Newspaper Page Text
Closer Look
Rep. McKinney: traitor or truth teller?
ho is Congress
woman Cynthia
McKinney? She is
one of the most outstanding
fightersfor freedomin thiscoun
try. She has been an advocate
of human rights all of her ca
reer. She has served on the
powerful and prestigious Na
tional Security Committee, the
International Relations Com
mittee, and the International
Operationsand Human Rights
Subcommittee. The Congress
woman sponsored the Arms
Transfer Code of Conduct which
aimed at preventing the sale of
U.S. weapons to dictators,
which passed the housein 1997.
She is a former college profes
sor whowastrainedininterna
tional relations at the Univer
sity of Southern California. She
is an expert on U.S. foreign
relations, from an academicand
experiential perspective. Sheis
uniquely qualified to comment
on U.S. foreign relations. She
sees what is going on from the
inside-out.
Recently the Gentlewoman
cameunder fire by ultraconser
Local races heat up
t was no surprise to me
to hear that the county
Marshal Steve Smith
had an ethics complaint filed
against him by Moses
McCauley this past week. I did
not expect it because I know
Mr. McCauley but rather be
cause I have gotten to know
Smith’scharacter. On his cam
paign literature he uses the
word “integrity” and I find
that quite amusing based on
his record and how his office
cametobean elected position.
I wrote an article several
months ago about the whole
incident and will summarizeit
again for those of you poor
uninformed people who only
started readingmy article since
then.
Several marshals were in
volved with astolen goods fenc
ingoperation along with some
Augusta State University
(ASU) police officers. When
Judge William Jennings, chief
magistrate judge and Smith’s
boss, could not get any straight
answers from Smith or his
marshals, he decided to make
them take a polygraph test to
see who was lying about the
whole affair. The same day
that Judge Jennings was sign
ing the order for the lie detec
tor test, Smith was on his way
to Atlanta with then state rep.
Robin Williams. Why? Because
it was during the legislative
session and he was going to
have the Marshal’s position
changed froman appointed one
to an elected one.
Smith got the bill passed
WARNING:
AUTO ACCIDENT VICTIMS
A Minor Accident? R B L e
Even a minor automobile accident can have major ill iy
effects on your health. It may be weeks, months, \\3' < -
even years before you experience pair. \eadaches \‘.’% & %
even arthritis. But DO NOT settle with the insurance A ‘o;/ NS
company unless you get checked out. | .
After the Accident Most Automobile Cases are
: Accepted with
Health Check-List NO out of pocket Expenses.
[0 Headaches "
[0 Neck Pain Stiffness |
0 Shoulder Pain | .
0 Hand Numbness/Weakness - -i, :
D Low Back Pain Dr. Cal Brice (NN, st
0 Muscle Tension Personal Injury Wellness Clinic & |
[0 Difficulty Sleeping )
BRICE ACCIDENT & INJURY CENTER ) g
1125 Druib PARK AVENUE AUGUSTA, GA 30904
A & FOR APPOINTMENTS
W 0
Z,w“' 2583 Tosacco Roap HepuzißaH, GA 30815 Ca: 736-5551
a7x N ‘
black ,:' .
By The Rev. Dr. ' .
Ralph C. Watkins o
vatives who, because of their
inability to think, mischarac
terized her position on a num
ber of issues, questioned her
patrigtism, and labeled her a
traitor.
What caused the uproar?
Congresswoman McKinney
wrote a letter to Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi
Arabia after Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani rejected a $lO million
donation from the prince for
therelieffund for the victims of
theWorld Trade Center bomb
ing. The Congresswoman was
in good company in her sur
prise at Mayor Giuliani’s ac
tion. U.N. Secretary Kofi
Annan, who won the Noble
Peace Prize on Friday, October
12, 2007, also expressed sur
prise at the mayor’s strong
The = L%
4 -plnlo \;."q“?c
By Brad Owens i
saving his hide and the whole
matter was forced to be
dropped but not forgotten by
Judged Jennings. Idon’t blame
the judge; I would not want a
thief or one who protects
thieves working for meeither,
much less in a law enforce
ment position. Now I am not
saying that Smith is a crook
but those are the facts and he
cannot or hasnot denied them.
That brings up the current
controversy with our Marshal.
The law was written to allow
Smith, although he has never
been elected, to run as an in
cumbent. I think that Robin
Williams did everything he
could to give his buddy Steve
all the unfair advantages he
could. Smith is not required
to take a leave of absence like
other county employees who
run for political office based
on the precept that he is the
incumbent. Or is he? That is
the basis for the complaint
that was filed by competitor
MosesMcCauley and he thinks
that Smith should be thrown
off of the ballot. I disagree. I
do think that Steve should
not be collecting a county pay
check while he is running be
cause a campaign takes up so
much time that he cannot pos-
rejection of the donation. The
Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), a Washing
ton-based Islamic advocacy
group also criticized Giuliani’s
action.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of
fered his condolences for the
victims of the World Trade Cen
terand condemned terrorismin
all its forms. So what is the
issue? Is the issue that we are
living in a period were dissent,
diversity, and critical reflection
on foreign policy will not be
tolerated? Are we moving to
ward a period of fascist reac
tionary politics in the land of
the free, and the home of the
brave?
In Congresswoman
McKinney’s letter she puts her
comments in context by show
ingthat her concernsareshared
by the chairman of the House
International Relations Commit
tee, theHonorable Henry Hyde,
and former National Security
Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
They both agree that America
needs to continue to look hard
to just ice cold
sibly be devoting full days to
his job. He should be forced to
take a leave of absence during
this first election just like the
other twopeoplewhoareinthe
race that are county employ
ees. Moses McCauley, a county
employee, and John Gray, a
sheriff’s deputy, have been
without pay since qualifyingto
run and that gives Smith an
other unfair advantage that he
doesn’t deserve. .
I myself cannot vote for a
man who refuses to answer
questionsabout his “integrity”
that he is running on. The
Board of Elections predicts a
very low turnout and that is a
shame. Still, out of all of the
local races this one has heated
up. Now it’s just plain ice cold.
In other news, if you’re not
with the republicans then
you’re with the terrorist! This
past week nationally syndi
cated radio talk show host Pe
ter Werbe (heard here in Au
gusta on AM 1230 noon till 3
p.m. weekdays) was taken off
of the air in Santa Cruz, Cali
fornia for being “un-Ameri
can.” Station KOMY’s owner,
and resident right wing
nutcase, Michael Zwerling
called Peter’s show “unpatri
otic” andyankedit over Peter’s
criticism of Bush’s “you’re
with me or the terrorist” atti
tude. I love Peter’s show and
encourage all of you to tune
him in daily and support the
first amendment by sending
Zwerling an e-mail calling for
the return of Peter’s show to
the airwaves over Santa Cruz.
atitspoliciestoward the Middle
East. She then goes on to raise
legitimateissuesrelated to Hu
man Rights nationally and in
ternationally. Finally, she sug
gest that Prince Alwaleed bin
Talal redirect the $lO million
dollars to charities to help
Americans, which includes Af
rican Americans. African
AmericansareAmericansaren’t
they?
Theissue hereisn’t whether
one agrees or disagrees with
the Congresswoman from At
lanta. The issue boils down to
herright,and every American’s
right tospeak their mind. Even
the ultra-conservatives, who
could be found guilty of shallow
analytical skills, have the right
to speak. Who is the traitor is
itthe Congresswoman or those
who want to condemn her for
exercising her right to free
speech?
Dr. Watkins is a professor of
soctology at Augusta State Uni
versity and can be reached at
(706) 737-1735 or email:
rwatkins@aug.edu
His e-mail address is
mz@ksco.com; let him know
thatitis hisactions, not Peter’s
opinions, that are very “un-
American.” I will leave you
with this closing thought from
one of our founding fathers: “I
may not support what you say
but I will fight to the death for
your right to say it.” Send
those e-mails; the voice you
save may be your own.
brad.owens@lycos.com
WAKE UP WITH AMERICA'S
HOTTEST MORNING
WARKE-UP SHOW
Weekday Mornings
6 am - 10 am
107.7 FM On your Radio Dial
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Prize
From page 8A
in increasing access to tech
nology for poor communities
and supporting community
organizations, having given
last year more than $36.6 mil
lion in cash and $179 million
insoftware to morethan 5,000
non-profit organizations. In
deed, its capacity-building
grant to the Urban League is
one of eight given to a broad
range of non-profit organiza
tions this year which total
more than $7.6 million in soft
ware.
Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer, meeting with me at
our Metropolitan Seattle affili
ate, said that “Microsoft is
excited to be able to help the
National Urban League de
liver greater digital opportuni
ties to underserved communi
ties nationwide and to reach
its organizational goals. This
meaningful way that the Ur
ban League will use these re
sources exemplifies the spirit
of Microsoft’s high tech phil
anthropic efforts.
Thesoftware from thegrant,
which follows a similar grant
Microsoft made tousfouryears
ago, will enable the Urban
Leaguetodoboth the “founda
tion-building” and “direct-ser
vice” work in more than 70 of
our 111 affiliates in 34 states
and the District of Columbia.
Put simply, that meansmore
of our affiliates can now oper
ate at the highest levels of
technological competence:
they’ll be able to more effi
ciently helpthe morethan two
million people Urban Leagues
|A &£ 1
R A R AR
K ¥ ¥‘]
i il g
e : ] 7, ! (i e
= '.
‘M i v ,
J\"
OCTOBER 25, 2001
serve find affordable rental
housing, or get mortgages to
buy ahome, or find affordable
daycare for their children.
Even more important, the
Microsoft grant means that
affiliates will be able to help
residents in the low income
communities they serve de
velop basic and intermediate
technology literacy skills
through our “Digital Cam
puses.” Thesetechnology cen
tersaretypically equipped with
25 state-of-the-art computers,
on-line courseware for chil
drenandadults, alaser printer,
a network server and high
speed Internet access. Each
affiliate offers technology
trainingand online courses so
that residents in these areas
will now have Digital Cam
puses sponsored by the com
pany (an additional 25 affili
ates have technology centers
that are funded by other
sources) that offer trainingin
the latest MS software titles
for adults and teens.
Now, more of our affiliates
will be able to train unem
ployed and underemployedin
dividualsinsuch areas ascom
puter literacy, MS software
titles, A+ certification, and
web site design.
Now, more Urban League
affiliatescan mount preschool,
child development and after
school programs that utilize
the MS titles to engage chil
dren and teens in computer
relatedactivitiesthat helpthem
learn how to use the latest
softwareavailable.
- Thebroader goal these pur
suits embody —that ofjoining
the American mainstream —
is always worth fighting for.
Hugh B. Price is president
ofthe National Urban League.
Raphael James
with your
Power News
Monday - Friday
9A