Newspaper Page Text
♦ TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2006
4A
Mau&bm
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
Timing is everything
Would you believe, according to
one Hollywood report, that prior
to United Kingdom officials dis
covering four major terrorist plots - so
far, with investigations on-going - this
past week, only 35 percent of those polled
said they wanted to see Oliver Stone’s
new “World Trade Center” movie?
That number after the UK’s operation:
83 percent.
That’s right, 83 percent of those polled
said they would now go and see the movie
versus a lowly 35 percent the week prior
to events overseas.
Is that amazing or what?
Obviously
9/11 holds
bad memo
ries for us
all, and that
would go a
long way to
explain why
people would
not want to
go and see
the movie.
But, what’s behind the mentally for the
sudden change?
One reporter on TY not on the afore
mentioned Hollywood report but on why
people would want to see it in general,
explained it as the events of Sept. 11
now seem more “relevant” to us.
What happened on 9/11 might now
seem “watered down” to us, the reporter
said. We may have finally resolved this
- dealing with the constant possibility
of a terrorist attack - is our future, he
added.
Maybe, maybe not.
Despite the Hollywood, or any other
report, the fact of the matter is there are
millions of Americans who will never see
or want to see the movie.
Proof of that is the fact it finished No. 3
at the box office over the weekend.
In fact, it couldn’t even topple last
and this week’s No. 1 Talladega Nights:
The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, a comedy
featuring Will Ferrell and poking fun at
NASCAR or Step Up, a teenage dance
romance.
Letter to the Editor
We pay enough taxes
How much tax do we pay? I really cannot think of
anything for which we are not taxed! Can anyone figure
exactly what percentage of taxes we do pay? I guess the
main job of any politician is to figure how to get more
taxes. Enough is enough!! Below is a list of taxes we pay
and I am sure others can come up with some not listed.
Read them and weep folks - this is a list of taxes we pay.
Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL
License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog
License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment
Tax, Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit
Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax,
Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real
Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax,
State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax, Telephone
Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service
Fee.
Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone
Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone
State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility
Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales
Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax and
Workers Compensation Tax.
Jack H Wilboume, Warner Robins
Worth Repeating
“To observe modern Middle East history and conclude
that Arabs just can’t function with democracy-just leave
them alone, is ignorant of the Arab past, unconcerned
with the Arab present, and contemptuous of the Arab
future.”
Lewis, Bernard
Obviously 9/11 holds
bad memories tor us
all, and that would go a
long way to explain why
people would not want
to go and see the movie.
Eminent domain can be a valuable tool
There are two kinds of people on
Saint Simons Island. There are
the real natives, whose heritage
is tied to the land and the sea. And
there are others who recognized the
island as a great place to retire or have
a second home.
A few years ago I happened upon an
early morning gathering of coffee drink
ers at a gas station. Most of the men in
the group were from somewhere else
who had settled on the island. A couple
of them were real natives. They looked
and talked the part.
The topic of conversation that morn
ing was the way price of land on Saint
Simons as it continued to go up. There
was talk about building lots on the
marshes where the asking price was
more than a million dollars. (I never
have understood why anyone would
want to build a home on one of the
marshes, at any price.)
While the non-natives talked high
prices and how to capitalize on the real
estate boom, one of the natives put
things in perspective.
He said, “The people who own the
land sure are proud of it.”
When I read that the owner of some
land at the intersection of Lake Joy
Road and Highway 96 wanted $1 mil
lion for a right of way easement I
. thought of that incident.
Surely the owner of that land at 96
and Lake Joy Road must be very proud
of it.
City Attorney Jim Elliott reported
that the city was unable to buy the
"s. f lfs a shame the '
'vs K i on ' y time p°i iticians worr y \
y I about voter needs is j
need voters^/
The untold story of McKinney's demise
I wrote last week that our
Insider Advantage,(Majority Opinion
survey showed that controversial
Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney
would likely lose her primary runoff
election against former county com
missioner Hank Johnson in Georgia’s
4th District.
McKinney lost handily. Beyond that,
her final hours before eventually con
ceding defeat made for the most under
reported and bizarre story of a politi
cal exit I’ve ever seen in my years of
participating in or analyzing political
races around the country.
I had agreed to join the anchor desk
at Atlanta’s NBC-TV affiliate to pro
vide analysis for that day’s elections.
As the night wore on, it became clear
that McKinney would lose in a land
slide, just as our poll had suggested.
As the regular broadcast wrapped
up at 11:30 p.m., McKinney had yet to
appear publicly to concede the election,
as custom dictates.
Beyond that, earlier in the day her
bodyguards had scuffled with a cam
eraman from the same NBC affiliate.
We signed off, and the station
switched to the network feed of NBC’s
“Tonight Show.” That’s when the
bizarre ending of Cynthia McKinney
started to unfold.
During the day, McKinney had been
accompanied everywhere by a phalanx
of bodyguards. Reportedly, they held
no official law-enforcement positions.
Also, some of them reportedly were
affiliated with political groups or posi
tions described by some as extremist.
It remains to be seen if their politi
cal leanings and affiliations are so.
Regardless, McKinney crisscrossed the
district throughout the day in a white
Hummer, all the while refusing to
allow the approach of the public or
media, the lot of whom was fended off
by these menacing guards.
Now let’s jump ahead to that night,
and the unfunniest “Tonight Show”
OPINION
easement needed to widen the road at
the intersection at a reasonable price.
So the city has resorted to eminent
domain, a legal procedure through
which a government can acquire prop
erty for government purposes at fair
market value. The city will pay a little
more than $6,000 for the easement
instead of $1 million.
Actually, in growing Houston County
most property owners have donated
easements to the county and city gov
ernments, rather than requiring pay
ment. Road improvements have a way
of making adjacent land more valu
able.
Most of the right of way and ease
ments on the extension of Russell
Parkway (adding up to several acres in
some instances) were donated so that
the road could be constructed.
When I was mayor we went through
the acquisition of easements for
Russell Parkway from Wellborn Road
to Houston Lake Road and Moody
Road from Russell Parkway to Feagan
Mill Road.
Almost all of the easements were
donated by property owners who knew
I’ve ever sat through. Not because host
Jay Leno was out of form, but because
back in the studio we could also see
on the monitors a commotion in the
ballroom of McKinney headquarters.
I pointed out to anchors Brenda Wood
and Ted Hall that something odd was
happening. Then we heard shouting in
the newsroom itself, from where station
officials were phoning 911. A station
cameraman allegedly had been struck
at McKinney headquarters by one of
her bodyguards, and then chased to a
nearby satellite news truck, where he
and others locked the doors and were
surrounded.
The original raw video footage fed
into the station showed McKinney
entering her headquarters like a hip
hop artist, with bodyguards shouting
at a clearly agitated crowd.
As of this writing, police were
still investigating the incident. The
McKinney bodyguard believed to be
involved in the altercation - a man
apparently nationally known for his
martial arts skill, as well as for his
involvement in similar past inci
dents - claimed that the cameraman
had thrown his camera at him, the
bodyguard. Also, there were claims
McKinney’s mother was struck by
media equipment.
Anyone familiar with the cost of this
kind of camera equipment has to doubt
it would be a weapon of choice.
The video showed fists flying and
the cameraman being knocked to the
ground.
It got stranger still. Finally McKinney
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
* jL.
Matt
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
improvement of these roads would
benefit them.
A few property owners held out and
we had to pay them. But most of the
property owners were glad to help
make these projects possible. They
knew that they would benefit, too.
Fortunately, when acquisition of
easements or a right of way breaks
down governments can fall back on
eminent domain as a last resort. It is a
valuable tool that governments should
use sparingly and wisely.
Eminent domain has been getting
a bad rap in recent years because it
has been abused in some places. There
have been occasions around the coun
try where property has been taken to
make way for shopping centers, Wal-
Marts, condos, etc., merely because it
would increase taxes.
That is wrong, though the courts
have permitted it at the expense of
people who have had their livelihoods
taken away from them.
Fortunately, the pendulum is swing
ing against governments that abuse
eminent domain and public sentiment
is putting pressure on greedy officials
to use this tool only in the way it origi
nally was created.
To my knowledge, our elected offi
cials have demonstrated respect for
private ownership and have not even
attempted to get around the spirit of
the law.
More property creating more taxes
is good, but not at the expense of indi
vidual property rights.
appeared before reporters. She sum
moned her supporters to the stage,
separating them from the press. Next
was heard a song by the artist Pink
that was directed at a clearly demon
ized President Bush. McKinney then
commenced a rambling speech that,
among other things, implied fraud in
the electronic voting that day.
She also thanked or expressed sup
port for all sorts of groups and even for
eign nations, including Venezuela, an
avowed enemy of the United States.
At least that’s what we thought we
heard. Media reports have since sur
faced of anti-Semitic remarks hurled
at media by McKinney supporters as
they left the headquarters. One report
er for a major national newspaper
claimed she was threatened with being
“thrown down the stairs or the escala
tor” if she didn’t vacate an area near
where McKinney was holed up.
Every corner of that headquarters
emanated fear and hatred.
I have to make this clear. In last
week’s column, I recalled the bright
and personable Cynthia McKinney I
knew back in 1990. And it’s not my
place to summarily judge her in 2006.
But I now know why our polling of
this primary runoff election showed
so accurately that McKinney would be
trounced. Clearly, this heavily African-
American district she represented no
longer wanted to be associated with
her brand of representation.
Matt Towery served as the chairman
of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s
political organization from 1992 until
Gingrich left Congress. He is a former
Georgia state representative, the author
of several books and currently heads the
polling and political information firm,
Insider Advantage. To find out more
about Matthew Towery and read fea
tures by other Creators Syndicate writ
ers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web page at www.creators.
com.