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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TULY 23. 2008
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Editorial Views
Kudos To Benton For
Opposing House Speaker
Rep. Tommy Benton certainly raised some eye
brows last week when he announced he is among
the key supporters of a challenger to House Speaker
Glenn Richardson. Most local observers believed that
Benton was not willing to oppose the speaker, who
is known to punish those legislators who dare cross
him.
They stand corrected.
It's good to see the House in general and Benton
in particular taking a stand. No one in recent state
history has tried so hard to concentrate power under
the Gold Dome at the expense of local government.
It was bad enough that Richardson tried to foist his
GREAT tax plan on Georgians — raising sales taxes
dramatically so he could eliminate property taxes
and the ability of local governments and school
boards to raise money — but his arrogance when
anyone challenged his plan was particularly galling.
When Richardson addressed the Commerce Kiwanis
Club about the GREAT plan, he refused to take more
than three questions about what would have been
the most comprehensive shift in state funding policy
in history and insulted each of the questioners. He
was an embarrassment to Benton, his host, and to
the House of Representatives.
The speaker also let it be known that Republican
representatives who did not support him could
expect to incur his wrath through committee assign
ments and election opposition as he wielded power
like some third-world tyrant. Now, the people he
threatened will attempt to oust him in the Republican
Party Caucus this fall.
Whether the effort succeeds or fails, give Benton
credit for doing the right thing. The residents of
District 31 will appreciate having a legislator willing
to stand up to the abuse of power that characterizes
Richardson's tenure as speaker of the Georgia House
of Representatives.
There is no guarantee that the insurrection will
succed, and if it fails, Benton — and the residents
of District 31 — will surely incur the wrath of the
speaker. Nonetheless, it's time to take a stand against
the tyrant from Paulding County. Georgians deserve
better from the speaker of the House.
Council Lacks Courage
To Reject Sign Variance
The Commerce City Council's refusal to turn
down Walgreens' request for a variance in the sign
ordinance bodes ill for the regulation of signs in the
future.
Like a promiscuous teenager, the council can't
muster the resolve to say "no." Walgreens wants
something the city ordinance does not allow. The
city planning commission recommended that the
request be denied.
What happens with the sign is of little importance
by itself. But giving Walgreens' permission for a sign
79 percent larger than the ordinance is further evi
dence that Commerce lacks the courage to enforce
its ordinances. The city is re-writing its sign ordi
nance, but a new ordinance is of little value if the
city council lacks the courage to hold businesses to
its standards.
More than a new ordinance, Commerce needs city
council members with enough backbone to enforce
the ordinances it passes. From its sign ordinance to
its skateboard ordinance the city has demonstrated
time and time again that it will not enforce the laws
it creates.
Commerce needs officials with backbone a lot
more than Walgreens needs a sign variance.
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
USPS 125-320
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
of Commerce and is published every Wednesday by
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at
Commerce, Georgia 30529.
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and Madison counties, $19.75; State of Georgia,
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NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA, 30549.
It really wasn’t much of a vacation, Fred
The wife and kids went with me.
And The Cat Came Back
Sitting at my parents' break
fast table a few weeks ago, I
commented on the fact that
I hadn't seen "that cat" in a
while. I was referring to a feral
black cat which had crossed
our garden paths often enough
in the past year to bring us all
lots of bad luck if we believed
in that sort of thing, which of
course we don't. I believed, in
fact, that the cat was bringing
us good luck by keeping the
local mouse population down.
My parents observed in an off
hand way that they hadn't seen
the cat lately, either, and we
thought no more about it.
Fast-forward a few weeks and
we were welcoming my sister
Emily for a visit. Emily said
she couldn't wait to kick back
and relax; the past few months
had been busy and stressful, so
it would be great just to catch
up on her sleep before we all
pitched in to host our annual
family reunion.
All went smoothly for a
few days, but then one night
Emily was awakened by loud,
desperate-sounding scratching
and banging noises. It seemed
to her that someone was try
ing to get into the house by
coming up from underneath it.
She grabbed a walking stick in
one hand and her cell phone in
the other, and stood by the air
vent in her room, determined
to hit the would-be intruder as
he emerged and then call the
police. But what sort of intrud
er could emerge from an air
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
vent? 'A small cat-burglar?' she
caught herself thinking.
By breakfast-time she had
awakened our mother and
come to get me, and together
we called our brave friend
Donnie, who used to be a spe-
lunker and was not afraid to
go down the basement steps.
We huddled at the top while he
ventured into the abyss. There
was silence, and then, "There's
been something living down
here," Donnie called up to us.
"I think it might be a possum,"
he added. "Or a cat."
"Possum" was all we needed
to hear. I grabbed the phone
book, we called a wildlife
removal service, and by the
time our 36 cousins were
arriving for the opening-night
supper of the family reunion,
Emily was watching a wildlife
biologist inspect the basement.
"I see evidence of a fairly large
cat," he told her authorita
tively. "Also squirrels. And
here's part of a rabbit's leg," he
added, holding it up. "There's
been a snake down here, too,"
he called as she retreated hast
ily up the stairs. "Yeah, right,"
she called back, certain by
now that he was kidding. How
could there be such a menag
erie in the basement?
The biologist concluded that
a raccoon had succeeded in
removing one of the founda
tion vents, allowing the out
side to come in, and creating
a five-star animal hotel just
beneath our feet. He banged
around down there to chase
everything out, replaced the
missing vent, and set traps to
catch the would-be guests: two
outside and one, "just in case,"
inside. Emily went to sleep that
night vastly relieved — until
3:30 a.m., when once again
she heard loud and desper
ate sounds coming from the
air vent in her room, which
was actually bouncing up and
down.
An inspection of the traps
revealed, at last, the presence
of that pesky cat, who has now
been removed to some other
locale — not yours, I hope. We
have also caught three pos
sums so far, including a big
one in the "just in case" trap.
And Emily, who said she just
hated to leave, is now safely
back in Illinois, much missed
but presumably sleeping more
soundly. But, um, where is that
snake?
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library. She
lives in Commerce.
Pity The Lonesome Writer
Writing is not very highly
regarded as a profession.
People tend to look down on
writers as being unemployed
(and perhaps many of them
are). After all, you rarely see a
writer actually writing; when
you do see one, he is out gal
livanting about and socializing,
so it does look like the writer is
a footloose ne'er-do-well.
Secondly, writing itself is
seen as somehow disreputable.
I think we have a nineteenth
century attitude about work.
When a man works you expect
to see some tangible result: a
plowed field or the frame of
a house. What are a bunch of
scribbled marks on a piece of
paper? "Chicken-scratching" is
the usual verdict. I suppose if
a man can't round up enough
girls to make a living as a
pimp, he can turn to writing.
But the real curse of the
writer is that he has no friends.
People look on writers as
BY WILLIS COOK
though they had leprosy — and
might be contagious. Actually,
this attitude is grounded in
fact: people know that if they
have a friend who's a writer,
sooner or later he (or she) is
going to write about them, and
it won't be something they
want written.
I worked with a guy who was
not a handsome man, but he
told me that one time an artist
came up to him and asked him
if he would be interested in
modeling for him. My friend
was astounded, because he
assumed artists only wanted
to draw beautiful people.
Actually, artists want models
that are true to type and my
friend would have made an
excellent model for a ditch-
digger.
Writers are the same way:
they don't want to write about
exemplary people — they want
to write about rogues. Think
of all the novels you have read:
the protagonists were not ster
ling heroes. Instead, they were
average, or frequently a little
less than average, with a collec
tion of deliciously-entertaining
vices. So, if your writer friend
includes you in her column,
she is not going to mention
your 50-year safe-driving
record. She will discuss the one
time you ran a red light and
got caught.
And it's worse than that.
Please Turn To Page 5A
It’s Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
A Glossary Of
Terms From
Political Speak
It became clear to me the day after
the primary elections that I'd been
greatly remiss. With all the campaign
rhetoric out there, everyone needs a
political phrase interpreter.
I regret the oversight, but you can
use this in the runoff election and
save it for future elections. Here's the
glossary of terms necessary to under
stand what the candidates mean:
Good ole' boy: A derogatory term
for "my opponent" that is used by
challengers who can't compete on
issues or experience, or by those
whose views are not accepted by
people holding office. Example: "I
will put an end to good ole' boy poli
tics."
I will cut your taxes: User is
either fiscally irresponsible, knows
nothing about the job, is lying or is
smarter than anyone else who's held
the job in the last two decades.
Liberal: What most Georgia politi
cians call their opponents. Example:
"He's a tree-hugging, tax-and-spend,
terrorist-supporting liberal."
Conservative: What most Georgia
politicians claim to be. This should
not be confused with "fiscal conser
vative." Example: "I'm a true conser
vative, not a tree-hugging, tax-and-
spend, terrorist-supporting liberal."
Fiscal conservative: Anyone run
ning for office. There are none actu
ally in office. Typically, they promise
to lower taxes, end "earmarks" and
balance the budget. The way to tell if
they're lying is to see if their lips are
moving.
Christian: "My opponent is not."
Example: District 10 incumbent Paul
Broun.
Born-again Christian: Better,
more trustworthy and holier than
a regular Christian; someone God
wants to win this election.
Experience: This often has no
meaning. Example: "I was born and
raised in Jackson County."
Qualifications: See "experi
ence." Example: "I'm a graduate of
Commerce High School and a life
long member of the NRA."
Patriotic: Reference to speaker's
red, white and blue tie and American
flag lapel pin that makes him a bet
ter American than his opponent.
Does not require his or her support
of taxes to fund the government he
or she loves or to fight its wars.
Support our men and women
in harm's way: The speaker wears
a flag lapel pin and holds the belief
that Iraq is responsible for the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That sup
port does not extend to taxes to fund
our men and women in harm's way
and generally means they should
remain in harm's way until Iraq is
officially the 51st state.
Leader: Me, not my opponent.
Leadership: What you will get if
you elect the speaker. If you elect his
opponent, you'll get good ole' boy
politics.
Smart growth: Only growth the
speaker thinks is appropriate, and he
or she will define that as he or she
goes along. The implication is that
growth heretofore has been "dumb."
Secure our borders: If you elect
me, it will be against the law to speak
Spanish except at Mexican restau
rants.
Soft on terrorism: Describes an
opponent who opposes the Iraq war.
Keep this handy. It'll help you deci
pher the political talk.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached at
mark@mainstreetnews. com.