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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.
Rules for proper
A couple of years ago,
Florida State head football coach
Bobby Bowden was discussing
with reporters how a news item
became a controversy for his
team.
“Because you all ignited it.
You listen to eBay and e-mail
and all that junk, and you all
kept writing about it and that
fans it and makes it grow and
•grow, and it becomes a cancer.”
Forgive the beloved coach
for not knowing the difference
between eBay, e-mail, the
Internet and, apparently, radio.
When you’ve lived through
8-tracks, CB radios, party lines
and the Dead Sea Scrolls, all
■ these newfangled fads in com¬
munication seem the same.
That said, e-mail is still rela¬
tively a new phenomenon.
We’ve only been communicat¬
ing via e-mail for about 15 years
or so (three here in Homerville).
Naturally, we’re still experi¬
encing some growing pains in
learning how to operate this
method of exchange. And that’s
perfecdy fine. Remember, just
30 years ago (eight here in
Homerville), we only had three
or four TV channels to choose
from.
But I don’t want to wait
another 30 years for society to
learn to perfect the art of e-mail¬
ing. My inbox couldn’t take it.
So, in the interests of helping
society, and my inbox, I have
come up with four easy tips on
effective e-mailing.
If followed strictly, this
should jump-start our e-mailing
learning curve at least 10 years
(two here in Homerville).
1. Use “reply all” very rarely.
E-mail services are different,
but most have two buttons in
which you can use to reply to an
e-mail sent to you: “reply” and
“reply all.”
* Oddly enough, many people
I know have not noticed the
“reply” button yet. There’s a dif¬
ference between the two. By hit¬
ting the “reply” button, you
reply to only the sender of the
message. If you hit the “reply
all” button, you not only reply to
the sender, but everyone else
he/she sent the message to.
The “reply all” should only
be used in certain circumstances,
like if you are on a committee,
and everyone on the committee
needs to know when the next
meeting is.
You don’t need to use the
“reply all” function for “LOL.”
While it’s indeed wonderful
On your payroll
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
P.O. Box 3177, Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 887-4342
Mayor Pro-Tern, Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Drive, Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Road, Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Drive, Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Drive, Cumming,. GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
John Pugh
10813th St., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Chairman Charles Laughinghouse, Post 1
3550 Rosewicke Drive, Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2810; cell, (770) 318-3277
cllaughinghouse@forsythco.com
BrianTam,Post2
4410 Dorset Lane, Suwanee, GA 30024
(678) 513-5882; brtam@forsythco.com
Secretary Jim Harrell,-Post 3
(678) 513-5883; fax, (770) 781-2199
jwharrell@forsythco.com
Vice Chairman David Richard, Post 4
8540 Meadow Grove Lane, Gainesville, GA 30506
(678) 513-5884; dwrichard@forsythco.com
Linda Ledbetter, Post 5
206 Mountain Brook Drive, Cumming, GA 30040 I
(678) 513-5885; home, (770) 887-5709 Ikledbetter^forsvthco.com
Len \
Robbins
*
that you’re “Laughing Out
Loud,” it’s not really pertinent
information for the other 32 peo¬
ple that were also sent the same
message.
2. Use “forward” even more
rarely.
Another very popular button
in the e-mail universe is the
“Forward” button. Some people
take the forward button to anoth¬
er ridiculous extreme: They for¬
ward everything sent to them to
everyone in their address book.
I don’t know what would
possess someone to do this.
“Ooh, this is a picture of a
cat making a funny face — I
think I’ll forward this to every
acquaintance.”
Urgh.
3. If you insist on ignoring
common courtesy and forward¬
ing, do not forward anything
political or religious.
This type of transmission is
just asking for trouble and bad
feelings. For instance, a friend of
mine works in a big office and
one of his colleagues kept for¬
warding these fabricated
“Barack Obama is a Muslim” e
mails to everyone at their work¬
place.
Their boss, who was
Muslim, and a Democrat, wasn’t
amused. Don’t be so presumptu¬
ous that you share the same
political and religious beliefs as
everyone in your address book,
and also everyone who is in your
address book’s address book.
4. Keep it short.
This is where I sometimes
fail to be a responsible e-mailer.
In an attempt to show how many
words I know, I often get quite
loquacious (see?) in my mes¬
sages. Yet, I can’t stomach the e
mail ramblings of others, and
neither should you. After 75
words or so (or 30 here in
Homerville), most folks move
on to the next message.
Of course, these rules, espe¬
cially in relation to brevity, don’t
apply to newspaper columns —
only e-mail exchanges and when
you’re listening to eBay.
Happy e-mailing.
Len Robbins is an award¬
winning columnist whose weekly
column appears in 20 newspa¬
pers in Georgia.
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u Pay him no mind. He's just another Georgia fan! it
Edwards, an affair we won’t remember
I am having trouble figur¬
ing out the savage reaction in
some circles to John
Edwards’ admission that he
had an affair and lied about
it.
It couldn’t be about sex,
and it couldn’t be about lying
— because we have had plen¬
ty of both in American poli¬
tics.
According to Edwards, he
had an affair in 2006 and told
his wife about it, she forgave
him, and then he went ahead
and announced for president.
When he was later asked
by reporters about rumors
regarding the affair, Edwards
lied and went on with his
campaign.
Democratic primary vot¬
ers found him wanting, and it
had nothing to do with
rumors of his affair (the
mainstream media did not
touch the story).
Edwards, who had run for
president in 2004 and won
just one primary (his home
state of South Carolina), won
no primaries in 2008. In
2004, Edwards promised to
carry a whole bunch of
Southern states if he got on
the ticket, bht the John
Kerry/John Edwards ticket
carried none.
Now I am reading
Edwards betrayed the nation
a °d ruined a great political
career through his weakness
of the flesh.
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U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District >
1026 Longworth D.C. House Office Building,
Washington, 20515-1011
Washington: (202) 225427
202) 202)2254696 2254272; (770) 232 -3005; Fax:
S1£?I_ LEGISLATORS
Sen. Eugene “Chip” Pearson, 51 st District >
The State Senate State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334
District: P.O. Box 38, Dawsonville, GA 30534
(770) 886-6971 or (404) 656-9221
3% ,.«
< Roger
Simon
COLUMNIST
But haven’t we seen this
movie before?
Didn’t Bill Clinton have
an affair with Gennifer
Flowers before his 1992 pres¬
idential’ campaign? And did¬
n’t he lie about it to every¬
one? And didn’t he have
another affair with Monica
Lewinsky while he was presi¬
dent, and didn’t he lie to his
wife, staff, friends, col¬
leagues, members of
Congress, investigators and
the nation about, it?
In fact, Wikipedia has a
separate entry titled: “I did
not have sexual relations with
that woman,” and it contains
the famous quotation by
Clinton from Jan. 26, 1998:
“But I want to say one thing
to the American people. I
want you to listen to me. I’m
going to say this again: I did
not have sexual relations with
that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
I never told anybody to lie,
not a single time, never.
These allegations are false,
and I need to go back to work
for the American people.
Thank you.”
Bill Clinton continued to
lie, and only admitted the
NATION AL LEGISLATO R S
< U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3643 or (770) 661 -0999
U.S. Sen.-Saxby Chambliss >
416 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3521 or (770) 763-9090
< U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 9th District
2133 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515
Gainesville: P.O. Box 1015, Gainesville, GA 30503
(770) 535-2592; (202) 225-5211; Fax: (202) 225-8272
V
f? .91
Sen. Jack Murphy, 27th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 304
18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
(404)656-7127
A *
> i
7 f
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Thursday, August 21,2008
truth after physical evidence
(the little blue dress) was dis¬
covered. He was impeached
by the House and then
acquitted by the Senate.
And what happened to
him then? He went on to
become the most popular
Democrat on the planet. His
reputation was firmly
scrubbed — what’s a little
affair or two? and
Democrats widely hailed him
as a great president.
So why is John Edwards
such a villain? After all, he
ended his affair and got the
forgiveness of his wife — he
says — before he began run¬
ning for president.
And as for his lying to
reporters, well, I also hear
there is gambling in
Casablanca.
After getting caught,
Edwards told ABC News
recently: “I went from being
a young senator to being con¬
sidered for vice president,
running for president ...
becoming a national public
figure, all of which fed a self¬
focus, an egotism, a narcis¬
sism that leads you to believe
you can do/whatever you
want, you’re invincible, and
there will be no conse¬
quences. And nothing could
be further from the truth.”
I wish nothing could be
further from the truth, but I
have a feeling a lot more
affairs get successfully cov¬
11
I j j
m
Rep. Amos Amerson, 9th District >
Suite 401-G, State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 657-8443 or (706) 864-6589
tj
BOARD OF EDUCATION
- Ann Crow—District 1
320 Dahlonega St„ Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 490-6316; acrow@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Vice Chairman Tom Cleveland—District 3
5225 Millsford Court, Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 844-9901; tdeveland@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Chairperson Nancy Roche—District 5
7840 Chestnut Hill Road, Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 889-0229; nroche@fbrsyth.k12.ga.us
Ronnie Pinson — District 4
8310 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30506
(770) 887-9808; rpinson@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Mike Dudgeon — District 2
10075 Normandy Lane, Suwanee, GA 30024
(770) 781-5222; mdi|Jaeon@forsvth.k12.aa.us
PAGE5A
ered up in politics than get
discovered.
Actually, we have an
example of how to handle
such matters. David Paterson,
shortly after being sworn in
as governor of New York
after Eliot Spitzer got caught
going to hookers, calmly
announced to the press that
he had affairs with “several”
women during his marriage.
He said it was a personal
matter and did not violate
any laws.
Paterson said he was mak¬
ing the announcement in
order to “clear his con¬
science” and avoid black¬
mail. “I just thought this was
the time to come forward and
reveal this,” he said.
And that was that.
So what are guidelines for
politicians?
Have affairs, but deny
them to everyone until you
get caught?
Have affairs, admit them
to your spouse, but keep
them secret from everyone
else?
Have affairs, but admit
them to everybody before the
truth comes out?
Or maybe just not have
affairs at all.
Maybe some politicians
should try that one. Just to
see if it works.
Roger Simon is a syndi¬
cated columnist and a televi¬
sion commentator.
< Rep. Tom Knox, 24th District
220-A State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 656-6831, or (770) 887-0400, law office
5'! r -' 4
V ' y
W.
< Rep. Mark Hamilton, 23rd District
Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Room 504
18 Capitol Square. Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 656-0188; local, (770) 844-6768