Newspaper Page Text
♦ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2006
4A
Houston .TJounml
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
It's not a 'commercial'
venture
You’ve got to give politicians their
props.
Unfortunately, that statement today
doesn’t mean give them a pat on the back.
It is quite often meant literally.
Last election it wasn’t necessary but appar
ently this one we’ve entered the technologi
cal age. Everybody has to have a prop.
For example: In one commercial a candi
date is portrayed as Pinocchio. In another
Little Leaguers are used to get the mes
sage out, in another a high school football
coach.
In yet one
more a gal
ley of slaves is
shown in the
background
rowing a ship.
What’s next,
Sonny Perdue
as Shrek III?
Politics is not
Star Wars. It
may be about
Star Wars but
we don’t need
Mac Collins
to dress up
as Yoda: “Cut
taxes I will.”
Ridiculous?
Yes. We don’t need the fancy special
effects.
How about this: Just give it to us straight.
Stop telling us what your opponent is
against. And by the way, telling us your
opponent is against lower taxes without
telling us you’re for them just doesn’t cut
it. We’re not going to fall for assumptions.
Tell us.
Start telling us what you’re for and leave
the Hollywood theatrics to the profession
als.
Letter to the Edhor
National media failing us
Our national media have failed us miserably.
It has inundated us with the caterwauling of Republican
and Democrats and deprived us of alternative candi
dates.
Who are the Libertarian, Communist, Socialist,
American Independent candidates for public office? TV
radio and print sources don’t tell us.
We need to do more to ensure more voices in the politi
cal process.
First, we must change the Constitution and rid it of the
Electoral College and change to a majority rules.
That would also keep elections out of the hands of
judges and legislative officials. The guy with the most
votes gets to be president.
We need an amendment that prevents restrictive laws
that prevent political parties from getting their candi
dates on the ballot.
Third, we need restrictions on the amount of money
candidates can spend on their races. If nothing else, tele
vision and radio stations can air more ads for hair loss
products rather than burying us in the babble of buffoons
running for office.
I’d rather be lied to by a representative of the Hair Loss
Club for Men than by politicians seeking to represent my
best interests.
Television, radio and print companies must be required
to give equal time to all candidates.
Since the media moguls won’t do it themselves, they
need to be forced into airing debates with monitors who
force candidates to stay on topic and answer the ques
tions asked.
See LETTER, page $A
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Monday through Friday.
How about this: Just
give it to us straight.
Stop telling us what
your opponent is
against. And by the way,
telling us your opponent
is against lower taxes
without telling us you’re
for them just doesn't
cut it. We're not going
to fall for assumptions.
Tell us.
Things are moving at warp speed
I read about things “moving at warp
speed". Frankly, I didn’t and don’t
know exactly what that means. I
thought it meant moving very fast
- and I still do. Still, I looked it up in
my “Webster’s” and my understand
ing is now more uncertain. There are
words after “warp” such as yarn, rope,
pervert, distort, a twist or curve, to
move by hauling on a line, etc. My deci
sion: For the purpose of this column,
moving at warp speed means moving
very rapidly.
Change is inevitable. Remember in
school studying about the Ages: Stone,
Ice, Iron, Mechanical, etc. Significant
changes, but not at warp speed. Slowly
changing. Man adapting. Little change
during any one generation’s time on
earth.
Dean William Tate, Dean of Men at
the University of Georgia when I was
there, used to tell about his grandpar
ents and how if Julius Caesar had vis
ited them in their mountain cabin, he
(Julius) would have instantly known
what almost everything they had was.
Perhaps not the matches and the flint
lock rifle, but everything else. You get
the point that Dean Tate was making.
Little change for hundreds of years.
Some readers of this article have
seen great changes in their lifetimes.
Let me illustrate by reminding of great
business enterprises that flourished
and essentially disappeared all within
their memories.
What about buggy and wagon mak
ers - there was a great enterprise of
this at Barnesville. The automobile
came and the buggy slowly rode into
oblivion. Blacksmiths met the same
fate. What about the ice man - he
cometh no more. Then there is the
textile industry. It made the Callaways
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Some astute political observations
And now, some astute political
observations from the genius
who predicted four years ago
that Gov. Roy Barnes would win a sec
ond term in a landslide. Please have
your pencil and paper ready. I don’t do
this often because it makes my brain
hurt.
Astute political observation #1:
There is a possibility that Republicans
will lose their majority in the U.S.
House of Representatives come
November. If they do, it will prove
once again that the people are still
in charge. Everybody holding political
office or wanting to should read “The
House: The History of the House of
Representatives” by Robert Remini,
official historian of that body. Since
the U.S. House first met in 1789, the
group in power begins to act like they
are elected for life and loses touch
with the voters. The electorate then
throws them out and brings in a new
bunch, and the same thing happens to
them and they get tossed. This phe
nomenon is as predictable as the tides
at St. Simons, but politicians don’t
seem to get the message until it’s too
late. If you will recall, we booted the
Democrats in 1994, and now it is the
Republicans who are scrambling for
their political lives.
Astute political observation #2:
Sometimes I think political consul
tants have the brains of a sand gnat.
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s campaign was
running some very nice ads featur
ing First Lady Mary, when a political
consultant with too much time on his
hands decided the governor ought to
OPINION
and many others in the South wealthy,
but today, it is only a shell of its former
self. I could go on and on. But, you get
the picture, but not necessarily the
point.
The point is that former changes
- from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
or from the buggy to the automobile
- did not take place at warp speed. To
the contrary, it was slow, and man (to
include woman) adopted and modified
behavior over a long period of time.
Now, to what this column is really
about. Life is now changing at warp
speed. Can man adapt? Can man keep
up? Will many be hurt, financially,
and lose out? What is the long-term
effect and significance of these rapid
changes?
To speculate as to which businesses
will be immediately the most affected
is just that - speculation. But, ponder
and reflect I will.
I would hate to be in the movie video
business. Is it the “buggy business” of
our time? I don’t believe it will be long
before you can order first-run mov
ies, like, say, “Flags of our Fathers”,
as soon as the movie is released in
Hollywood, or wherever it is released.
Get the movie on your television for
$25 and let the whole family and the
whole neighborhood watch. Why go to
the video store if you can get the newer
and better stuff at home?
taaoßoß
Larry
Walker
Columnist
Iwalker@whgb-l3w.com
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
respond to challenger Mark Taylor’s ad
about his Florida land purchase. The
result has been to keep the issue high
er profile with the voters than the gov
ernor would like, plus it has been done
with Perdue’s own advertising dollars.
What the consultant evidently doesn’t
understand is that Mary Perdue will
get the governor a lot more votes than
talking about his land deal will. Duh!
Astute political observation #3:
Poor old Max Cleland still doesn’t get
it. Our former U.S. senator recently
wrote an op-ed piece in the Atlanta
newspapers ardently defending Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid, who
is in an ethics pickle in his home
state of Nevada. Harry Reid? Nevada?
Dear Max, guess how many people in
Georgia care about Harry Reid and his
financial problems in Nevada? About
as many as care about what planet our
Ambassador to Outer Space Cynthia
McKinney will land on when she gets
her new hairdo. No wonder you only
served one term.
Astute political observation #4:
Talk about a made-to-order political
death wish. Georgia Republicans seem
determined to resurrect H.B. 218,
which provides a Solution to a prob-
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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
And you won’t even have to program
the movie!
Then, hand-in-glove, to the video
store demise is the movie theater.
True, they have a bigger screen, but
many houses now have screens almost
as big as the “picture shows”. And just
think what all of this will do to popcorn
growers and PomPom makers.
Then there is the U.S. Post Office.
My office doesn’t get one-half as much
mail as it did only about a year ago.
The Post Office closes on Saturday
afternoon and Sunday and every night.
E-mail and the Internet never close.
How long can the Post Office hang on?
Next, newspapers. I love 'em. Can’t
wait to read 'em every day. I am a
dinosaur. More and more are getting
their condensed news on line. Not to
be patronizing, but I believe papers
like this one with local coverage have
a better chance of being here when
my grandchildren are my age, than
does the “Chicago Tribune” and the
“Atlanta Journal Constitution”. Well,
it is being a little patronizing.
You ask, what about lawyers and the
law practice? It’s going to change, too.
Many won’t be willing to pay our rates
if they can get it on their computer
for nothing. Hopefully, I can hang in
there for a few more years before the
buggy lawyer is a thing of the past. But
what about the Johns - Walker and
Hulbert?
Landline telephone companies. Gas
operated motor vehicles. Home-cooked
meals! Yes, the times are changing.
Things are moving at warp speed.
Many won’t have time to adapt. You
believe me, don’t you? By the way, how
many blacksmiths thought that the
first time he saw Henry Ford’s Model
T drive by? Not many, I’d bet.
lem that doesn’t exist. House Speaker
Glenn Richardson and his cohorts
want to take economic development
negotiations including how your
tax dollars are spent behind closed
doors, although proponents cannot cite
a single example of Georgia having
lost a company relocation or expan
sion due to our open records laws. The
state’s newspapers are going to fight
the effort tooth-and-nail, as well they
should. I am, too. Nobody wanting this
unneeded law has made a case for it, or
if they have, they forgot to tell me . ...
Astute political observation #5:
Politicians in Georgia should heave
a big sigh of relief now that Stewart
Rodeheaver, commander of Georgia’s
48th Brigade Combat Team, has been
named deputy commanding general
of the U.S. First Army, and is second
in command for U.S. combat training
operations. As far as I am concerned,
he could have run for just about any
political office in the state after the
outstanding job he did in Iraq, and
won. If he was able to deal with Arab
tribal leaders who would just as soon
shoot you as look at you, he could han
dle anything we threw at him. He is a
good man and an excellent leader. ...
Finally, because you have been so
attentive you have earned a bonus
astute political observation: I predict
that Gov. Roy Barnes will win a second
term in a landslide. (Or have I already
said that?)
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.