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Tribune & Georgian
. Opinion
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Watch us rebuild
T imes like these test the character of our citi
zens. Storm damage, flooding, traffic delays
and lack of basic resources are enough to put the
strongest of people under stress. Yet it can also
bring out the best qualities in people — generosity,
compassion and resilience.
Even before the storm hit Camden County,
our citizens were pulling together to help one an
other through this extreme weather event. When
the winds subsided, entire neighborhoods rallied
around one another and are still working today to
clean things up. Shoulder to shoulder.
We are doing what we need to do to get each
other through this crisis, knowing that there are
other communities that were impacted far worse
than ours. The damage here is bad, but it is not
insurmountable. Every day that goes by restores
a little more of what we associate with normalcy.
This will continue.
As people dig themselves out of the debris and
evacuees start to arrive back in Camden County in
large numbers, there are a few tips that will make
everyone’s lives a little easier during this recovery
period.
Please be patient — Our public safety and util
ity workers are putting themselves in danger when
the respond to storm-ravaged areas and they need
our support and understanding. They may not
know how their own homes or families are doing,
but they want to help those in need.
While it is easy to second-guess the decisions
that our government and institutions are making,
we also need to recognize we may not have the
information or knowledge they have about the
situation. If you chose to disregard the mandatory
evacuation order, then you should have been aware
that many basic needs — power, utilities, etc. —
may not be immediately available after the storm.
Those who need help should call the county hot
line at (912) 576-3800.
Don’t hoard — When resources are limited,
nothing strikes panic quicker than those who buy
large quantities, leaving none for others. When it
comes to gas, water, ice and other basic items, buy
what you need for the next several days. You can
stock up once our retail inventories are up to reg
ular levels. We are not cut off from transportation
routes so our supplies will be replenished
With regard to water and sewer services, until
the systems are fully operational, citizens should
limit their use of large amounts of water. If we
overwhelm those facilities, we could face a setback
in the restoration of those services.
Help one another — The silver lining to the
storm has to be the community spirit that is evi
dent throughout Camden County. We will need
that spirit to survive and overcome this disaster.
If you are like most people, you have talked to
your neighbors this week more than you have in a
long time, and that’s a good thing. The forces of
nature that drive some people apart can also drive
people together when everyone has a positive out
look and willingness to overcome.
We are Camden County. Watch us rebuild!
A slice of Southern politics
A t first Willie Stark,
a character based
loosely on the 1930s
governor of Louisiana, Huey
P. Long, is an “honest man”
and “a man of the people.”
But his early devotion to the
people during the Depres
sion in the massive building
of public works, including a
huge hospital, devolved into
the glorification of Willie
Stark and his lust for power.
Stark in the 1949 film “All
the King’s Men” seems to be
a decent family man early on.
But once he gets a law degree
by hard work, he grows more
and more corrupt. This par
allels the meteoric rise and
downward path of Huey
P. Long. Though Long’s
programs were applauded
by rural voters, his “Share
the Wealth” movement
even compared to President
Roosevelt’s New Deal, with
Long being elected governor
in 1928. But in the words of
Robert O’Brien in “The
Encyclopedia of the South”
Long was soon accused of
“outright graft and devious
tampering with the electoral
process.”
Amazingly, Long kept his
governor’s position after
being elected to the U.S.
Senate in 1930. He kept
that position until “he could
turn that it over to a loyal
supporter” (O’Brien). Long
went even further. “In 1934
he returned to Louisiana
to consolidate his power in
the state. He abolished local
government and gained total
Fred Hill
Opinion
control of the legislature and
effectively acted as a dicta
tor” (O’Brien).
In the film “All the King’s
Men,” voted the Best Pic
ture of 1949 in the Oscar
competition of that year,
Willie Stark, played by
Broderick Crawford, de
spite some good intentions
becomes on screen as Long
did in his life more and more
corrupt, a brute and a bully,
a philanderer and a frequent
drunk.
His basic beliefs com
fort him in his corruption.
Stark asserts that “Man is
conceived in sin and born in
corruption.” He believes in
the theological doctrine of
original sin. His belief is that
“there’s always something,”
something unattractive or
even evil in everyone’s life
and behavior. Stark sets out
to take full advantage of this
belief.
For example, Jack Burden,
a 30ish journalist, becomes
one of Willie’s aides. Judge
Irwin is one of Jack’s heroes,
but Willie proves the judge
is a fraud and guilty of black
mail. “Dirt is funny,” says
Willie. “Some of it gets on
everybody.”
The Southern state in
which the action of “All the
King’s Men” occurs is never
named. But it is a deep South
one. Moviegoers assumed it
depicts Louisiana and that
Willie is modeled on Long.
Also the Willie Stark of
the film comes to the same
end as Huey Long of Lou
isiana. Both are assassinated
by political enemies, Long
in 1935.
The 1949 film is based
on the 1946 novel, “All the
King’s Men” by Robert Penn
Warren, often regarded
by many as second only to
William Faulkner as a great
Southern writer.
After much praise, how
ever, of the 1946 version of
the novel, later editors and
scholars labored over many
original manuscripts Warren
had written but had been left
out of the 1946 edition. The
new editorial group finally
produced a longer “Restored
Edition” in 2001, after War
ren’s death, contending they
had now produced the novel
that Warren had intended in
its full form.
The 2001 “All the King’s
Men” is much more inclu
sive. The 1946 editors had
objected to the sexual crudity
of the language and with
drew much of it to fit the
gentler sensibilities of 1940s
readers. But there was little
of that language that I had
not heard in the smokehouse
on the property of my high
school in east Alabama in the
1950s.
I observed my 33rd an
niversary of my coming to
Camden County (June 11,
1984) this summer. In my
early days here as a full
time journalist I interviewed
mayors and covered council
meetings in Kingsland, St.
Marys and Woodbine. I got
to know a plethora of politi
cians. I did not discover any
Willie Starks among them.
Instead, though nobody’s
perfect, I found them to be
generally decent, hard-work
ing public servants.
In the obituaries this sum
mer in Tribune & Georgian
I noted the passing of Pres
ton Rhodes. I covered the
county commission at times
and talked quite often with
Commissioner Rhodes. I
believe he was a thoroughly
decent man. I attended the
funeral of former St. Marys
mayor Ward Hernandez to
honor him as a good man
and an effective mayor. St.
Marys councilman Buddy
Barnes could be explosive
and sometimes comical, but I
believe he meant well. There
are many others I could
commend.
So I have had my own slice
of Southern politics and gen
erally it tasted good.
Fred Hill is a regular columnist
in the Tribune & Georgian.
Letters to the Editor
Tribune & Qeorgian
P.O. Box 6960 — 206 Osborne Street
St. Marys, Georgia 31558
(912) 882-4927 - Fax (912) 882-6519
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Thank you for
protecting sites
Dear Editor,
Even though Rep. Jason
Spencer and I have encoun
tered several differences over
the years, I feel obligated to
come to his defense on the
monument issue. First of all,
I would never have apolo
gized to that ex-legislator
from Atlanta who couldn’t
get re-elected. We all know
there are snakes and gators
in the Okefenokee and they
really don’t discriminate
against racists from the con
crete sidewalks of Atlanta.
Yeah, we have a lot of red
necks here in south Georgia
and for that matter all over
the state except maybe in
Atlanta, not too many there.
We do have laws in Georgia
protecting our monuments
as Jason explains; I am as
concerned as much as he
is that the liberals are dili
gently working to over turn
these laws.
As he correctly states, the
War Between the States was
not strictly over slavery, that
was only a small part, yet
racists and liberals claim that
was the sole reason. Is there
anyone still alive in the State
of Georgia that ever owned
a slave? I think not, yet rac
ists keep fueling the fires as
if there are still slave masters
around and expect us to feel
guilty? Not me. The only
slave masters in the world
that I know of are in Muslim
states in the Middle East.
I hope Jason keeps vigilant
in protecting all our monu
ments from Stone Mountain
to small town Confederate
soldier statues. My hat’s off
to him.
Chuck Lanham
St. Marys
Contact elected
officials about
disaster support
Dear Editor,
The old axiom says “Now
is the time for all good cit
izens to come to the aid”
etc., etc., etc. I say, now is
the time for all good elected
officials to come to the aid of
our community. We are suf
fering from a wallop deliv
ered by nature’s forces. How
well we recover is squarely
in our hands. As someone
who has spent much time in
the political process, I can
say with confidence that our
future is in our hands and
our success depends on how
forcefully we demand that
our elected officials pour
every ounce of strength,
power and commitment into
tapping the oceans of finan
cial aid available through
federal and state sources.
We are obliged to moni
tor how each elected official
is working on our behalf and
be ready to punish any who
fall short. Contact them, all
of them and tell them you
are watching!
James M. Kiss
St. Marys
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