Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7A
ForsythOpinion
Friday, June 24, 2016
YOUR ELECTED
OFFICIALS
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor H. Ford Gravitt, PO. Box
3177, Cumming, GA 30028; (770)
887-4342
Christopher Light, 100 Main St.,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 480-
1396
Mayor Pro-Tem Quincy Holton,
103 Hickory Ridge Drive,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-
5279
Lewis Ledbetter, 206 Mountain
Brook Drive, Cumming, GA
30040; (770) 887-3019
Linda Ledbetter, 100 Main St.,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 781-
2010
Charles Welch, 100 Main St.,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 781-
2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Chaiman R.J. (Pete) Amos, Post
1, 10 E. Main St., Cumming, GA
30040; (678) 513-5881; rjamos @
forsythco.com
Secretary Brian Tam, Post 2,
4410 Dorset Lane, Suwanee, GA
30024; (404) 392-6983; office,
(678) 513-5882; brtam @forsythco.
com
Todd Levent, Post 3,
110 E. Main St.,, Cumming, GA
30040; (678) 513-5883; tievent@
forsythco.com
Vice Chairwoman Cindy Mills,
Post 4, 110 E. Main St,, Cumming,
GA 30040; (678) 513-5884;
cjmills@forsythco.com
Jim Boss, Post 5, 110 E. Main St.,
Cumming, GA 30040; (678) 513-
6886, jjboff@forsythco.com
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow, District 1, 320
Dahlonega St., Cumming, GA
30040; (770) 490-6316; acrow @
forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Vice Chairwoman Kristin
Monrissey, District 2, 3310 Cany
Creek Lane, Cumming, GA 30041;
(678) 260-4047; kmorrissey @
forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Tom Cleveland, District 3, 5225
Millsford Court, Cumming, GA
30040; (770) 844-9901; tcleve
land @forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Chairwoman Darla Sexton
Light, District 4, 50080 Hopewell
Road, Cumming, GA 30028;
(770) 887-0678; dlight@forsyth.
kl2.ga.us
Nancy Roche, District 5, 7840
Chestnut Hill Road, Cumming,
GA 30041; (770) 889-0229;
nroche @forsyth.kl2.ga.us
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, 120
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20610; (202)
224-3643 or (770) 661-0999
U.S. Sen. David Perdue, B4OD
Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510; (202)
224-3521
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, 9th
District; 5613 Cannon House Office
Building, Washington, D.C.,
20615; (202) 225-9893; fax, (770)
297-3390
U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, 7th
District; 1725 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, D.C.,
20515; (770) 232-3005; (202) 225-
4272; fax, (202) 225-4696
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Steve Gooch, 51st District,
Suite 421-C, State Capitol, Atlanta,
GA 30334; (404) 656-9221
Sen. Michael Williams, 27th
District, Coverdell Legislative
Office Building, Room 323-B, 18
Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA
305’34; (404) 656-7127
Rep. Kevin Tanner, Sth District,
Coverdell Legislative Office
Building, Room 401-E, Atlanta, GA
30334; ?404) 656-0152
Rep. Wes Cantrell, 22nd District,
Coverdell Legislative Office
Building, Room 507-E, 18 Capitol
Square, Atlanta, GA 30334; (404)
65:-020820\ iS. Gilli 24th
. Sheri 8. n,
Dl-t.rrct, Legislative ?).fllce
Building, Suite 612, 18 Ca&;tm
s4%=|rfl, SW, Atlanta, GA 30334;
. Mlhm 25th
Dlm. Covomlllntive
Office Building, Room 608-C, 18
Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA
30334; (404) 666-0208
Rep. Geoff Duncan, 26th
District, Coverdell Legislative
Office Building, Room 512-B, 18
Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA
30334; (404) 656-7859
‘Senid a letter to the editor to PO, Box 210 Cumming, GA 30028; fax it to (770) 889-8017; of e-mail it 16 ecitor@forsytlinews.com.
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This Sebastian is the real deal and that’s no joke
1 don’t know how school
teachers manage to do what
they do and do it as well as
they do, given the obstacles
tossed in their way by politi
cians, bureaucrats, special
interest groups, ideologues,
social experimenters and
assorted other navel-gazers —
none of whom could carry
their book bag. They sure
don’t do it for the financial
reward. That, we save for
semi-articulate professional
athletes and Hollywood liber
als who earn obscene amounts
of money pretending to be
someone else.
A teacher’s reward comes
from the impact they have on
young lives and the impact
young lives can have on them.
I was reminded of that fact
last week when | heard from
Mary Niedrach, who gently
rapped my knuckles after
reading my column on the
names we are giving our kids
these days. Ms. Niedrach is a
kindergarten teacher at Berry
College Elementary School in
Rome, who took issue with
my poking fun at the name
Sebastian. It turns out that she
had a special young man
named Sebastian in her class
this year.
Ms. Niedrach wrote me to
say, “l love your column and
read it faithfully. You have a
The Department of Justice and God (Arabic) Be Praised
“l 1 pledge allegiance to
[omitted] may God pro
tect him [Arabic], on
behalf of [omitted].” said
the man who killed 49
innocent people in an
Orlando gay bar on June
12. Or so reported a
redacted transcript of
phone conversations
between the shooter and
police. The transcript air
brushed all reference to
Islam and the Islamic
State. U.S. Attorney
General Loretta Lynch
told ABC's “This Week”
that her department was
releasing a partial tran
script “because we're not
going to be, for example,
broadcasting his pledges
of allegiance. We are try
ing not to revictimize
those who went through
that horror.”
After House Speaker
Paul Ryan chided the
administration for its
“preposterous” selective
editing, the Department of
Justice realized its error
and released a transcript
that included the words
“Islamic State.” It was no
surprise. The shooter had
paid homage to the
Islamic State and Allah
when he posted on
Facebook during his kill
ing spree. Did “Allah”
make an appearance in the
less edited transcript? Not
quite. I got no answer
-
DICK YARBROUGH
Columnist
way of gently making us see
the truth while diffusing the
anger that so many seem to
have these days. Your humor
is right up my alley and I often
laugh put loud at something
you have written.” (C'mon.
You are making me blush.)
However, she said, “I'll
have to object to your editorial
‘What's in a name?’ You had
me right up until you threw
the name Sebastian under the
bus.” (Uh-oh! I think I'm
about to get my knuckles
rapped.)
“] have been a teacher for
36 years. I have seen hundreds
of names and taught each and
every one of these children to
write these names as well as to
add and subtract and to read
and to write. But this past
year, for the first time ever, |
had a Sebastian.
“Sebastian White is an
angel on this Earth. He is
kind. loving and brings joy to
every person he comes across.
He loves all people and ani
mals and he has a sixth sense
of anyone who is hurt or even
DEBRA SAUNDERS
Columnist
“| pledge
allegiance to
(omitted) may
God protect him
(Arabic), on
behalf of
(omitted),”
Redacted transcript
of phone
conversations
between Orlando
night club shooter
and police
when | asked
the Justice
Department if
the killer said
“Allah’ 18
what the 2.0
version tran
script record
ed as “God
[Arabic].”
1 cah see
why the feds
chose not to
release audio
of the calls
— why feed
other would
be Islamic
terrorists’
dreams of
jihad fame
and glory?
anu EIUI, .
But 1 don't believe the
attorney general’s ratio
nale for editing the partial
transcripts for a New York
minute. President Obama
frequently chides political
opponents for seeing any
correlation between Islam
and radical Islamist
extremism. The president
is not content to note that
the overwhelming majori
ty of Muslims are not
jihadis: he takes the extra
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
discouraged. He listens when
people talk and asks intelli
gent questions. This child has
an old soul.
“He asks deep questions
like, ‘Does God love people
all the time?’ and, ‘lf blood
leaks out of your finger will
you go flat like a balloon?’
“I love this child like no
other. Unfortunately, he did
not know the alphabet when
he started my class as the oth
ers did. It is one of my
requirements for entry. I
accepted him anyway. I am
not sure why. He did an amaz
ing job in kindergarten but is
not quite ready for first grade.
“Sometimes 1 tell my class
that [ will choose a ‘helper’ to
stay back with me next year.
They vie for this honor. On
the last day of school, we
played a game. Sebastian
won. The prize was a golden
trophy engraved “The Chosen
One — Sebastian White.
“There were tears. But not
from me or Sebastian.”
Ms. Niedrach ended her
note with an admonition, “So
take my sweet boy’s name off
your list." No sooner said than
done, but 1 had to call Mary
Niedrach to find out what is so
special about Sebastian White.
“He is the most wonderful
child 1 have ever known,” she
told me. “When he walks in
step of pronouncing any
link between Islam and
terrorism as specious.
The administration’s
editing bespeaks a pattern
of willful deception. This
ixn't the first time the
administra
tion has
tried 1o
steer pub
lic outrage
away from
radical
Isfamic
terrorism,
Weeks
before the
2012 presi
dential
election, as
the admin
istration
wanted to
shift blame
from its
Libya poli
c y ;
National
iNativVvia:
Security Adviser Susan
Rice disingenuously cred
ited an American-made
video for sparking the
Benghazi attack that left
four Americans dead.
In May, Fox News cor
respondent James Rosen
noticed the State
Department had removed
from its official website a
video of a 2013 exchange
between Rosen and
spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
At a news conference,
the room, the whole room
lights up. If he thinks someone
needs a hug, he will hug them.
When he is in the lunchroom,
he thanks all the workers, even
if he brought his lunch that
day.” Sebastian White's father
is a Rome police officer and
his mother works in the local
court system but Ms. Niedrach
is convinced the young man
was “dropped from heaven.”
So, that brings me back
around to the rewards of
teaching. 1 suspect young
Sebastian White will forever
remember Mary Niedrach's
influence on his life. Certainly,
Ms. Niedrach will never forget
how this precocious 6-year
old brought so much joy to
her own life. As for the rest of
us, we are reminded once
again why teachers do what
they do.
And to think: We might not
have known of this love story
between a devoted teacher and
an exceptional young man had
I not written a wiseacre col
umn joking about the name
Sebastian and gotten my
knuckles rapped for it.
Sometimes ['m right, even
when [ am wrong.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough
at yarb24oo@bellsouth.net; at
P.O. Box 726373, Atlanta,
Georgia 31139
Rosen asked Psaki if it
was State Department pol
icy to lie to achieve its
goals. Psaki answered, “I
think there are times
when diplomacy needs
privacy in order to prog
ress.” (The administra
tion's animus toward Fox
News is hardly secret.
Lynch's predecessor, Eric
Holder, approved a search
warrant on Rosen, whom
he called a possible crimi
nal co-conspirator in a
leak investigation.)
The Obama administra
tion seeks to blame lax
gun laws for an Islamic
State-inspired attack. That
is, this administration
would rather target sup
porters of gun rights than
the allure of the Islamic
State. Lynch actually
went on the Sunday shows
to tout the release of par
tial transcripts — as proof
of transparency. The
administration planned
this. Methinks the admin
istration expected the
media to play along.
Email Debra J.
Saunders at dsaunders@
sfchronicle.com. To find out
more about Debra J.
Saunders and read features
by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists,
vigit the Creators Syndicate
web page at www.creators.
com.