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opinion
Thursday, June 10, 2021 • Page 4A
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Letter to The Editor:
Stop Foolish Spending
of Tax Dollars
To the Editor:
New courthouse - that’s
a joke. They spent over $1
million for the roof of our
courthouse and now these
politicians want to spend
$20 million for a new court
house? How stupid is that?
First of all, they plea
bargain 99 percent of all the
criminal cases. That 1 per
cent they do try... I’m sure
our courthouse can handle.
People who live off tax
payers’ money have no
problem wanting plush of
fices at our expense.
Doesn’t anybody care if
our taxes go up on stupid
projects like this?
Remember: They said
R.E. Lee was falling down
and they needed new
schools. Well they remod
eled R.E. Lee and, in my
opinion, it should have re
mained a school.
Let’s stop this foolish
spending of our tax money.
Ken Whaley
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Debbie McClain
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Lordy, Lordy...
If I Were Queen
for the Week
I really just want to be queen
for a day... but there is way too
much to do. So if I were queen
for the week...
I would make sure the county
implements a local first/local
preference policy. The City of
Thomaston and our school sys
tem has one. It’s not a difficult
policy to change or pass, no need
to do a study or overthink it. Re
investing in our community is
the right thing to do and it makes
sense.
Even if there was only one
homeless person in our com
munity, which is not the case, we
should still see this as a problem.
But it’s actually much bigger
than that. I would immediately
get with our health department
to see what programs are avail
able for those who are mentally
ill. It’s an unfortunate situation;
these folks do not need to be put
in jail, they need help. But I
would make it unlawful for
anyone to take up residence
wherever they choose.
I would make the county and
city implement a policy against
tent cities popping up in our
community. Makes zero sense to
have an ordinance against
campers being on someone’s
personal property for more than
a certain amount of time, but to
allow a tent city to be in place.
No one wants hate groups or any
other militia group in our com
munity. Under my reign they
would not be tolerated. I would
make any training ground, meet
ing place, or facility apply for a
business license, reject it, and
send them packing.
Anyone caught littering
would have to spend the week
end at the trash dump, pay a
healthy fine, and pick up trash
on the roadside every Saturday
for three months.
Car and truck owners who
alter mufflers on their vehicles
and those who think it’s cool to
drive around with their music
blaring would be fined $2,000. If
they are not smart enough to get
it the first two times, the third
violation would carry a double
fine and they would have to
spend the night with everyone
who has ever been rudely awak
ened or irritated by their noise.
The city and county would
greatly profit and the rest of us
will enjoy the silence.
I would reorganize the City of
Thomaston’s Community Rela
tions Committee or dismantle it.
To date, nothing has been ac
complished. In the last meeting,
Pastor Greg Smith read a per
sonal statement on his feelings
about the name R.E. Lee being
on the government complex. He
threw in a comparison of Jim
Crow Laws and spoke on sys
temic racism... His statement of
fended me. I am very
disappointed that he has chosen
to use that type of hyper-rheto
ric. All it does is shut down any
type of healthy and constructive
conversation.
No one would be called a rac
ist simply because they want to
keep the name R.E. Lee. No one
would think that those who are
offended by the name on the
building are trying to erase his
tory. The term racist has now be
come a hot word and is used for
intimidation. The word is no
longer effective since it really
doesn’t apply to most of the pop
ulation here or across the nation.
My committee would not
have a personal agenda, they
would speak to each other in a
respectful manner and have an
open mind. They definitely
wouldn’t get so frustrated by an
opposing view that they raise
their voices. We all know racism
exists, but like everything else,
it’s a two-way street. There are
good and bad people everywhere.
I would condemn the old lit
tered and partially torn down
mills and confiscate all of the
properties. Then I would build
the justice center.
I would make the county tri
ple the homestead exemptions
for every property owner over 65
years old and double it for every
one else. It’s a long process to
make this happen, so I would
make them stop talking and start
moving. The city’s budget is
small, they would have to raise
the millage rate to cover it. The
school system already gives a
healthy exemption to the elderly.
Everyone in the county pays
county taxes, so it’s really on the
county to make this happen.
It would be outlawed to wear
pajamas or show your underwear
in public. Underwear violators
would have to wear their under
wear on their head for a month.
Public pajama people would
have to wake up every morning
at 7 a.m., shower, and put on
clothes for a month.
It would be illegal to leave
shopping carts in parking spaces.
The punishment would be park
ing lot cleanup and cart roundup
all day for four consecutive Sat
urdays.
Looking all this over, I guess it’s
good a good thing that me being
a queen for a week would never
happen...
I’m Just Say in’:
Common Sense
vs ‘Word Salad 1
In my last column, I ad
dressed the word “equity,” which
has replaced “equality” through
out the Biden administration
and most of the Democrat Party.
Not surprisingly, mainstream
media has followed suit in sup
port of a liberal agenda.
As I researched “equity,”
another word kept popping into
my head: mediocrity. With every
definition or opinion I read, it
sounded as if the goal of equity
is to bring everyone to the mid
dle. Common sense would sug
gest that such a practice would
de-incentivize both ends of spec
trum, since both ultimately
would land in the same place.
Everybody gets a trophy.
I wonder how LeBron James,
who has been quite vocal about
politics lately, would feel if his
salary were capped at the same
level as a rookie NBA player.
Common sense would sug
gest that nationwide unrest
which has continued for more
than a year, destroying property,
businesses, and lives, and erod
ing the effectiveness of law en
forcement, is both violent and
detrimental. However, with
buildings burning in the back
ground, reporters dubbed the
events “mostly peaceful pro
tests.”
Yet, the Jan. 6 incident at the
Capitol, which lasted only hours,
immediately was tagged a “riot”
by the same news sources, a
word considered taboo when de
scribing “protests.” Now the Jan.
6 incident is called the “deadly
insurrection,” despite the death
toll being far less than that re
sulting from a year’s worth of
“reform” across the country.
Common sense would sug
gest that we have a “crisis” or, at
the very least, a “problem” at the
southern border. More than 6.5
times the population of Upson
County illegally flooded over the
line in March alone, and neither
our president nor vice president
have bothered to visit the area.
Instead, they tossed more “word
salad,” saying Trump had left a
mess for them to fix.
Quite the opposite.
When asked about the bor
der, VP Kamala Harris defaulted
to her awkward cackle. Biden
defaulted to his phrase, “We’re
looking closely at that issue.”
Common sense would sug
gest that if the government pays
people more to stay at home
than they would make at work,
they will stay home. Yet we are
being fed more word salad every
day to explain why that is not
true. The Biden administration
is consistently falling short of
new jobs projections, but be as
sured it is not because people
are de-incentivized to work.
We have a front-page story
this week which suggests other
wise.
Maybe Biden should set his
goals for new jobs lower, as he
did with vaccinations. By taking
a vaccine handed to him by the
previous administration and
vowing to issue it at the same
pace it already was being distrib
uted, he was able to claim suc
cess. Yet that success has not
sped economic recovery in many
parts of the country.
Maybe we should examine
what the problem areas of the
country have in common, then
move in a different direction.
That would be common sense.
One of my favorite theories
learned in school was Occam’s
Razor. Simplified, it states that
the most obvious explanation for
an occurrence usually is the cor
rect one. Of course there are ex
ceptions, but usually, if
someone’s fingers are orange,
they ate the Cheetos.
Don’t be fooled by word
salad; look for orange fingers.
B. Waine
Kong, Ph.D., JD
Waine’s World:
Overcoming
Survivor’s Guilt
How have you been? I don’t
know about you but I feel like a hi
bernating bear after a brutal
winter, waking up and emerging
from my man cave and finding
that we are not so bad off. After a
year of shattered lives, personal
traumas and disrupted econ
omies, we came through the fire
and still standing.
Yes, we lost 600,000 (four
million worldwide) of our friends
and relations to COVID-19 and
that is always going to be regret
table, but most of us made it
through. The fear is gone and it’s
going to be a fine, sun shiny day.
In the words of Willie Nelson:
Blue skies looking at me. Nothing
but blue skies do I see. Blue days
are all gone. Nothing but blue
skies from now on.
That’s how I feel in this mo
ment anyway. I survived and it is
refreshing to see smiles on uncov
ered faces, to walk about with pep
in my step and greeting neighbors
with gusto. How have you been? I
missed you.
We owe this remarkable re
covery to the development of safe
and effective vaccines. Most
Americans are now vaccinated.
School is in session, God’s in his
heaven and all’s right with the
world. Due to the stimulus pack
age, the stock market is at a
record high. We woke up to low
unemployment and most indus
tries cannot find workers. Lumber
is extremely expensive. Houses
are cars are in high demand.
Money is flowing and it looks like
Japan will be holding the Olympic
Games after all. I hope our ath
letes do well.
The question I pose, however,
is whether you are feeling guilty
for having not only survived when
so many perished or had their
lives ruined. What right do you
have prospering from the deaths
of loved ones? Do you have survi
vor’s guilt?
It was not until the 1960s
when therapists identified this
syndrome among holocaust survi
vors, those who survived natural
disasters as well as returning sol
diers who witnessed the deaths of
their comrades. The question that
these survivors had to live with
was: Why wasn’t I one of the un
fortunate victims who did not de
serve to die. How come I was so
lucky? Why did I survive? It is a
burden that will require some in
tervention or to be addressed with
professional help.
Stephen Joseph found three
types: “First, there was guilt about
staying alive while others died;
second, there was guilt about the
things they failed to do - these
people often suffered post-trau
matic 'intrusions' as they relived
the event again and again; third,
there were feelings of guilt about
what they did do, such as scram
bling over others to escape. These
people usually wanted to avoid
thinking about the catastrophe.
They didn't want to be reminded
of what really happened."
The syndrome, more recently
reclassified as post-traumatic
stress disorder, is usually mani
fested by mood swings, anxiety,
depression, social withdrawal,
loss of drive and ambition, sleep
disturbance, and nightmares. This
is what you would expect from
those who brought home the virus
that subsequently caused the
deaths of family members. But to
add to their burden, they also in
herited wealth as a result. Are
guilt feelings haunting you? That
is sometimes hard to live with.
“The problem with surviving
was that you ended up with the
ghosts of everyone you’d ever left
behind riding on your shoulders.”
(Paolo Bacigalupi). While that
may be true, according to Becca
Vry Musings: “You have your life,
and the chance to make the most
of it. Don't run or hide from that
challenge or let your guilt keep
you from living your life. This gift
is such a beautiful opportunity.
Embrace it. Seize every opportu
nity from here on out. Live.
Marie Broder,
District Attorney
When Juries
Get it “Wrong”
Any trial lawyer will tell you that
juries are unpredictable. As a pros
ecutor, we know the only guarantee
at a trial is that there are no guar
antees.
As the state, we are asking 12
people with their own experiences,
biases, and personalities to agree
that we presented evidence that a
defendant is guilty of the crime
charged beyond a reasonable
doubt. Sometimes, I have felt that a
jury would convict, only to be told
that the defendant was found not
guilty. Other times, I was wavering
about what a jury might do and
pleased to find that the defendant
was found guilty on all charges.
You never know what will
happen and every time I talk to a
victim or their family, I remind
them of that.
As prosecutors prepare a case
for trial, there are many cases that
we dismiss. Ethically, we cannot
take a case to trial unless we believe
too percent that the defendant is
guilty of the crime. Many of you will
never see how many cases we
“screen” or dismiss because we can
not prove the case. This is a very
important part of our job. It also
means, that when we are trying a
case, we very much are invested in
it and believe in it.
After the trial, we leave it in the
hands of a jury to determine
whether the defendant is guilty or
not guilty. Waiting on the verdict is
the most stressful part of a trial.
When the jurors file out of the jury
room with the verdict form in hand,
my heart always seems like it’s
going to pound out of my chest. But
you have to sit there and wait to
hear the words “guilty” or “not
guilty.” We, the state, pray for the
word, “guilty.”
But what happens when a jury
gets it “wrong?” “Wrong” in the
opinion of the state, or me. What
happens when a jury finds a defen
dant not guilty where we felt there
was sufficient evidence to prove his
or her guilt? The defendant walks
free. They leave the courtroom and
can go back to their life. There are
absolutely no restrictions on a de
fendant upon a not guilty verdict.
What happens to the victim or
their family after a not guilty ver
dict? In a case of murder, they may
still have the option to pursue a civil
case against the defendant, but this
only involves a claim for money.
They must still face the prospect of
having to see the person out in pub
lic.
In a case of child molestation,
once the defendant is acquitted,
there is nothing to stop the alleged
abuser from coming back around to
see the child. As a prosecutor, your
worst nightmare is that you were
unable to convince a jury to convict
someone, and they go on to reof
fend.
The law also prohibits a defen
dant from being tried again for the
same crime. The prohibition on
“double jeopardy,” enshrined in our
Constitution, ensures that a person
would not have to face an endless
string of trials for the same crime
until they are convicted. This means
that the stakes of a trial are very
high for both the state and the de
fendant.
Unlike the defendant, the state
has very few grounds to appeal any
thing that happens during a trial. If
there is an error in how the trial is
conducted, the defendant gets the
benefit of this error, but the state
does not. And it certainly should be
this way, as the fundamental right
to one’s liberty should not be taken
away by the state without numer
ous protections. Our justice system
can be imperfect, but it works.
As my offices enter another
week of trial, I remind my team that
trial work is challenging and
fraught with mental and emotional
stakes. And that I am proud to fight
alongside prosecutors who want to
protect victims and our community.
While we might not always agree
with a jury’s decision, we respect it
and prepare ourselves for the next
challenge.
Until next time, stay safe and be
kind to one another.