Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday
October 11,
2006
"Foley's Follies" is yet another October scandal
By Ellis Smith
Staff Columnist
ellisthered@gmail.com
Every time I watch
the news or read the paper,
there always seems to be
a brand-new scandal of
some sort.
Democrats get in
trouble for taking bribes.
Republicans get in hot water
for influence peddling and
each accuses the other of
being more corrupt.
It harkens back to
the glory days of the
William Jefferson Clinton
administration, where a
new law seemed to be
broken every week.
The story was the same
as it is today - abusing
power, lying, manipulation
of media, and...having
sexual relations with that
woman. It’s like deja vu
all over again.
The latest scandal
is the matter of former
Congressman Mark Foley.
It seems that he conducted
The Sonny Didn't List
The Progressive
Perspective
With Skyter Akins
Everytime I see
one of Sonny Perdue’s
“Sonny Did/ Do” ads, it
almost makes me want to
throw up.
The problem with them
is that they’re just plain out
not true. Lets examine.
Perdue claims to have
never cut education, while
the truth is that he has cut
over $1 billion dollars
from public education,
which is SB2B dollars per
child.
He has also cut the
special needs budget for
schools, disenfranchising
over 2,000 mentally
retarded children from the
education system.
Mark Taylor, the
Democratic Nominee
for Governor, has been
endorsed by the Georgia
Association of Educators
and the Georgia Federation
of Teachers, because he has
always been there for the
teachers of Georgia, and
he understands that cutting
education isn’t the way to
improve our schools.
Perdue says he has
protected the HOPE
Scholarship. Well, my
friends, this probably the
biggest lie of all.
The truth is that Perdue
has tried to cut the HOPE
(Fife Jltest (Beorgian
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Opinion
long, inappropriate sexual
conversations with young
pages.
Foley’s sexual
advances were apparently
conducted through email
and instant messenger.
According to all parties
involved, there was no sex.
Although most
Conservatives are revolted
by this situation. Liberals
seem to be absolutely
furious. A political figure
abusing his authority to gain
some sort of sexual favor
from a page/intem? How
dare he!
Liberals are now
calling for House
Speaker Dennis Hastert’s
resignation. Many believe
that Hasten had a hint of
what was going on before
the scandal broke on ABC
news, yet did nothing to
fix it.
If these allegations are
proven to be true, perhaps
the entire ethics committee
(of which Hasten is
a member) should be
scholarship every year he
has been governor, and the
only reason the cuts ha veil’t
been made is because
the Georgia Republican
leadership realizes how
bad it would be for it to be
on their records to cut the
best program this state has
ever seen.
Perdue ran a public
campaign to the people
of Georgia making
them believe the HOPE
scholarship was in
financial trouble, when
in fact the program
has always had a huge
surplus.
The fact is that
Taylor sponsored the law
that created the HOPE
scholarships, and has
fought every single year
he has been Lt. Governor
against the cuts that Purdue
has tried to implement.
Perdue claims to be a
man of faith and morality.
He ran an ad with his wife,
Mary, claiming that he
would not go negative.
But the truth is
the day that ad started
running a mailer claiming
Taylor stood with radical
Homosexuals because
he didn’t support the
Boy Scouts of America
discriminating against
disbanded. Abuse of minors
is a terrible crime, and one
that should not be ignored.
Foley has already
resigned. Hasten is under
lire. The Left is incensed.
The Right is disgusted.
Rewind a decade
to a very honest Clinton
looking straight at you
from your television and
lying directly to the entire
country by saying, “I did
not have sexual relations
with that woman.” He
even included the famous “
Clinton finger-wag” to give
his words more power.
Fast forward to the
impeachment hearings.
The only ones try ing to get
Clinton in trouble for lying
on national television (like
Foley), abusing his power by
cheating on his wife with an
unpaid intent and perjuring
himself (which is a felony)
were the Republicans.
Democrats, with the
notable exception of the
illustrious Zell Miller and
his ilk, took the stance that
people based on sexual
orientation.
My friends, real people
of faith don’t believe
discrimination of any kind
is acceptable, no matter
what the situation is.
Perdue also has made
more money while being
office than any governor in
modern history.
Perdue bought a
piece of land valued at
S4O million dollars near
Disney World in Florida
for just $2 million dollars.
All in return for appointing
the billionaire investor that
sold him the expensive
land for really cheap to the
Georgia Economic Board,
where the investor could
make billions more.
Who used the
goveror’s office to make
millions for himmself?
Sonny did!
The truth is that Sonny
Perdue has been running
the most false ad campaign
this state has ever seen, and
it needs to stop.
The people of Georgia
deserve to know the truth
about his chilling record
on education, shady land
deals and his proposed cuts
to the HOPE scholarship.
Taylor will be there
for the people of Georgia,
and it is my sincere hope
that the people of Georgia
when they go to vote
on November Bth will
compare Perdue’s list of
historic cuts and broken
promises to Taylor’s life of
service and commitment to
the people of Georgia.
Bobby Moore, Editor-in-Chief
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Doug Vinson, Advisor
Republicans were simply
going after Clinton because
of the moral issues involved
in trading a job in the
Pentagon for sexual favors.
So what, right? What a
man does in the privacy of
the Oval Office is none of
our business, right? Never
mind the felony offense of
perjury. Phis widespread
view that the Republicans
were just being silly and the
right-wing conspiracy was
out to get Clinton because
of his policies has been
tirelessly propagated both
by the man himself and his
still-rabid supporters.
Fast forward to today.
Foley, a Republican,
resigned when the scandal
broke, which is the proper
thing to do when one
breaks the law or abuses
their power. Lacking
the defiant charisma of
Clinton, he did the right
thing and abandoned his
post before checking into
a clinic for alcoholics.
Hasten has publicly taken
Learning from a
The View
From My Front Porch
With Larry Peel
larry@ioncinema.com
It’s like Saturday
mornings in real time.
As my regular readers
will note, I am a fairly
nostalgic kind of fella. I
reminisce wistfully about
days gone by, while I
cram for my midterms
and wonder what exactly
I have gotten myself into
this college.
Well, this week 1
had a diversion. While
sitting on my back porch
reading a novel for one
of my classes, I heard my
dogs going ballistic over
something toward the back
end of my yard.
I sat the book down,
uncrossed my legs and
stood up to see what the
commotion was about.
It took me a minute
to believe my own eyes,
but there it was, running
along the clothesline I
have strung between trees,
a small gray squirrel. Not
just any squirrel mind
you, but a very arrogant
squirrel.
I guess I need to give a
little description here. My
house sits in the woods,
literally. Directions to my
house actually include the
words “get off the paved
road”.
1 have 5 acres, mostly
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
- First Amendment, United States Constitution
responsibility for the
scandal. So that’s it, right?
Well, maybe not.
For one reason or
another, more scandals
seem to appear on the
news in October and
November than any other
months of the year. It is
also interesting to note
that elections take place in
November.
Now obviously, if each
side thinks their beliefs are
correct, then they should
try to win the election so
they can put their beliefs
into action.
If they hear about
potentially damaging
information about an
opposing candidate,
they owe it to the people
voting for them to reveal
this potentially damaging
information in as damning
a fashion as possible.
Now this information
about Foley, regarding a
situation that has been going
on since at least 2003, was
revealed to ABC news from
swamp, but 1 have about
1,2 an acre fenced in for my
5 dogs. The clothes line I
mention is just inside the
fence, and the entire back
section of my property is
heavily wooded beyond
the fence.
Now, this squirrel
apparently had climbed
the tree behind the fence,
and made it over to the tree
bearing the clothesline.
The other tree that the
line is tied to is an acorn
bearing tree. See where
this is going?
I watch as the squirrel
dashes back and forth
along the clothesline,
just out of reach of my
now totally insane dogs,
retrieving nuts from the
tree and depositing them in
a small pile on the outside
of the fence.
This feat to me is
amazing enough, but the
best is still yet to come.
As I said, this episode
reminded me of Saturday
morning cartoons.
Occasionally, the
squirrel would stop enroute
to get the nuts and chatter at
my dogs. It was as if it were
deliberately taunting them.
It would stop about midway,
turn toward me, look down
at the dogs and chatter.
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an anonymous source. Yep,
you guessed it, just before
November elections!
Yet Foley has been
conducting sexually explicit
e-mai 1 and instant messenger
conversations with pages
since 2003. Is it possible that
somebody just found out
all of a sudden, just before
elections? Maybe. But is
it more likely that this has
been known about for quite
some time, and unleashed
now for maximum damage.
Probably.
But here’s the real
kicker. Whoever knew' this
information and decided not
to reveal it until right before
the upcoming election
was allowing this abuse of
underage boys to continue.
Whoever had this
information cared more
about election results
than the victims of
Foley’s sexual advances.
Scandal
continued on page 5
squirrel
When the dogs
responded, as dogs
naturally do, the squirrel
simply shook its tail at
them and continued to get
more nuts.
I was reminded of the
cartoon character Secret
Squirrel and how he would
taunt the villains before the
captured him and allowed
the use of all the gadgets
that would inevitably allow
for his escape.
After about three
times of the squirrel
stopping to taunt the dogs,
my chocolate lab Zoey
finally turned and ran up
the steps of the back porch
and looked at me as if to
say “Do something!” 1
couldn't help but laugh,
and Zoey joined the others
back at the watch.
I found a few valuable
life lessons in my little
furry friend on the wire.
The first is ingenuity.
If you have a goal, find a
way to reach it. It may be
unconventional, but if it
works, who cares.
Second, prepare. My
little mammal buddy is
stockpiling for what 1 fear
will be a particularly harsh
winter.
We should all take that
lesson and be prepared for
whatever life brings us.
Today may be sunny,
but who knows what
tomorrow holds for us.
Finally, I learned the
most important lesson of
all. You can be as arrogant
as you like so long as your
enemies can’t reach you.