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Page 4 — Wednesday, January 7, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
“The General Assembly is convening?
... Doesn't the State have enough problems already?"
Bill Shipp
A BATTLE TO GET EVEN
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
The holidays are behind us now, and the new year stretches ahead,
full of promise and possibility.
At the top of my list of “wants” for our community for 2009 are:
job opportunities for our citizens, completion of the Savannah River
Parkway through Jenkins County and Millen, and at least a “start” on
the TE-grant renovation of Cotton Avenue. There are certainly other
community needs, but 1 think these are obtainable in 2009.
Our chamber of commerce and development authority, along with
county and city officials, are working diligently to bring jobs to our
community, ft is not an easy task, however, given the state of the
economy. The competition is stiff among communities, and our lead
ers need our support and encouragement.
Completion of the Savannah River Parkway will be another asset
to our community. Hopefully, some of those passing through on the
highway will stop and visit, providing an economic boost to the local
economy. There is also the possibility that some new businesses may
locate on U.S. Highway 25 once the construction is completed.
Planned renovations to Cotton Avenue will enhance the appear
ance of our front street, making it more appealing to those who might
be interested in opening a business here. It will also give existing
businesses a nicer surrounding in which to operate.
I look forward to seeing what 2009 brings.
Our poll question on the website last week was “Which of the fol
lowing New Year’s resolutions are you most likely to make?”
Responses, as of Monday morning, were as follows: Lose weight -
8; Stop smoking - 4; Exercise more - 6; and Spend more time with
family-5.
To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Charlotte Becton, Beverly Joiner,
Sheryl Dudley, Tammy Cranshaw, Ken Delay, Justin Chance, Drew
Dudley, Matt Turner, Ray Garvin, Jeremy Dailey, Dudley Boynton,
Tracy Edenfield, Sandra Sherrod, Valerie Sharkey, Brien Linder,
Ethelene Young and Sydney Hooks.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. Herbert
Shackelford, Mr. and Mrs. Glynn Bassett and Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Oliver.
Military Active Duty List: E-4 Sr. Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air
Lorce, RAP Molesworth, United Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick
Barnette, U.S. Marines, Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam
Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden,
U.S. Marines, Camp Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Erie
B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Airman First Class Charles
F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burras,
U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes,
1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt Donald Slade Burke,
735th Air Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond
Royal Australian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C.
Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer
3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii;
Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer,
Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer;
Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Bat
talion-Augusta, Persian Gulf; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Com
bat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th
MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S.
Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.;
Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expedi
tionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S.
Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S.
Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley,
2nd Lt., U.S. Ah' Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley,
Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and SPC Charles
“C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq.
Letters policy
Letters to the editor of The Millen News are welcomed and en
couraged. These are pages of opinions, yours and ours.
The unsigned editorials generally appealing on the left side of the
editorial page represent the opinion of the newspaper and not that of
any one person on our staff. Personal columns represent the opin
ions of the writers whose names appear on them and arc not to be
considered the opinion of this newspaper, its management or own
ers. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s read
ers.
The Millen News reserves the right to edit any and all portions of
a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must include
the signature, address and phone number of the writer to allow our
staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words.
The deadline for letters is Friday at 5 p.m. You can email letters to
themillennews@yahoo.com.
As 2009 dawns, the next cycle of Georgia politics is coming
into view. We already have seen coverage of the budding race
for governor, with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Insurance Com
missioner John Oxendine preparing to run for the Republican
nomination.
Other GOPers considering an entry include Secretary of State
Karen Handel and Congressman Lynn Westmoreland.
On the Democratic side, coverage to date has focused on
whether ex-Gov. Roy Barnes will mount a comeback attempt.
Retired adjutant general David Poythress looks like he’s pre
pared to go for the state’s top job whether Barnes jumps in or
not.
However, the 2010 contest with the most potential for fire
works has so far received little attention. The primary for the
Republican nomination for lieutenant governor features (for now)
Senate President Pro Tern Eric Johnson of Savannah and Sen.
David Shafer of Gwinnett County. Johnson and Shafer have been
on opposite sides of most intra-GOP fights in the state Senate.
The two don’t hit it off personally either.
While campaigns infused with personal bitterness may not do
much for the Georgia political system, they provide great enter
tainment value. Besides, the joust for lieutenant governor is of
ten a prelude to bigger things. Since 1967, seven governors -
three of them lieutenant governors - have come from the ranks
of legislative leaders. In 2006, Ralph Reed, a dynamic Republi
can figure with a national profile, saw his career as a Georgia
politician destroyed, perhaps forever, in his quest for lieutenant
governor.
During the 2006 campaign for lieutenant governor, Johnson,
like most of Georgia’s Republican establishment, was quick to
jump on the Reed bandwagon. Johnson figured he might as well
get an early start with Reed, who appeared at first to be a shoo-
in for the post. Reed, an adviser to President George W. Bush,
also looked likely to eventually move on up to governor.
At the height of pundit talk of a permanent national Republi
can majority, the only real question was whether (or maybe how
soon) Ralph would be changing his address to 1600 Pennsylva
nia Ave.
Shafer, who had lost to Reed when Reed was elected chair
man of the state Republican Party in 2000, was one of the few
willing to plant his flag with Cagle’s then-long-shot bid for lieu
tenant governor. Shafer’s gamble paid off when Reed’s associa
tion with tainted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as well as
allegations of other less-than-ethical transgressions, made na
tional headlines during the campaign.
The cloud around Reed helped Cagle coast to victory. Then
Cagle expeditiously dispatched hapless Democrat Jim Martin
in the general election. Of course, Johnson, who had committed
to Reed too early, lost his place in Georgia’s Republican power
lineup.
Now Johnson has launched a bid to regain his supremacy in
the Senate by becoming lieutenant governor. You may expect
his campaign to be sparked by his anger over the indignities he
believes he has suffered throughout the four years of Cagle’s
term.
Shafer has his own baggage. He was Guy Millner’s right-hand
man during Millner’s not-quite-successful attempt to become
Georgia’s first modern-era Republican governor in the 1990s.
Shafer was Oxendine’s top aide in the state Insurance Depart
ment and lost a race for secretary of state in 1996. His race for
lieutenant governor will be fueled by his ambition to reach the
highest levels of state government and elbow Johnson out of the
way once and for all.
Expect both Republicans to go bare-knuckles in this battle.
Johnson may have unexploited weaknesses that Shafer can ex
pose, in a manner similar (if less spectacular) to the drumbeat
that took Reed down in 2006. Johnson’s dealings as an architect
and real estate developer, and his alleged use of his position in
the Senate to benefit those enterprises, have never been fully
examined by a hard-charging opponent.
Johnson also was close to disgraced former U.S. Attorney Rick
Thompson. Before Thompson was removed from office for vio
lating the public trust, Johnson bragged to a Republican state
convention about his ability to get Democrats prosecuted.
Now that Democrats are taking charge of the U.S. Justice De
partment, don’t be surprised to see the scandal around Thomp
son resurrected at an inopportune time for candidate Johnson.
Johnson has enjoyed a position of relative power as the top
Republican in the Senate, but endured little scrutiny from a Capi
tol press corps that has dwindled in number and initiative over
the last several years. Now that he is a candidate for statewide
office, Johnson may well emerge as a better candidate for a little
old-style investigative journalism.
You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA
30156, e-mail: shippl@bellsouth.net, or Web address:
bill shipp online, com.
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The Millen News
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