testement is news editor of The
Braselton News. She can be reached at
kerri@mainstreetnews. com.
Kerri
Testement
kerri@mainstreet-
news.com