Newspaper Page Text
♦ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2006
4A
Mimsttm Daily .IJmmtal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Our share
Gov. Sonny Perdue said it: Georgia’s
growing economy is not a license to
boost spending.
We agree.
During Perdue’s watch the past four years
we have seen Georgia’s lagging economy
climb out of the doldrums. The economy is
humming along at an impressive rate now
and the state’s coffers are filling up.
Under such circumstances it is the ten
dency of the legislature to go on a spending
spree. After all, they like to please their con
stituents and they have to get elected every
two years.
Bringing
home the
bacon, as it
is called, is
popular with
the folks back
home. Many
people judge
politicians
by how much
money they
can get the
state to spend
on them and
their pet proj
ects.
Only last week Warner Robins city offi
cials presented their wish list to members of
our legislative delegation. We are sure that
the Houston County commissioner, as well
as city officials from Perry and Centerville,
have also communicated with the legisla
tors.
This goes on all over the state. Nothing
new about it.
When times w r ere tough it was possible
for the legislature and governor to keep a
cap on reckless spending, even cutting back
occasionally. It is different now. Everyone
knows that the state is in good financial
shape and it will be more difficult to keep a
tight rein on spending so that surpluses can
be built up.
Perdue is no pushover. If members of the
legislature start spending more than he
considers rational he probably will use his
veto pen.
Not having to seek reelection (he will soon
start his last four years as governor) Perdue
is in a position of strength and can afford to
offend some constituencies that might not
agree with his ideas on spending.
Republicans control both houses of the
legislature, as well as the governorship, but
that does not mean there will be unanimous
agreement on how the state’s money should
be distributed.
We just hope that our county will receive
what so handily and frequently is referred
to as “our share”.
Letter to the Editor
Groups are the most
discriminating, intolerant
An article in the Dec. 14 Houston Daily Journal con
cerning Gov. (Sonny) Purdue’s assessment of the state’s
economy closed with a simple statement by the governor
that “he would again push for a pair of constitutional
amendments that failed to gain the needed two-thirds
majority in the past session.”
The article gave no indication of the intent of the
two amendments; however, in his address to the
state legislators gathered in Athens for the Biennial
Institute he made the ridiculous statement, “we can
not afford to have the state continue discriminating
against organizations simply because they are faith
based,” This is ridiculous because the religious groups
to which he wants to funnel money are among the
most discriminating and intolerant on the planet.
What Perdue wants to do is to change the state constitution
to allow religious groups access to the state coffers; which
is, for good reason, forbidden now by the state constitution.
Article I. Section 11. Paragraph VII states:
“Separation of church and state. No money shall
ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or
indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, cult, or reli
gious denomination or of any sectarian institution.”
When the government and religion start trading money
for favors and favors for money we have taken a step
down the slippery slope to a theocracy.
See LETTER, page 6A
Audrey Evans
Vice President
Marketing I Advertising
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Bringing home the
bacon, as it is called, is
popular with the folks
back home. Many people
judge politicians by how
much money they can
get the state to spend
on them and their pet
projects.
We could use a little less color
Christmas always has been some
thing special for young people
and, as we grow older, memories
abound.
I remember those Christmases when,
after my father died, we had dinner fwe
had dinner, not lunch, in the middle of
the day back then) with friends and the
children were then given a dime each
and treated to a movie. It seems that
the movies they showed on Christmas
Day always appealed to children.
Early in the morning we had opened
our presents not many of them,
but surely appreciated and enjoyed
candy and fruits that we seldom saw
the rest of the year.
This reminds me that very few chil
dren were obese back then. The fed
eral government did not have to tell
us what to eat or to take exercise.
Almost everything we had to eat was
healthy food and if we wanted to play
or go anywhere we did it on our feet,
which added up to plenty of exercise
each day.
The grammar schools I attended
were two miles from my home. So
was downtown Americus. I walked
back and forth to school each day and
thought nothing of it. The city school
system did not have buses and we did
not have an automobile.
Americus’ downtown businesses may
have been two miles away, but it did
not seem so far. As a matter of fact, my
friends and I ran to town, instead of
walking, because we were so anxious to
get there. And, if we stayed a little lon-
PAST
/ I JUST WANT MV \
/ KIDSTOHAVE A \
BETTER. EDUCATION
\ THAN I HAD ? I
My proposal: Christmas once a month
In the past two weeks leading up to
Christmas, here’s the breakdown
of what has been on our family’s
schedule:
5 Christmas parties
3 Christmas dinners
2 Children’s Christmas church out
ings
3 other Christmas church outings
1 State Championship Football
Game
3 Book signings (for my book, “The
Greatest Book Ever Written About
Cheese,” available at fine bookstores
everywhere)
2 Birthday Parties
2 Doctor’s appointments
3 Visits from relatives ,
1 family viewing of “Santa Claus is
Coming to Town.”
1 family viewing of Daddy crying as
he writes a check to pay his taxes.
And that doesn’t include the work
duties, Christmas shopping, eating,
flat tires, more eating, hissy fits, and
lunches that sap so much time from
our family’s day.
Simply put, there is too much going
on around Christmas time for a normal
person to. handle, much less a subnor
mal person like myself.
Why do we try to pack in all our cel
ebrations into one “holiday season”?
We’ve got something like 14 months in
a year. Why do we insist on cramming
all of this festive joy into 31 days of
OPINION
ger than we should have, we ran all the
way home to get there before dark.
The policemen all knew us. So did
the Firemen. They kept an eye on us
when we were in town and our parents
felt good about that.
Going to a movie was a treat. I was
fascinated by what I saw on the screen.
The movies were silent. Someone in
the front of the theater would play
music on a piano or organ, attempting
to make the music complement what
was on the screen, It was wonderful.
I remember the first talking movie.
There were just a couple of scenes in
which A 1 Jolson sang. Everyone was
fascinated and incredulous that some
one could actually sing in a movie.
Getting to go to a movie on Saturday
was something else. Families gathered
downtown on Saturdays and when
our parents could spare a dime to go
to a movie we went to the Rylander
Theater to see our favorite cowboys
beat the bad guys or the Indians.
You could always tell the good guys
from the bad guys by the hats they
wore. Good guys wore white hats.
Villains wore black hats.
PRESENT
/ I JU6T WANT MV )
KlDBTfr HAVE AN b
stressful agony?
We spend the other months twiddling
our thumbs, putting off our Christmas
shopping, doing basically nothing. I
say we utilize those lazy months of
January through November to allevi
ate this December holiday fury.
Here’s my proposal: Celebrate
Christmas every month.
Hear me out. As stated, there are
many months without any significant
holidays. Take January, for instance.
The only holidays I really celebrate in
January are National Blonde Brownie
Day-January 22, National Pie Day-
January 23, and National Beer Can
Appreciation Day-January 24 (I usu
ally just take off the entire week).
If we don’t have this mad Christmas
blitz, then we won’t even have a need
for Festival of Sleep Day on January 3
(although I’ll miss it dearly).
Since Christmas is celebrated on
December 25, I would suggest having
Christmas every month on the 25th,
11
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox net
m "
Len
Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Often when the hero and heroine
were in danger the cavalry, with bugle
blowing fat least the bugler was blow
ing the horn, though there was no
sound) would arrive just in time.
I remember on several occasions
staying at the theater and watching a
movie several times to see if the cav
alry always arrived in time. It always
did.
When sound Finally was added to the
silent movies they were more exciting
and thrilling and real, though they
were in black and white and full of
what we today would call “snow”.
Villains from outer space threatened
the world. Buck Rogers saved us and
the world. Men flew around in outer
space with jet packs on their backs. It
didn’t matter that they were in outer
space, breathing as normally as they
could on Earth.
We had so little entertainment that
a little went a long way. We had so few
toys that we invented our own toys.
We thought we knew a lot, but
today’s children, in addition to being
spoiled and having so many toys that
they don’t appreciate any of them,
know much more than we did and, in
my opinion, may be smarter, too.
So, with Christmas only a few days
away, children await the avalanche of
toys and gifts that will come their way.
They will look at them, maybe play
with them for a little while, and then
become bored.
That is the tragedy of a world that is
so affluent.
Future
i
I T JUST Wfiwr )
just to make things simple. Instead
of having to buy all your Christmas
gifts during December, or, as I do, on
December 23 at 8 p.m., with 12 months
of Christmas, you would have the lei
surely freedom of shopping throughout
the year. I would also offer this adden
dum to make it interesting: The receiv
ers of your gifts wouldn’t know which
Christmas date they would be receiving
your gift. On July 25, you could sur
prise your spouse with their Christmas
gift. On March 25, one of your children
gets their toy. On September 25, it’s
football season, so you obviously skip
that Christmas date altogether.
Such a set-up would promote more
family get-togethers, less financial
hassle, and less eggnog-induced office
party embarrassments. The only pos
sible downside would be an increased
workload for Santa Claus. I mentioned
this proposal in my letter to Santa,
and hope that he reacts favorably. If he
doesn’t, I guess I won’t get that tram
poline I asked for.
Also, some folks say Christ wasn’t
even born in December, so adding 11
more Christmas celebrations shouldn’t
be a problem there. The best part is
that we would be able to celebrate the
birth of Christ more often, not just
once a year in a material fervor.
That said, maybe we should celebrate
Christmas every day.