About Upson beacon. (Thomaston, Ga.) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2021)
opinion Thursday, June 10, 2021 • Page 4A Send your letters to: Editor, Upson Beacon, 108 E Gordon Street, Thomaston, Ga 30286 or email to: dlord@upsonbeacon.com The opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily the opinions of the Upson Beacon staff. Please limit letters to 400 words. All letters must be signed and accompanied by a telephone number for verification purposes. Telephone numbers will not be printed. 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 IfH % I Debbie McClain 1 |L •; Ei : m ■ A l i 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.
