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PAGE 18A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28,2004
The Forsyth County News
Opinion
This is a page of opinions - ours, yours and others.
Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the
writers and artists and may not reflect our views.
A reflection
on our ‘progress’
In this edition of the
Forsyth County News
you will find our annual
Progress Edition, by far the
biggest of the special sec
tions we produce for our
readers and advertisers each
year.
In this annual edition, we
attempt to produce in a sin
gle publication a “snapshot”
of life in Forsyth County
a broad, expansive look at
where we are. where we
have been, and where we
are going.
There is a common
theme to all of the sections
rapid growth is forever
changing the county.
Many of the stories con
tained in this special publi
cation deal with how growth
is being handled, whether
by the city and county gov
ernment. the school system,
social service agencies, the
health community or those
who work in public safety.
While it is easy to
become overwhelmed by
what remains to be done,
we sometimes need to stop
and realize how much has
been done already.
Due in large part to the
willingness of the county's
voters to increase their own
taxes, new schools have
been opened, parks have
been built, roads have been
improved, library services
expanded, utility services
enhanced and increased
emergency services sup
ported in recent years.
Comparing this year’s
Progress Edition to one pro
Letters
Columnist wrong
about guns, kids
[Extension Service Columnist
Debbie] Wilburn seems to have
expanded her enterprise to include
promoting anti-gun propaganda in
her article, [Firearms: Why kids are a
risk, Forsyth County News]. Ms.
Wilburn’s article, under the guise of
its “home safety” message, seems to
be telling gun owners to remove any
guns from the house because homes
with guns are much more likely to
have an injury or murder of a family
member than in homes without guns.
Her article also seems to claim
homes without guns are safer for
children. These anti-gun messages
are false and misleading.
While it may be surprising to see
Ms. Wilburn promoting these kinds
of anti-gun messages, the fact that
her article was put together [based
on] the National SAFE KIDS
Campaign should explain a great
deal The National SAFE KIDS
Campaign has a history of producing
biased, anti-gun "research,” and has
promoted numerous attacks on our
Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
I think that anyone who relies on
Ms. Wilburn’s advice, in lieu of safe
handling and personal control prac
tices, is asking for trouble. I also
think it more likely that, for the few
home accidents that arguably might
be averted by following her sugges
tions, that Ms. Wilburn,s advice will
actually endanger people's lives. And
of the few that might follow her
advice, common sense and training
would actually prove a more effec
tive remedy. I suggest that if Ms.
Wilburn would like to champion a
duced just five years ago, it
is easy to see how much has
been done to improve the
quality of life in the county.
Much still is to keep up
with the county's ever
increasing population
boom. Infrastructure de
mands continued attention
roads, water and sewer
lines, a jail and court facili
ties. increased law enforce
ment and fire protection.
Schools will have to be built
on a regular basis over the
next several years. Some
social service and govern
ment agencies are overbur
dened. as are some recre
ational facilities and parks.
There is no question
there is still much to be
done. But we can’t lose
sight of the fact that much
has been done, and this spe
cial issue, a reflection on
“progress” in the county,
allows us a chance to appre
ciate our accomplishments
as well as our challenges.
The Progress Edition is a
challenge to the entire staff
of our newspaper, from
those who write the stories
and sell the ads to those
who distribute the paper to
your home and handle the
accounting paperwork.
With any such venture,
there are sure to be mistakes
and omissions. Beyond
those, we are proud to have
completed what is, for us. a
major undertaking, and
hope that you enjoy this
comprehensive updating of
the status of life in Forsyth
County.
cause, that accidental poisonings of
children in the home, which dwarf
accidental gun deaths by a factor of 7
to I, would be a fine topic for her.
(National Safety Council, 1997).
Although Ms. Wilburn very
briefly and accurately mentioned the
benefit of taking a course in using,
maintaining, and storing firearms
safely, missing from her message
was any mention of promoting edu
cational programs for children, such
as the NRA’s award-winning Eddie
Eagle Gun Safe Program. In her rec
ommendations on home firearm safe
ty. Ms. Wilburn failed to consider
applicable scientific literature per
taining to defensive gun uses and the
beneficial results of private firearms
ownership. Also absent is any type of
supportive communication about the
many people who do use a gun in the
home to successfully defend life, lib
erty and property.
Tony Mazzurra
Cumming
Book outlines
Iraq scenario
Why are we in Iraq?
Is it because Iraq had weapons of
mass destruction? No WMDs have
been found. Then, is it to enforce
United Nations Resolution 1441?
The UN did not ask for that.
Looking around a bit, we find a
book by Zbigniew Brzeznski written
in 1997 that indicates that Iraq may
have been planned seven years ago.
The title of the book is “The Grand
Chessboard.”
Who is this author? He was
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Lessons from ‘King Roy’ for George W.
Sen. Zell Miller makes a
spiffy ornament on President
Bush's campaign bandwagon.
How much Miller may con
tribute to driving that band
wagon to election victory is
open to question.
Named chairman of
Democrats for Bush, the 72-
year-old Miller came out last
week with guns blazing at
Democratic candidate John
Kerry, faulting his fellow sena
tor for everything from being
weak on Iraq to being wrong
on Bush’s tax policy.
Trouble is, Miller is
preaching to the choir: mostly
Southern white males who
made up their minds long ago
to support Bush no matter
whom the Democrats offered
as an alternative.
Bush's main re-election
problem has little connection
to attracting Miller's bubbas.
They’d love Dubya even if ol’
Zell were still a loyal
Democrat. It's those other
folks, the ones beyond the
NASCAR infield and the pick
up-truck parking lot that
vast undecided pool of middle
class men and women
whom Bush must woo and
even convert. Those voters are
not ordinarily affected or
amused by Miller's redneck
twang and mountaineer
metaphors. Many of them
can't even comprehend much
of what he says. “Rural
Romanian," as writer Tom
Carter's National Security Advisor:
he is Trustee of the Trilateral
Commission, member of the Council
on Foreign Relations, and currently
is a Professor of American Foreign
Policy at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced
International Studies.
In his book Brzezinski notes: The
last decade of the 20th century has
seen a tectonic shift in world affairs.
For the first time a non-Eurasian
power has emerged as the world’s
paramount power... [lt] is imperative
that no Eurasian challenger emerge
capable of challenging America. The
formulation ot a comprehensive and
integrated Eurasian geostrategy is
therefore the purpose of this book,
(pp xii, xiii)
But the Eurasian Balkans [Central
Asia] are infinitely more important
as an economic prize: an enormous
concentration of natural gas and oil
reserves is located in the region, in
addition to important minerals,
including gold. The Central Asian
region and the Caspian Sea are
known to contain reserves of natural
gas and oil that dwarf those of
Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the
North Sea. (pp 124, 125)
Moreover, as America becomes
an increasingly multicultural society,
it may find it more difficult to fash
ion a consensus on foreign policy
issues, except in the circumstances of
a truly massive and widely perceived
direct external threat, (p 211)
Could the U.S. be following Mr.
Brzezinski’s recommended strategy?
Could 9/11 be the widely perceived
direct external threat?
Richard Spreen
Cumming
■
Bill
Shipp JB
Wolfe describes Miller's brand
of Southern speech, doesn't
translate universally.
In a sense. Bush's re-elec
tion organization faces the
same types of hurdles that
Gov. Roy Barnes encountered
in Georgia in his failed 2002
re-election campaign. (Re
member that Miller tried to
help Barnes too.)
Let's consider some simi
larities of the Bush and Barnes
bids:
• Bush’s campaign coffers
are running over, and he had
no primary opposition. He
enjoyed the luxury for several
weeks of sitting back while his
little-known Democratic rivals
publicly ripped each other
apart. Same for Barnes.
Campaign cash poured in. B
list Republican challengers
clawed at one another in a
mean primary race.
• Bush hopes to focus his
campaign on his heroic stance
after 9/11. his war on terror
ism. his tax cuts and Medicare
reform. The media won't
cooperate. They keep bringing
up other matters: failures in the
war on terrorism, the invasion
of Iraq, spiraling deficits, lost
jobs and false information
about Medicare sosts. Sounds
like Barnes, in reruns. In 2002
Barnes’ TV advertising
emphasized education, child
care and lower property taxes.
The media (and the public)
obsessed on the Northern Arc
highway and changing the
state flag. Barnes never suc
ceeded in getting voters to pay
attention to his key messages.
Seven months before the elec
tion. Bush is having the same
kind of problem: No one is lis
tening to what he says.
• Surveys indicate Bush
will lose many voters who sup
ported him in 2000 Barnes
suffered similarly. Because
incumbents seldom live up to
expectations, they inevitably
leave behind mobs of former
supporters. Teachers, who had
formerly endorsed Gov.
Barnes, turned against him
with a vengeance because of
. his education reform. Many
educators. formerly in
President Bush's corner, now
oppose the president because
they detest his rules- and tests
oriented No Child Left Behind
program.
• In 1998 Barnes won over
whelmingly among white and
black seniors but lost the
whites in 2002 largely because
of the flag issue In his first
race. Bush was popular among
geezers. Now, those old-timers
are slipping away from the
president because of tough
economic times and skepti-
Thanks to all for
help with dogs
I am writing this letter in hopes of
it being published in your paper to
thank the wonderful people of our
community.
On Monday, March 22. my two
Siberian Huskies escaped from my
house without my knowledge. I hap
pened to be in a class in Norcross
and did not know about the situation.
They were found “playing” in the
middle of Ga. 400 by a few
motorists. I know one individual
tried my cell, but I did not receive
the message until we were on break.
However, from my understanding.
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cism about the administra
tion's Medicare prescription
benefits.
In the end. Barnes lost his
election because he betrayed
expectations. He changed the
flag and turned into an ardent
reformer in several areas.
Voters were left shocked and
turned off.
For reasons not of his own
making, Bush emerged also as
a leader in away that voters
did not anticipate. The
Education President morphed
into the War President. Boys
and girls are not necessarily
getting better educated, as
Bush promised. Instead, young
men and women are getting
killed and wounded on Bush's
watch. The electorate is not
pleased.
The Bush-Barnes compari
son ends here because Bush
has an additional king-size
puzzler. How many voters who
supported Al Gore in 2000 will
turn to George Bush in 2004?
The answer. Virtually none.
Yet many of the singers in
Bush's 2000 choir are now
responding to a different tune,
or at least planning to sit this
one out. Therein lay the seeds
of Dubya's possible defeat
or perhaps a second trip to the
Supreme Court for validation
of another hairbreadth victory.
Bill Shipp's column
appears each Sunday and
Wednesday. His e-mail address
is hshipp@hellsouth.net.
they were able to gather Falcon and
Isis with a little bit of difficulty and
dropped them off at the vet’s office.
The woman that dropped them off
at Crestview Animal Hospital did not
leave her name, nor do I have the
other motorist's names. 1 do want to
extend my heartfelt appreciation to
those helping on Ga 400, to
Crestview Animal Hospital for tak
ing Falcon and Isis in. and to my
neighbor, Dorothy McDcrmond, who
gave up her time to search for these
dogs and receiving them.
I believe that Falcon and Isis are
thankful for you as well!
Debbi Zagarella
Cumming