Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 31. 2008
mion
Editorial Views
Indeed, It Is Time For
Change In Washington
Having just elected a new president after
a campaign focused on "change" and with
a new administration facing unprecedented
challenges, the Obama administration and
Congress could stand to make a few resolu
tions.
Here are some suggestions:
Get the fiscal house in order: Federal spend
ing, long out of balance, must be brought
under control. The massive federal bailouts
and incentives aimed at ending the recession
will make next year's deficit the highest on
record, but the White House and Congress
must both return to a more rational fiscal
policy.
Restore the Constitution: Since 9-11, the
federal government has largely ignored
the Constitution. In addition to allowing
unprecedented eavesdropping on Americans,
it has all but suspended habeas corpus,
sanctioned torture, engaged in kidnapping
and ignored international treaties and laws.
America should repudiate the Patriot Act,
renounce torture, end the Bush Doctrine
of preemptive attack and close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay.
End the war in Iraq: There has been some
progress toward a gradual troop withdrawal,
but significant obstacles remain. This is not a
war in which there can be a military victory,
and the best-case scenarios for exiting are
problematic. A huge mistake from the begin
ning, there is no good way to end this war,
but the sooner it is done, better for America,
Iraq and the entire Middle East.
Restore oversight to the financial industry:
The notion that any large industry will self-
regulate is idealistic, but untrue. Any indus
try that gets large enough that its failure can
cause the country's economy to collapse
must be carefully regulated. In fact, there is
good argument for not allowing any business
to get so large that the nation cannot afford
to let it fail.
America must develop an energy policy:
The current lower oil prices may offer the
illusion that the energy crisis is over, but
once the economy begins to recover, the
demand for energy will send prices back up.
America will always require foreign oil, but
it should be U.S. policy to minimize that
dependence by promoting across-the-board
energy efficiency while funding research that
could increase the applicability of solar, wind
and other natural but underutilized sources.
Our first defense should be smarter utiliza
tion of the energy we now have.
Talk to our enemies: The United States
should be willing to engage in dialogue with
Iran, North Korea, Cuba and other countries
currently considered enemies. Although dis
cussions aren't likely to change basic phi
losophies, face-to-face talk can build relation
ships and ease tensions in addition to giving
the United States a better understanding of
those with whom we have the strongest dis
agreements.
America faces daunting challenges. It
won't be Democrats or Republicans bringing
America back to strength; rather, it will be
the combined good-faith efforts of elected
officials of both parties. We can continue
the destructive path of political division and
watch the downward spiral continue, or we
can unite to truly put our house in order.
Let's resolve to do the latter.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written
by Mark Beardsley. He can be reached at mark@
mainstreetnews. 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 BEARDSLEY..Editor/General Manager
JUSTIN POOLE 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.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of
Georgia, $38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most
rates discounted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE
COMMERCE NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA,
30549.
I never make New Year’s resolutions. Why
would I want to lie to myself?
It’s
Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Happy New
Year And
Good Luck
Steep Climb, Rapid Descent
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
My ex-husband once
took me skiing in the
French Maritime Alps.
In fact, come to think
of it, this might have
something to do with
his being an ex. The
Maritime Alps are not
for the faint of heart,
and certainly not for
the bunny-slope skier I
like to think I could've
become someday, with luck and a few
lessons. But who knew?
The ski lift offered a clue. I had
expected to sit in a hanging chair;
instead, I had to straddle what looked
like a large meat-hook and hang on
for dear life as I was hoisted off the
ground and we swung into a long
ride up the increasingly sheer-looking
flanks of a very high mountain. It was
clear that going down could be much
quicker — instantaneous, actually, if I
wasn't careful.
Christmas this year felt a good bit
like that long-ago journey. Mother and
I started way ahead (not way enough,
of course), making our lists, check
ing them twice. First there was the
Christmas-card list. Then came the list
of people we wanted to have gifts for,
followed by the list of presents bought
or made or ordered (I kept misplacing
that one, for some reason) and the list
of presents wrapped.
Most challenging of all were the
menus and food lists, which dealt not
only with people's preferences, but also
with their allergies. One person only
drinks Diet Coke; another can't drink
diet anything; a third drinks only white
grape juice. My niece won't eat pork
and my brother's sister-in-law can't eat
beef, so that leaves lamb and chicken.
Well, good: my sister loves lamb, so
we'll have that the
night she arrives.
Only then her plane is
delayed and we move
the lamb to the next
✓ i night, which means
n we have to freeze the
chicken, because on
Christmas we're cook
ing a turkey.
Mother and I began
to sound like pilot
and co-pilot running through the pre
flight checklists: Ivory soap for this
person? Check. Dove soap for that per
son? Check. Chips and dip? Crackers
and cheese? Carrots, celery, and olives?
Stuffing mix, biscuits, and yams? Both
kinds of cranberry sauce? Both kinds
of pie? Cool Whip and marshmallows?
(Oh, shoot! I always forget the durn
marshmallows.)
Day by day, we were inching our
way up the Christmas alp, a slippery
slope if ever there was one. We were
expecting to house 10 people — I even
bought sheets and borrowed an air
mattress — and to have 12 for din
ner one night, and we didn't want to
be constantly running to the store.
Besides, the stores would all close for
Christmas.
And then suddenly, unbelievably,
it was over, and we were standing in
the driveway, waving at a caravan of
departing cars. It felt like falling off a
cliff. "Wait!" I wanted to say. "What
happened here? Don't leave now —
I'm just to a place where I can sit
down!"
Fortunately, I still have a list. It's
called People Who Need Thank You
Notes. Guess I'll tackle it!
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library. She lives in
Commerce.
Traditions Of Change Abound
This year, more than
any other year in my
adult life, this greet
ing is most sincerely
sent. With so much
uncertainty and dire
prospects for the New
Year, the greeting takes
on a serious rather than
casual meaning.
As I thought about the
change and newness
of what is to come in 2009,1 realized
that the transition from 2008 to 2009
is really not such a big event if you
reduce the change to just another day,
week, or month instead of a year.
For instance: If you woke up this
morning and opened your eyes, you
woke up to a day of change. Among
many other things, you are a day
older; the universe has whirled about
in another cycle; all the warrantees
you have on appliances are closer to
expiration; and you are one day richer
or poorer than you were yesterday.
In just 24 hours so many things have
changed, but when you went to bed
last night, unless there was a crisis,
you didn't think about how different
your life might be.
Maybe our comfort zone really is
just one day at a time. It seems that
when we take the days in bunches,
we get stressed about the changes to
come. We might get excited about
a soon-to-be special
event such as the birth
of a child, a birthday,
an exciting voyage, or
a graduation, but those
happy occasions don't
usually produce stress.
Unknown and unset
tling changes of some
_ time away are those
which are stressful.
We know how to pre
pare for hurricanes, snowstorms, and
heat waves, but the economic tornado
is one not suffered for 80 years. The
unknowns of 2009 include a seem
ingly fathomless whirlpool of fiscal
problems, untried federal administra
tors, home losses, job losses, and the
untested courage of people who must
endure difficult times.
Is it any wonder, then, that this year
in particular, it is important to observe
all the traditions necessary to bring
about good fortune in the New Year?
By all means, eat pork to start the year.
A pig eats going forward, it seems, and
is therefore a symbol of having food
always before you with no hunger in
your future. Certainly you must have
money in your pockets at the stroke
of midnight. Empty pockets predict a
bleak financial year.
My Cuban friends always ate 12
Please Turn to Page 5A
Viewpoints
In
Rotation
BY CLAIRE GAUS
I don't know about you, but
I'm not at all unhappy to see
the sun set on 2008. Of course,
2009 doesn't appear alluring
either, rather something we
have to endure in order to reach
better days.
At least there is no election.
We get a year off between the
presidential election and the
next state elections. We need it.
The 2008 presidential campaign
is the ugliest and most annoy
ing ever, a record it will hold for
about four years.
The new year starts with a
bad economy that most people
expect to get worse before it
gets better. Failed financial insti
tutions, companies headed to
bankruptcy or just closing and
mortgage foreclosures in record
numbers are considered likely.
Where's the fun in that?
My New Year's resolution is
to try not to let my attitude be
dictated by the economy. This
is a challenge as I am prone
toward pessimism about the
economy; if it's going good, I
tend to think it will soon crash,
and if it's crashing, I look for
the Great Depression II.
An economic collapse is an
enthralling phenomenon from
a spectator's viewpoint — like
a tsunami or a terrorist attack
— because its effects are unpre
dictable and can be spectacu
lar. One can only imagine the
effect on the U.S. economy, for
example, if the Big Three auto
makers were to collapse or if the
government failed to intervene
to rescue the banks. Fascinating
theater has its merits, but not
for the people and businesses
in the midst of the meltdown,
where jobs, even lives, can be
lost.
Managing the economy is
above my pay grade. Like most
people, I have opinions, but
they relate to the specifics of
fiscal stewardship rather than to
extricating the nation from its
slump. My job is to hang on for
the ride.
Life will not stop while the
economy adjusts. There will be
births and deaths, weddings and
funerals. We'll plant our spring
gardens (maybe a little heavier
on the veggies), celebrate birth
days and anniversaries and
experience the usual victories
and disappointments. There
will be surprises, both good and
bad, whatever happens to the
stock market.
In the end, most of us will
remember 2009 just like we will
2008, not for money lost from
our investment accounts, but
for the births, deaths, weddings
and other important — but not
necessarily Page 1 newswor
thy — events that comprise life.
But we start 2009 with a clean
slate. It's a chance to make a
fresh start, to do things right, to
correct old wrongs, make new
friends and enjoy the old ones.
The economy will do what the
economy will do.
Just hang in there and it too
will pass.
Happy New Year, and good
luck.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached
at mark@mainstreetnews.com