Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
October 22. 2008
^Reporter
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
OUR VIEW
Who’ll take a stand?
I t’s time for Forsyth residents -- black and
white -- to get angry enough about our drug
problem to demand action. We should join
forces with law enforcement to throw drug
dealers in jail. It’s long past time to reclaim
neighborhoods infected by an open narcotics trade.
Local law enforcement agencies seem to be doing
their part. As we told readers in the Oct. 8
Reporter in the story, “Six arrests at ‘major drug
home’ in Forsyth,”’ the city police department, the
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the GBI
teamed up to raid a major drug home on James
Street earlier this month. Inside the home, author
ities found marijuana, ecstasy, and even crack
cocaine just out of the oven. Suspects fled the
scene, but six were apprehended and charged with
various drug activities.
City councilman James Calloway said he sup
ports the raids.
“Drugs ought to be off the street and (police)
ought to do whatever they can do get them off,”
said Calloway. “I have no sympathy for someone
who fools with drugs.”
But, the usual suspects have surfaced to protest.
Members of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) met with Mayor Tye Howard
and city clerk Janice Hall for two hours to discuss
their “concerns” about the incident. Were the agi
tators concerned that the city wasn’t doing enough
to keep black neighborhoods drug-free? Were they
acting as the conscience of the city by warning
about how drug usage is destroying families and
neighborhoods? No. They were upset over reports
of “improper” police activity at the scene. An inter
nal investigation is under way.
We suspect these rabblerousers are crying foul
only because a prominent Mary Persons basket
ball player, Terrence Shannon, was at the scene
and reportedly complained about his treatment.
The home belonged to Shannon’s grandmother.
The hoops star, who has committed to play basket
ball at Florida State, was taken to the sheriff’s
office but was not charged. He reportedly accused
officers of saying not nice things during their raid.
These “leaders” are many of the same folks who
cost taxpayers $240,000 by filing frivolous civil
rights lawsuits against city hall. So count us skep
tical. We’ll withhold judgment until more facts
come out through the internal probe. But this
much appears to be clear:
1) Forsyth has a drug problem. Just two weeks
prior to this incident, six other suspects were
arrested at a Pickney Circle home after DFACS
reported that two children in the home, ages 3 and
4, tested positive for drugs. This ought to shame
us into demanding daily raids on suspected drug
homes.
2) Police are trying to stop it. Two raids in two
weeks and 12 arrests — we’re glad to see authori
ties taking on Forsyth’s drug culture.
3) Some so-called leaders would rather blame
law enforcement of wrongdoing than address the
drug trade that is ruining lives; and finally...
4) Terrence Shannon would be wise either to use
his size, talent and influence to shoo drug dealers
away from grandma’s house, or else he should stay
away himself. His future may depend on it, and
that’s not the fault of the police.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/E ditor
publisher@mymcr.net
Gina Herring
Reporter
news@mymcr. net
Adam Ham
Webmaster
webmaster@mymcr.net
Wendell Ramage
Contributing
Writer
wendellram4@
bellsouth.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising
Manager
ads@mymcr. net
Denzil Hansford
Graphics Artist
gr aphics@mymcr. net
Laura Thackston
Editorial Assistant
for syth@mymcr. net
50 N. Jackspn Sk, Forsyth, GA 31029
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Forsyth, Ga 31029
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MONROE COUNTY REPORTER
P.O.Box795, Forsyth,GA31029
Official Organ of Monroe County and
the City of Forsyth
Phone: 478-994-2358 • FAX 478-994-2359
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Monroe County - $25 Out of County - $38
Single copy - 750
Tax ana Postage Included
Deadlines are noon on Friday prior to issue.
The comments featured on the opinion pages
are the sole creations of the writers, they do
not necessarily reflect the opinions oi The Re
porter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840)
Mhifielm Neat, TsQuire presents: POIflTm BlflflK!
I'm sorry sir, but
there wpH bea
lute fee for filing
late property
taxes...
iQRZ to-AtfCwE, iVs
Ettu&e me, but
E-hcuIcn't the same
flrate peruxl yott
gat for a fjflQnrfat
contributions
d'sclasura apply tor
^ And don't forget to write in Wiihelrn Neal Esq. for Sheriff on ftov, 4 U '
On the Porch
More taxes? Yes, we can
W e know
what Joe
the
Plumber
thinks of
Barack Obama’s tax hikes,
but what does Ken
the Plumber
think?
“I’m concerned,”
says Ken Davis,
owner of Forsyth’s
Davis Plumbing
Service.
Plumbers
have become
the focal
point of the
election
since Obama stumbled into
Joe Wurzelbacher’s front
yard. With Obama seeking
his vote, Joe, a plumber
from Holland, Ohio, had
the audacity to ask Obama
about his plan to raise
taxes on those making
$250,000 or more. Joe the
Plumber doesn’t earn that
much now. But he wants
to. He’d like to buy his
boss’s company and
achieve the American
dream, maybe even make
more than $250,000.
You’ll pay for that under
my plan, conceded Obama.
Obama says he’ll raise
taxes on those who do bet
ter to “spread the wealth”
around.
There’s a word for that
philosophy: It’s called
socialism. It punishes
those who earn more by
giving their money to gov
ernment bureaucracies. It
all belongs to Obama now,
don’t you know? Our own
Ken Davis shares Joe’s
concerns.
“I think the whole thing
(stinks),” Davis said
of the entire U.S.
political scene.
Davis said high
gas prices and
health insurance
costs are already
killing blue collar
workers like
him. He
doesn’t
understand
why any
politician thinks small
businesses should pay
more in taxes or for any
thing else.
“We’re just blue collar
guys struggling to make
ends meet,” said Davis.
Davis has already voted,
but won’t say for whom.
As for Obama, while his
cronies are trying to
destroy Joe the Plumber,
he keeps trying to assure
the rest of us he won’t
raise our taxes. But he
will. Here’s how I know,
with a hat tip to Jim
Geraghty of National
Review Online:
The Bush tax cuts expire
in 2010. If Obama wins, all
he has to do is nothing to
ensure we peons don’t get
to keep our tax relief.
“So, let's say you're a
married couple, filing joint
ly, with $60,000 in taxable
income,” says Geraghty. “In
2008, you would pay
$8,198. If you have the
same amount of taxable
income after the Bush tax
cuts are repealed, and tax
rates return to 2000 levels,
you'll pay $11,100. You get
to be more patriotic in Joe
Biden's mind to the tune of
$2,902, out of your pocket
and into the government's
coffers. Gotta spread that
wealth around, you know.”
• • •
On a brighter note,
Forsyth’s Nathan Jackson
reports from Saturday’s
UGA game that four
natives of our fair town
were on the field.
UGA student Barrett
Grant, son of Dr. J. Ray
and Leigh Grant, was hon
ored for his mission work
in South Africa, which was
featured in the Reporter
earlier this year.
UGA freshman Miles
Benson, last year’s drum
major at Mary Persons,
was marching with the
Redcoats at halftime.
Cheerleader Megan
Trammell was pulling the
Dawgs on in their win over
Vanderbilt.
And there were uncon
firmed reports that former
UGA majorette Hope Ham,
now of Augusta, had
returned to the field with
the homecoming alumni
majorettes.
Not bad for a country
town.
• • •
So I’m reading a bed-time
story to my 4-year-old son,
Park. We’re reading his
illustrated Bible, and of
course the first story he
wants to hear is the one
about the storm, where
Jesus stops the waves.
“What next?” I ask. He
doesn’t pause: “Read the
one about the naked boy
and the naked girl!” he
says. So back to Genesis 1
we go. Thank God for the
fig leaves!
• • •
If Monroe County Bank’s
Karl Hill needs a hobby, he
should be a history
teacher, or at least a guest
lecturer. Listening to him
recall the tales, the people
and the times of Monroe
County Bank’s 100 year
history is fascinating. It’s
like watching a Ken Burns’
series on PBS.
He weaves local anec
dotes with asides about
historic trends in the cot
ton market, politics and
banking feuds and leaves
listeners wanting more.
And there’s humor. Mr. Hill
spent a lot of time earning
various graduate degrees
before returning to
Forsyth. With degrees in
law and philosophy and
other fields, locals would
ask his father, Charner
Hill, what his son would be
when he finished school.
“An old man,” was his
answer.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Reader: Cicero never said that, Don
To the editor:
A s journalists must be vig
ilant about the accuracy
of their quotes, I was
suprised to find Don
Daniel's citation in the
Oct. 15 Reporter of a quote which he
said Cicero made in 55 B. C.
I challenge him to show in a pri
mary source—in either Latin or
English translation-that Cicero
made these comments about the
state of affairs in the Republic.
The point is this: Daniel cannot
verify that Cicero said or wrote the
statement, for Cicero never said
these words. Daniel has failed to
authenticate the quote and thus has
foisted a spurious one on to his read
ers.
Ralph Bass
Forsyth
Editor’s note: This quote is widely
attributed to Cicero: “The budget
should be balanced, the treasury
should be refilled, public debt should
be reduced, the arrogance of official
dom should be tempered and con
trolled, assistance to foreign lands
should be curtailed lest Rome become
bankrupt. The mobs should be forced
to work and not depend on govern
ment for subsistence.”
But it appears there’s no evidence he
said or wrote it. John H. Collins, a
history professor at Northern Illinois
University, reported that the attribu
tion to Cicero actually originated in
“A Pillar of Iron” (1965), Taylor
Caldwell's fictionalized account of
the life of the senator (page 483).
Collins held that the alleged quota
tion "is totally without documenta
tion, " and that "the great bulk of
[Caldwell's] quotations are false."
Why Pm (not) voting for Barak Obama
To the editor:
'm voting for Barak
Obama for
President.
Here's why.
If you took
every preacher in
our county and
looked at every
minute of every
sermon they did
I'm sure at one
time or another
they’ve said God-
d*#n America. Also,
so what if Obama knew a
well-known terrorist and
hung out with him in his
living room.
Hanging out with
terrorists doesn't
make you a terror
ist. Plus I like the
fact that Obama
voted present on
most of the bills
that came up. A
truly great leader
uses a wait and
see approach and
dosen't commit to one
side or another. I'm glad
that Obama concentrates
on why we went into Iraq.
This is the best approach
to handle the current situ
ation. Using hindsight to
judge the past is much bet
ter than concentrating on
the present. In fact 60 min
utes interviewed some ter-
roists over in Iraq and they
really, really want us to
leave. And Obama will give
us tax cuts. Thanks to
leaders like him we got a
$1,500 tax rebate this year.
President Bush probably
brought it up and signed it
because Barak called him
on the phone or something,
and Obama has Colin
Powell's support. He's a
solid Republican himself,
he's pro-choice, supports
affimitive action, and is
voting Obama, a true right
wing politician. Thanks
and remember a vote for
Obama is a vote for change
we can believe in!
John M. Cooling
Forsyth
COOLING