Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, January 13, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice, for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 19,20ll
Construction of a new KFC/Taco Bell was announced for
the city. The new restaurant would be located on the Burke
Veterans Parkway near Walmart.
Wayne Crockett was re-elected as chairman of the Burke
County Commission. Alphonso Andrews retained his post
as vice-chairman.
According to city manager Jerry Coalson, thirteen resumes
had been received for the vacant post of Waynesboro Police
Chief.
25 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 18,1996
Burke County’s long-awaited Enhanced 911 system was
about to go online. Burke EMA Chief Earl Porterfield said
that BellSouth had certified the system is ready to operate.
An open house was scheduled for the new Sardis-Girard-
Alexander Elementary School. The opening had been delayed
in order to complete the finishing touches on the school,
including paving and landscaping.
Waynesboro’s Chris Mann said he had gotten a very positive
response to the announcement that he plans to launch a private
trash and garbage collection business in the county.
50 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 13,1971
James W. Nichols accepted a position as assistant vice-
president of the first National Bank of Marietta. He had been
in the banking business here for over 20 years.
Ray Harper of Waynesboro was selected as one of three
Outstanding Young Farmers of Georgia by the Georgia
Jaycees.
J.B. Thurman, III returned to Midville after serving several
years in the Air Force. He joined his father in the management
of the Midville Motor Company.
75 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 17,1946
John W. Walker, an owner of the Waynesboro Development
Company, said that plans were moving ahead for the
residential development of a large tract of land purchased
from John Jones on the west side of the city.
Bill Smith was appointed acting quartermaster of the newly
formed post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars here. The new
organization had 23 members and was recruiting more.
Roy O. Kelley was installed as the new mayor of Midville.
John C. Wilson was re-elected city clerk.
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
I have tried to steer clear of
national politics in this space
for several reasons. One, I be
lieve there’s more than enough
going on locally to focus on
and, two, it’s just so divisive.
While I’m a big fan of debate
and discussion of ideas, such
conversations only work when
the parties involved are willing
to listen as well as talk.
I cannot, however, let this
moment pass without mention
ing the events at our nation’s
capitol last week. I sat, riveted,
and watched the scene unfold in
utter disbelief. I stayed up way
too late Wednesday evening
watching the Congressional
proceedings after they got back
underway, still blown away by
what I had witnessed.
I spent the majority of this
past weekend in a deer stand
and because I am a political
news junkie and because there
were no deer and because I
needed to keep my mind off
the temperature, I read hours of
articles describing and analyz
ing the riots and their aftermath.
There’s some very good report
ing by people a lot smarter than
me so I won’t beat that horse
here.
What I will say though and
what bears repeating is that
everything that occurred that
afternoon was predicated on
a lie: that this election was
fraudulently stolen from Don
ald Trump and that Congress,
if it had the guts, was going to
right that wrong.
This was never going to hap
pen and for people who knew
better - talking heads, elected
officials and, possibly, the presi
dent himself - it was wrong to
have spent weeks continuing to
push that lie to a crowd who so
desperately believed it.
I think it’s obvious I’m a
staunch supporter of holding
elected officials accountable
at every level. And I have used
this space to call out those of
ficials when I believe they have
failed in their duties. But voters
and citizens and taxpayers have
responsibilities, too.
You should show up at meet
ings , ask questions and read and
educate yourself. It requires
time and effort and some com
mon sense, but it is a necessary
component of democracy. Your
responsibility doesn’t begin
and end with casting your vote
every couple of years.
I’ve been hard on some of our
local officials recently because
I believe they’ve attempted to
make some important deci
sions behind closed doors.
The truth is though, they really
don’t have to do that. Most of
the time, we, the public, aren’t
paying attention anyway. Both
political parties thrive on our
ignorance and our apathy and
our communities, states and
country have suffered from it.
They traipse somebody out on
Fox News or CNN and accuse
the other side of whatever crazy
thing they want and we gobble
it up like it came from the good
Lord himself.
There was no stolen election.
No massive voter fraud. No
changing of votes by comput
ers. No wave of eight-year-olds
and dead people casting ballots.
The evidence, or the lack
thereof concerning the above, is
out there for any sane person to
review, but you’ll need to look
someplace other than Face-
book to find it. I recommend
the website for the Republican
Secretary of State of Georgia as
a good place to start.
As a sign of just how off the
rails things have gotten, I’ll also
point out that there is no “Deep
State,” no pedophile ring and no
cabal of devil worshipers run
ning the United States govern
ment. The “QAnon” messages
are probably written by some
ordinary citizen sitting in front
of a computer like I am now,
but instead of being some sort
of high-ranking intelligence
official, it’s far more likely
he’s just some unemployed guy
banging away on a keyboard in
his mom’s basement.
As they say, “Fool me once,
shame on you. Fool me twice,
shame on me.” Let’s do better,
America, the fate of this coun
try and every citizen depends
on it.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook,
Don Lively
"I see you're still wearing that
tee shirt."
My daughter was here for a
short visit and noticed that I had
donned an old Jimmy Buffett
concert tee which I wear in the
evenings, since I haven't owned
real pajamas since Mama gave
me some, some long ago Christ
mas.
I feigned indignation.
"What's wrong with this
shirt? It's only nine years old."
"Well, tie-dye went out of
style long before nine years
ago. And it's starting to look
moth-eaten."
"It's just three little holes. Be
sides, it goes so perfectly with
these green plaid lounge pants."
Daughter-number-one just
rolled her eyes and walked
away.
I won.
My favorite literary charac
ter, Captain Augustus McCrae,
in the novel, Lonesome Dove,
says about the outfit's tracker,
"Deets is not one to quit on a
garment just because it's got a
little age."
My thoughts exactly, Gus.
I remember exactly where
and when I bought the tee
shirt. I remember our spot on
the concert venue lawn and
singing along to "the songs you
know by heart". I remember
the road trip that got us there. I
remember that the female half
of the intoxicated couple near
us, disappeared during the first
song and never came back.
My daughter isn't old enough
to understand true sentimental
ity, but I am.
The conversation got me to
thinking about other things
in my life that are simply too
comfortable to let go of.
My bride recently bought a
new Jeep to replace hers that
was getting some age on it.
Naturally, I immediately got
"new car fever" and started
plotting my own purchase plan.
But in the meantime, I took a
road trip to Texas and my reli
able old pickup performed like
a champion. It was more than
comfortable during the long
highway stretches between leg
stretching stops. The sound
system and the heating and AC
WELL-WORN
worked perfectly, and it was
quite cozy when I needed to
take a nap at a rest area.
I kept my last vehicle for
eleven years and 360,000 miles.
I've got a long way to go to
match that, but because I like
old and familiar things, I intend
to break those records.
I've recovered from new car
fever.
One of my favorite musi
cal artists died late last year. I
discovered Jerry Jeff Walker in
1976 and over the years, his mu
sic has gotten me through some
difficult times. One album, It's
A Good Night For Singin', I've
owned in four different formats,
33LP, 8 track, cassette tape and
CD. Sadly it's not available as
an MP3 download and none of
the streaming services make it
available, so you better believe
I protect my LP (yes, I still
have it) and my CD copy. I've
listened to JJW sing for hours
as I traveled the back roads of
America. With all due respect
to my young friends, music
without a lick of steel guitar or
fiddle ain't country music.
I'll stick to the tried and true.
Rest in peace, Jerry Jeff.
I toted the same pistol for
the last 15 years of my law
enforcement career, even when
other officers were switching to
higher powered, more sophis
ticated sidearms. I still carry
it. The only time it was called
on to actually stop a bad guy
and save lives, it performed
perfectly. After bring thousands
of rounds through it, I know
all of its strengths and all of
its weaknesses. It bts my hand
like a glove.
I intend to keep it forever
even though there are politi
cians among us who would try
to conbscate it and deprive me
of my rights.
I'm your huckleberry.
This morning as I sat through
my Sunday School class and
the worship service, I couldn't
help but notice that my Bible
is showing its age. I've had to
repair the cover and the bind
ings a couple of times and there
are a few dog-eared pages and
smudges. It looks like it's been
through a war and, metaphori
cally, it has. But I have no desire
to replace it.
My old pickup truck has
safely transported me all over
continued on page 7