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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 5A Radical left wrong about voter ID issue V oter ID is once again in the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has just heard arguments from the state of Indiana over the validity of the requirement that all vot ers submit a photo ID before voting. Pundits on the left are scream ing their opposition to the idea. The Atlanta Journal’s Cynthia Tucker declared that if the Supreme Court upholds the Voter ID law, that blacks, Latinos, native Americans and all other minorities ought to engage in massive protest. Why? Well, it is because the radi cal left uses those who are incapable of making their own decisions as a tool to impose their radical agendas. They seek out people who are lack ing in the knowledge and motivation to take an active part in our political system then attempt to guide them into supporting otherwise unpopular political ideas. Lack of proper identification also enhances the ability of unethical pol iticians to commit fraud as another way of imposing their ideas on the nation. If the radical left had its way, anyone could simply show up at the polls and vote, even if they are here illegally. It would be easy for them to take people from one polling place to another so that they can vote multiple times. The Constitution protects our right to vote. But it does not require it. It does protect the unknowing and uncaring from having their votes abused by pressure groups. That is why we are guaranteed a secret ballot. I would never do anything to prevent a per son from voting who truly wants to. On the other hand, I strongly oppose anyone who would use any tactic to try to push someone into voting, especially if they do not understand what they are voting for. Obtaining an official ID card is easy. Most of us already have one. It can be a driver’s license, a military ID, an ID from certain government or private organizations that deal in sensitive areas, or just a card issued by a government agency on request. In Georgia, such cards are simple to get. The very people who are so con cerned that someone will not be able to go to a site to get one can just as easily arrange transportation there as they can to the polls. We are supposed to have a govern ment of the people, not of the special interests. Those who care enough to equip themselves to vote deserve to have their opinions reflected. They do not deserve to have their opinions overturned by fraud, deception and deceit by political pressure groups. Obtaining some kind of ID card to assure that you are eligible to vote is a part of the process. If you don’t care enough to do that, you don’t care enough to make a good deci sion. I am sorry folks, that is just the way it is. 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 Back to the beach W “ Speedweeks getting ready to kick off this Saturday night with the Bud Shootout at Daytona, it brings to mind a simpler time, when, instead of fighting aerodynamics, drivers fought sand on their windshields. From its inception, NASCAR’s premier venue was the old beach and road course in Daytona. It was, to say the least, an interesting place to race. For many years, land speed records were attempted on the hard packed sands. When those attempts moved to the salt flats in Bonneville in 1935, stock car races were organized on a combination of the beach and the paved Highway A1A. Racers would run two miles south on A1A, make a sharp left onto the beach, then run two miles to the north before turning back onto A1A. It was an incredible place, and generated some amazing races. Not to mention some amazing stories. Lloyd Seay, a Georgia moonshine runner, has been said by many to be one of the greatest natural talents to have ever climbed behind the wheel. Seay had a knack to bicycle his Ford on two wheels through the corners on the beach. The fans would clamor to see this incredible show put on by the Dawsonville native. Seay won on the beach on his fifth try on August 24, 1941. He started 15th on that day, but was in the lead by the time the first lap was over. He led every lap en route to the win. Seay would die later that year at the hands of a family member in Dawsonville in an argument over sugar for moonshine. Legendary driver Tim Flock is considered by many to be the best beach course racer of the NASCAR era. He was the only driver to win in every major NASCAR division to race on the beach, including Grand National, modified, and the convert ible division. Flock, who passed away in 1998, used to tell the story of racing on the beach in 1955 in his Carl Kiekhafer owned Chrysler 300. As he sprinted up the beach on the first lap, he ran into an unsus pecting flock of seagulls at about 140 miles an hour. The air was filled with enough feathers to make it look like a snowstorm had struck the beach. “They started hit ting my windshield, and the feathers and the guts stuck to my windshield!” Flock would say years later in an interview. Leaning out the window, he used a rag intended to clean sand from his windshield to clear off the “bird remnants.” By the second lap, there wasn’t a seagull to be seen on the beach. In 1956, legendary stock jockey Junior Johnson took a wild tumble on Daytona’s sands. Photos of the accident sequence shows Johnson exiting his overturned racer via the rear window before the car even came to a complete halt. Two-time Cup champion Ned Jarrett had an equally close call in a beach race early in his career. He was racing up the beach in a modi fied/sportsman event when a faster modified hit him, sending his car tumbling into the surf. Dazed from the accident, Jarrett stumbled across the beach, miraculously evading being struck by oncoming rac ers, and promptly passed out upon reaching the spectator area. Jarrett came to moments later in the arms of a rather rotund woman who was trying to pour whisky from an Early Time liquor bottle into his mouth to try to revive him. “I was bleeding, and I was pretty sure I was going to die,” said Jarrett years later. “I just knew they wouldn’t let me into heaven with that liquor on my breath!” Racing on the beach came to an end after the 1958 Grand National event, which was won by Paul Goldsmith. The next year, drivers traveled a little further down A1A to the new Daytona International Speedway, which held its first events the following year. As NASCAR gets ready for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 next week, it should be remembered that there would be nothing to cel ebrate if it wasn’t for the pioneers who weren’t afraid of high speed during low tide. Brandon Reed is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers. Contact him at brandon@mainstreetnews. com. brandon reed Other Views The real question is ‘How would Jesus vote?’ Dear Editor: In answer to Kerri Testement’s column, “Who will you pick for president?” we as Christians must ask ourselves, “How would Jesus vote?” I have voted for Democrats and Republicans over the years and I say give me a wonderful man or woman who will set high moral standards for me, my children and our nation. We need a person that stands for tra ditional marriage, who loves souls, who loves beautiful little babies from conception to birth and some one who hates partial birth abortion, the killing of innocent babies up to nine months in the mother’s womb. We must stand for life. Don’t take my word for it, but look at the voting record of all the candidates. Then vote with knowledge and convic tion. This is what is wonderful about the Bible Belt and God-fearing peo ple, that generally speaking, we have higher moral standards than the rest of the country. So vote for eternity, for one day we must stand before God to give an account of how and who we voted for to help our nation. Again I ask, “How would Jesus vote?” Sincerely, Ed and Dori Sturgill Troy and Barbara Jones SUPPORTS HUCKABEE Barbara Jones has this Huckabee sign in her yard on Hwy. 51 in Lula. 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