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Friday, December 22,2017
Lake Oconee News
Page A5
Letters to the Editor
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Hallmark
Christmas
'There is nothing new under the sun'
Ecclesiastes 1:9
“There is nothingnew under
the sun”
Longbefore there werefears
that sharia law was spreading
throughout our country and
that Muslim immigration
would debase the American
way of life, there was the “very
real” and terrifying threat of
Catholics, the Pope and the
spread of Cannon Law.
Especially Catholics in the
form of Irish immigrants
who were diluting Protestant
America.
In the decades following
the Civil War and long before
“fake news” had washed over
the land, Americans knew for
a “fact” that the Pope and his
surrogates here were plotting
to take over the United States
and make it a colony of Rome.
To help understand this
phenomenon, google “Thomas
Nast Anti Catholic Cartoons”
and “KKK anti Catholic
Cartoons.”
Nast gave America the
quintessential Santa Claus
which we enjoy today. But he
also, along with many other
cartoonists, documented
America’s deep distrust, fear
andloathingoflrish Catholics.
Several iconic cartoons pro
vide an overview of American
sentiments during the Gilded
Age.
1) The Pope, aka the anti-
Christ, stands high atop St.
Peter’s Basilica, surrounded
by a cohort of devilish monks,
priests and Cardinals. He is
pointing across the Atlantic
Ocean to America and is
saying, “The Promised Land! ”
2) With St. Peter’s in the
distance we see terrified chil
dren on an American shore as
Papal monsters, in the form of
crocodile bishops crawling out
of the water. Theirmiters are
depicted with sharp teeth and
the creatures ready to devour
America’s youth.
3) Irish Catholic Frank
Kennan is running for the
Governor of New York. He is
depicted kneeling before the
Pope and kissing his ring and
saying, “I will do your bidding,
as you are infallible”. The cap
tion reads, “Our foreign ruler?”
Spoiler, He didn’t win.
Immediately after the Civil
War, the KKK was concerned
with controlling the newly
freed slaves. Soon, however,
Catholics were added to the
list of threats to America along
with the Jews.
One period cartoon shows a
hooded clan member holding
an American flag in one hand
and a Bible in another and
sitting on top the prostrate
body of the dead Pope.
In one mid-western state
the governor called out the
National Guard because it
“well known” that the Pope
was landingin South Carolina
with an Army.
And on agiven signal, mem
bers of the “secret, malevolent
military fifth column,” the
Knights of Columbus, would
bring out all the weapons
stored in their meeting lodge
basements and aid the Pope.
Of course, nothing happened
and the Guard stood down.
Duringthel928, Democratic
Convention, blood was spilled
as delegates from Southern
states attacked Northern
delegates in an attempt to
stop Roman Catholic A1 Smith
from heading the ticket.
Nativist fears have plagued
our country since its incep
tion. Don’t forget that George
Washington had to sternly
admonish his generals to stop
troops from celebrating Guy
Fawkes Day.
This raucous annual cele
bration commemorated the
execution of Catholic Guy
Fawkesforhis attempttoblow
up the Parliament Building.
Washington, at the time,
was negotiating with French
(Catholic) King to help in
America’s revolt against the
English.
Fear and loathing of anyone
or anything that represents
“the other” is part of our
national DNA. And, while
there have always been those
who have fought to elevate the
America of the Declaration
of Independence and
Constitution, there remain
those who attempt to use the
same documents to persecute
others.
Once the Catholics where
persecuted. But here is some
thing interesting.
Twenty years after John
Kennedy swore to Americans
that he would not allow Papal
interference in American poli
tics and was elected President,
something changed.
When a Pope visits the
United States it is wonderful
News. We notice that the First
Lady is a Catholic.
The Vice-President is
Catholic, so is Paul Ryan, Bill
O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and
Steve Bannon. Recently the
Supreme Court was composed
of 6 Catholics and 3 Jews. No
Protestants!
Well, now there is an
Episcopalian, but that’s pretty
close. Who wudda thunk.
And so it goes.
Bill Scholly
JSTARS: Essential to Our National Defense
Two Air Force wings, an
active wing and a guard wing,
are located in the heart of
Middle Georgia on the north
ramp of Robins Air Force
Base. These wings are essen
tial to the Air Force, as they
support highly specialized
missions for old Boeing 707s.
These fifty-year-old E-8 Joint
Surveillance Target Attack
Radar Systems, code named
“JSTARS,” are equipped with
one-of-a-kind radar systems
that track enemy movements
on a scale that is unmatched
by any other system. Simply
put, JSTARS aircraft locate
theenemy after they’veplaced
an improvised explosive
device (IED) in the road, and
these aircrafts then followthe
enemy back to their hideout.
Army personnel on JSTARS
communicate this informa
tion to their counterparts on
the ground, who then track
down the enemy in real time
to eliminate the threat. It is a
system that has no rivals, but
unfortunately, the Air Force
wants to get rid of the JSTARS
systems.
Despite what you may have
heard, Armed Forces spend-
ingis atan80-yearlow. Only3
percent of our gross domestic
product (GDP) goes towards
military funding, which is
half of what it was during the
Reagan administration and
down a third from during the
Bush era.
Furthermore, Congress has
struggled to pass a budget
over the last several years,
which ultimately resulted in
the creation of the Budget
Control Act and sequestration
and a loss of nearly $1 trillion
in funds for the military. Due
to these significant financial
cuts, the Army is the smallest
ithasbeensincebeforeWWII,
the Navy is the smallest it has
been since before WWI, and
the Air Force is the smallest
it has ever been and flying
the oldest airplanes it has
ever flown. To deal with the
Dave Belton
State Representative
funding cuts, the Department
of Defense (DOD) wants to
close military bases through
a Federal Base Realignment
and Closure (BRAC) process
and cut military weapon
systems.
One of those weapon sys
tems is the J STARS program.
There is an obvious need
for the Air Force to replace or
“recap” these aging JSTARS
aircrafts, and numerous stud
ies have determined that the
JSTARS Recapitalization
(Recap) Program is best and
most affordable solution to
replacing these systems. In
fact, with the approval of
the FY18 budget, Congress
will have authorized almost
three-quarters of a billion
dollars toward anew JSTARS
platform.
However, the Air Force’s Air
Combat Command Unit has
now offered an even cheaper
solution based on an analysis
of alternatives study, which
includes a new Advanced
Battle Management System
that will reevaluate the need
for both the E-3 Sentry air
borne warning and control
systems (AWACS) and the
E-8 JSTARS. This analysis
of alternatives study includes
options for non-traditional
concepts, including network-
ingplannedandpurpose-built
sensors into architectures that
enable battle management
command and control func
tions in highly contested
environments. In short, the
Air Force wants to rely on
satellite technology instead of
replacingthese aging JSTARS
and AWACS.
Of course, our warfighters
need to have the best tech
nologies available, and it is
encouraging that the Air
Force is looking ahead to the
future. However, cancelling
the current recap program
and relying on unproven
network centric technologies
without ensuring proven sys
tems are available in sufficient
numbers would do a disser
vice to our troops in the field.
More to the point, satellites
cannotpinpointthe enemy the
way the JSTARS can, nor can
they relay their information in
real-time to the troops on the
ground the way JSTARS can.
If the past has taught us any
thing, it is that we need more
intelligence on the ground, not
less. Satellites alone cannot
accomplish this mission.
The recent events in North
Korea, as well as requests by
South Korea to purchase a
JSTARS platform, further
highlight the need for more
JSTARS and JSTARS-like
capabilityinsteadofpursuing
unproven technologies and
discussing the elimination of
the JSTARS recap.
The Air Force has plenty of
acquisition priorities, such as
F-35 joint strike fighter, B-21
stealthbomber, KC-46 tanker
and trainer aircraft, and all of
theseprograms are competing
for limited dollars. Cancelling
the JSTARS recap effort only
kicks the can down the road.
The current JSTARS systems
are already spread thin and
needed everywhere. Despite
the costs, we need to extend
the service life of the current
JSTARS platform, and we
also need to quickly develop
a new ground moving target
indication system, or systems,
and deploy them now.
This vital weapon system,
and the new technology
that will replace the current
system, directly supports our
warfighters every day. We are
critically short of these types
of platforms and every one
we have is necessary. These
systems save lives.
Our U.S. congressmen are
aware ofthese issues and have
been doing yeoman’s work to
ensure thatthese concerns are
addressed atthe highest levels
in Washington D.C. We owe
it to this fantastic team to let
them know we support their
efforts and will continue to
support them in the future.
Please consider taking the
time to call and write to your
congressman to letthemknow
you appreciate their work on
this critical issue.
RepresentativeDaveBelton
represents the citizens of
District 112, which includes
all of Morgan County and
the eastern side of Newton
County.Hewaselectedintothe
House of Representatives in
2014 and currently serves as
the Chairman of the Military
Affairs working group. He is
alsoamemberoftheEconomic
Development Tourism,
Education, Energy, Utilities
&Telecommunications,
and Interstate Cooperation
committees.
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The way it happened
was like something that
would happen in a Hallmark
movie. Wait a minute. It
was a Hallmark movie that
started it all.
Because Tink works on
Hallmark projects (he was
one of the Writers and
Executive Producers on a
Hallmark series as well as
a Hallmark Hall of Fame
presentation called Love
Locks), we were surprised
to learn that a Hallmark
Christmas movie called
“Christmas In Homestead”
was filming in our backyard
in Dahlonega, Georgia last
year. (Tink has yet to be this
lucky, but we are hoping.
Most of his Hallmark proj
ects shoot in Canada.)
Anyway, the people of
the picturesque town of
Dahlonega were all abuzz
with excitement as the set
designers decorated the
town with lights, trees,
wreaths and snow in late
October and November.
In addition to the cast,
300 locals were hired as
extras. Frank Zimmerman
was leaving his volunteer
job at Dahlonega United
Methodist Church when he
was spotted by one of the
people decoratinginfront of
the church. Frankis 58 years
old and has not shaved his
beard since he was 23. He
is now fully gray and has a
twinkle in his eyes. Hebears
a strong resemblance to St.
Nick himself.
There, in front of the
pretty brick church with
the white clapboard steeple,
Frank was discovered by a
setdesignerdecoratingtrees
with fake snow.
‘Would you be interested
in playing Santa Claus for a
Hallmark movie?” the guy
asked.
“I figured that since it
was Hallmark, it would
be a good, clean movie
so I said, ‘yes,’” explained
Frank who had never in
his life played Santa Claus.
For thirty seconds of film,
dressed in a Santa suit that
someone gave him, Frank
Zimmermanbecame Santa.
But it isn’t the secular spirit
of the holiday that Frank
likes to share, it’s the Holy
Spirit of the season that
became fully evident in
Frank’s “star discovery.”
Sadly, Frank’s 32-year-
old daughter died unex
pectedly shortly after his
30-secondmovie debut had
been filmed.
The Zimmerman family,
as you can imagine, was dev-
astatedbut, for Frank, itwas
the Hallmark job that got
Ronda
Rich
Dixie Divas
him through the roughest
Christmas of his life.
“Because I was in the
movie, I got booked up with
appearances and doing a
play as Santa. I agreed to
these before my daughter
died. I’m a man of my word
sol honored those commit
ments even though I didn’t
feel like it,” Frank explained
in a humble voice. “I pulled
myself up by the boot straps
so I couldkeep going. I asked
the Holy Spirit to help me
be joyful, and that’s exactly
what He did. It turned out
to be a gift to me because it
got me through that time.”
Then and during the
filming of the movie, Frank
discovered a happiness in
playing Santa. “I had so
much fun dressed as Santa
Claus, walking through
town and being sociable.
It was an amazing feeling.”
When Frank starred as
Santa Claus, he didn’t know
that the holiday season
would have such an abrupt
turn toward sorrow but,
obviously, the child born in
that Bethlehem stable did
because He was preparing
the way to lift up Frank
during the darkest time of
his life.
“Because of the Hallmark
movie, I played Santa and
that got me through.”
“Isn’t it amazing how the
Holy Spirit knows what we
need before we know what
we need?” I asked.
“Yes, it is,” he responded.
“It definitely is.”
It’s the kind of ending
that we love to expect from
a Hallmark movie. To all of
you, my readers, I wish that
you’ll have the sweetest kind
of Hallmark Christmas as
we celebrate the birth ofthat
loving child in Bethlehem.
The one who will always
know what we need before
we need it.
Just ask Frank
Zimmerman.
Ronda Rich is the best-sell
ing author of Mark My
Words: AMemoir ofMama.
Visitwww.rondarich.comto
sign up for her free weekly
newsletter.
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