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♦ 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.