Newspaper Page Text
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The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Opinion
“Difference of opinion leads
to enquiry, and enquiry to
truth. ” -Thomas Jefferson
Braseltoons by John Sheppard
"Goodnight Mickey... goodnight Minnie...
goodnight Donald... goodnight Pluto."
letters
Why no parade in Braselton?
our views
Free speech is
important to protect
IT’S EASY to defend freedom of speech when
the speaker says something you agree with. The
real test of free speech is the ability to defend it
when you disagree, or find the speech repugnant.
Such was the case earlier this week when a Gwin
nett County solicitor dismissed charges against a
Missouri man over anti-abortion images. Robert D.
Roethlisberger had been arrested near the Mall of
Georgia on “Black Friday” for having put graphic
images of abortion on his truck. Police said the im
ages were obscene and vulgar.
That case echoes a similar situation in Jeffer
son recently when anti-abortion protesters waved
graphic placards while standing on the street. Al
though city police officials wanted to harass the
protestors with some new rules, city leaders de
cided such a confrontation would be pointless.
Indeed, many of these anti-abortion protesters
are just baiting local officials with their graphic
posters and images. They want to be arrested be
cause then they become martyrs to the anti-abor
tion cause and generate a lot of publicity, making
the police look heavy-handed in the process.
Free speech is no small matter in today’s post
9-11 world where some emails, phone calls, library
books and other forms of communication are be
ing monitored by government officials. Such moni
toring and the specter of “Big Brother” gives one
pause.
So Gwinnett County prosecutors were right to re
lease Roethlisberger this week. His speech may
be offensive, repugnant and ill-advised, but it’s not
illegal.
Over-reacting to the fringe anti-abortion elements
only fuels their sense of self-righteousness.
The best thing to do is ignore it.
The Braselton News
A Publication of The Jackson Herald &
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
Mike Buffington Editor & Co-Publisher
mike@mainstreetnews. com
706-367-5233
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
scott @ mainstreenews. com
706-367-5233
Angela Gary Managing Editor
angie@mainstreetnews. com
706-367-2490
Kerri Testement News Editor
kerri@mainstreetnews.com
706-367-5986
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PO Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549
General Phone: 706-367-5233
Dear Editor:
It appears that the mayor of Braselton only cares
about the citizens and merchants of Chateau Elan.
Where is the town’s parade and the people that the
parade brought to historic downtown Braselton?
The people that the parade brings are all potential
customers to help the town’s merchants during
this tough year.
Our family had a tradition to go and watch the
Christmas parade as it came through Braselton,
but because of Mrs. Grinch, I now have to tell my
7-year-old daughter that there will be no parade
this year.
Our mayor doesn’t care about the Town of Bra
selton, only the neighborhood that she lives in. At
least the wealthy children of Chateau Elan got to
see a parade.
Sincerely,
Jeff Rodes
Braselton
Nothing but blue skies ahead for state’s senior senator
GEORGIA’S senior senator has received a little slap on the wrist from the Federal
Election Commission (FEC), the agency that compiles and monitors campaign
disclosure reports filed by candidates for Congress.
The FEC recently sent a letter to Saxby Chambliss’ campaign noting that the
senator has received several contributions in this election
cycle that may have exceeded the maximum allowable dona
tion of $2,300.
FEC officials who reviewed Chambliss’ latest financial dis
closure report flagged the names of 18 contributors who gave
money to the senator in amounts “that appear to exceed the
limits” in federal campaign laws.
The contributors cited by the FEC included the election
committee of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey’s
campaign committee, state Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), and
three corporate political action committees.
The Chambliss campaign has until Dec. 17 to clarify all of
these contributions or face the possibility of an audit by the
election commission, but Chambliss spokesman, Justin Tomc-
zak, assured a reporter that no wrongdoing has been commit
ted and the matter will be explained to everyone’s satisfaction.
“The campaign has not taken any excess contributions,” Tomczak said. “There
were no contributions taken in by the campaign in excess of FEC limits.”
Tomczak said Chambliss received money from different individuals who hap
pened to have the same name, and the FEC mistakenly attributed the contribution
to one person. Other contributors gave money intended for the primary election
and then made a separate legal contribution for the general election, he added.
The allegedly excess contributions listed in the FEC letter to Chambliss include
$9,500 from the Swisher PAC, a political action committee for a tobacco products
company. Federal campaign records show that Chambliss has received more
than $85,000 over the past decade from other tobacco-related PACs as well.
One of the contentious issues pending before Congress right now is legislation
that would continue federal funding for the children’s health insurance program
that is known as PeachCare in Georgia. Congressional Democrats and a fair
number of Republicans want to expand this funding by $35 billion over the next
five years so that an additional 10 million children can get health insurance cover
age.
That extra money for children’s health insurance would come from an increase
in the federal tax on cigarettes, a proposal that, not surprisingly, is opposed by
Big Tobacco. This legislation passed the Senate with only 29 Republicans voting
against it. One of the Republicans who heeded the tobacco industry and voted
against the bill was Chambliss. The PeachCare funding bill was ultimately vetoed
by Chambliss’ good friend, President George W. Bush.
Normally, a senator who was up for reelection would have quite a bit to worry
about if the FEC was questioning whether he had received excess contributions
and he had voted against a politically popular program like PeachCare to help out
a special interest group like Big Tobacco. Those are the kinds of actions that can
come back to haunt you in an opponent’s attack ads.
For Chambliss, all of this is merely a bump in the road as he gears up to run for
his second term in 2008.
Most major newspapers in Georgia haven’t bothered to write about - much less
make an issue of - the FEC letter or the contributions from tobacco interests.
Chambliss has no Republican primary opposition and the candidates fighting
for the Democratic nomination are woefully underfinanced.
In his most recent campaign disclosure report, Chambliss had more than $3.9
million cash he could spend on his reelection race. Here are the cash-on-hand
totals reported by the Democratic candidates: DeKalb County CEO Vernon
Jones - $265,988; former TV newsman Dale Cardwell - $35,277; environmental
scientist Rand Knight- $20,245. (Two other Democratic candidates, Josh Lanier
and Maggie Martinez, have yet to file a report of their campaign contributions.)
Chambliss thus is sitting on a pile of campaign cash that is more than 10 times
as large as the combined amount reported so far by all the Democrats.
Even more important for Chambliss, none of his prospective Democratic oppo
nents would really be considered a political heavyweight. The major Democratic
prospects like Max Cleland, Roy Barnes, Wyc Orr, Jim Butler, and David Poythress
are all taking a pass on the Senate race.
Small wonder that when Chambliss looks to the next election year, he sees noth
ing but blue skies ahead. At this point in time, there’s no real hurdle to his easy
reelection.
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
Video tapes
provide look
into family life
FOR MOST of the year, the
video camera sits tucked away in
our house — its battery charged
and tape ready to record.
But it’s that time of the season
when the little red light starts
coming on again
after its months-
long slumber.
This is the time
of year to record
plenty of fam
ily and holiday
events.
Despite being
a still-photog
raphy fan, I’ve
never caught
on to using
video cameras. There are prob
ably thousands of photos of my
13-month-old daughter, but few
videotaped moments of her.
Katie is now in that stage where
videotaping her is fun — she’s
crawling everywhere, acting silly
while eating peas and becoming
that sassy little toddler that makes
great video footage.
When I was a child, the video
camera was becoming the latest
fad in the 1980s. My family was
probably one of the first house
holds in the neighborhood to have
a video camera — despite its
bulky size.
My dad recently sent me several
of those early videotapes from
my childhood. It’s amazing that
I could remember so many de
tails about our former living room
— such as the pictures on the
walls and the decorative items on
the fireplace. My parents looked
young and skinny, too.
But there’s one thing I didn’t
remember: How annoying I was.
Maybe it was just an act for the
camera, but c’mon, I was pretty
annoying as a child.
My husband enjoyed seeing
me as a child and listening to my
conversations with the camera.
I’ve seen some silent film of him
as a child, but it’s not as much fun
without the sound.
Our home videos from the 1980s
and 1990s included the good and
the bad of family life.
The bad included all of those
hours of mindless “landscape”
shots, such as empty battle fields
on family trips, guided tours at
several tourist attractions and
a 30-minute feature of various
gingerbread houses at one event.
That’s when you use the fast-for
ward button.
But the good included those
Christmas mornings when we
were opening presents. Some of
that footage included my grand
mother, who passed away from
cancer 15 years ago. The video
tape reminded me of her voice
and mannerisms again.
As for Katie, the video camera
has only been rolling every few
months. Last week, we watched
some footage of her when she
was a newborn just last year. I
can’t believe that she has grown
so quickly.
Katie already poses for the
digital camera — I’m certain she’ll
be acting up for the video camera
soon.
Kerri Testement is news editor
for The Braselton News. Her e-
mail address is kerri@mainstreet-
news.com.
Kerri
Testement
kerri@mainstreet-
news.com