Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
With election results
now official,
it’s time to move on
Roughly six weeks after the presidential election,
the Electoral College made it official Monday electing
Donald Trump as the 45th president.
The outcome put to rest the possibility — and even
hopes and aspirations among many — that the elec
tors would go rogue and instead cast their votes for
Hillary Clinton or, in the case of Republicans they
pleaded with, at least Mike Pence in order to avoid
electing a man viewed by his detractors as, at best, a
loose cannon and too great a risk.
In the end, seven electors
did stray, but five of those were
in states won by Clinton. The
divisiveness of the campaign
and the mixed result — Clinton
won the popularvote by nearly
3 million votes and two per
centage points (built largely
on a running up the score
in places like California and
New York) — elicited much
more discussion about how
we elect our presidents, but
I’m not sure how much of it
was really useful.
For reasons previously and extensively discussed,
all the protests, reports of threats made toward elec
tors and calls for elections to be decided purely by
a popular vote demonstrated a fundamental lack of
understanding about why the system we have is in
place.
First of all, a switch to the popular vote method
would neutralize a great deal of the country particular
ly more rural America, as candidates would logically
focus more energy and resources on large urban
population centers.
It’s conceivable it would wind up having the exact
opposite effect that popularvote advocates supposed
ly desire because less voices would ultimately end up
being heard.
Secondly, though it might initially sound counterintu
itive, the popularvote does not necessarily accurately
represent the mood and feeling of the entire country.
When you look at the map, it’s easy to see that
people of the various political ideologies are largely
clustered together and that creates an environment
for groupthink — whether it’s the blue West coast or
the red Deep South.
But in any event, the result is now official and while
an investigation into the effect alleged Russian hack
ing had on the process this year is certainly warrant
ed, the time has come to move on.
On one hand, the Democratic Party needs to com
plete the grieving process, admit its defeat, assess
how it happened, recognize that it didn’t happen
overnight and develop a vision for how to become a
more broad appeal to Americans.
But on a much grander scale, we as a nation have to
move on to more pressing concerns.
Whether you like it or not, Trump is set to take office
a month from now, and he will be our only president
with no political or military experience to draw from.
Americans have wanted change and now they’re
getting it on a major scale.
The sentiment to “throw all the bums out” in recent
years seems to have finally manifested with his elec
tion.
As his cabinet nominations indicate, Trump desires
a complete shake-up of our institutions and has
named people who have either been at odds with
or expressed outright contempt for the departments
they would be heading if confirmed (Rick Perry,
Department of Energy; Betsy DeVos, Department of
Education).
His nominations like oil tycoon Rex Tillerson, who
has no diplomatic experience, to head the State
Department, send the signal that Trump intends to
operate through a business-focused lens.
It is no doubt music to the ears of conservatives
who often trumpet the popular refrain, “Government
should be run like a business.”
Still, that’s much easier said than done. In most
businesses, a unified vision is required to be success
ful. Government is a much more complicated ship,
sailing along with multiple interests competing and
butting up against each other.
The new administration will have to work with
Congress to address the domestic issues we face
such as how to address continuously rising health
care costs, how to improve our education system
and how to help relieve in general the middle class,
which is struggling with stagnant wages and slowed
economic growth.
On the international front, the administration will
have many problem areas to navigate.
How much longer can we let the Putin-backed
Assad regime’s atrocities in Syria, and how does
Trump’s seemingly warm relationship with Vladimir
Putin complicate our response once Jan. 20 arrives?
That situation reared its ugly head in a different, but
no less alarming way this week with the assassination
of the Russian-Ambassador to Turkey.
The growing unbalance in the world is not entirely
unlike the environment that led to the start of World
War I more than 100 years ago.
That situation and all the others demand our atten
tion.
Scott Thompson is editor of the Barrow News-
Journal. He can be reached at sthompson@barrou>
journal.com.
f
scott
thompson
Some good news
for the holiday season
There have been some interesting
political stories to tell this year, but two
of the most interesting happened last
week in Georgia’s neighboring states to
the south and east.
First, we’ll travel down to Collier
County, which is located on the
southwest coast of Florida and
is known primarily by its resort
city, Naples.
The management of the
Atlanta Braves wants a new sta
dium for spring training. They
thought they had found another
bunch of suckers on the Collier
County Commission who would
be willing to spend $100 million
in tax funds to build that stadi
um.
As is typical in these types
of deals, the Braves would play
spring training games in the free stadi
um and keep all the revenues generat
ed by the facility.
Braves officials must have thought
this would be a slam dunk. After all,
they had snookered Cobb County
Commission Chairman Tim Lee a few
years ago into giving away $400 million
in public funds to build a new stadium
for the team in Smyrna.
When Braves executive John
Schuerholz appeared before the Collier
County commissioners last week, how
ever, he was in for a rude awakening.
The commission voted unanimously
to cut off the negotiations. They had
the good sense to recognize that there
are better things to spend tax dollars on
than a free stadium for the owners of
an out-of-state baseball team.
One of the most level-headed com
missioners was Penny Taylor, who
noted that the county was trying to find
$130 million to pay for needed road
and bridge expansions.
“That’s almost an identical amount”
to the sum that the Braves were request
ing, she said. “What’s the better use?”
“There are a lot of publications out
there that show this could be noth
ing more than taxpayers subsidizing a
professional team that would make a
tremendous amount of money from
this,” Taylor added.
I’ve never had the opportunity to
meet Commissioner Taylor, but I hope
that one day she will move to Georgia
and run for public office here.
She has already demonstrated she
has far more common sense than Tim
Lee, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, the
Atlanta City Council, and the Georgia
World Congress Center Authority.
While that was happening in Florida,
there was also big news coming out
of a grand jury in Columbia, South
Carolina.
State Rep. Jim Merrill, a Republican
from Charleston, was indicted on 30
counts of ethics violations.
The grand jury alleged that Merrill or
his public relations firm took in more
than $1.3 million from groups that had
a stake in getting legislation passed at
the state capitol and failed to report that
money in disclosure filings.
For example, Merrill received $35,000
Write a Letter to the Editor:
Let us know your thoughts: Send
Letters to Editor, The Barrow
News-Journal, 77 E. May Street,
Winder, Ga. 30680. Letters can also
be sent to sthompson@barrowjoumal.
com. Please put “Letter to the Editor”
in the subject line. Please include the
city of the writer.
from an entity trying to purchase the
Charleston School of Law. As a mem
ber of the House Ways and Means
Committee and then as chairman of
the Higher Education subcommittee,
Merrill “used this position to influence
government decisions
involving this purchase.”
Merrill was also
charged with accepting
more than $391,000 from
the S.C. Association of
Realtors and its affiliates
in exchange for influenc
ing legislation that would
benefit the association.
The indictment alleged
that Merrill participated in
a conference call where
he solicited money from
the Realtors association
in return for helping get their bill passed
in the 2009 legislative session.
The indictment further alleged that
Merrill accepted more than $172,000
from Student Transportation of
America (STA), a school bus provider.
Merrill subsequently sponsored a bill
to privatize school buses in the state,
although that bill didn’t pass.
“The defendant intentionally violat
ed the law for the purpose of mak
ing money for himself personally” the
indictment stated.
This kind of cronyism and influence
peddling happens in state governments
all over the country, of course, but you
don’t often see politicians called to
account for their actions.
That’s why David Pascoe, the special
prosecutor who handled the investiga
tion into Merrill’s activities, deserves
commendation and a huge pay raise.
“Say what you will about South
Carolina,” said Neill Herring, a Sierra
Club lobbyist and longtime observer of
southern politics. “At least they catch
their crooks.”
The recent actions in Florida and
South Carolina are two of the most
encouraging political developments
I’ve seen in a long time.
I hope we see more of this in Georgia
next year.
Tom Crawford is editor of The
Georgia Report, an internet news ser
vice at gareport.com that reports on
state government and politics. He can
be reached at tcrawford@gareport.
com.
The Barrow News-Journal
Winder, Barrow County, Ga.
www.BarrowJoumal.com
Mike Buffington
Scott Buffington
Co-Publisher
Co-Publisher
Scott Thompson
Editor
Jessica Brown
Photographer
Susan Treadwell
Advertising
Sharon Hogan
Office & Reporter
Also covering beats is Alex Pace.
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to:
The Barrow News-Journal
77 East May Street
Winder, Georgia 30680
Published 52 times per year by
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
Periodicals postage paid at
Winder, Georgia 30680
(USPS 025-132)
Email: chris@mainstreetnews.com
Phone: 770-867-NEWS (6397)
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
$25.00/yr.
First gift of
Christmas
was a child
There are dozens of smiling faces in
the community this week, faces which
mute the cynics and renew the faithless.
Each Christmas, children take on a
special glow, a sense of wild-eyed won
der and anticipation.
It is a time they will long remember, a
touchstone for the
rest of their lives.
And for the adults,
it’s more than just
the rush and mad
ness; it’s also a time
of wonder, a time
we will also recall in
the future.
Where but in the
eyes of a child can
you see both the
past — little Tommy
has granddad’s
eyes, sister Suzie
has her mother’s hair — and the future
— Blake wants to be a fireman, Jane a
doctor.
Tomorrow is a memory of today by the
children, youngsters whose innocence is
our joy, whose faces light up our homes
and whose wonder keeps tradition alive.
Many cultures believe that it is the old
who keep traditions, who pass down the
wisdom of years and the touchstones
of life.
But it is the young who are the torch-
bearers. Without a new generation to
teach, traditions mean very little.
It is that faith in the future and our col
lective desire to pass the cultural torch
that makes Christmas a special season.
It is a season of faith, not only of reli
gion, but also in our humanity.
Even with the kitsch and commercial
ism being blared around us, the funda
mental desire for “peace on earth, good
will to men” rings through. Our social
conventions may sometimes be shallow,
but somehow generation after genera
tion will touch the core of the Christmas
spirit and be renewed.
For some, it is a season of mixed
emotions. Amid all the gaiety, there are
the memories of friends and family who
are gone.
The music, the smell of a Christmas
tree and the annual nesting of families
bring back the bittersweet thoughts.
For others, it will be the last Christmas
together.
There are those who face the inevita
ble end and even having lived a good
and long life is little consolation to the
families who will miss them.
But in the faces of their offspring, of
the great-grandchildren who laugh and
play around them, is the faith that pulls
life forward.
Without the laughter of children, there
would be an emptiness in their wake.
And so, the torch is passed and the
traditions continue, someday to be in the
hands of those who now play around the
Christmas tree and peek up the chimney.
The past and the future come together
at Christmas — the memories of our
own childhoods mixed with the new
memories now being formed by our own
children.
They will someday look back at this
special time and smile just as we do at
our own childhood memories.
And someday our children’s children
will tug at the Christmas tree ornaments
and be amazed by the shimmering
Christmas lights along city streets.
They will sing in church plays and per
form in school concerts.
They will sit on Santa’s knee and
promise to be good so they can get that
new bike.
They will look at the nativity set and
rearrange the pieces, always making a
special place for the Baby Jesus.
They will want to watch the tape of
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer until
they know every line by heart.
They will ask 1,000 questions about the
sleigh and reindeer.
They will leave milk and cookies
because Santa’s sure to be hungry.
They will check the stockings every
day, just in case.
They will eat too much candy and be
happy about it.
They will hope.
They will dream.
And they, too, will someday know that
the first gift of Christmas was a child.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of
Mainstreet Newspapers. This is his
annual Christmas column. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.