Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
Questions we should ponder
The national events of the
past several months have left
us with a number of questions
we should ponder.
If what we have seen in
the past sever
al months, and
especially the
past two weeks,
is the face of
the Democrat
ic Party, why
would any rea
sonable person
want to be a
member of that
political party?
From the
trash-talking
and vulgar lan
guage to open threats and actu
al incidents of civil disobedi
ence and violence, we may
be seeing the party revert to its
days of the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Remember those days?
I admit the Republican
Party has a lot of shortfalls.
However, I didn’t see Repub
licans marching with their
minor children, calling for acts
of civil disobedience and using
language that would blister the
ears of the saltiest sailor.
And, what has happened to
Jesse Jackson and A1 Sharpton
lately? They sure have been
quiet since the election.
Now that a new Sheriff is
in town and the focus of the
Internal Revenue Service will
change, could they be a little
worried? I don’t believe A1
will have near as many vis
its to the White House as he
enjoyed over the past eight
years. According to reports,
the White House logs had
Sharpton signed in more than
100 times since 2009.
While we are on Washing
ton, how did the U.S. State
Department justify holding
stress workshops for State
Department employees after
Donald Trump’s victory in
the November Presidential
race? According to The Daily
Caller News Foundation and
other media outlets. The State
Department held workshops
in December for agency
employees struggling with
high levels of emotional stress
for the coming Trump transi
tion. Employees were allowed
to attend these sessions
while on the clock and
at taxpayer expense.
That brings up anoth
er interesting question.
I wonder how many
future government
employees had been
promised jobs, while
others were promised
promotions that will
now not happen.
What will happen
to the funding of the
Hillary and Bill Clin
ton Foundation and the Global
Initiative program?
In case you haven’t heard.
The Clinton Foundation
recently announced that the
Global Initiative (CGI) was
ceasing operations. The con
troversial program announced
this month that it will cease
operations on tax day in April
2017. The (CGI) was founded
in 2005 under the umbrella
of the Clinton Foundation to
serve in a networking capac
ity to help with ftmdraising
efforts. Many thought the CGI,
and still think as much, was a
pathway for financial dona
tions which would result in
access to the Clintons rather
than actually being used for
philanthropic work.
As soon as Hillary Clinton
lost the Presidential election,
foreign donors, i.e., foreign
governments, began pulling
out of their annual dona
tion plans. Countries were
donating to both the Clinton
Foundation and to the Global
Initiative programs. Reports
indicated Norway had donat
ed $15 million in 2015 and
supposedly Australia gave
approximately $88 million
over a 10-year period. The
demise of the CGI puts more
questions on the table! Is it
possible that not only the FBI.
but the IRS as well, should and
will now investigate the Foun
dation to see if the “pay to
play” scheme is a violation of
federal crimes, perhaps even a
violation of the RICO statues?
The Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) is a federal law passed
in 1970 designed to combat
organized crime in the United
States. It allows prosecution
and civil penalties for racke
teering activity performed as
part of an ongoing criminal
enterprise.
Let’s not allow Hollywood
to escape unscathed. What
gives Hollywood and its celeb
rities the right to decide if gov
ernment is good or bad?
Hollywood celebrities,
along with television and
many of today’s journalists,
have been living too long in
their fantasy worlds and need
to come face-to-face with the
realities of life. Perhaps, the
IRS could pay them the same
attention it paid the Tea Party
and other conservative groups
over the past eight years.
And finally, a thought on
Madonna who said Saturday
publicly in a tweet, “I have
thought an awful lot about
blowing up the White House,”
referring to her unhappi
ness with President Donald
Trump’s election to office.
Then on Sunday, accord
ing to TheWorldNetDaily.
com News Service, the singer,
demonstrating a lack of class,
tweeted a message using the
“f ’ word for the Secret Service
and for Donald Trump.
If a citizen of Jackson or
Barrow County had uttered
those words publicly last
week, we would be on a first
name basis this week with
Secret Service and Federal
Bureau of Investigation agents
and it wouldn’t be a nice con
versation.
Why shouldn’t it be the
same with Madonna?
Jimmy Terrell is a retired
law enforcement official. He
can be reached at ejterrell@
gmail.com.
Start with idea of ‘public’
for meetings, records
Let’s start with this fun
damental: Public officials
serve the public.
They are
not rulers or
authoritarian fig
ures. They are
employed by
those who elect
or appoint them.
Having started
there, consider
public meetings
in the state.
Anyone who
attends a public
meeting in Geor
gia is likely to hear a series
of admonishments about
speaking in public.
The list sounds as
though the public body is
reining in a lot of out-
of-conUol dissidents who
show up to disrupt meet
ings.
That is not the case. The
list is, unfortunately, for
the extremes. Only a few
folks who come to casti
gate public officials rant
and rave. But the list is
aimed at those few.
The list includes sign
ing up, stating your name
and address. Talking only
three minutes (in most
cases; occasionally it is
five minutes) and for a
total of some number, in
some cases as few as 15 or
20 minutes. In some cases,
those who want to speak
are required to let an offi
cial (city or school) know
by the previous week.
Some of the rules are
absurd. That one about
letting them know the
week before is especially
irksome and unconstitu
tional.
However, the list has a
long and generally accept
ed history in Georgia. It
is promoted by the Geor
gia Municipal Association
and the Georgia School
Boards Association. It is
legal, according to court
rulings.
Those two
groups are most
concerned with
“orderly” meet
ings. They care
little about indi
viduals.
I’m all for
order and care
ful language.
People ought
to voice their
views in ratio
nal sentences.
They should
voice opinions in clear and
measured tones.
They should not, how
ever, be servile and bland.
Folks who have opposing
views to the organized
bodies ought to say so.
Calling elected officials
corrupt and concerned
with their own interests
is OK in a representative
democracy. Calling them
jackasses or worse should
not be part of the public
discourse.
Georgia’s open meet
ings and open records
laws are far too weak.
They allow public bodies
too much authority.
The exceptions granted
for closed, secret sessions
are far too broad and far
too common. Why does a
school board need to have
a closed session to hire
cafeteria workers or bus
drivers or teachers? Why
is that not the responsi
bility of the principal and
superintendent?
Members of a public
body, up to a majority, can
meet privately. That means
members of the city coun
cil, school board or coun
ty commission can meet
every day if they want, a
couple of folks at a time to
determine what will occur
at the next public meeting.
Why can public officials
talk about public business
in a non-public setting?
They should not.
Yea, I’m a bit of a zealot
on the subject.
One of my cautions
here is that our country
was started in secret. The
constitutional convention
met for months in secret
before producing the Con
stitution that states then
voted on.
Of course, that was a
different age. Many of
those men, and it was all
white men. thought it was
OK to own human beings.
The idea of a woman serv
ing in that group would
have brought gales of
laughter and then crashing
denunciation.
It’s different now and it
should be.
Public information and
public meetings should
be just that - public. Too
often information is jeal
ously guarded, as though
it belongs to one person. It
does not. It is ours, and it
should be as widely avail
able as possible.
It should be available
because we pay for it. if
for no other reason. But
it most obviously should
be available because it is
public. There is provision
in the open records law for
a “custodian” of records.
That is what any public
official is, the keeper of
the records.
Public bodies should
always, and first, ask,
“how do we provide more
access, more openness,
in our government?” The
question should not be:
“what is the law?”
It is our government.
Ron Bridgeman is a
reporter for Mainstreet
Newspapers. Send email
to him at ron@mainstreet-
news.com.
ron
bridgeman
couldn’t articulate why we
were sending their sons to
die there.
And it was conservative
older whites that fought
against civil rights and allow
ing black citizens to vote.
Those who are certain they
are in the right are some
times remembered in the his
tory books for having been
wrong while the rebels are
remembered as the heroes.
Time can be harsh to those
who make the wrong moral
choices on big issues in the
public square.
***
I’m not much of a pro
football fan preferring col
lege football and it’s quirky
madness. Still, Sunday’s
Atlanta Falcon’s win over
Green Bay was an impres
sive display of talent.
Way back in 1978, I saw
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
ii
ACS MYSTERY THEATER
- We are excited to announce
that the ACS Drama Club will
perform Agatha Christie’s
Murder On The Orient Express
this week. Performances will
begin at 7:30 on Thursday and
Friday, and a special dinner
theater will be held on Satur
day, beginning at 6:00.
In this story, Detective Her-
cule Poirot is asked to investi
gate a murder that happens on
a train on which he is travel
ing. The evidence leads to two
possible conclusions, and an
interesting twist occurs as the
authorities decide which theo
ry to pursue.
Thanks to Fine Arts Direc
tor Jack Bamford and to all of
the drama students who have
worked so hard preparing for
these performances. You can
reserve your tickets by calling
the School at 706-549-7586.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
Buffington continued from 4A
the Falcons win their first
wildcard playoff 14-13 over
the Eagles on a last-second
Hail Mary pass.
That game was played in
the old Fulton County Sta
dium long before the Dome
was built.
As that pass took place, a
bright beam of light broke
through the clouds down into
the end zone, as if to suggest
that the Divine had played a
role in that crazy game.
Alas, we then drove to
Dallas, Texas, only to see
the Falcons lose to the Cow
boys 27-20 for the Con
ference Championship. A
snowstorm hit Dallas right
after the game and we had to
drive back that night to avoid
being stranded in Texas. (I
was young, then, and driving
all night in a tiny Ford Fies
ta with two other guys and
enough Coors to resell and
pay for our game tickets and
gas seemed like a good idea
at the time.)
The Falcons didn’t make
the Super Bowl until 20
years later in 1998 when they
lost to Denver.
Maybe 2017 will be the
year the Falcons finally win
that championship, if they
can overcome Tom Brady
and the Patriots.
Mike Buffington is co-pub
lisher of Mainstreet Newspa
pers, Inc. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreetnews.
com.
January 25, 2017 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Across
1. Owed
7. Shawl
13. Slow tempo
14. Bodily structure
16. Sun-god
17. Franklin or Eleanor
19. Degree
20. Norwegian poet
22. Local school organization
23. Consumer
25. Brews
26. Hero
28. To clear or tidy
29.9th month
30. Hit lightly
31. Pinna
33. DoD computer language
34. One Direction won at 2014
awards
36. No. Am. peat bog
38. Clear wrap
40. Napped leather
41. In a way, takes
43. Transported
44. Back muscle
45. Unhappy
47. Wrong
48. Chit
51. Epic poem
53. Capuchin genus
55. traz:The Rock
56. Weight unit
58. Foot (Latin)
59. Egg-shaped nut palm
60. A radioactive element
61. Roosevelt V.P.
64. Railroad track
65. More dense, less liquid
67. Block, Fire & Reunion
69. A set that is part of another
set
70. Hair product
Down
1. Ineffective
2.39th state
3. Skins
4. In a moment
5. Japanese Prime Minister
Hirobumi
6. Tyrant
7. A cruelly rapacious person
8. Point midway between NE
and E
9. Abnormal breathing
10. Essential oil or perfume
obtained from flowers
11. Italian river
12. Fixed firmly into
13. Opera songs
15. Cloth measurement
18.7th Greek letter
21. Extractor
24. For boiling water to make
tea
26. Possesses
27. Edible tuberous root
30. Glass window sheets
32. Tactics
35. More (Spanish)
37. Our star
38. Makes a choice
39. Great Plains indians
42. Baglike structure in a plant
or animal
43. Female sibling
46. Diverge
47. Adherent of Islam
49. Defer
50. Semitic gods
52. Indian term of respect
54.10 decibels
55. Surface regions
57. Small amounts
59. Liberal rights organization
62. Teeny
63. Volcanic mountain in Japan
66. Atomic #71
68. Canadian province
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