Newspaper Page Text
February 9, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Blatantly
flaunting
F irst I need to explain the headline. As we all know,
the Atlanta Braves won the World Series finally in the
last game of the series. I don’t remember the score but
the thing that stood out particularly with the Braves
was the amount of gold worn and displayed by the players.
It was a wonder the players could even rim bases with all the
gold hanging around their necks,
some gold chains bigger than
logging chains. I didn’t notice the
same amount hanging on the
Astros.
I guess the amount the players
are paid they just want to flaunt
their wealth with the show-off
attitude of how much gold their
salaries can buy for them and
how great they think they are. I
guess they think gold is a sport
ing asset making them think how
good they are.
Using the same terminol
ogy, why do coaches allow their
players—-baseball and football
particularly-— to sport long hair, with soccer being the
exception? Is there a penalty for grabbing the locks of ball
carrier to stop the run? Would it be called a “hair grabbing”
penalty? Long hair is not only obvious in pro-sports but all
the way down to the midget football league.
Even high school coaches don’t seem to care how their
players are coiffed. When I played high school football, our
coaches required us to dress appropriately and have a haircut
because we were representing the school on and off the field.
As I heard a coach say: “I don’t care anything about how
our players are dressed or how long their hair is as long as
they play the way I coach them” When I asked him about
long-haired dreadlocks, his reply was “hair don’t have a thing
to do with winning.” Guess it doesn’t with losing either.
TAKEN BY surprise is a mild statement when I read the
front page headline announcing first term County Commis
sioner George Emami has decided he will not seek re-elec
tion after serving for just one four-year term.
It came as an almost total surprise to me since Commis
sioner Emami has been a singular positive force having to
“fight” many battles with other commissioners particularly
with the chairman who does not like sharing his political
agenda with anyone. George has attempted to move Monroe
County in a manner that would make progress and control
progress to the benefit of all Monroe Countians.
What also added to the surprise was Emami’s very positive
meeting with residents of his district in regards to building
permits and then his personal $5,000 commitment to help
those High Falls residents living in deplorable houses/condi
tions.
Do I think George is giving up politics? No way! I think we
will be surprised when he politically “cools down” and gets
back into the political fray probably sooner than we think.
WOW A lot of people know that Rep. Austin Scott very
seldom if ever shows his face in Monroe County and Kathy
Moore was the first to identify Rep. Scott as the no-show
answer to The Question.
Kathy gets a certificate for a Big Peach car wash, Whistle
Stop fried green tomato appetizer, Scoops single dip, slice
of Jonah’ pizza, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, a Reporter
t-shirt and a Forsyth Main Street t-shirt.
Here’s The Question for this week: Bolingbroke is home
for the “new” whom? First correct answer after 12 noon on
Thursday gets the goodie certificate. Email your answer to
tullaybear@bellsouth. net.
THE PHOTO of the commission chairman in last week’s
column raised several to ask what/who is the little toy figure
in front of the county commissioner’s seat. I have no idea
other than it may be his is alter ego or his play toy.
MONDAY NIGHT the Forsyth City Council had its
regular meeting and on the agenda and there was more
discussion of the “Bitcoin” zoning decision. I am sure Will
and Diane will be attending the meeting and a full report is
expected.
I HAVE to wonder who in the world “designed” the new
district maps that you saw in last week’s newspaper. No
wonder Commissioner Emami has decided not to seek
re-election. District 4 in the new map is the most convoluted
and very obviously designed to be self-serving for someone
other than the present commissioner.
FINALLY AN official word from Georgia Power on the
status of Plant Scherer, which we will likely have only six
more years to collect proeprty taxes and taxes on the coal
used by the plant. Between now and 2028, hopefully the
commissioners can get done what they want before the
county spending reaches the bone and our taxes have to be
raised to keep up with the spending spree started in 1982
when the plant went on line.
HERE ARE a few unattributed county commissioner
comments from last week’s meeting: This comment from
the chairman: “Everybody has their marching orders”; “I just
want it done once”; “Probably past your memory”; “That’s
just me personally”; “I grudgingly agree”; “Like a fox in the
hen house”; “By-laws are antique”; “I’m not going to speak
for everybody”; “Correct me if I am wrong”; “You can’t bud
get for something pending on your fundables”; “Sentence
her to three more years”.
The strangest of the strange was when a couple of meet
ings ago, the commissioners did not re-appoint Dr. Craig
Caldwell to the Hospital Authority but appointed someone
who was not eligible to be on the Authority. So, the commis
sioners re-appointed Dr. Caldwell. Thank goodness. They
also replaced retired pharmacist Hugh Cromer on the health
board, and then the chairman and commissioner Lamarcus
Davis fenagled things to get him back on there.
I FOUND this interesting: The science-fiction television
series Lost In Space which premiered on CBS in 1965, is set
in the year 1997.
Contact Don Daniel, the founder of this newspaper, attul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Celebrate Dawgs, but hold the can
To the Editor:
W ell, we hate
to bore you,
but Beautify
Forsyth has col
lected another piece of litter
(empty) you should know
about. Yes, we are talking
about the “Champagne of the
South,” Athena drink that is,
and we quote, “gently tart, ef
fervescent ambrosia.”
This “German Style Tart
Wheat Ale” comes to us
through Creature Comforts
Brewing Co. on 271 West
Hancock Ave., Athens, Geor
gia.
It’s been fantastic in Athens
this year—great football and
many options to drink the
excitement.
As always, we ask our busi
ness and residential partners
to keep their areas litter-free.
Tom Perry
Forsyth
P.S. On Saturday, March 5,
from 10-11 a.m. we will have a
pre-Forsythia Festival Forsyth
clean-up. Meet at the new City
Hall parking lot. Pick-up sticks
provided.
ATHENA
NER WEISS '
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Democrats threaten our democracy
F or anyone under age 50,
during the 1960s/early
1970 s, liberals actually
fought the establish
ment. They stood for free
speech, the right to assemble,
and the right to protest Liberals
were against authoritarian
ism, censorship, unwarranted
government surveil
lance, and against
police/government
overreach. That was
a time of racial and
anti-war protests,
rallies, and marches.
Fast forward 50 years;
the liberals have
morphed into
a unified Leftist
Cabal (LC) and
have become
the establishment. They’ve be
come everything they protested
against The 1960 s protestors,
hippies, druggies, and dropouts
are firmly in control of every
American institution. Aca
demia, Hollywood, Big Tech,
Big Media, Big Pharma, Wall
Street, Democrat Party, federal
agencies, the FBI, Intel agen
cies, and even the military are
controlled by Leftists, Marxists,
and adherents to them all. The
non-governmental institutions
don’t fight the government;
they support, protect and rein
force authoritarian government
mandates with censorship,
surveillance, investigations, and
cancel culture. They all work
in unison. Last month, Joe
Biden and the Surgeon General
asked (actually demanded) Big
Tech to silence “misinforma
tion.” So, Big Tech (Facebook,
Twitter, Google, etc.) censored
and removed comments that
disagreed with Biderfs posi
tions. Biderfs cabal has imposed
onerous and unconstitutional
edicts as if Biden, Faud, etc.
are dictators ruling over their
minions.
WITH ALL those institu
tions controlled by Leftists
and Marxists, you’d think
Democrats would be happy,
but youd be wrong. The LC has
become even angrier, lashing
out at anyone who dares speak
against their “narrative”* (see
definition below). Suddenly,
all we hear from these people
is “our democracy” is under
attack The cabal states that
if you disagree with them, it’s
because you’re a racist (they
say that all the time), a Russian
agent (their newest accusation),
and your disagreement
promotes violence.
Therefore, your dis
agreement is racist and
violent and becomes
their proof that our
democracy is under
attack Is that true?
IF YOU define
“democracy” as
the people vote
for politicians
and those politicians then
execute the will of the people;
then, the Leftists are correct -
American democracy is under
attack Problem is; the Leftists
and Democrats are the ones
undermining democracy and
doing the threatening. How so
you ask? Simply put, Democrat
politicians - Obama’s Biden, Pe-
losi, Schumer, Stacey Abrams,
Sens. Wamock and Ossoff,
Gov. Newsom (D-CA), etc.
don’t care about your concerns.
They have their own agenda,
voters be damned.
WHAT ARE the worries of
the media and Democrat politi
cians? From what Biden, Pelosi,
and Schumer lecture us on, and
the issues that the media gives
airtime, our Marxist overlords
are focused on:
• Forced vaccine mandates
and endless mandatory mask
ing for you and your children
(but not for them).
• Forced racial indoctrina
tion of school children teaching
that all white people are racists,
called critical race theory.
• Equity and Transgender
rights - We must let that naked
man (claiming to be a woman)
in women’s locker room and act
like it’s perfectly normal.
• Climate Change and man
datory edicts that go with it. (If
you thought Covid mandates
were onerous, just wait for
Stacey Abrams’ climate change
mandates to be imposed.)
• The Jan. 6 protest - Schum
er, Pelosi, and Obamas Biden
insist the country was mo
ments away from a dictatorship
because several hundred people
trespassed into the capital. (The
capital police actually opened
the doors from the inside.)
• And protecting Ukraine
(suddenly our most important
ally) from threats by Russia.
WE KNOW these are their
concerns because they’re
all Biden talks about. Are
Democrat concerns the same
as the average person on the
street? Even Biden voters say
NO. Wait, how can that be?
You must be worried because
the media tells us that climate
change is an existential threat to
human existence and January
6th was an imminent threat to
our democracy.
TURNS OUT, Democrat
concerns barely register on the
scale of normal people’s wor
ries. Most are worried about the
economy, inflation, increased
energy costs, jobs, the compe
tency (or lack) of government
personnel, local crime, and the
lawless southern border - are
much more important than
some nebulous claim that 50
years from now the earth will
be 1 degree warmer. When
asked about rising crime in
dozens of Democrat cities,
Biden made ignorant com
ments that guns are to blame
and Jen Psaki (Biden’s press sec
retary) mocked the question,
claiming if you’re concerned
about rising crime, it’s because
you’re in an “alternate universe.”
It’s obvious that the LC has
their own agenda (authoritar
ian mandates, racism, climate
change, etc.) and don’t care
about your concerns.
• THE NARRATIVE is the
“truth” du juor as espoused by
the Leftist Cabal. The “narra
tive” is capricious and changes
based on the ideology of the
person making the comment
A great recent example is Joe
Rogan and Whoopi Goldberg.
Both made controversial state
ments. The cabal demands
Rogan be silenced because
he questioned the efficacy of
Covid vaccines and mandates.
Days later, Whoopi was sus
pended from ABC’s The View
for making a racist statement,
and those same Leftists, who
demanded Rogan be silenced,
were outraged when one of
their own (Whoopi) was si
lenced. In this example, Rogan
violated the narrative and ques
tioned if Covid mandates work,
thus he must be silenced; while
Whoopi shouldn’t be silenced
over her racist comments
because per “the narrative”, only
conservatives can be racist.
ANOTHER NARRATIVE
example; last week in Canada,
thousands of truckers convoyed
2,000 miles to Ottawa (the capi
tal) to protest Justin Trudeau’s
unconstitutional Covid edicts.
The narrative - Truckers will
be violent because they oppose
Trudeau, a Leftist demi-god.
In Ottawa, the truckers were
joined by thousands of farmers.
Every protest was peaceful and
orderly (no crimes commit
ted, no arrests). Nevertheless,
Trudeau, Canada’s prime min
ister, refused to meet with or
discuss the truckers’ concerns.
Why? Because the cabal’s narra
tive is that disagreement (with
them) is violence, so Trudeau
claimed truckers were violent
Like his U.S. counterparts, he
also called the truckers..wait
for it...racist, and one better,
misogynists. This from a guy
who openly wears “white face”
while claiming he’s not racist
(ask him) but you are (and a
misogynist) for opposing him.
Weekly Thought Local elec
tions for school board, senator,
and governor are upcoming. If
you value your freedom, start
educating yourself about the
candidates and issues.
Shan Oliver of Bolingbroke is
a retired Army office who writes
each week in the Reporter. Email
him at sloanoliver@earthlink.
com.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
A Report from The General Assembly
By Rep. Dale Washburn
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
Last week was a very busy week in the 2022
Legislative Session. There are many bills being
introduced and will begin to make their way through the
committee process. We are already casting votes on
some local calendar bills and a few general bills.
A brief explanation is in order regard
ing the difference between the two. The
local calendar deals with local issues and
as a general rule, courtesy is extended by
all the members toward a local delegation
if the delegation has agreed on an issue
that is local in nature.
A good example of that is the current
reapportionment process for local officials.
We are busy now getting the new districts
set for the Monroe County Commission and the
Monroe County Board of Education. These bills were
introduced last week and will be on the Local Calendar
for a vote soon.
Since the three House Members of the Monroe
County Delegation are in agreement on those, the bill
will be on the local calendar along with a number of
other local bills from other areas. When the local
calendar is called soon and our reapportionment bills
are there, the members will vote to approve and the
bills will be sent to The Senate.
Most of the time, Local Calendars are not contro
versial. However, sometimes controversy arises. One
year, there was a huge pay raise proposed for a local
constitutional officer in a metro Atlanta County. It was
noticed and there was a motion to separate that bill
from the rest of the local calendar. The rest of the
Local Calendar passed easily as usual but the bill
seeking an unusually high pay increase for the local
official was defeated.
Occasionally, there are other local bills that become
controversial and get defeated, usually with the vote
split along party lines.
A General Bill is one that is not local in nature and
affects the state overall. Bills on issues such as Constitu
tional Carry, Critical Race Theory, Election
Security and many, many other issues will
be dealt with in General Bills. Many of
those bills pass easily by large margins.
However, others do not and can be
passed or defeated by only a few votes.
One significant Bill that passed the
House Last Week was HB 867 which is
titled The Truth In Prescription Pricing for
Patients Act offered by Representative
Mark Newton of Augusta. This bill is designed to lower
Prescription Drug Prices for our consumers by providing
transparency and including rebates that are given in
the calculation of true net prices of drug. I enthusiasti
cally cast a yeas vote on HB 867.
As always, there are many issues which need
attention and there is a need for good legislation to be
passed and for bad legislation to be defeated. I’m
honored to serve with Robert Dickey and Susan Holmes
in the House and John Kennedy in the Senate. We are
all working hard to represent you well.
Rep. Dale Washburn 404-656-0152
401-D Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
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