Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.mainstreetnews.com
Opinions
“Where the press is free and every man
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Family building
I t’s a frequent request from my daughter these
days: “Tell me about Mama when she was a
little girl.”
So, I dredge deep and bring forth memories. It’s
surprising how much you can remember if you rea
lly try.
When I was a little girl, I liked to go with my
father, Daddy, to the hardware store in Commerce.
We’d ride in his new green truck — now known as
“Pa’s old green truck” — and I’d explore while he
picked up whatever supplies he needed.
The store was fascinating.
So many little drawers to open
to see all the different nuts and
bolts and nails.
So many screen doors and
storm doors, all lined up, just wai
ting for a little girl to go down the
aisle opening and closing them.
I still like to go to hardware
stores, particularly those with
flowers and plants — in fact,
there’s one we just call “the plant
store” — and Addie likes to go
with me.
From the front seat of the cart, she stretches out to
open and close mailboxes or to turn on and off the
display sink and shower nozzles and knobs.
We spend too much time and money there, but it
is a fun outing for us, and then we have flowers to
plant or some project to do together at home.
When Daddy and I returned from the hardware
store and he was outside working at his sawhorses, I
would be on hand to “help.” Handing off tools, nails,
whatever.
Last week, I watched through the back door at
my parents’ house while my little girl “helped” my
father work on a building project.
I would’ve given a lot to have a video camera,
or at least my still camera, so I could capture the
moment. I didn’t have either, but “camera aware
ness” would probably have ruined it, anyway.
Keeping a close eye on “Pa,” who was wearing his
familiar straw hat and his tool belt, Addie squatted
down alongside the boards under construction.
As he stretched out his yellow ruler, she also
stretched out hers on an adjoining board. As he
reached for his hammer, she reached to take her
little wooden one from her toolbox. As he turned on
the “power” hammer — a nail gun, of sorts — she
ran and hid. But she returned immediately and got
back to work when the generator noise ceased.
“I sure would like to have a tool belt,” she told
me, very seriously. I have actually been looking
around for a small child’s tool belt and hope to find
one online.
I still say I want to learn to build furniture one
day. Maybe Daddy-Pa will teach us and Addie and I
can learn together.
jana a.
mitcham
Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The
Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks
County News. E-mail comments about this column
to jana@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher /Ad. Manager
Angela Gary Editor
Chris Bridges Sports Editor
Sharon Hogan Reporter
Anelia Chambers Receptionist
Suzanne Reed Church News
Phones (all 706 area code):
Angela Gary Phone
Angela Gary Fax
Homer Office Phone
Homer Office Fax
Sports Phone
Sports Fax
www.mainstreetnews.com
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box908,
Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Subscription in county $19.75
Subscription in state $38.85
Subscription out of state $44.20
Military with APO address $42.20
Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga.
Postmaster, send address changes to:
Subscriptions,
The Banks County News,
P.O. Box 920,
Homer, Ga. 30547
Member: Georgia Press Association
Georgia Sports Writers Association
367-2490
367-9355
677-3491
677-3263
367-2745
367-9355
Sonny Perdue: He was born a 'wanderer'
W hat did I tell you, Sonny?
“Don’t go to China.” And
what did you do, Sonny?
You went to China. OK, so you made
history too.
You must be the first Georgia gov
ernor to sympathize with Communist
China’s policies regarding Tibet, and
you even did it on Chinese soil. Your
name will undoubtedly be etched on
a Great Wall plaque. However, that is
not the history I am talking about.
You also must be the first Peach
State governor in modern history who
dared set foot outside Georgia and the
United States during the closing days
of the Legislature. I can’t believe you
did that.
Georgia government gets along just
fine without a governor for most of
the year, as you have already dem
onstrated. However, his Excellency’s
presence ought to be required in
Atlanta during any General Assembly
session. Georgia needs a guv most at
that time.
We must have a single strong sen
tinel to guard the vaults. One never
knows what our lawmakers might
do while the Big Mule wanders the
globe.
Once upon a time, Georgia elected
governors who were more than sim
ply state chief executives. They also
were rulers of the General Assembly.
The governors picked the speakers of
the House, all committee chairs and
all committee members. As a result,
legislative leaders counted themselves
among the governors’ best buds.
Those governors of old were plenty
smart fellows too.
They did not venture outside the
Capitol or even turn off the sound
system while the lawmakers were
in session. The governors knew that
the solons, without special atten
tion, were not to be trusted, even if
they proclaimed
themselves as the
governor’s eternal
guardians.
Legend has it
that Govs. Ernie
Vandiver, Carl
Sanders, George
Busbee, Zell
Miller and Roy
Barnes often slept
in their offices
to guard against
nocturnal tricks
in the legislative chambers.
Most of those governors publicly
counted the Legislature’s influential
members on their A-lists of cordial
acquaintances. Gov. Perdue has no
A-list, except perhaps one with his tax
lawyer on it. In fact, Sonny may have
more enemies in the Georgia House
and Senate than any other recent gov
ernor.
No sooner had Sonny hopped on
Delta for the long flight to the Orient
than the lawmakers began to plot
against him and against each other.
First, the House approved a long list
of tax cuts, responsible and irrespon
sible, to send to the Senate for a vote.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson
was certain his pal, Lt. Gov. Casey
Cagle, would be only too happy to
sort out the good tax cuts from the
bad, as well as protect the governor’s
flank here at home while he tours the
Forbidden City.
House members can now go home
proudly boasting to be “tax cutter”
representatives. The Senate can tell its
constituents: “We did the responsible
thing. We could not just grant tax cuts
willy-nilly as the House did.” Which
path is likely to work best among tax-
hating Georgia voters?
While Sonny examined China’s
precious antiques, House and Senate
leaders huddled to welcome Sonny
home and override any veto the gov
ernor tries.
Something else happened too. As
soon as Delta’s big bird soared, Sonny
vanished from The List of possible
vice presidential nominees.
While Democrats prepared to finish
the dirty work of their primaries, pun
dits busied themselves compiling short
lists of vice presidential nominees for
both parties.
Southerners were everywhere, but
Sonny’s name was nowhere to be
found. Barely a month ago, Sonny
was mentioned all over Washington as
a VP possibility. Now he’s vanished,
though the VP rolls are replete with
Sons, and even a Daughter, of the
South:
Republican: Mississippi Gov. Haley
Barbour, former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist,
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
of Texas and South Carolina Gov.
Mark Sanford. Sonny’s gone.
Democrats: Former Vice President
Al Gore of Tennessee and former Sen.
Sam Nunn of Georgia. Once again
Sonny is absent. It would be difficult
to envision Sonny as the running mate
for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton,
though I bet he would accept the posi
tion if he were invited.
The more important thing in this
political spring is that Georgia has
elected a governor who sees nothing
wrong with abandoning his post as the
Legislature prepares to close, or in the
midst of any similar crisis.
You can reach award-winning politi
cal commentator Bill Shipp at P.O.
Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156,
e-mail: shipp1@bellsouth.net, or Web
address: billshipponline.com.
bill
shipp
Letters to the Editor policy given
The Banks County News has estab
lished a policy on printing Letters to
the Editor.
We must have an original copy of
all letters that are submitted to us for
publication.
Members of our staff will not type
out or hand-write letters for people
who stop by the office and ask them
to do so.
Letters to the Editor must also be
signed with the address and phone
number of the person who wrote
them.
The address and phone number
will be for our verification purposes
only and will not be printed unless
the writer requests it. Mail to,
The Banks County News, P.O. Box
920, Homer, Ga. 30547.
E-mailed letters will be accepted,
but we must have a contact phone
number and address. Letters that are
libelous will not be printed.
Letters may also be edited to
meet space requirements. Anyone
with questions on the policy
is asked to contact editor Angela
Gary at AngieEditor@aol.com or by
calling 706-367-2490.
News department contact numbers
Anyone with general story ideas,
complaints or comments about the
news department is asked to call edi
tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490.
She can also be reached by e-mail
at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to the
county board of commissioners,
county government, county board of
education, Maysville City Council
and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff member Chris Bridges
at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at
chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Bridges also is sports edi
tor of the paper and covers local
high school, middle school and
recreation sports.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to
Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville,
should contact Sharon Hogan at
706-367-5233 or by e-mail at
sharon@mainstreetnews.com.
Calls for information about the
church page should go to Suzanne
Reed at 706-677-3491. Church
news may also be e-mailed to
churchnews@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News web
site can also be accessed at
www.mainstreet.news.com.
Citizens in
10th district
wake up, beware
I t looks like the campaign rheto
ric in the 10th district could get
pretty thick (and deep) in coming
weeks.
Incumbent Paul Broun, who wants us
all to believe that we are under a major
attack from people who want to bet
ter themselves, is drawing opposition
from within his own party. Recently,
Republican extremist Nancy Schaefer
set her aim on a trip to Washington,
D.C. to represent the people of the 10th
district.
We’ve often heard about “choosing
between the lesser of two evils” but this
is ridiculous.
Broun has
done little since
replacing Charlie
Norwood, who
died following a
courageous battle
with cancer, except
push his bigoted
views against peo
ple wanting to bet
ter themselves but
happen to be from
another country.
I would say there
could not be a worse choice to represent
the 10th district, which includes Banks
County, but then along comes Schaefer
after serving two terms in the state sen
ate. Voters were apparently asleep at the
wheel when electing Schaefer not once,
but twice. (She has also once upon a
time been a statewide candidate for
various offices). In 2006, Carol Jackson
was clearly more qualified, but voters
did not really pay attention to the race,
electing instead to vote for whichever
candidate had the “R” by their name.
In a recent news release about her
campaign for Congress, Schaefer, who
is obviously completely out of touch
with the average working man and
woman, asks people to send the maxi
mum contribution of $2,300 to help her
get elected. Schaefer says Paul Broun
has a “sordid past” although she does
not elaborate further.
Continuing on in her press release,
Schaefer said she plans to promote indi
vidual liberty and limited government.
This statement is clearly false since
Schaefer has always been an opponent
of allowing women the right of choice
when it comes to their own bodies.
Schaefer would quickly turn back the
clock on the many great strides women
have made in our society, which is truly
baffling when you think about it.
Schaefer, she wants voters to know,
hopes to get an opportunity to “set our
children and families free from the
clutches of Child Protective Services
and DFCS.” I guess it’s better to allow
children to be neglected and abused as
long as they stay with their family. Give
me a break.
To put it simply, Schaefer in Congress
would be a horrible mistake. I can
only hope voters in Banks County and
the rest of the 10th district will not be
fooled by her campaign of “conserva
tive values.” Two terms in the state sen
ate was more than enough.
Fortunately, there are some good
options for those who want no part of
the Schaefer or Broun campaigns. Barry
Fleming is also running as a Republican
and even he was not beyond an attack
from Schaefer as she labeled him a
dreaded “liberal Republican trial law
yer” in her amusing press release.
On the Democratic side, two qual
ity choices in Terry Holley, who was a
candidate in 2006, and Iraq War veteran
Bobby Saxon are also currently on the
campaign trail. I would quickly support
Fleming, Holley or Saxon before even
giving Broun or Schaefer a second look.
This is an important race for the
citizens of the 10th district. I encour
age those who will be going to their
respective polling place this summer to
study where these candidates stand on
issues. Surely, we can do better than an
extremist like Broun on immigration
and an extremist like Schaefer on...well,
everything which defies logic and com
mon sense.
▲ il
chris
bridges
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to
chris@mainstreetnews.com.