Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
June 29, 2016
2016 winner: Editorial Page excellence
2016 winner: Sports Photography excellence
2016 winner: News Photography excellence
2016 winner: Front Page excellence
^Reporter
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
On the Porch
Forsyth firefighters quickly extinguished a Monday
morning fire at Bryant’s Collision.
Applause for the
Monroe Co. BOE
BY WILL DAVIS
publisher@mymcr. net
W &’re relieved to hear that Bryant’s
Collision in Forsyth was able to re
open on Monday after a morning
blaze damage part:
of their facility.
An employee spotted smoke com
ing from the engine of KIA Sedona
van that was in Bryant’s shop
around 7 a.m. Forsyth firefighters
responded quickly and put out the
blaze, leaving the shop with only
minor damage.
Fire chief David Herndon said
there was nothing suspicious
about the fire and he’s glad his
guys were able to put it out quickly.
A small group of, well three really, seniors at Mary
Persons in the spring complained that the school’s
Choosing the Best abstinence curriculum focuses
on putting off sex rather than birth control. Well, a
new study released this month week supports the
Monroe County school board’s long commitment to
abstinence-only education. The study, published by
the National Bureau of Economic Research, shows
“.. .clear evidence that access to condoms in schools
leads to an increase in teen fertility.” In fact, counties
that gave condoms away to teens experienced a 10
percent increase in teen pregnancy.
Of course, while studies are nice, you really don’t
need one to know that young people will often do
what they’re encouraged to do. And waiting until
marriage to have sex is the best thing for our teens,
no matter how much they protest.
Sadly, while the evidence supports conservative
public health policies, Georgia public health seems to
have taken a hard turn to the left under Gov. Nathan
Deal. In March Georgia public health officials fired
Dr. Eric Walsh after they listened to sermons he had
preached espousing biblical morality in his native
California. Georgia officials clearly violated Walsh’s
religious freedoms.
I’ve also noticed that health departments in Georgia
are increasingly pushing and advertising birth con
trol, again ignoring studies like the one cited above.
All this comes on the heels of the city of Atlanta fir
ing its fire chief Kelvin Cochran for having the audac
ity to write a book espousing Christian beliefs about
homosexuality.
Who would’ve thought that here in the former
buckle of the Bible belt, two black professionals
would lose their jobs for — being Christians?
So against these cultural ill winds, kudos to the
Monroe County school board for standing strong
for our Choosing the Best curriculum. The Monroe
County Pregnancy Center raises almost all of the
funds for Choosing the Best so that local taxpayers
don’t have to pick up the tab. Local volunteers teach
the classes so that it’s handled by parents and lead
ers here in the community. The curriculum uses a
holistic approach that includes topics such as rela
tionships and communication so that our kids recog
nize sex is more than a physical act. We’re not rais
ing animals in Monroe County. We’re raising human
beings. Thanks to the BOE for reflecting that.
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/Editor
publisher@mymcr.net
Richard Dumas
News Editor
forsyth@mymcr. net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising
Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
Sheila Benoit
Graphics Designer
g raphics@mymcr. net
50 N. Jackson St., Forsyth, GA 31029
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Forsyth, Ga 31029
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MONROE COUNTY REPORTER
P.O. Box 795, Forsyth, GA 31029
Official Organ of Monroe County and the City of Forsyth
Phone: 478-994-2358 • FAX 478-994-2359
SUBSCRIPTION RATE: In County - $35 Out of County - $48
Single copy - $ 1
Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments featured on opin
ion pages are the creations of the writers, they do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of The Reporter management .
Publication No. USPS 997-840)
On Georgia Politics
Semi-automatic cynicism
BY KYLE WINGFIELD
Kyle. Wingfield@ajc. com
ohn Lewis has blazed
trails before, and this
past, week the Atlanta
congressman again
broke new ground: He
led what may have been the U.S.
Capitol’s first sit-in against citi
zens’ rights.
“No fly, no buy” is all the
rage among Lewis and his fel
low Democrats these
days. Their apparent
reasoning is that, if a
government watch list
known to be abused,
misused and mistaken
is good enough to
deprive Americans of
the freedom to travel
by air, it must
be good enough
to deprive
Americans of
their Second
Amendment
rights, too.
Their 26-hour pizza party on
the House floor came two days
after Senate Democrats voted
against a Republican bill to delay
gun sales to anyone on a terrorist
watch list, giving the government
three days to persuade a judge to
deny the transaction. That was
too much due process for them.
Or maybe it’s just that voting for
the bill would have hurt their
fund raising.
And to think, until last week
I wasn’t sure it was possible for
Democrats to be any more cynical
about gun control:
After a “mass shooting,” we
hear two refrains most often.
First is a call to expand back
ground checks to cover sales not
involving licensed gun dealers
(which already must conduct
checks for any sales, including at
gun shows). Second is a plea to
ban “assault weapons,” a made-
up term for which there’s little
lexicographical agree
ment, because it tends to
be based on cosmetic fea
tures more than function.
The problem with the
first refrain is it wouldn’t
have applied to any of
16 recent mass shoot
ings reviewed by the New
York Times, which
worked its way
backward from this
month’s slayings
at a gay nightclub
in Orlando. In
each case, the guns were bought
legally from a dealer. Sometimes
the guns were later stolen or ille
gally transferred, and sometimes
the buyer should have failed the
background check but didn’t. But
illegal is illegal, and human error
can’t be eliminated.
The problem with the second
is it’s impossible to say whether
any version of a ban on “assault
weapons” would have prevented
these crimes. From 1994 to
2004, when “assault weapons”
were banned, gun makers easily
altered their products to make
them legal. Again, the features
included in most bans are only
related to the weapons’ looks,
not their function or deadliness.
Democrats’ pretending otherwise
is just politics.
It is possible that restricting
weapon sales to people on the
terrorist watch list could have
come into play in a handful of
the shootings, including Orlando.
But that should also work with
a due-process provision, whether
the government has three days to
make its case or perhaps longer.
And this kind of list isn’t com
plete without a nod to those liber
als out there, particularly celebri
ties, who dutifully rant about the
sale of fully automatic weapons.
Those guns have been so heavily
regulated for so many decades
that they’re ultra-expensive, and
thus are used for crimes rarely,
if ever.
After all that, Democrats are
left with little more than an accu
sation that Republicans just want
terrorists to be able to buy guns.
It’s a brazen lie, and they know
it. They just don’t have anything
else to stand — or sit — on.
Kyle Wingfield writes for The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
the Monroe County Reporter and-
other newspapers. Reach him
and read more at www.bit.ly/
KyleWingfield,
As I See It...
Obama trying to hide failures
BY CLAUDE CURLEE
cbcurl47gmail.com
n June 14, 2016 at
about 1:30 p.m. I lis
tened to Obama give
a lecture disguised
as a speech. In this
speech he said ISIL (ISIS) was
being defeated and was losing
ground. He also said
ISIL (ISIS) was having
difficulty recruiting new
members. He took credit
for weakening ISIL
(ISIS) saying his policies
were working.
On June 16, 2016 at
about 9 a.m., CIA direc
tor John Brennan
was reporting to
a Senate commit
tee. He said ISIS
(ISIL) was as
strong as ever and growing and
the ISIS (ISIL) threat has not
diminished. He went on to say
ISIS (ISIL) was using the Muslim
refugees as a means to bring
their operatives into the US.
Who is telling it correctly?
Obama or Brennan? Is the CIA
not talking and passing info to
Obama? Is it possible Obama is
spinning the tale to be used for
political purpose? I don’t believe
Brennan would go before the
committee and say the things
he did if they were not true. I
also believe Obama uses every
thing he can for personal and
political gain. It has been shown
numerous times Obama will lie.
Whichever, we the people are the
losers.
On June 20, Obama’s adminis
tration released transcripts of the
phone calls made by the Islamist
terrorist in Orlando. All refer
ences to ISIS and Islam were
removed. References to Allah
were changed to God. Obama, if
words don’t matter, why change
them? I believe you are trying
every way you can to shield
the blood-thirsty Muslims
terrorists in any way you
can.
On June 16, 2016
at about noon I heard
Obama’s administration
had announced a speed
up of bringing in refugees
from Muslim coun-
tries. This was a
Cfew hours before
he went to Orlando
to meet with fami
lies and victims of a sworn ISIS
Muslim terrorist who killed
49 Americans. How did the
announcement show concern for
the feelings of the families or the
victims?
Obama didn’t have enough con
cern or compassion to at least
let the victims’ blood dry on the
Pulse night club floor before
beginning to rush more Muslims
here.
The question this raises is
this: Who is Obama more con
cerned with, terrorists or the
families and victims in Orlando?
It appears to me he is more con
cerned with getting terrorists
here ASAP. If he was concerned
about the families and victims,
why wasn’t the announcement
about the speeding-up of refu
gee entrance delayed until later.
Better yet suspend the program
until we have a means to insure
the refugees are not a danger to
us. We know in Obama’s mind
the Islamic terrorists are not the
problem.
What came over John McCain
and Lindsey Graham? McCain
said Obama is directly respon
sible for what happened in
Orlando. He later said he meant
to say Obama’s policies were
responsible. A point of clarifica
tion: If Obama’s policies caused
it, Obama caused it. McCain
don’t man up and then wimp out.
Graham also laid blame at the
feet of Obama.
Both McCain and Graham have
been critical of Trump for saying
Obama’s policies of open borders
and bringing in refugees who
can’t be vetted from the Middle
East is wrong. Why now are
they saying Obama’s policies are
wrong? Next they need to man up
and say Trump has been right all
along.
I believe Trump is right about
the wall. He is also right about
not bringing in refugees from the
Middle East until we can be sure
they are not a threat. Each of us
must ask why are the Muslim
countries in the Middle East,
such as Saudi Arabia and UAE,
not taking in the Muslim refu
gees.
Claude Cur lee of Forsyth is a
Vietnam veteran and a member of
the Monroe County GOP.
GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST
The Reporter welcomes
your opinions. Submit
a letter to the editor via
email to publisher@mym-
cr.net, fax to 994-2359,
or mail to P.O. Box 795,
Forsyth, GA31029. Keep
it under 500 words. In
clude your real name
and hometown. Include
a phone number. Dead
line is 5 p.m. Friday. Join
the free and open ex
change of ideas!