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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Opinions
Cancel culture and the death of civility
O ne of the early
treasures 1
found on the
internet was the original
Dawgvent. Back in the
early days of dial-up
access, it was worth the
long wait for it to load.
Now at hairofthedawg.
net, it remains a superb
source of information
on UGA sports and the
world in general.
One of the stalwarts
of those message
boards was a guy called
Tee. Dead now, Tee was
legendary. His stock
saying was, “Facebook
is da debil.”
He was way ahead of
his time. Social me
dia has played a giant
role in the killing off of
civility in this country.
People will post things
on social media they
would never say to your
face.
1 ruminated on this
last week when 1 saw
people whom 1 know
posting scathing com
ments about Rush
Limbaugh after he died
of cancer. These same
people would have gone
berserk if you posted
something similar about
the Casper Milquetoast
voiced announcers on
NPR.
This is not a Repub
lican vs. Democrat or
conservative vs. liberal
issue.
Many on both sides
are guilty and many on
both sides are horrified
when they see such re
marks though it seems
as though the number
of those in the horrified
contingent is dwindling
rapidly.
These online battles
of words gave way to
the cancel culture. This
is a deep topic of its
own but these are the
basics. If you say or
post something 1 don’t
like or dis
agree with
me on an is
sue, it is fine
for me to try
to shut down
your fam
ily business,
force you out
of your job,
harass your
spouse, vilify
your chil
dren and do
pretty much
anything
else 1 would
like. This
does not just
show a lack
of civility, it is patently
dangerous.
The cancel culture is
no longer confined to
the national stage. We
only have to look to a
nearby community for
an example. The news
paper publisher there
got a tip sometime back
that the school system
was using a
substitute
teacher who
had been
convicted of
child moles
tation and
was on the
sex offender
list. The
teacher had
allegedly
molested
a student
at a school
where he
had pre
viously
worked as a
substitute.
The newspaper re
ported this and, to put
it lightly, school officials
took umbrage. They
made it clear they felt
they knew more about
hiring substitute teach
ers than the publisher
did, child molester
or not. A bitter feud
erupted and continues.
It worsened when
the publisher spoke out
against shutting down
public schools due to
C0V1D. School system
administrators vehe
mently disagreed and
kids stayed home.
Enter the volunteer
baseball announcer at
the county high school.
He had spent the previ
ous three years as the
announcer for home
baseball games. He
made the mistake of
supporting the pub
lisher on social media
and criticizing school
officials for what he felt
were personal, public
attacks on the pub
lisher.
As baseball season
approached, the volun
teer announcer was told
he was banned from re
turning to the baseball
field microphone.
This is a perfect
example of the cancel
culture in action on the
hometown level.
In a newspaper
account of his banish
ment, the volunteer
said, “This kind of thing
could make people
scared to speak out.
You’re starting to live
in an age of ‘follow our
way of thinking or else’.
We just take free speech
and throw it out the
door?”
Sadly, Mr. Volunteer,
we are already there.
Civility, particularly on
line, is on its last legs.
We should all take to
heart the age old adage
we, our parents and
grandparents grew up
hearing: If you can’t say
something nice, don’t
say anything at all.
Walter Geiger is the editor and
publisher of The Herald Gazette in
Barnesville and the Pike County
Journal Reporter. He may be reached
at news @ pikecountygeorgia.com.
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
' ■■ '■ - - :
Flint River Council
welcomes new Scouts
Over the last year,
the pandemic has
created challenges for
many organizations in
our community. The
Flint River Council
has certainly not been
immune to working
with a different set
of obstacles to share
Scouting with the youth
in our community due
to COV1D-19. Over this
time, we have seen the
work of many volun
teers continue as the
Boy Scouts of America
continues its mission
to mold the minds of
America’s Youth. Our
future is bright. The
resolve of the Ameri
can people is strong,
and we will defeat this
pandemic.
While the pandemic
has been at the fore
front of our minds,
our Nation has seen
other challenges from
racial injustice, pro
tests, and division. In
Scouting, we strive to
bring people together
and create a unified
America. Scouting
focuses on ways we can
work together. America
and our youth deserve
nothing less.
Our Council has
offered Scouting in
a safe environment
over the past several
months. We have had
events following local
and CDC guidelines. As
of the writing of this
letter, we have not had
a reported instance of
COV1D-19 originating
from one of our ac
tivities. Scouting is fun,
safe, and we want to
invite you to join us in
helping to bring char
acter development to
the young people in our
community.
If you are an adult
looking to mentor
young people, what bet
ter way to do that than
Scouting? If you have
a child looking to get
involved in an outdoors
program, point them to
us. We would welcome
the opportunity to get a
young person you know
engaged with the Boy
Scouts of America. Our
membership is open
to boys and girls aged
5-18. We have age ap
propriate programming
facilitated by commit
ted adult mentors in
our community. To
get signed up or to get
more information, look
us up online at beas-
cout.org or give us a
call at (770)227-4556.1
hope to see you around
a campfire in the near
future.
SINCERELY,
ROBERTYJOHNSON
SCOUT EXECUTIVE/CEO
FLINT RIVER COUNCIL, BOY
SCOUTS OF AMERICA
THINKING FOR A CHANGE
Trumpian Apologetics
BY ANTHONY VINSON
advkdv@att.net
Okay,
this is
what hap
pened: A
popular
president
failed
to win
reelection against a
slightly more popular
opponent. End. Of. Story.
Well, not really.
Regardless of your
personal opinions about
the former president, he
lost, and not by a land
slide, but by a relatively
razor-thin margin. Such
losses are stinging. Not
only for the loser, but
also for the losing candi
date’s supporters, fans,
acolytes, and loyalists.
The results of such close
races should always be
forensically vetted, and
while the losing candi
date is certainly justified
in pursuing all legal and
ethical avenues to deter
mine the validity of the
results, once done, the
polite and proper thing
to do is concede with
grace and courage. That
did not happen. Instead,
we were witness to what
may only be described
as a temper-tantrum.
Something the former
president’s apologists
seem to miss.
Think about that for
a moment: the president
threw a hissy fit in front
of the entire world. Had
I done that as a boy
in the aisle at K-Mart,
my mother would have
dragged my butt out to
the car for a whupping.
(Okay, I grew up in a dif
ferent time. In the case
of my own kids, I always
waited until we were
back home and dragged
them downstairs to the
torture room. I mean,
decorum, right?)
True confession, I
disdain Donald Trump.
I have not cared for the
guy since first becoming
aware of his existence
in the late ‘80s. He is
the antithesis of most
everything I value. Even
so, had he been the
razor-thin winner of the
election, I would have
wanted him inaugurated
to a second term. Had
he been the victim of
systemic, conspiratorial
machinations, had the
fix been in, had he been
robbed of the election, I
would have wanted the
evidence openly present
ed, the perps quickly
and publicly convicted,
and order restored. I
would have proudly - as
a patriot, but reluctantly
- as a detractor, honored
the circumstances of his
reelection. But none of
those things were true.
They were, in fact, lies.
History will judge
the Trump presidency,
and future generations
will judge us. That is
the way the world goes
‘round. To paraphrase
the old commercial for
the Mystery Date board
game by Milton-Bradley,
“Will he turn out to be a
dream or a dud?” Only
the Shadow knows.
Either way, it’s out of our
hands.
It rankles me that
some out there are rat
tling sabers, locking and
loading, and dreaming of
a glorious civil war. Are
you kidding me? Perhaps
those knuckleheads
should take a crash
course on the immediate
effects and aftermath
of the last one. Spoiler
alert, it was not pretty,
so knock it off!
Instead of revolution,
think evolution, and
channel that bristling
energy into immediate
solutions and aspira-
tional goals. There’s
work to be done. Think
globally but act locally.
Get to work on immedi
ate solutions that affect
our communities. Sure,
it would require compro
mise, but bear in mind
that without compro
mise there would be no
United States. Doubt me?
Read a book by a repu
table historian about the
Constitutional Conven
tion and the creation of
the Bill of Rights. Com
promise is not a four-
letter word. And I should
know since I just typed
it. Three times.
If you were a staunch
supporter of the former
president, I understand
your disappointment.
Frankly, I haven’t been
a staunch supporter of
any president since Bush
41. Every single one
since has been at least a
partial disappointment.
Perhaps there is some
truth to that old saw that
we get the politicians we
deserve?
Think about it!
Anthony Vinson is a freelance
writer, speaker and humorist for hire.
He lives in Williamson, GA, and can be
reached at advkdv@att.net.
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Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
February 25, 1921: Dr. M.M. Head won the elec
tion for commissioner of roads and revenues for
Pike County. The results were 346 votes for Head
and 76 votes for J.T. Bullard.
75 YEARS AGO
February 28, 1946: The Pike County Lions Club
announced a charter night ceremony March 4 at
Zebulon High School to receive its official charter.
J. Gorham Garrison, Lions’ District Governor would
speak to an expected attendance of 150 from Pike,
Thomaston, Woodbury and Newnan clubs.
50 YEARS AGO
February 25, 1971: Newton Coal and Lumber of
Griffin submitted the low bid of $101,697 for new
school additions; the high school would acquire
4,123 square feet and the elementary school 1,665
square feet. The completion time as 150 days.
25 YEARS AGO
February 28, 1996: After two years, the city of
Williamson was recognized as Tree City USA, the
smallest in the state. Planting trees began in 1994
but it wasn’t until almost 100 more trees were
planted in 1995 that criteria were fulfilled to qualify.