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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 30. 2008
mion
Editorial Views
Voters: Tuesday Is Your
Chance To Be Heard
Voters, this is your chance to be heard.
You can determine whether Jackson County restau
rants can serve cocktails Sundays and whether new
recreational facilities are built. Those are the items
on two local referenda scheduled next Tuesday.
You can also have a say in who receives the nomi
nations for Democratic and Republican parties in the
fall presidential elections, as Georgia's Presidential
Preference Primaries will be on the ballot Tuesday
as well.
Opinions are varied, widespread and passionate
about all of the issues on the ballots, but if you don't
participate, you won't get to express your view where
it counts the most.
The Commerce News offers the following recom
mendations for voters who have yet to make up their
minds:
• On Sunday sales of alcohol in restaurants: Yes
•On the $15 million recreation bond: Yes
• For president, Democrat: Barak Obama
• For president, Republican: John McCain
The sun will rise and set no matter how you vote
or who wins, but the more people who cast a ballot,
the more likely it is that Jackson County and Georgia
will come to consensus on these issues. When people
give up on voting, whether due to disappointment in
the system, laziness or because they think their vote
is irrelevant, democracy doesn't work. Too many
times, the "winner" is merely the candidate who got
a simple majority of votes in an election where the
great majority of people did not participate.
Good government requires the participation of the
governed. You are called upon to decide whether
restaurants can serve mixed drinks seven days a
week, whether children will get improved recreation
facilities and who Georgia's representatives at the
Democratic National Convention and Republican
National Convention will support this summer. Vote
for whatever and whomever seems best, but please
vote.
State Of The Union A
Result Of Failed Policies
President Bush's last State of the Union address
acknowledged unease about the economy and gen
eral "uncertainty" about the way things are going,
but offered little hope that the situation will soon
improve.
We got where we are through failed policies, from
our deficit spending to the war in Iraq, and no super
ficial political Band-aid will do more than provide a
brief boost in confidence. In an election year, there
is hope for change, but the inability of Congress and
the executive branch to deal with serious problems
seems beyond the grasp of leadership.
America's great needs are getting little more than
lip service:
• The war in Iraq is making little progress, and few
believe there is any hope for a stable Iraqi govern
ment in the near future. It is draining resources,
wasting lives, encouraging terrorism and destroying
our prestige abroad.
• The war in Afghanistan is suffering because our
resources and manpower are tied up in Iraq.
• The deficit is growing unabated.
•The immigration issue is unresolved.
• The cost of health care and health insurance are
putting both out of reach of many citizens.
The economy is just one issue. Like the others, it is
a result of failed policies and a lack of political — and
public — discipline. America will face "uncertainty"
as long as our leaders and our citizens lack the cour
age to face the most pressing issues.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written by Mark
Beardsley. He can be reached by e-mail at mark@main-
streetnews.com.
The Commerce News
ESTABLISHED IN 1875
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1672 South Broad Street
Commerce, Georgia 30529
MIKE BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
MARK BEARDSFEY Editor/General Manager
BRANDON REED Sports Editor
TERESA MARSHALL Office Manager
MERRILL BAGWELL Cartoonist
THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal organ of the city
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Commerce, Georgia 30529.
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this time next year, we’ll have a new set
of elected officials to complain about.
I Have A Few Questions ...
Have you ever looked up the
national debt? It's a scary thing
to do. There's a U.S. National
Debt Clock on the Internet
that runs like a taxi meter,
and gives the total amount of
"outstanding public debt" in
Greenwich Mean Time (always
four or five hours later than
our time, depending on wheth
er or not we're on Daylight
Savings Time).
I probably don't need to
point out that the word "out
standing," in this context,
does not mean wonderful. But
it's not entirely awful, either.
"Public debt" includes treasury
certificates and savings bonds,
not just the money we're bor
rowing from China. However,
if all of our creditors called in
their chips, every U.S. citizen,
down to the smallest infant,
would owe more than $30,000.
But that number is a little
dated. By the time you
read this, it will be higher,
I expect. I looked up the
national debt Jan. 21 and it
was $9,191,936,161,363.86.
(Don't you love that 86 cents
on the end there? It's such a
homey detail. It says that even
when we're into the trillions,
we count every single penny.)
When I looked at the Debt
Clock again five days later, we
were another five and a quarter
billion dollars (and seventy-
three cents) in the red. So the
debt had gone up at the rate of
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
about a billion dollars a day.
These are the kinds of num
bers that make my eyes roll
back in my head, as when
astronomers talk about how
old the starlight is by the time
we see it. Take Orion, for exam
ple: it's about 427 light years
away (with each light year
representing nearly 6 trillion
miles; my calculator won't go
this high, which makes me feel
a bit better about my brain).
So the light that sparkles before
your eyes when you gaze up on
a winter night has been travel
ing toward you for four and a
quarter centuries. You're not
only looking up; you're look
ing back in time. Those stars
you're seeing might not even
still be there!
With the national debt,
though, we can't help look
ing forward, knowing that
it's not going away, and that
the bill will come due one of
these days. Our biggest credi
tor, interestingly, is not China.
As Pogo used to say, "We have
seen the enemy, and he is us!"
Forty percent of our indebt
edness is to various parts of
the government: the Federal
Reserve Bank, for example.
And Social Security, of course.
We've been borrowing from
Peter to pay — well, whoever
we're paying.
Gee, I can't even remem
ber what my questions
were, this is all so confusing
(although it has made me
feel so much better about
those few thousand dollars I
owe MasterCard!). Let's try
something easier: Why do so
many pencils have lousy eras
ers these days? I mean, why
put an eraser up there at all,
if it's just going to add black
streaks and smudges and then
tear a hole in the paper? Or
here's another one: Why does
the IRS keep inventing new
forms? First it was the voucher
form. Now the scannable
1099s have to be accompanied
by scannable 1096s. The state
form has become so com
plex they can't seem to get it
printed it all. Anybody think
they're complicating them
selves right out of a job? On
the other hand, do you think
the so-called "fair tax" would
really be fair? Hmmm — now
there's a question!
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library.
Give Us Details — Or Shut Up!
The presidential election is
still months away, and I'm not
sure I can bear to hear even
one more political speech,
debate or comment. I have
wanted to scream at the televi
sion to silence the speakers or
supports of any party. I want to
send any and all of the people
involved in this political chaos
primers in the fundamentals
of logic. My brain is weary
from hearing generalizations
being made without speakers
first having established sound
premises. My ego is bruised
from hearing patronizing feel
good messages that might be
given to children. Stop trying
to manipulate my emotions, I
say. I am discouraged by what I
am hearing and reading.
Just this week a worker for
one of the political parties
called me to ask which of
the candidates of that party I
would be most likely to vote
for. I told her in a few short
sentences how discouraged I
was with all the candidates in
Views
In
Rotation
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BY CLAIRE GAUS
all parties, and before I could
really tell her how I really felt,
she hung up on me. Can you
imagine? I was not reasoned,
cajoled or sympathized with,
just hung up on (forgive the
preposition at the end of
the sentence, but there is no
other way to say it). That rude
action led me to believe that
the worker was not dedicated
to the party, just employed. It
was just another example of
a means to an end — that end
being non-binding information
without commitment on either
end.
The idea of means to an
end brought up thoughts of
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-
1527) who advocated political
principles of any methods of
craftiness and duplicity to
achieve an end. It is from his
philosophy that we inherit
the slogan "The end justifies
the means." To lie, cheat or
equivocate is accepted if the
desired end is achieved. The
public has been subjected to as
much equivocation as the poli
ticians can get away with. The
"debates" have consisted, for
the most part, with one speak
er trying to catch the other in
an equivocation rather than
attacking the lack of a plan or
policy.
Every speaker has told us
what he or she would do as
president, each has told us
how much better off we'd be if
we were to elect him (or her).
What I have not heard is what
specific beneficial end each
Please Turn To Page 5A
It's Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
How To Vote In
The Presidential
Primaries Tuesday
Who to vote for next Tuesday ... I
scarcely know where to turn in the
Presidential Preference Primary.
First of all, for those of you who've
never read this before, my leanings
are strongly not Republican. I'm not
wild about the Democrats either, but
since all of the Republicans seem to
want to invade Iran, stay in Iraq and
since the current bozo of the past
seven years is Republican, well, you
get the picture.
So, I should ask for a Democratic
ballot. What then?
I'll admit it. A big part of me wants
to vote for Hillary Clinton because
the very idea of her being president
sends so many Republicans — who've
been gloating about their hero, the
"warrior president," for years — into
cardiac arrest. All those Boy George
supporters have it coming, I keep
thinking.
Still, as amusing as it would be to
watch the trembling and slobbering
of the local die-hard Republicans
upon the election of another Clinton,
that's not a very good reason to cast
a vote. Also, while Clinton is no less
qualified than any of the people run
ning against her, I dread the ugliness
of a six-month campaign with her as
a nominee. But that's not a good rea
son to not vote for her either.
Then, there's Barak Obama. He's
the most charismatic and thought
ful candidate of them all. I don't like
his lack of experience, but if George
Bush is an example of what experi
ence can do for you, I'm open to
a neophyte. Obama is an exciting
candidate, and his articulate speech
makes him the polar opposite of the
current resident of the White House
who can barely complete a sentence.
Then again, Bush is not running for
re-election, so why do I keep bring
ing him up?
What about John Edwards? I could
live with him as a nominee (truth
be told, I can live with anyone as
a nominee because anyone on the
ballot — and that includes the Green
candidates and the Libertarians.
C'mon, who else, when attacked by a
bunch of Saudis, would invade Iraq?).
He's a trial lawyer, and I'm supposed
to dislike trial lawyers, but with the
free hand that government has given
corporations to run over the citizens,
I'm thinking we'll need more good
lawyers. So, let him keep lawyering.
I liked Joe Biden a little bit, but he's
out of the race. Probably just as well.
Though I'm prone to vote
Democratic, participating in the
Republican primary is not totally
out of the question. Do I help some
favored Democrat win Georgia's del
egates to the national convention,
or do I use my vote to help John
McCain beat Rudi Giuliani in the
Republican primary? That Georgia,
after all, is going to vote GOP in
the fall somehow makes me think I
might should participate in the pro
cess of selecting the candidate this
state will back in November. Could
I vote for a Huckabee? Not in this
lifetime.
The good news is that I do know
how I'm going to vote on the local
issues: Sunday sales of mixed drinks
in Jackson County and the $15 mil
lion recreation bond issue. I'm for
both. The presidential campaign will
drive a lot of us to drink, and we'll
need some more recreational diver
sions no matter who's elected.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached at
mark@mainstreetnews. com.