Newspaper Page Text
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1993
4A
Perry viewpoint
The Houston Home Journal
OFFICIAL ORGAN, CITY OF PERRY AND HOUSTON
COUNTY, GEORGIA, SINCE 1870
PUBLISHED EACH WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY MORNING
807 CARROLL ST., P.O. DRAWER M, PERRY, GA. 31069
TELEPHONE: (912) 987-1823
The Houston Home Journal (USPS 252-780) is published semi weekly tor
$lB per year by the Houston Home Journal, Inc., 807 Carroll St., Perry, Ga.
31069. Second Class Postage paid at Perry, Ga. POSTMASTER: Send
address change to The Houston Home Journal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.
31069.
ROY H. PARK, President & Chairman of the Board, Park Newspapers
JAMES B. KERCE
Editor & General Manager
BRIGETTE HAMILTON TERESA HAWK
Managing Editor Advertising Manager
Our view
Our royalty
An American columnist recently noted that U.S. citizens
create their own royalty, not as accountable as traditional
European royalty.
When members of royal families in older countries mis
behave they're often held accountable by press and public.
They must sometimes abdicate or renounce traditional po
sitions or ambitions.
U.S. royalty consists of overpaid sports and film stars,
who often exhibit a cat and dog lifestyle, especially enter
tainers. The "peepul" idolize the "stars," whatever their
conduct.
Ironically, most apply much stricter behavior standards
to hometown folks. There's much to the old refrain that,
"an expert (or star) is someone 500 miles away."
Controlling Iraq
There are many in Congress beginning to question the
continuing threats, crises and posturing with Iraq.
Iraq committed unprovoked aggression when it invaded
Kuwait. President Bush energized the United Nations and
committed massive U.S. forces and kicked Iraqi military
forces out of Iraq.
In the process tens of thousands of civilians (estimates
range up to 150,000) were killed and Iraqi armed forces
shattered. The country's infrastructure was devastated, its
economy ruined-by a U.N. embargo still in force.
Three western nations-the U.SA., Britain and France,
then established a no-fly zone over the southern part of
Iraq, not the U.N. Recently, a U.S. fighter shot down an
Iraqi plane that intruded over the imaginary line.
president Bush, before leaving office, threatened to or
used military action on several occasions; before and
during the Midwest military operation Bush exhibited
something of a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein.
The war of 1991 is now history. Iraq has been defeated
and humiliated. Its people are still suffering from the U.N.
blockade. The nations till can't sell much of its oil.
The continuing furor over Iraq concerns whether that
nation can build, or has retained, sophisticated weapons.
U.N. inspectors have been traveling about for over a year
trying to determine what sophisticated military capacity
Iraq has, will have, or might have.
With so much of vital importance taking place in Russia,
Africa and in the rest of the world, the question arises as
to how long the U.S. is to be the policeman in the Middle
East. Sentiment in that part of the world is gradually
changing in favor of the Iraqi people, who continue to suf
fer hardship long after their military forces were decisively
defeated, and Iraq aggression reversed.
Hussein and everyone else realizes another invasion of
Kuwait would bring more massive retaliation. There seems
almost no chance of this occurring. The lesson has been
learned.
Our purpose in resorting to force was to free Kuwait,
not to permanently monitor Iraq and its armed forces. We
have accomplished that and severely punished 20,000,000
Iraqis. Policing the Middle East permanently should not be
a U.S. responsibility. De-escalation, without lessening
our commitment to the integrity of Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia, is now in order.
Your view
State flag isn't a sore spot,
it tells history of the state
Dear Editor:
My letter concerns Zell Miller and all of his supporters
on changing our Georgia State Flag.
In the history of this country, there may have been many
unpopular wars, like the war between the states and one
that I was proud to serve, the Vietnam War.
I am a Navy Corpsman veteran having served with the
Marines who knows exactly how the confederate veterans
and their ancestors must feel concerning their proud her
itage. I am also a life-time resident of Georgia as was my
father and grandfather and great-grandfather before me.
The war between the states has issues other than slavery
and all who served were proud just as I was proud to serve
in the Vietnam War though that was an unpopular war.
When we veterans returned, I was lucky, unlike those
who were disabled, shocked and unwelcomed. But no one
Please see LETfbH, page 5A
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Perry Scrapbook
Perry State Representative Larry Walker, left, is shown here on the floor of the Ga.
House of Representatives in February, 1978 discussing a House resolution calling
for the naming of U.S. Highway 341 from Perry to Brunswick "The Golden Isles
Highway." In the center is State Rep. Terry Coleman of Eastman and at right is
State Rep. Ben Jessup of Cochran.
STREET TALK:
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Steven McCoy
"Yes, as long as they can
do the job.”
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Betty Earhart
"No, because if I were in
the Army I would not feel
comfortable knowing they
were living in close
quarters with me.”
There are dangers in politicizing religion
There is a sickness in the pit of
my stomach as I see more and more
of the values I hold dear being sur
rounded and cut off from any influ
ence upon the institutions of our
society.
I am incensed as I witness policy
statements issued from the highest
levels of my government directly
attacking what I believe are founda
tional values of our Republic.
Political involvement is right,
good, and necessary. The problem
is not politics itself, only its
inflation and distortion.
Religion and politics have al
ways been intermingled in our
country’s history. Religious values
have always been a part of the
Do you think gays should be allowed in the
military? Why or why not?
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Kim Durhart, with
Keyomri Scott
"Yes. This is 1993, we
should have thought
about this in 1793. The
bottom line is if it ain't
broke don’t fix it.”
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Tony Jacobs
"I think yes. I say that it
doesn't have anything to
do with protecting the
country. If a woman can
handle it, I know a man
pretending to be a woman
can handle it. After all the
true identity is a man.”
Jim
Shipley
Presbyterian
Church pastor
American public debate: i.e. the
Pilgrims and Puritans, the aboli
tionists of slavery and Abraham
Lincoln, fifteen generations of the
black church, civil rights leaders,
and antiwar activists.
It is our duty to be concerned cit
izens, as Richard John Neuhaus has
said, "to build a world in which the
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Debra Conrad
"Yes, they can do the job
probably as well as
anyone.”
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Ford Wilson Jr.
"No, not at this time. The
military doesn't want it
now."
strong are just, and power is tem
pered by mercy, in which the weak
are nurtured and the marginal em
braced, and those at the entrance
gates and those at the exit gates of
life are protected both by law and
love."
Christian evangelicals in the last
two decades have come alive once
again politically and been very ac
tive in the above. This has produced
fear on the part of the liberal
elitists.
Contrary to what the liberal "new
class elites"-joumalists, television
commentators and producers, and
the "knowledge class" from the
universities-say, Christian evangeli
cals, rather than trying to "impose
Robin
I Booker
[Staff
| writer
Doubts about
Clinton could
continue
In the few weeks that President
Clinton has been in office, I have
heard more about his lack of good
judgement than I thought I ever
would. Before he was voted into of
fice, Slick Willie received more fa
vorable press than I thought any
political candidate would ever get.
A few slip-ups these first days in
office have hit Clinton hard, how
ever, and one has to wonder about
the future of his tenure as our fear
less leader.
Upon inauguration, what is the
first major issue Clinton decides to
tackle? Is it economic reform for
the United States? Is it solving the
massive healthcare crisis facing our
country? Is it offering some sort of
solution to the problems facing our
public school systems? No, it was
none of those issues that our es
teemed president chose to address.
Instead, Clinton came out
swinging against the conservatives
and opted to lift bans on abortions,
allow experimentation with fetal
tissue and allow gays to serve in
the military. That was all in the
first week of office.
As if that were not enough to
significantly affect his popularity
poll scores, now he has nominated
Roberta Achtenberg, an outspoken
lesbian from San Francisco, to
serve as his fair housing chief. If
she is confirmed, Achtenberg will
be the highest r’anking gay official
to ever serve in the executive
branch.
While it is abundantly clear that
President Clinton is bending over
backwards to avoid discriminating
against any group of people, it ap
pears that he is taking homosexuals
under his wing and making gay is
sues his central focus. All of this at
a time when our,country,is.in tur
moil within from a recession that is
rocking it to its core.
Throughout Clinton’s campaign,
I had to force myself to remember
that this man championed the
cause of whichever group of voters
he happened to be addressing but
rarely took a concrete stand on any
issues. He always seemed to be so
down-to-earth and personable that I
would find myself thinking that it
would be fun to have such a guy in
the White House. Well, leading this
country is not about having fun,
and I guess Clinton is beginning to
realize that. While he certainly has
charm and charisma, I don’t think I
want a president in office who
seems to know more about Elvis
and playing the saxophone than he
does about solving our country’s
problems.
Prior to the election, the media
practically likened Clinton to a
saviour of the United States. Once
he was officially enthroned at the
White House, however, the gloves
came off and the press was all too
happy to point out Clinton’s defi
ciencies. From his naming of Zoe
Baird as Attorney General to his
plan to lift the ban on gays in the
military, the President has been
lambasted for his lack of good
judgment during his first weeks of
duty.
Of course, the media is not the
only group experiencing doubts
about Clinton these days. The
American people are evidently a bit
wary about where they’ve placed
their confidences, too. No president
since the 1940s has had as low a
Please see BOOKER, page 5A
their views” and "force their beliefs"
on the community, have seen
foundational values attacked and
have sought to preserve them.
Nathan Glazer of Harvard
University has said:
"Abortion was not a national is
sue until the Supreme Court, in
1973, set national standards for
state laws. It did not become an is
sue because evangelicals and fun
damentalists wanted to strengthen
prohibitions against abortion, but
because liberals wanted to abolish
them. . ..
Pornography in the 1980's did
not become an issue because evan
gelicals and fundamentalists wanted
Please see SHIPLEY, page 5A