Newspaper Page Text
December 28, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
If you’d rather be
ignorant, go for it
read with interest Will’s response to Letter To The
Editor writer Ralph Bass where Mr. Bass lament
ed there was too much crime reporting in the
Reporter. Will’s response was very a propos. One
of the things I discovered founding this newspaper,
there were stories I reported causing some readers to
be irked and wondering why
I printed some stories. I con
sidered all stories news with
the goal of keeping readers
informed of what was going
on-from births, weddings,
crimes being committed, who
died and who was killed. The
simple reason was that the
public and readers want to
know what is going on in
our communities and that
includes all facets of news.
When it comes to televi
sion news, “if it bleeds it will
lead,” will be the featured lead story. I have said if you
don’t like television news, change the channel. If you
don’t like what is being reported in this newspaper,
then stay ignorant, don’t read it, don’t subscribe, don’t
buy one. If you are a subscriber and don’t agree with
Will and what he reports, unsubscribe. Or instead of
getting your pants in a wad, just don’t read it! Become
news ignorant.
WANT to know what one of the things wrong with
our country is? Well, there was a local story reported
about a man arrested--again--for domestic violence.
He had been arrested back in 2021,2016,2011 and
then finally on his last arrest was denied bond.
All over our country, we read and hear about crimi
nals who commit crimes, are arrested, jailed and out of
jail in a matter of hours. Our justice system is broken.
It used to be “commit the crime, serve the time.” Make
crime punishable!
This is strictly my opinion in that there are laws on
the books in some communities that allow criminals
to walk free in a matter of hours after committing a
crime. It actually seems that criminals are ruling the
justice system.
CELL PHONES have become an addiction. Imagine
the chaos if all of a sudden cellphone service collapsed
all over the world. That is scary. What would we do?
HOW many Christmas cards through the mail did
you send and receive this year? I received six and
mailed 23 to friends, relatives and neighbors.
Over a Christmas Eve family get-together, I asked
the question who sent and received a Christmas
card. Only one raised her hand. It was explained that
instead of sending cards, Merry Christmas and Happy
New were expressed via Facebook and emails. Totally
impersonal, but I did receive a lot of Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year emails.
OVER at Forsyth City Hall, Woodrow Blue was
sworn in by Mayor Eric Wilson as Forsyth’s new police
chief. He is looking for a place to settle and assuming
surely it is going to be somewhere in Forsyth’s city
limits.
Here are some unattributed Forsyth City Council
member comments: “I thought that was the reason”;
“You always had a mess somewhere”; ‘I don’t have a
problem with it”; “I think that is the wrong direction”;
“I can understand”; “we need a street sweeper.”
From a list, six blighted properties will be discussed
at the first council meeting in January. It is going to
be interesting what is going to happen to the property
owned and now dilapidated by one developer.
THE COUNTY has paid 66 bills totaling
$535,692.45. Head Heating and Air got a check for
$5,557.50; Monroe County Hospital got a $6,616.80,
not what the county should be paying, but paying for
dental service, medications, medical supplies. Jerry
Dwan Pennamon got a $4,950 check for contract
labor. United Bank credit card got paid off with a
$57,675.30 which included pizzas from Papa Johns
and a lot of charges to Amazon. Also charged to the
county credit card was $7,876.23 for “Christmas shop
ping.” Some county employee(s) enjoyed a Shane’s Rib
Shack meal for $51.20. Obviously a county employ-
ee(s) enjoyed the cuisine dining at The Pickled Okra
costing $110.05. Wonder if the tips were included in
the dining bills.
THE correct answer to last week’s The Question was
from “Marty” (email answer didn’t have last name)
identifying Forsyth’s new police chief getting a yearly
salary of $86,650. Of course I am sure there are added
benefits which would probably include a liberal ex
pense account and surely health insurance.
Here’s The Question for this week: What county pro
vided water to the north Monroe County water system
and lost service this past week? First correct answer
after 12 noon on Thursday gets the goodie certificate
for a dozen Dunkin donuts, Whistle Stop fried green
tomato appetizer, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, car
wash at Big Peach, single dip at Scoops, and a Dairy
Queen Blizzard.
AND this from Ambrose Bierce’s “The Devils Dic
tionary”: Freedom, n. Exemption from the stress of
authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint’s infinite
multitude of methods; A political condition that every
nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly.
Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty
is not accurately known: naturalists have never been
able to find a living specimen of either.
HAVE a happy New Year. Be safe and sober!
Contact Donald Jackson Daniel at mediadr@bell-
south.net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
What will outsiders think of Bass’ letter?
To the Editor:
was, at the same time, surprised
and shocked by the Letter to the
Editor on Dec. 21 by Mr. Ralph
Bass stating “how much The
Reporter is becoming an expanded
police blotter”. And then go on to say
the reporting is “gratuitously sala
cious”.
Well, I’m pretty sure all of the “ar
ticles involving crimes” were all true
stories. A good reporter reports all of
the news, good or bad. That is a sign
of a good newspaper. In this case, an
award-winning newspaper (year after
year).
Now, “gratuitously” - Oxford
dictionary definition: “Without
good reason.” I, personally, think
that informing the public of criminal
activities in the area is good, respon
sible reporting. Then, “salacious” -
describes someone or something that
displays an inappropriate amount of
interest in sexual matters, someone or
something that is lecherous, some
thing that details sexual matters for
no reason.
Mr. Bass, I don’t think we were
reading the same newspaper!
You said that “criminal activity does
not characterize our citizens.” You
are partly correct. I would suggest
you reword that to read “does not
characterize ALL of our citizens” But
the citizens that it does characterize
are reported each week in this fine
newspaper and I believe most all of us
appreciate it.
You go on to state “what must be
the impression of our county on
outsiders who see The Reporter?”
And that “the image The Reporter is
projecting is that we live in a county
where criminal activity is an everyday
affair and not much else is happen
ing.” I’ll just refer that statement to
the Editor’s note attached to the end
of your letter of Dec. 21. Only 11 per
cent of the total column inches of the
edition you were referring to (Dec.
14) were about criminal activity.
I’m more concerned about an “out
sider” reading some of The Reporter’s
Letters to the Editor and wondering
“should these people be allowed to
have sharp objects?”
Tom Eads
High Falls/Jackson Lake
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Lessons from history for our current era
A s 2022 draws to
a close, let’s look
back at several
historical anni
versaries that took place this
year, and compare them to
today.
Salem Witch Trials and
Unjust Persecu
tions - In the 17th
century, if one were
accused of being a
witch, likely as not,
that person would
be tried, hastily con
victed and sentenced
to death.
Accusing
someone of
being a witch
politicians are corrupt and
borderline criminals. The
true corruption and illegal
activity is the Dems crimi
nalizing opposition politics.
If you deny that the Jan 6 th
protest was an attempt to
overthrow the government,
you’re immediately guilty of
a thought crime.
Liberal journalist,
Glen Greenwalt
says, “at its core,
Democratic politics
is about criminal
izing opposition
to their party and
ideology’
Dissentin g
G MJJ t V views are called
disinformation
was an easy way to get rid of
them; and viola, they were
soon gone - either killed,
banished from the commu
nity, or ostracized. Year 2022
marks the 330th anniversary
of the Salem Witch Trials
where dozens of women
were accused of being
witches, tried, convicted and
many executed.
This year the Dems
continued their witch hunt
against President Trump
and conservatives. The
Dems and their DOJ con
tinue their attempts to get
rid of Trump by looking for
a crime to pin on him. As
such they (DOJ) raided his
Florida home, subpoenaed
years of his business records
(DOJ in New York) and
released the IRS on him. But
it’s not just Trump they’re af
ter. No, no, no - your Dems
are looking for conservative
witches everywhere. Think
that election fraud was used
to install Biden as president
- the FBLie will seize your
cell phone (as it did to Scott
Perry (R-PA)) looking for a
crime. What did Perry do?
He filed impeachment arti
cles against Attorney Gen
eral Merrick Garland due to
Garland’s “high crimes and
misdemeanors.” In response,
Garland used his DOJ and
FBI to target Perry. As a
witch? No - because he’s a
conservative.
Most people don’t like
politics and many think
and then censored (silenced)
by Big Tech who receives
marching orders from
Dems.
Space, Aerospace, and
Aeronautical saw several
anniversaries in 2022. This
year is the 75th anniversary
of the founding of the Air
Force (Sep 18,1947); 75th
anniversary of Chuck Yeager
breaking the speed of sound
(Oct 14,1947); and the 50th
anniversary (Gene Ceman,
Dec 14,1972) of man’s last
walk on the moon. The
Mercury, Gemini, and Apol
lo programs were NASAs
high-water mark. Now,
neither the AF nor NASA
seems concerned about
excellence. Instead, in 2010,
Obama instructed NASA
to reach out to the Muslim
community. (No idea WTH
Obama meant.) And the AF
is more concerned about
maternity flight suits for
pregnant aircrew mem
bers than in winning wars.
(Note - Once an AF female
becomes pregnant, she’s im
mediately grounded which
means she doesn’t even need
a flight suit while pregnant.)
Also, the AF Academy in
its “Diversity & Inclusion”
classes instructs cadets to
stop using “mom”, “dad”,
“boyfriend” or “girlfriend”
because those terms are gen
der specific. Instead, cadets
should use gender-neutral
terms such as parent or
caregiver (for mom or dad)
and partner (for girlfriend).
No wonder the American
public is losing faith and
confidence in the military.
Politics - This year marks
the 100-year anniversary
of the first woman to ever
serve as a U.S. Senator, when
on Nov 21,1922, Rebecca
L. Felton (Cartersville, GA)
took the oath of office. (Note
- She was appointed to fill
the vacancy caused by the
death of Thomas Watson,
and served for only one day.)
Felton was a white suprem
acist, was the last member
of Congress to have owned
a slave, and advocated for
lynching black men accused
of raping white women. She
said in her 1897 speech that
Blacks should die without
clergy, judge or jury - “a
thousand times a week if
necessary’ To commem
orate this historic event,
Smithsonian Magazine ran
a lengthy article on Felton
that talked about her racist
views. In the article, you
found out everything about
Felton, except her politi
cal party. Why’s that ,you
imagine? Because she was a
Democrat, which is further
proof that Dems have been
the racist party since its very
founding.
Actually, Felton was a
woman of her time meaning
she held views common
to every Dem back then
(1921). Today, if she held
those same opinions against
conservatives, she’d be
applauded and placed on
every committee possible.
I don’t believe that current
Dems want to lynch Blacks.
However, it’s obvious that
Dems want to politically
lynch conservatives. Look at
the Dems’ January 6 Com
mittee which is trying to
lynch President Trump. And
in 2012, Biden said Repub
licans want to put “y’all back
in chains” without acknowl
edging that it was the Dems
who kept Blacks in chains
for centuries. A final note
on Felton, if she had been a
Republican, who thinks the
Smithsonian would have
been silent about her politi
cal party?
Also, 2022 is the 100th
anniversary of the founding
of the Soviet Union (Dec
30,1922). The Soviet Union
collapsed in 1991. During
its 69-year existence, the
USSR was one of the most
brutal, authoritarian regimes
in history. Sadly, you Dems
are desperately trying to
bring back many of the
worst aspects of authori
tarian rule - such as taking
away freedom of speech,
imprisoning and censoring
political opposition, forcing
people to injects drugs into
their body (get vaccinated or
get fired), and labeling polit
ical opponents as criminals
(witness what the Dems are
doing to Trump).
Other anniversaries
include - 75th anniversary of
India’s independence (Au
gust 15,1947, India is often
called the world’s largest de
mocracy.); the 50th anniver
sary of the terrorist attack on
Israeli athletes at the Munich
Olympics (September 5,
1972); and the 50th anni
versary of the release of The
Godfather (March 14,1972)
starring Marlon Brando as
Vito Corleone. I think The
Godfather is one of the best
movies (perhaps the best)
movie ever made. Finally,
2022 was the 25th anniver
sary of Britain handover
of Hong Kong to China.
(No surprise that China
has violated almost every
handover term they agreed
to.); the 25th anniversary of
the deaths of Princess Diana
(August 31,1997) and of
Mother Teresa (September
5,1997). Mother Teresa was
awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1979 and is consid
ered one of the great figures
of the 20th century. In 2016
she became Saint Teresa for
her charitable work with the
poor.
Happy New Year!!
Sloan Oliver ofBolingbroke
is a retired Army office who
writes each week in the Re
porter. Email him atsloanoli-
ver@earthlink.com.
ON THE PORCH
Continued from page 4A
Parents and attendees were understand
ably perturbed. To ensure it didn’t happen
again, the consortium of local churches that
runs the parade sensibly decided that this
year, parade floats must be consistent with
traditional biblical and family values. The
point wasn’t to exclude any individuals or
groups from attending or even participat
ing, but to ensure the floats were fami
ly-friendly and not — like the Taylor Pride
drag queen float — contrary to Christian
teachings.
The City of Taylor responded by an
nouncing it would stage its own separate
LGBT-friendly “holiday” parade, on the
same night as the traditional Christmas
parade, on the same route, following right
behind it. The decision was made not by the
elected members of the city council, who
are accountable to voters, but by the mu
nicipal staff who actually run things. There
was no public notice or deliberation and no
consultation beforehand with members of
the city council. The municipal bureaucracy
acted on its own authority to use (or rather
misuse) public funds and resources to
sponsor a parade that was wildly out of step
with the community at large.
Kevin Stuart, a Taylor resident and
assistant professor of political science at
the University of St. Thomas, wrote about
all this recently in The Wall Street Journal,
noting that the problem in Taylor has deep
historical roots. The outsourcing of deci
sion-making to so-called experts has been
happening in American towns and cities for
more than a century, such that professional
bureaucrats now run small towns across
America like “ideological colonizers.”
“There is now a yawning ideological gap
between the people who live in American
towns and the professionalized cadre of city
staff who pass through those towns on their
way up the career ladder)’ writes Stuart. He
goes on to argue that residents of towns
like Taylor are partly to blame for ceding
too much political power to an expert class
whose interests and values don’t align with
the people they’re supposed to serve.
He’s right about that — and also about
how “communities can’t remain strong if
they are unwilling to defend common sense
and get involved in the political process.”
The lesson of Taylor’s dueling Christmas
parades is that even in small, conservative
towns in deep-red states like Texas, con
servatives can’t be complacent. As I wrote
last month about the Taylor fracas, there’s
nowhere Christians can run and hide from
the left They have to stand and fight.
In Taylor, that means residents who until
now might have never been involved in lo
cal politics will have to roll up their sleeves,
give up some weekday evenings, and get
involved. They will have to put up their own
conservative candidates and vote out of
office the city councilors who empowered
a woke municipal bureaucracy. They will
have to fire the cadre of leftist bureaucrats
who run things and replace them with
their own people. They might even have to
change the city charter so that elected mem
bers of the city council actually do the work
of the public in City Hall, not an unelected
city manager who sees the job as merely a
stepping stone to a bigger city.
The same goes for the library, the school
board, and every other local institution in
every American town like Taylor. Conser
vatives have to take them over if they can.
To answer the question we began with, that
is what ordinary people can do. And they
have to start now. No one is coming to help,
and time is running out.
John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor
at The Federalist. Follow him on Twitter, @
johnddavidson.