Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 5A
Other Views
If I were president,
here’s what I would do
“If you are so smart,” my young
critic asked, “why don’t you run for
President.” Now you and I know
that ain’t gonna happen. But that
afternoon, sitting in my reading
chair with my Confederate Battle
Flag blanket over my legs and my
feline companion on my lap, I had
a Walter Mitty moment. I pictured
myself being sworn in to be the
next President.
What would I do as President?
How would I change the world?
Well, to start, I would take the oath
before a joint session of Congress.
I would have a special book pre
pared on which I would place
my hand during the ceremony. It
would contain the U.S. Declaration
of Independence, the U.S.
Constitution as amended, the Ten
Commandments, and the Sermon
on the Mount along with passages
from a number of other world reli
gions. There would be no parties,
dances or parades. Immediately
after becoming President I would
address Congress and set down
some rules.
The first thing I would tell them
is that I had ordered a truck load
of veto pens and I expected to use
them frequently. To save Congress
a lot of work, I would tell them
what kind of bills would get
vetoed. Every bill coming to my
desk would have to contain a pre
amble listing the name of the bill,
its purpose and the Constitutional
authority for the bill. The term “and
other purposes” in the preamble
would get an automatic veto. Any
bill that does not contain clear
constitutional authorization would
be automatically vetoed. I would
not even bother to read them. Any
bill to establish new government
bureaus, or to fund those not autho
rized by the Constitution would be
vetoed. Any bill containing funding
for special local projects, known
as “earmarks,” would result in an
automatic veto.
Next I would tell them that the
practice of the President sending
armed forces into combat without a
formal declaration of war was over.
The Constitution gives the power
to declare war to Congress, and
in my opinion, for the President
to engage in warfare without such
a declaration is a violation of
the Constitution. I would inform
Congress of my intention to with-
draw most
of the U.S.
forces
stationed
in foreign
nations to
a few, well
equipped
forward
bases, or
back to U.S.
territory. I
would sug
gest that the Department of Defense
obtain strips of land along our
borders to house these returning
soldiers as a part of securing our
borders.
I would notify Congress of my
intention to remove all illegal aliens
from American soil and establish
a reasonable immigration program
that would allow employers to
legally import needed workers.
I would insist that all federal wel
fare programs be ended and taxes
that support them be eliminated.
That would allow each state to
determine for itself the level of aid
needed and the way to finance that
aid.
We are supposed to be a nation
of law. And the law is supposed
to be based on the Constitution as
written. I would reject any attempts
to reinterpret the Constitution as a
“living document.”
No “perceived powers” or
other twisting of the words of
the Constitution are acceptable.
The government we have today is
almost totally outside that permit
ted by the Constitution and, in my
mind, is not legitimate.
That is a daydream, of course. I
will never have that power. So all I
can do is listen carefully to all can
didates to see which of them most
closely supports Constitutional gov
ernment, even if he or she be from
a third party or an independent,
then vote for that person.
Even if my choice does not win,
I will have at least expressed my
opinion. And if enough of us do the
same, whoever wins will be forced
to consider our positions.
Frank Gillispie is a contributing
columnist for The Banks County
News. His e-mail address is
frankgillispie671@msn.com. His
website can be accessed at http://
frankgillispie.tripod.com/
frank
gillispie
Let us know your story ideas
Have an interesting story to share? Do you have a unique hobby?
If so, we would like to know.
Contact Angie Gary, editor of The Banks County News, at 706-367-2490
or e-mail information to her at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Keep Banks County beautiful!
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Thoughts on presidential candidates
Dear Editor:
I had but three things to be grateful for out of
my last presidential vote. The economy is moving
because of tax cuts and America is safe. I began
the 2008 season with great anticipation of Fred’s
run for the White House. Just three months later, I
found myself leaning toward Mike Huckabee.
This was due to several factors, the fair tax, like-
ability and media bias. Then, upon Huckabee’s
third change in his plan on illegal immigration, I
came back to Fred, being the only candidate who
has not wavered in his message to America. He
will not compromise his principles to appease
anyone.
Every candidate has, at one time or another, had
to eat his words, except Senator Thompson. If you
have watched any of the debates, you don’t see
Senator Thompson being attacked. If anything, he
is being avoided because he has the best over-all
plan for America. As I am writing this, the rise in
border violence is being broadcast on TV. 1,000
potentially deadly attacks on our border guards
in the last year, 140 within the last three months.
All warranting the use of deadly force if felt by a
police officer within these United States.
I urge every voter to go to the candidates’
websites and leave popular opinion out of your
choice. Make up your own mind, reviewing the
facts as I did. Vowing to use the people as his
sword to defeat waste, no other candidate has
offered to include us. The choice was clear, integ
rity, honesty and no compromise.
Sincerely,
Bruce Benfiel
Alto
Bush and Cheney cook up another crisis
Dear Editor:
I just saw on an interview with
Gareth Porter (investigative histo
rian and reporter for Inter Press
Services - specializing on Iran) on
‘Democracy Now’ Friday morn
ing. He indicated that the Bush/
Cheney/Pentagon ‘Iranian speed
boat attack’ allegedly threatening
to assail large US warships was
quite probably another big propa
ganda hoax (spread with the help of
the big media corporations without
research of this serious allegation)
and misrepresented by the major
media. Perhaps the audio was even
altered, splicing in the threat. After
soliciting this story’s coverage from
major media the Pentagon is now
backing down on their certainty that
the alleged threat even came from
Dear Editor:
As 2008 made its grand entrance, I
am reminded of one segment of our
society that is largely at risk of never
being able to enjoy life, liberty, or
the pursuit of happiness.
Yes, many of our nation’s unborn
children will be the innocent victims
of a procedure called abortion, legal
ized by the United States Supreme
Court in January, 1973, in the his
toric and infamous Roe v. Wade
decision.
Since then, some 48 million
the small Iranian boats as they had
claimed. Of course this info is not
being reported by the major US
media.
In an interview, Vice Admiral
Cosgriff, the commander of the 5th
Fleet in Bahrain, makes it clear
that the ships were never in danger,
that they never believed they were
in danger and that they were never
close to firing on the Iranian boats.
What is important is to realize that
this was a semi-crisis that was blown
up by the Pentagon and reported
supinely by the major US media just
as they reported the lead-up to war
in Iraq.
It is quite a “coincidence” that
it came just as Bush was off on
a Middle East trip with Condi to
sell his latest ‘War of Terror,’ this
Right to Life
unborn babies have had their lives
destroyed. During 2005, the number
of unborn babies aborted in Georgia
alone was 31,739.
Why should we as a “civilized
society” be alarmed and disturbed
by these figures? Because from the
Bible, God’s Word, we read again
and again that Almighty God is the
giver of all life and that human life
is sacred and precious. (See Genesis
1:26,27; 2:7, Psalm 139:13-16)
Yes, every human being, from the
moment of conception, and through-
time on Iran — with the support of
the Pentagon (the military industrial
complex) and of course, Israeli and
US Zionists.
This is perhaps one of the most
egregious examples of sensational
ist journalism yet perpetrated by
the Bush administration . . . so far.
We need another war like we need
another seven years of Nutty Neo
Fascists undermining our democra
cy, exporting our jobs and debauch
ing our currency.
Also ironic: it comes as documents
have been declassified confirming
the fact that in the “Gulf of Tonkin
incident” the American people were
lied to in order to promote war. [The
US government (under President
Johnson) misrepresented another
fake “attack” in order to escalate the
rally planned
out one’s life, is to be protected and
defended by our society.
This is our God-given responsibil
ity (see Psalm 82:3,4). What can we
do to help restore the “personhood”
of the unborn?
First, we can pray for our nation’s
leaders and citizens, that their con
sciences will be “awakened” to this
national tragedy.
Then, we can “speak up” for the
unborn by letting those around us
know about the realities and trag
ic results of abortion. Also, there
war in Vietnam by bombing North
Vietnam - causing many innocent
deaths, great suffering, and costing
the American taxpayers billions of
dollars].
As an aside: Of all the candidates
for president questioned during a
recent Fox ‘News’ debate, only Ron
Paul questioned the Bush repre
sentation of the event. Hopefully
Congress will investigate this manip
ulation of the truth and not just roll
over again as it seems so prone (no
pun intended) to do.
You can check it all out on http://
democracynow.org. See past shows,
Jan. 11, 2008 for the full interview.
Sincerely,
Larry Hess
Baldwin
will be a Georgia Right to Life
Annual Memorial for the Unborn
on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at the
Capitol steps in downtown Atlanta
beginning at 11:30 a.m.
For more information con
tact Georgia Right to Life at
770-339-6880 or visit www.grtl.org.
Together, we can change our culture
from death to life!
Sincerely,
Tim Garrett
Homer
Local meetings citizens can attend
The following local government agencies hold
regular meetings which are open to the public:
•Maysville City Council, 7 p.m., first Monday
of each month at the Maysville Public Library.
•Banks County High School All-Sports Booster
Club, 6:30 p.m., first Monday of each month,
BCHS library.
•Maysville Beautification Committee, 7 p.m.,
fourth Thursday of each month at the Maysville
Public Library.
•Banks County Planning Commission, 7 p.m.,
first Tuesday of each month at the courthouse.
•Gillsville City Council, 7 p.m., first Tuesday of
each month at city hall. A work session is held at
7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month.
•Banks County Board of Education, 7 p.m.,
third Monday of each month at the BOE office.
The work session is held on the Thursday prior to
the regular meeting also at the BOE office.
•Baldwin City Council, 7 p.m., second and
fourth Monday of each month at city hall. A work
session is held at 6:30 p.m. on the Thursday pre
ceding each regular meeting.
•Homer City Council, 6 p.m., second Tuesday
of each month at city hall.
•Banks County Board of Commissioners 6:30
p.m. second Tuesday of each month at the court
house. A work session is held at 3:30 p.m. on the
fourth Tuesday of the month at the courthouse in
Homer.
•Alto City Council, 7 p.m., second Tuesday of
each month at city hall.
•Lula City Council, 7 p.m., third Monday of
each month at city hall. A work session is held
at 11 a.m. on the Thursday preceding the regular
meeting.
•BJC Medical Center board of directors, 1:30
p.m., third Monday of each month in the confer
ence room of the hospital.
•Banks County Middle School Booster Club,
6:30 p.m., third Monday of each month at the
Banks County Middle School lunchroom.
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