Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A— Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 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-AUGUST 1,2012
Burke County voters triggered two big upsets by electing a
new tax commissioner and coroner. Marian Jackson unseated
Cynthia McManus with 57 percent of the vote. Susan Salemi
defeated incumbent Lee Webster by a vote of 1,834 to 1,547.
Shaw Group, the company in charge of building new reac
tors at Plant Vogtle, was bought by Chicago Bridge and Iron
for $3 billion. Southern Nuclear officials said the acquisition
“will not have any impact on the project.”
Rev. H. Craig Hutton was welcomed as the new pastor of
First United Methodist Church of Waynesboro.
25 YEARS AGO-JULY 30,1997
The Burke County Commission was considering the adop
tion of a comprehensive job classification and pay plan. The
lengthy document, prepared by David M. Griffith & associates
of Atlanta, cost $25,000.
The exact route of the Highway 25 widening project would
depend on the outcome of environmental studies, according to
the DOT. The studies would take at least 10 months.
The Waynesboro Exchange Club and the Bank of Burke
County each donated $10,000 toward the construction of the
Augusta Technical School campus in Waynesboro.
50 YEARS AGO-JULY 26,1972
By a 20-vote margin, Waynesboro voted down a proposal
to sell liquor in the city.
Former WHS principal James D. Smith dropped his damage
suit against the Burke County Board of Education. He stated
he was only asking for reinstatement to his former post. S mith
claimed he had been terminated for personal and political
reasons and not for anything related to his job performance.
Burke County was projected to yield 19,900 cotton bales
in 1972. It would be the second highest yield in the state, fol
lowing Dooly County with a predicted 52,100 bales.
70 YEARS AG0-JULY31,1952
Waynesboro businessman Paul Stone announced plans to
build the city’s first motel on South Liberty Street. He said
there would be 20 air-conditioned brick units with individual
baths.
Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic nomina
tion for President of the United States. He would face Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stevenson picked Sen. John Sparkman
of Alabama as his running mate.
J.W. Robinson of Sardis produced the county’s first cotton
bale. The 500 lb. bale was ginned at Mundy’s and bought by
R.C. Neely.
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"l BELIB/E I'M MUCH MORE CREDIBLE lH caslUSTRAK FAHRENHEIT/"
Don Lively
THAT WAS THEN
I knew that the next day was
going to be tough.
Em in decent shape for my
age. In recent years I’ve cut way
back on sugar and white carbs,
and in recent months I’ve gone
low salt. I’ve lost a consider
able amount of weight. I don’t
work out in a gym but my little
wooded enclave always has
chores that keep my summer
weekends sweaty.
Still, I was in the middle of an
experience that was much dif
ferent from what I remembered
from over 50 years ago.
One year, Daddy and Mama
took us to Tennessee to a fam
ily reunion. Those reunion trips
were about as close as Daddy
ever came to taking us on va
cation. We loved the summer
respite from weed-pulling and
it was yet another chance to
spend time with cousins. That
particular reunion occurred ev
ery summer, most often at some
location in the Blessed South.
As you know, the southern
United States has many caves
and Daddy almost always made
sure that we toured one on the
reunion weekends. My siblings
and I loved the caves and would
often have to be called back by
the folks when we wanted to
charge ahead as we were led by
the cave’s guide.
That was then.
Recently, the reunion re
turned to the place of its origin,
that same locale in the Volun
teer State. On a whim, I decided
that it would be fun to visit
that same cave from all those
decades ago, Cumberland Cav
erns. I have a decent memory
and even though a few things
about the cave had changed,
much of it was the same.
What had changed was me.
I was no longer a strong,
energetic pre-teen.
Thank the Good Lord in
Heaven there were sturdy hand
rails on the sides of the steep
steps that led up-and-down, in-
and-out, and sideways through
the maze of passageways that
took us deep into the bowels
of the cave. I had worn totally
unsuitable shoes with slick bot
toms and was constantly in
fear of slipping, not as worried
about falling on my patootie as
I was about bruising my ego.
My friend who was with me and
is close to my age, but much
lighter and lither, kept asking
if I needed help.
“Yes, / need my head exam
ined for coming in here.”
I refused physical assistance
out of pure unadulterated pride.
And guess what?
I made it through every
treacherous step of the abyss
without injuring my body or
my pride.
Uninjured, but with a pletho
ra of sore muscles.
I did indeed pay for the jour
ney for a few days.
There was a time when I
could have jogged the entire
cave trail without breaking a
sweat.
That was then.
As a high school senior, I
went to a Future Farmers of
America convention at a beach
town. I had no intention of be
ing a farmer in the future, so
you can imagine my true rea
sons for attending. Anyway, we
left town on Friday morning. I
didn’t sleep a wink until we got
home on Sunday night.
I stayed awake for over 60
hours.
That was then.
These days I feel like I need a
nap an hour after I get to work.
Once, when I was a college
freshman, there was a place
near campus that sold huge
cheese pizzas for two bucks.
Nothing but bread and cheddar
but it was cheap and about the
size of a barrelhead. My buddy
Tim and I would go there and
order one each.
One EACH.
When we were finished
there ’d be nothing but crumpled
napkins and a couple of greasy
platters.
That was then.
If I ate like that now I’d have
heartburn all night, indigestion
all the next day and gastritis the
rest of my life.
I used to be able to spot a
squirrel in a tree a half mile
away.
These days I can barely see
the tree.
There was a time when I
could fling a softball 60 yards
without breaking a sweat.
Yesterday I nearly pulled a
muscle throwing a rotten to
mato from the north porch into
the woods.
When I was a young man, I
could get out of the shower and
shake out my full, thick head
of hair and fix it into an Afro
that some of my black buddies
envied.
Well, honestly, I could still do
that if Afros on white boys were
still stylish.
But, for the most part, I ain’t
the man I used to be, physically.
The problem is, my mind
doesn’t understand that.
So, let’s go caving, y’all!
Don Lively is a freelance
writer and author of several
books of Southern Humor. He
lives in Shell Bluff. Email Don
at Livelycolo@aol.com.
Michael N. Searles
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES II
Among familiar phrases,
there are many warnings:
“Look before you leap; be
careful what you wish for; and
fortune and misfortune are
next-door neighbors.” While
unintended consequences are
a part of daily life, some deci
sions cannot be undone. For
pro-life advocates, the answer
has been to protect the life of
the unborn. Few could imagine
the consequences for such a
heartfelt and sincere goal. We
are only beginning to realize
that pregnancy has far-reaching
repercussions. Dangers to the
life of the mother are only the
beginning.
The Georgia State Constitu
tion states, “No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or prop
erty except by a due process
of law.” The Supreme Court
of Georgia has long held that
this provision gave Georgia the
longest constitutional tradition
of protecting a right to privacy
in the United States. Laws that
deny women the right to make
decisions over their own bodies,
challenge a precedent enshrined
in the Georgia Constitution.
Georgia recently passed the
LIFE Act that prohibits most
abortions once there is a detect
able human heartbeat. There are
exceptions for rape and incest
as long as they are reported to
the police.
There is even a provision
to allow later abortions if the
mother’s life is at risk or a seri
ous medical condition makes
the fetus unviable. An addi
tional feature of the Georgia
law includes a “personhood”
clause giving a fetus the same
legal rights as people once they
are born. This is a dangerous
and volatile precedent. What
does it mean for a fetus to be a
natural person? If a non-citizen
enters the country and becomes
pregnant, can she be deported
along with her American child
in utero? Does the fetus have a
right to stay in the U.S. since he
or she is a citizen? A pregnant
woman commits a crime. Since
that fetus (natural person) has
not violated any law, can the
child she is carrying be impris
oned? Imprisonment would be
in violation of Section 1 of the
14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution. How does the
Georgia personhood clause
square with “all persons born
or naturalized in the United
States...?”
Is a fetus a (born) person
according to the U.S. Consti
tution? Will a woman need to
carry a sonogram on her person
to prove that she is pregnant?
What are the legal ramifications
of a woman having a miscar
riage? A woman who gives
birth to a child with fetal alco
hol syndrome possibly could be
charged with a crime.
We also make an assumption
that we as a nation share com
mon religious beliefs. In the
Jewish faith, if there is a threat
to a woman’s life, the safety of
the mother takes precedence
over continuing the pregnancy
at any stage. The Talmud states
until forty days from conception
the fetus is merely water and not
considered a living being. In
certain circumstances, a fetus
that endangers the life of the
mother is legally considered a
“murderer” in active pursuit.
In the Georgia Constitution,
each person has the natural
and inalienable right to wor
ship God, each according to
the dictates of that person's
own conscience; and no human
authority should, in any case,
control or interfere with such
right of conscience. Georgia’s
LIFE Act challenges articles of
faith of those who practice Ju
daism and says if you follow the
dictates of your religion, you
will be in violation of Georgia
law. Under the LIFE Act, the
natural and inalienable right to
worship God is in conflict with
the religious inspired rulings
dictated by the state of Georgia.
When we make laws that
support specific practices and
beliefs, we open the door to the
unintended. We have the right
to our own faith traditions and
beliefs, but we should not make
laws that enforce them. In our
country we can use our voices
and power of persuasion to
convince others to accept and
adopt our beliefs, but in a free
society, those beliefs should not
be imposed by the State.