Newspaper Page Text
November 9, 2016
^Reporter
PAGE 5A
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tribble: Thanks to
uncle for keeping
family graves clean
To the editor:
I want to thank my 82-year-old Uncle Jeff Wilson for the great
job he does keeping my mother and daddy’s and grandmother
and granddaddy’s lots clean at the Forsyth City Cemetery.
Thanks also to city manager Janice Hall and the city crew for
cutting the grass and cleaning up the grounds.
Ronnie Lewis Tribble
Tennessee
Carolyn’s Corner
Remember, Disney was fired
BY CAROLYN MARTEL
ads@mymcr.net
T his past weekend I
watched the movie The
Pursuit of Happyness.
The incorrect spelling
of “happiness” in the
film’s title is intentional. Will
Smith stars in this inspiring
movie based on the true story of
Chris Gardner, a San Francisco
salesman struggling to build a
future for himself and his 5-year-
old son Christopher.
When Gardner’s girl
friend walks out, Chris is
left to raise Christopher
on his own. Chris’ deter
mination finally pays off
when he lands an unpaid
internship in a bru
tally competitive
stockbroker-training
program, where only
one in 20 interns will make the
cut. But without a salary, Chris
and his son are evicted from
their apartment and are forced
to sleep on the streets, in home
less shelters and even behind the
locked doors of a metro station
bathroom. With self-confidence
and the love and trust of his son,
Chris rises above his obstacles to
become a Wall Street legend.
WHAT impressed me about
this movie was the determina
tion of Chris Gardner. He never
blamed his hardships and set
backs on someone else. He chose
to meet them head-on and he
never gave up on following his
dream. Many well-known people
have demonstrated the same
resolve of never giving up or giv
ing in when it came to pursuing
their dreams. As an inventor,
Thomas Edison made 1,000
unsuccessful attempts at
inventing the light bulb.
When a reporter asked,
“How did it feel to fail 1,000
times?” Edison replied, “I
didn’t fail a thousand times.
The light bulb was an
invention with 1,000
steps.” Walt Disney was
fired by a newspaper
editor because “he lacked imagi
nation and had no good ideas.” In
1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of
the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis
Presley after one performance.
He told Presley, “You ain’t goin’
nowhere son. You ought to go
back to drivin’ a truck.”
WHAT dream is burning in
your heart? More importantly,
what dream has God placed in
your heart? Whatever it is, you
will face challenges and setbacks
as you pursue it. The devil will
try to sideline you with discour
agement and you will face oppo
sition from people who will ridi
cule your aspirations. But never
allow the negativity, jealousy
or envy of others to deter you.
Remember you’re the one willing
to put in the long hours to earn
the degree, grow your business,
start your ministry or accom
plish worthwhile goals you’ve
set for yourself. You’re willing
to make the sacrifices that your
critics are not. So ignore the
skeptics. Focus your energy and
concentration on the promise
found in Philippians 4:13. This
inspirational verse written by the
apostle Paul says, “I can do all
things through Christ Jesus who
strengthens me.” Give Jesus an
“I can” and He will take it and do
awesome things through you that
would otherwise be impossible to
achieve in your own strength. To
God be the glory!
Carolyn Martel is the advertis
ing manager and regular colum
nist for the Reporter. E-mail her
at ads@rnymcr.net.
Unfair and Unbalanced
won? Not sure yet
BY MARILYN LANGFORD
mdlangford@bellsouth. net
D on’t bother reading
this column! ‘Cause I
ain’t got notin’ to say!
Due to newspaper
deadlines, I’m writ
ing this column three days before
the election, and it won’t be out
in print until the day after the
election. If you chose to read any
way, I guess you’ll have to use
your imagination as to how I’m
feeling at the moment you read
this.... I’m either crying tears of
joy, or tears of fear.
I THOUGHT of writing with the
assumption that Hillary
won, complete with a ban
ner headline “Hillary Wins!”
However, not that I’m that
old, but I’ve seen the col
lector’s framed newspaper
headline all my life, ‘Dewey
Defeats Truman.” I decided
not to go down that
road.
One of my friends was “un-friended
on Facebook by his own mother.
Luckily, most of my family members
are Democrats so there have only
been some minor skirmishes. I’ve
had some big disappointments with
some friends, however. Hopefully
this won’t be a lasting situation.
REGARDLESS of who the
President is we need to confront the
actions of Putin and his hacking of
our Internet sites to influence our
democratic elections. Putin’s conduit,
Julian Assange, aka WikiLeaks,
have got to be shut down for any
peace to exist in our country. Edward
Snowden needs to be made an exam
ple by bringing him back to
the U.S. by whatever means
necessary to face charges for
treason.
THERE are a few
things that can be
said no matter if there is a President
Clinton or (as my fingers tremble on
the keyboard), a President Trump.
November the 8th will not be the
end of the ugliness and hate that has
reared its head in our country. In
fact, it is just the beginning. There
is a deep polarization in our country
and that gulf won’t heal at the inau
guration of a President. Our country
will be engaged in a feud far worse
than the Hatfields and McCoys. My
biggest fear is that our nation will
accept this divide as our new normal.
ANOTHER fallout from this
contentious election has been the
divide that exists in many fami
lies and many friendships. I have
heard many stories about the dis
sension caused by this election.
REGARDLESS of who
the President is, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
needs a good houseclean
ing. For our Democracy
to work, we must have
faith in our justice
system. We need to be
able to take the word of the FBI as
the gospel. Even under the leader
ship of J. Edgar Hoover, we never
questioned the legitimacy of their
investigations. With the eleventh
hour interference with the election
by James Comey, and the lies leaked
last week attributed to FBI sources
about a non-existent investigation
into the Clinton Foundation, the FBI
has lost credibility. It has been said
that the FBI employees refer to itself
as Trumplandia. From the reports, it
would seem that most of the lies and
innuendo is being performed by the
New York City field office of the FBI
in cahoots with former New York
City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani. That
office would be a good place to start,
right after Comey is fired. And yes,
he can be fired, contrary to popular
belief. When a Director loses his abil
ity to lead his agency, the President
may fire him. As my Mama used to
say, “He has gotten too big for his
britches.”
THE Director of the FBI reports to
the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch,
who is Comey’s boss. Overall she has
done a good job, but she has been
impotent to stand up against Comey.
She needs to go, too.
ANOTHER thing we can talk
about, regardless of whomever the
President may be, is the Media.
Liberal or conservative outlets have
played a major role in making this
election so convoluted that we vot
ers have not been able to discern
the truth. Whatever happened to
the “Equal Time Rule?’ Granted,
the rule never applied to “news” but
political rallies day after day, shown
in their entirety is not news. And
giving one candidate a billion dol
lars of free advertising is not equal
in anybody’s book. I hope the Media
will hold an autopsy on how their
coverage influenced this election in
its entirety and make appropriate
changes for future elections.
I HAD the great honor of being
up close and personal with the
Honorable Congressman John Lewis
last Friday. I saw the scars on his
head from being beaten for what he
believes in. For me, it was a very fit
ting reminder of why I do what I do.
I SUPPOSE I had more to say
than I thought. Next week, I’m sure
I’ll have more to say than you ever
wanted to hear, no matter who the
President is.
Marilyn Langford of High Falls
writes a regular op-ed, column in the
Reporter sharing the liberal perspec
tive on events.
GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST
Outside Looking In...
Smell will linger
By DON DANIEL
tullaybear@bellsouth.net
on’t bet the presidential election will
be over today, Wednesday. Hopefully
the stench of the election will begin
to diminish but don’t count on it. The
odiferous smell will linger for a long
time in the annals of American history and more
than likely be disgustingly rediscovered every four
years.
Regardless for whom you voted and how rankled
you may feel, this election is and
has been about our democratic
country where each of us can and
should partake in the freedom(s)
guaranteed to each of us, partic
ularly voting, freedom of speech,
belief and renewed belief in our
Constitution
So, as the expression goes, get
over it! Pledge Allegiance to the
Flag, pray the Lord’s Prayer,
love your neighbor and be
thankful for what we have and
renew your faith in our coun
try.
OUR sheriff showed up to get his picture taken
with Norfolk Southern’s 9-1-1 train and County
Commissioner John Ambrose attended with his
grandchildren. But according to very observ
ing sources, no other elected officials including
Forsyth’s mayor, city council members, city man
ager and four county commissioners, all obviously
“elected” to serve us, chose not to show up by
attending support for the Forsyth Historic Train
Festival. It was a success despite their lack of
showing up. In fact, none of the elected courthouse
gang showed up either.
Neither Forsyth’s city nor county manager graced
the festival with their presence.
Guess they all went Christmas shopping or
maybe were attending some taxpayer-paid soiree
at an exclusive resort.
Prior to the festival on Saturday, the Monroe
County Historical Society hosted a by invitation
preview of the train display and festival in the
Conley Building on Friday night, 5-7 p.m. Over
200 invitations requesting a RSVP were sent out
and extended to those elected/appointed officials,
business people, members of the historical society
and many other individuals. According to those
sending out the invitations, only 33 out of 200 plus
responded with an RSVP! Maybe they didn’t know
the social grace of an RSVP.
This would make a very good question asked
in this column: How many of the 30 plus showed
up for the preview party? Well, that’s not The
Question for this week because here is the answer:
only 18 invitees showed up and I assume they
RSVP’d. Disgusting social graces and a lack of
respect for those who worked volunteering to make
the festival a success! A sad commentary.
According to legitimate guess-ta-mates, between
2,000-3,000 people showed up for the festival with
the highlight being the arrival of the 911 train.
Kudos to A1 Shackleford, formerly with Norfolk
Southern, for his dedicated efforts getting the train
to make a special visit/photo-op saluting the rail
road history of Forsyth and Monroe County.
HERE are unattributed comments by “our” they
think they are the “fantastic five”:
“It is worth a gazllion dollars”;
“Period!”;
“What’s sa motion”;
“Just for our viewers”;
“Burning trash or cooking?”
“I had my own little bit of confusion”;
“I guess you ain’t gonna take it anymore”;
“I don’t want us to do what we can’t do”;
“It does not say allowed or disallowed”;
“I sorta like drinking milk”;
“It is too ambiguous”;
“We confused up here sometimes”;
“Every time it is the same....different”;
“That’s the way it was 20 years ago”.
THIS from this newspaper’s vent: wonder how
long it will take for the two new members of
the Development Authority of Monroe County
(DAOMC) to start wearing overalls, buying some
cows.
Wonder if they will start contesting their county
tax assessments and being issued fi-fa’s for failing
to pay their taxes?
And then this email: Is the new president of the
DAOMC aware he is supposed to wear overalls to
the monthly meeting and meeting with industrial
prospects?
THE NAME of Mary Persons 2016 Homecoming
Queen is Alexis Passmore and that was the answer
to The Question. Here’s The Question for this
week: What percentage of Monroe County voters
cast their ballot yesterday? Closest correct answer
after 12 noon on Thursday gets a certificate for
a Dairy Queen Blizzard, Jonah’s cookie, dozen
Dunkin Donuts, two Lucky Cafe egg rolls and a
fried green tomato appetizer at Whistle Stop Cafe
in Juliette.
YOU surely have read/heard the story about
some soldiers out in California are now being
dunned to repay their re-upping bonus/incentive
for serving our country in a time of war. Absolutely
disgusting that some non-patriotic government
official decided the soldiers were not deserving of
what was promised them. Why has the outrage
of this zealous hypocrisy dropped off the radar of
media and public outcry? Tell me if you can.
HERE’S a tidbit from the Wall Street Journal:
About half of U.S. deaths this year are expected to
result in cremation.
A rather macabre way to bring this column to an
end, so on the lighter side, you can contact me at
tullaybear@bellsouth.net to answer The Question
and by phone, 478-994-1312, for any other com
ments.
The Reporter welcomes your opinions. Submit a letter to the
editor via email to publisher@mymcr.net, fax to 994-2359,
or mail to P.O. Box 795, Forsyth, GA31029. Keep it under
500 words. Include your real name and hometown. Include
a phone number. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Join the free and
open exchange of ideas!