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gainesvilletimes.com
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com
Submit a letter: letters@gainesvilletimes.com
The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
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LETTERS
Moving in the
right direction to
fight Alzheimer’s
As a constituent of U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, I am
grateful for his support for Alzheimer’s related
legislation over the last year.
It is time we change our thinking on Alzheim
er’s disease. Too often Alzheimer’s is treated as
an aging issue, ignoring the public health con
sequences of a disease that someone in the U.S.
develops every 66 seconds. And with two-thirds
of its annual costs being borne by Medicare and
Medicaid, it is one that demands more attention
from our government.
There are more than 5 million Americans living
with Alzheimer’s, and approximately 140,000 live
in Georgia.
Over the last year, congressman Collins has
signed on as a co-sponsor for both; the Build
ing Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for
Alzheimer’s Act (S. 2076/H.R. 4256), and the Pal
liative Care and Hospice Education and Training
Act (PCHETA S. 693/H.R. 1676). Combined, these
acts move our country forward in the fight to end
Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in
the U.S. Alzheimer’s costs the country more than
$277 billion a year, which is why support from our
elected officials is critical. If we are going to end
Alzheimer’s disease, then we must start treating it
like the public health threat it is.
Join me in thanking congressman Collins for his
assistance to the millions of Americans affected
by Alzheimer’s. We appreciate his support by
sponsoring the Palliative Care and Hospice Edu
cation and Training act and the BOLD Infrastruc
ture for Alzheimer’s Act.
Together may we realize our vision — a world
without Alzheimer’s disease!
Robert Polak
Flowery Branch
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Letters and other commentary express the
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Your government officials
Georgia state government
Gov. Nathan Deal, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta
30334; 404-656-1776; www.gov.georgia.gov
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta
30334, 404-656-5030; www.ltgov.ga.gov
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, 214 State Capitol,
Atlanta 30334, 404-656-2881, fax 404-656-
0513; www.sos.state.ga.us; Elections Division,
2 MLK, Jr. Drive SE, Suite 1104, West Tower,
Atlanta 30334-1530, 404-656-2871, fax, 404-
651-9531
Attorney General Chris Carr, 40 Capitol Square
SW, Atlanta 30303; 404-656-3300; law.ga.gov
School Superintendent Richard Woods, 205 Jesse
Hill Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta 30334; 404-656-2800;
www.doe.k12.ga.us; askdoe@gadoe.org
Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, 148 Andrew
Young International Blvd. NE, Suite 642, Atlanta
30303-1751; 404-656-3045, 877-709-8185;
www.dol.state.ga.us
Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, 2 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 704, West Tower,
Atlanta 30334; 404-656-2070; oci.georgia.gov;
inscomm@mail.oci.state.ga.us
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, 19 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Room 226, Atlanta 30334;
404-656-3600, 800-282-5852; agr.state.ga.us;
info@agr.state.ga.us
Public Service Commission, 244 Washington
St. SW, Atlanta 30334-9052, 800-282-5813,
gapsc@psc.state.ga. us, www.psc.state.ga.us.
Chairman Chuck Eaton, District 3; Tim Echols,
District 2; H. Doug Everett, District 1; Vice
Chairman Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, District 4;
Tricia Pridemore, District 5
Hall County government
Board of Commissioners, 2875 Browns Bridge
Road, Gainesville, P.O. Drawer 1435, Gainesville
30503, 770-535-8288, www.hallcounty.org.
Chairman Richard Higgins, rhiggins@hallcounty.
org; District 1, Kathy Cooper, kcooper@
hallcounty.org; District 2, Billy Powell, bpowell@
hallcounty.org; District 3, Scott Gibbs, sgibbs@
hallcounty.org; District 4, Jeff Stowe, jstowe@
hallcounty.org.
County Administrator, Jock Connell, jconnell@
hallcounty.org
Planning Commission, 2875 Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville, 770-531-6809.
Tax Commissioner’s Office, 2875 Browns Bridge
Road, P.O. Box 1579, Gainesville 30503, 770-
531 -6950, taxcommissioner@hallcounty.org
Tax Assessor’s Office, 2875 Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville 30504, rswatson@hallcounty.org.
Real estate property, P.O. Box 2895, Gainesville
30503, 770-531-6720; personal property, P.O.
Box 1780, Gainesville 30503, 770-531 -6749
Public Works, 2875 Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville, 770-531-6800, krearden@
hallcounty.org
Extension office, 734 E. Crescent Drive,
Gainesville, 770-535-8293
Blue wave a bit of a bust,
but Dems refuse to see that
To hear the spin Wednes
day morning, you’d think
Democrats swept the map on
Election Day.
But the reality is — and it
pains me to say it — Presi
dent Trump had a very good
night. The sooner Democrats
accept that, the sooner they
can figure out how to go
about defeating him in 2020.
The midterms hardly pro
vide a clear roadmap. Their
superstar all-ins were roundly
brushed back. Andrew Gillum
in Florida, Beto O’Rourke in
Texas, and more than likely
Stacey Abrams in Georgia
had the emotional adoration
of their party, but not enough
actual votes.
Losses in Ohio, where
Republican Mike DeWine
beat Richard Cordray for
governor, in Missouri, where
Josh Hawley defeated
Democrat incumbent Claire
McCaskill in the Senate,
and in Indiana, where Mike
Braun defeated Democrat
incumbent Joe Donnelly in
the Senate are just a few of
the reasons for more agony
than ecstasy for Democrats
on Wednesday.
Yes, the Democrats took
the House, won governors’
mansions in critical states and
made other gains. These are
significant accomplishments,
but they don’t add up to the
decisive rebuke the party was
hoping for.
And yet, some are declar
ing a wave. Let’s remember,
despite the calculated lower
ing of expectations over the
past few months, the party
S.E. CUPP
secuppdailynews@yahoo.com.
in power — Republicans —
are supposed to do badly in
midterm elections. And this
party in power in particular,
which has the least popular
president in modern history,
should have been crushed.
Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer in September
was predicting that Demo
crats wouldn’t just take the
House, but the Senate, too.
Democrats’ pickup of, so
far, four more seats in the
House than they needed to
win control is not a wave. It’s
barely a ripple. And if they
want to defeat Trump in 2020,
they’ll need to figure some
stuff out, and quickly.
One: A national
message
In the months before the
election, Democrats lurched
from one message to another.
It included, at any given
time, impeaching Trump, not
impeaching Trump, abolish
ing ICE, impeaching Brett
Kavanaugh, a call for civility,
a call for incivility, and finally
it landed on health care.
Micro-targeting can work for
House races, but this mess of
a message will not work for
2020.
What do they want to
accomplish for the country,
and how?
Two: Polling
While Democrats did
predictably well in suburban
districts where voters were
turned off by Trump’s cam
paign of fear and loathing,
they still have not figured
out how to capture a silent
minority of voters who turned
out in surprising numbers
for Republican candidates in
Florida, Ohio, Missouri and
elsewhere.
They were voters the party
did not anticipate in 2016.
They came out again in 2018,
and they will come out of the
shadows again in 2020. Not
being able to see them leads
to things like over-spending in
unwinnable races, discounting
the motivations and anxiet
ies of voters and talking over
wide swaths of people who in
turn feel dismissed.
Three: Measuring
outrage
Kavanaugh’s Supreme
Court confirmation hearing
was the perfect example of
the left’s inability to distin
guish volume from intensity.
As angry and outraged as
liberals were by the Kava
naugh hearings, so too were
conservatives by what they
saw as a witch hunt. But you
wouldn’t know it, because
Democrats and many in the
media focused almost exclu
sively on Kavanaugh’s oppo
nents, including his accusers,
Hollywood celebrities, wom
en’s marches and protests
at the steps of the Supreme
Court. The passion among
his supporters, though, was
just as intense and energized
Republicans in ways some of
us felt but most could not mea
sure. Actress Alyssa Milano’s
anger doesn’t count any more
than an average Republican
voter’s. This bites Democrats
every time, but it shouldn’t.
This isn’t to suggest there
aren’t harsh lessons out
there for Republicans, too.
Women and minorities were
elected in record numbers
and women, minorities and
first-time voters turned out in
record numbers. If the GOP
thinks it can keep squeezing
by on the backs of old white
men, it’s in for a rude awaken
ing one day.
But not this day. This time
the GOP was able to pick up
seats in the Senate, retain a
solid number of state houses
and keep Democrats from a
1994 or 2006 level trouncing in
the House.
The party in power was sup
posed to get crushed Tuesday.
It most certainly was not. If
Democrats choose to spin this
as a wave, instead of the real
ity check it should be, they
will lose big time in 2020.
And yet again, they’ll
have no one to blame but
themselves.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E.
Cupp Unfiltered” on HLN and a
columnist for Tribune Media.
SHENEMAN
ITRBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
THE REASON NOBODY HAS EVER FOUND ME IS BECAUSE I'VE BEEN OUT HERE IN THE WOODS SEARCHING
FOR VOTER FRAUD..JUST KIDDING, VOTER FRAUD ISN'T REAL."
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DREW SHENEMAN I Tribune News Service
Nations battle to MAG A continues
America’s founders dem
onstrated that government is
art, not science. The secret is
in balance.
Biennial congressional
elections strike the right bal
ance for the need for stability
with the need for change.
Midterm elections take
place with the continuity of
a sitting president. Whoever
is in the White House will
continue in this position for
another two years, regardless of the out
come of midterms.
By the time you read this, we’ll know
whether the new Congress will be red or
blue. But I know now that the day after
the elections, Donald Trump will still be
president.
And I know that whatever happens,
Trump will stay focused, as he must, on
the agenda that he campaigned on and
the vision he articulated in his inaugural
address.
His commitment to those ideas and
principles took him across the nation to
insert his persona and agenda into the
campaign. As we approach the two-year
mark of this presidency, facts bear out
that the nation is turning around and
“Make America Great Again” is more
than a slogan.
We are a deeply divided country with a
culture war raging. The battle for steering
the country’s direction will continue. This
election just determines the army that the
general in the White House will have to
support him in the fight.
Personally, I spent the
last month in eight differ
ent states, making the case
for what is at stake. I spent
Election Day in my district,
walking precincts and mak
ing phone calls to help my
candidate of choice in a race
for an open seat.
Trump has made it fash
ionable again to be a patriot,
to feel proud to be an Ameri
can because our nation is indeed unique
and exceptional.
The other side has distorted this
message of nationalism, claiming it dis
respects our diversity and individual dif
ferences. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
The fact that I am a black Christian
woman does not contradict my patrio
tism. I am an American who needs the
freedom that only this nation can provide
to realize my full potential. This is true for
every American. And it is only possible
in a nation that is free and informed by
eternal truths.
The changes we see in realizing the
MAGA goals are tangible and palpable.
Internationally, Trump’s idea that
the best way to influence the world is
to recapture our national greatness is
working.
He has shaken up the United Nations
and is creating new realities in Asia, South
America and the Middle East.
Despite warnings against his bold move
to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,
Trump did it. And miracles are occur
ring throughout the Middle East. Israel
and Persian Gulf States are forming new
relationships that once were unheard of.
Israel, for the first time, competed in an
international Judo competition in Abu
Dhabi, won a gold medal, and the Israeli
national anthem was played in this Arab
country.
The economy is back on the path to
growth. Black and Hispanic unemploy
ment are at all-time lows, and even high
school dropouts are finding work as a
result of the new opportunities.
Constitutionally, the GOP Senate has
confirmed 68 conservative judges, with
125 left to go.
Fiscally, every federal department
getting anti-poverty money (one-fourth
of the federal budget) is under Execu
tive Order to cut spending and strike new
efficiencies.
We need secure borders. Terrorists
from the Middle East could penetrate
Central and South America, looking to
cross our borders under the guise of being
refugees.
The bottom line is we must stay the
course and continue to help this president
get the nation’s work done.
We must continue the fight for freedom
and personal responsibility and national
destiny through MAGA.
Star Parker is an author and president
of the Center for Urban Renewal and
Education and a columnist for Creators.
STAR PARKER
www.urbancure.org
She Stines
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