Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 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
The tough part
of parenthood
I finally caught myself saying something that I
thought I wouldn’t say: “Don’t stick your finger in
the cat’s butt.”
Yep, you know your child is reaching that wonder
ful time as a toddler when you start telling your kid
where NOT to stick her finger.
My daughter, Katie, is now 19 months old — and
she is realizing how far she can push our buttons.
Sometimes it’s cute. At the first hint that a “no”
may be coming out of my mouth,
she pouts her lip and buries her
head under any object she can
find.
Sometimes it’s not so cute
— like when she tries playing
with a messy diaper. She knows
not to touch it, but she tries to
make things worse.
She knows that if she makes a
fake gagging noise, that an adult
will come running to her side. She
knows that if she turns off the TV
that someone will turn it back on.
How do I know she is understanding what is
“right” and what is “wrong” at such a young age?
She gets THAT look on her face. That look you catch
her throwing at you just before she does something
bad. Every parent knows what that look is on their
child’s face.
Katie is entering a new phase of childhood — the
time when she is just starting to understand how her
actions have consequences.
We’ve done a lot for her in the past year and a
half — changed countless diapers, cleaned plenty of
messy clothes, read lots of books to her, and even
handed her over to surgeons for two heart surgeries
and a stomach surgery.
And now comes the even harder part: Raising a
good kid.
No parent says they plan to raise a bad kid. We
don’t say we want to raise the biggest brat on the
block. We don’t say we want our child to be the most
inconsiderate kid in a classroom. We don’t say we
want our child to have the worst manners possible.
And we certainly don’t want them to become crimi
nals.
That’s the tricky part of parenthood — doing
what’s best for your child now, while still making
them a better person for adulthood.
There are plenty of books, websites and television
shows giving parents advice on raising good kids.
But, doesn’t it seem like many of us are missing the
mark?
Just visit a youth sporting event and it’s not too
difficult to spot the kid whose parent lacks parenting
skills.
No one is the perfect parent. We all make mistakes.
And when we realize those mistakes, it makes it even
more difficult to endure since it involves your child.
But, it’s our responsibility to not just provide food,
shelter, clothing and medical care for our children,
but to also make them better adults than ourselves.
And that not only takes discipline, but love, too.
kerri
testement
Kerri Testement is the news editor for The Braselton
News, a sister publication of The Banks County News.
E-mail comments about this column to kerri@main-
streetnews.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher (Editorial)
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher (Advertising)
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
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by
MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 908, 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
Senior citizens get a $2 discount
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
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National Newspaper Association
367-2490
367-9355
677-3491
677-3263
Remembering a true fighter in Hamilton Jordan
“I wondered how much I had
changed. I had gone to Washington
a hero, described by many in the
media as a ‘genius' I was return
ing to Georgia a loser. ... The green
bird turned west toward Plains, lifted
quickly into the dark sky, and was
gone." — Hamilton Jordan, Jan. 21,
1981
•••
Jordan stood on the ground at the
airport in Washington waving good
bye to Jimmy Carter, his former boss
and, before that, a student of Jordan’s
political wisdom.
Hamilton didn’t know it at the time,
but those closing words of his book,
“Crisis: The Last Year of the Carter
Presidency” also marked an end to his
public career.
It wasn’t long until an even more
courageous and incredible battle
began for Hamilton — the fight
against cancer that recurred in several
dark forms.
Recently, Hamilton lost the battle.
He was 63.
News of Hamilton’s death made me
remember that old journalism gim
mick — guessing what a master
politician might have done with just a
bit more luck from on High and a bit
less treachery from his associates.
Hamilton was the smartest consul
tant I ever knew. He also might have
been the wisest of elected officials,
if he could have conquered his per
sistent health problems and escaped
the stigma of being Jimmy Carter’s
right-hand man to win the Senate seat
he sought in 1986.
Hamilton did everything possible to
beat cancer.
He never once tried to disavow
Carter — as many other Southern
Democrats did — to improve his
career opportunities or even to win a
Senate election.
Next to being
a true intellec
tual Southerner
and mastermind
(the New York/
Washington
media couldn’t
fathom at the
time how such
a person could
exist), Hamilton
was a 100 percent
loyalist. Turning his back on gover
nor-then-president Carter was never
considered, not even when Carter’s
national popularity plunged to near
record lows.
Just as cancer cut him no slack,
the national political media showed
no mercy in hammering Jordan from
the time he arrived in Washington as
Carter’s top aide in 1976 through his
unsuccessful bid for the Senate back
in Georgia.
The Tobacco Road Republicans,
who still control the Georgia GOP,
used Hamilton as their whipping boy
at every opportunity. Never mind
that Hamilton, like former President
Carter, worked on a variety of good
causes, from children’s health care to
cutting-edge cancer research and orga
nization of a third-way political effort.
He worked behind the scenes to land
the Democratic National Convention
in Atlanta in 1988 — the first and
last national political convention held
in the Southern capital.
“My admiration and respect for
Hamilton grew since I met him in the
early Carter years,” says Bert Lance,
also a Carter stalwart and friend of
Jordan. “He was truly the personifica
tion of courage.”
In his presidential memoir “Keeping
the Faith,” Carter wrote: “Hamilton
was more seriously misunderstood and
underestimated by the press and pub
lic than anyone else who worked in
my administration. A brilliant political
analyst who had devised and managed
my presidential campaign, he worked
long hours through the most difficult
decisions.”
During Carter’s tenure as governor,
Hamilton as his chief of staff took
over the reins of state government.
When Carter went to the White
House, Hamilton was a key player in
the president’s triumphs — from the
Camp David Accords to the Panama
Canal Treaty that prevented a civil
war. He also suffered with Carter the
agonies of the Iran hostage disaster
and the crumbling American econo
my.
After he left Washington, he wrote
”Crisis” — what I believe is the most
insightful book of the Carter adminis
tration. You ought to read it if you’re
interested in inside accounts of White
House doings. “Crisis” is the best
book of its kind.
He also wrote extensively and in
great detail about the onset of cancer
and his struggle to beat it. I had the
honor of helping compose one of
those pieces. He schemed with his
pals a couple of times to get back into
the national circus. He helped direct
Ross Perot’s independent presiden
tial campaign and launched a couple
of other things. The cancer was too
much.
Hamilton’s death finally ended a
career that might have achieved won
ders in getting our nation and state
back onto a worthy track to opportu
nity and prosperity for all.
You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box
2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail:
shipp1@bellsouth.net.
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 call
ing 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, questions
or suggestions relating to the coun
ty board of commissioners, county
government, county board of educa
tion and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff reporter 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 website
is updated each Thursday and
can be accessed on the Internet at
www.mainstreetnews.com.
Turning the
page for
another year
“Age is strictly a case of mind over
matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn't mat
ter.” — Jack Benny
• ••
It’s that time on the calendar again.
It’s the time when your local colum
nist celebrates another turning of the
page if you will. For in this month 37
years ago (yesterday in fact) I arrived in
this world. Born in the central Georgia
town of Macon on a Thursday (amazing
what the Internet can tell you), I feel
blessed to still be a part of it all.
There’s no doubt I have been blessed
beyond anything I deserve during my
time, which is rapidly approaching
four decades now.
Growing up with
a strong family
support system I
have honestly
never gone without
anything I needed.
That’s not an exag
geration. While
many people wake
up in the morning
wondering how
they will make it
through the day,
my biggest morning obstacle is deciding
which shirt to wear.
I’ve written through the years of being
blessed with both maternal and paternal
grandparents who heavily influenced
me and helped mold me into the person
I am. Any ounce of me that is good can
be traced to them along with my parents.
The influence each of them provided
— even when I have tried to ignore it —
has rubbed off now and then and made
me a much better person for it.
I admit there are many times I feel
every bit of my 37 years. I find myself
pausing and wondering just how in the
world I arrived at this age. Wasn’t it just
yesterday I was living carefree as a high
school student. I guess when I cover
high school athletics for a living I forget
just how long it has been since I was
once. When local graduates received
their diplomas this spring, it marked 19
years since I did the same. (I try not to
let my mind dwell on that number for
too long!)
I’ve seen a lot in my 37 years
although there’s plenty more I would
enjoy seeing. I haven’t done much
traveling in my time. The furthest
away from home I have been was a
high school class trip to Washington,
D.C. back in 1988. I’ve never been
overseas, never been to the northern or
western part of our great country. I’ve
never seen the beaches and sunsets of
Hawaii (unless of you count episodes of
Magnum, P.I.).
I’d love to drive through states like
Wyoming and Montana. I would love
to take a fall and travel to various col
lege football games to places like Wake
Forest, Vanderbilt, Duke and the like,
schools where the student part of stu
dent-athlete is stressed.
I’m still waiting for my numbers to
come through in the Megamillions game
which would no doubt make all my
traveling wishes a reality. It would also
give the chance to buy about 200 acres
of land and start my own animal rescue
operation. Perhaps all, or at least some,
of that can happen during my next 37
years.
For now, I will simply enjoy year No.
37. Summer is now at hand (another
nice thing about having a birthday in
late May is that it kick starts summer
time) and that always seems to lift my
— and everyone’s — spirit.
I’ve never minded getting older. I
view it as, “You’re as old as you are.”
I’ve never lied about my age or tried to
convince someone I was still in my mid-
20s when I haven’t seen that era in more
than decade.
Yes, I am now 37 and it’s not some
thing I will try to hide during the next
12 months. I will enjoy it each day and
try to better myself during that time.
I realize though making myself better
doesn’t include magically taking years
off my life. That won’t happen until
someone invents that elusive fountain of
youth.
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to
chris@mainstreetnews.com.