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♦ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008
OPINION
Arguing about politics
- It's the American way
The first thing I want to say at
this defining moment is that
being a Barack Obama sup
porter in Perry has at times made me
feel like Kermit the Frog when he sang,
“It isn’t easy being green.”
I like most of the Republicans I know,
which is a good thing since I’m sur
rounded by them. I’ve voted for quite
a few Republicans in Houston County,
some of whom started out as Democrats.
I voted on the Republican ballot in the
last Primary because that’s where the
choices were.
But when it comes to national elec
tions, I’m a lifelong Democrat, and
when it came to this election, I was sold
on Barack Obama almost as soon as he
got into the primary. So, for that mat
ter was my whole family including my
granddaughter Molly who was working
her heart out in the Obama campaign
in Pennsylvania.
I think he’s the right man for this
time, but I’ll spare you a hymn in his
praise or any commentary on the his
torical significance of it all. And that’s
because I know that Republicans on
the whole, don’t feel the way I do about
President-Elect Obama. I think it will
get better, but my impression during
the campaign has been that while some
folks in the GOP were paying atten
tion to the real issues, other folks were
really steamed up about this guy with
the fimny name.
They didn’t just think of the Junior
Senator from Illinois as a Democrat
they didn’t want to vote for, or as some
body they disagreed with on the issues.
They also thought he was an Islamic
Jihadist Elitist. I got one e-mail saying
he was the Antichrist.
-LUoE /
'Hey, Davis Cosey, how 'bout us hogs?'
Hey, y’all,
We ‘bout got over the elec
tion ‘cept for 80-Diddley, who
loves Sarah Palin so much he’s swea
rin’ he’s gon’ move to Alaska. He says
they don’t eat pork up there, they eat
moose and whales.
Course, he don’t know where Alaska
is, but he says he’s gon’ talk somebody
at the airport into flyin’ him up there.
He said he seen they gon’ have a big
party for pigs out at the airport an’
they callin’it ‘Pigs & Wings.’An’they
gon’ give all the hogs trophies an’ take
us for airplane rides.
I tol’ him he ought not trust them
folks out at the airport, cause you
never know when they just tryin’ to
turn you into pulled pork an’ put you
on a plate with white bread and cole
slaw, but you know 80-Diddley.
He’s a dreamer. He’s the one thought
he was gon’ get to live in Larry
Thomson’s house after we heard we
was gon’ have to move outta the spec
buildin’.
We hidin’ our time at the spec
buildin’ now, but we’re lookin’ roun.
Somebody tol’ Lil’ Bubba Junior they
was gone move a ol’ house in from
Macon Road an’ put it behine the
Board of Education, an’ make it a
museum an’ meetin’ place, so we gone
Charlotte
Perkins
Staff writer
cperkins@evansnewspapers.com
Late in the campaign, a plumber
named Wurzelbacher in Ohio decided
the Democratic nominee was a social
ist.
Nobody had thought of that before,
or knew what Wurzelbacher’s creden
tials as a political scientist were, but
“socialist” got added to the list. In the
last days of the campaign a prominent
national religious leader finally took
it to the limit by suggesting that an
Obama administration would euthanize
old people.
And some who didn’t believe any of
that stuff, still didn’t want to argue
with those who were buying it, or to get
into the fray. I got advised by one very
nice man- an Obama supporter - not to
go telling people around here that I sup
ported Obama, because they would get
really mean. Another very nice man of
my acquaintance told me that he voted
for Obama in the primary - in a near
whisper.
And they had their reasons, but I
think being able to disagree about poli
tics is the American way. The whole
country has been making a crucially
important decision - with over 63 mil
lion finally deciding for Obama, and
over 55 million holding out for McCain.
That’s a lot of people with strong opin
ions and firm convictions, and while we
Porky's
Pbnderings
porky@evansnewspapers.com
check that out, cause if it’s gone be
01-timey then it prolly needs a hog
or two rootin’ aroun’ in the back and
that’d be a nice neighborhood for Aunt
Porky Lou.
We had this idea ‘bout movin’ her
onto Washinton Street, but it looks like
it’s take ‘bout 25 variances an’ excep
tions, an’ public hearin’s an’ we ain’t
even sure we got the votes oncet it all
gets to the council an’ all them folks
comes our an’ hollers ‘bout history.
You know, it’s a hard life, bein’ a hog
in Perry.
We been thinkin’ bout talkin’ to
Mister Davis Cosey. Now, that’s a good
man with a vision, but he ain’t got a
big enough vision, cause it don’t have
hogs in it. He’s just thinkin’ bout dogs
and cats.
Dogs and cats all the time, like they
ain’t no other animals willin’ to be
pets. That Wendy Leonard, she even
If I
■w-t
B cs' M
seldom admit it during the argument,
we learn from each other. We aren’t
Sunnis and Shiites.
Also friends can have epic arguments
on these matters and still be friends. I
have been engaged in partisan bicker
ing with two Republican friends for the
last couple of years, and I don’t know
what they’d do without me for a punch
ing bag.
The election may be over, but I’ll open
my e-mail tomorrow, and there will be
something there from my Republican
friend Ray, possibly an attachment from
one of the neo-con editorialists at the
Wall Street Journal defending trickle
down economics, since he knows I won’t
open anything by Anne Coulter. Or
I’ll hear about the latest crimes of the
Democrats from my other Republican
journalist friend who will remain name
less here, but who was as staunchly
for John McCain as I was for Obama,
for just as long, and for all the right
reasons..
Finally, we might as well stay in full
argument mode, because the Republican
candidates for 2012 will start lining
up right after the inauguration. John
McCain won’t be likely to run again,
but he remains one of the most respect
ed men in the nation and will still be
a force in the Senate and one whose
endorsement will be sought. Gov. Palin
has built a base that just plain loves her,
and the anonymous operatives who are
picking on her right now with media
cooperation will probably live to regret
it.
I hope Mr. Wurzelbacher will go back
to work and remember to pay his taxes,
and that Ralph Nader will sit the next
one out, but you never know.
has ‘em livin’ in her house with her,
an’ takes care of ‘em like they was
babies, cause she’s so kine-hearted.
Why ain’t they no kine-heartedness
toward swine? Why ain’t they no ani
mal shelter for hogs?
We wouldn’t even need ours kep’
clean an’ sprayed down, an’ they
wouldn’t have to out an’ pick us up
neither, cause we’d just show up on out
own an’ look after ourselves.
We ain’t lookin’ to be adopted nei
ther, an’ that neuter-spay stuff is
aginst our traditions, so it wouldn’t
cost ‘em nearly as much as them dogs
and cats do.
An’ how come they ain’t no foster
homes for hogs? We ain’t got to taken
out for walks like dogs, an’ we sure
ain’t gone scratch any furniture like
cats. We’d just lay aroun’ an’ watch
TV an’ we ain’t picky ‘bout what we
eat neither.
But I guess that’s just the way its
always been an’ the way it’s gon be.
EVERTHING’s for them cats and
dogs. Why? We as cute as them, an’ a
whole lot smarter. We make good pets.
Shoot! I’ll even wear a collar an’ a tag
if somebody’ll give me they leftovers
an a place in the garage to keep my
beer bottle collection safe from Walton
an’ Becky Wood.
"One voice can make a difference"
An empowered council is good
for Warner Robins
By the time you read this Donald Walker should
be back in charge as mayor of Warner Robins.
We sincerely hope things went well (we were
forced to go to press before the scheduled press
conference in that regard today).
We also hope he takes note of the remarkable
job the councilmen and mayor pro tern Clifford
Holmes Jr., have done in his absence.
To their credit: The animal shelter, although
it was certainly moving in that direction while
Walker was at the helm, has a definite location as
a future home (as tweaked from Walker’s original
proposal).
They diffused the controversy that was Demon
Valley Drive.
They approved a major piece of G-RAMP leg
islature - billed as the single-most important step
in the process.
They came up with an initiative to make it a
rule that no ordinance can be passed before it
has been read twice - at two separate council
meetings. It will no doubt go a long, long way in
preventing future embarrassment for the city, as
well as give them the time they need to make
informed decisions.
They went against the grain, began looking for
another location for the new law enforcement
center. We believe before it’s over they’ll go with
that location (that at least is the view of the major
ity of council members), or another nearby. That
in turn will free up the land near the ball fields
for a hotel/conference center, that in step with
the Urban Design Association’s recommendation
that the city use that area as a major money
maker for the city.
They put sidewalks down at the north end of
Davis Drive. They paved streets in some of the
oldest parts of town. They have tackled issue
after issue head on and they have not wavered
in their duties (not that they wavered before his
medical leave of absence). They have done a
lot in a very short period of time (less than two
months).
We have heard that Walker prefers to rule with
a heavy hand, that he likes to exercise a certain
amount of control in every decision that’s made.
That’s his style and we’re not criticizing nor
bucking it.
On the other hand, before he comes in and
grabs hold of the reins of power and pulls back
with all his might, we would ask that he first just
sit back and observe. Keep them empowered
(again, not that they weren’t empowered before
... but we have heard grumblings) and sea where
they go with it.
We believe if he does, he just might find he has
a pretty good team going here.
Warner Robins has been and will continue to be
a better place because of it.
- Don Moncrief/for the Editorial Board
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