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PACE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Opinions “Where the press is free and every tnan able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson Football fun with Zelosport B oard games, spending time with your family and sports. If those are three things you love, Zelosport, based out of Columbus, Ga., has the perfect product for you. The company has transformed the age-old pas time of paper football into a series of finger sports games for all ages. Now sports fans can enjoy foot ball, baseball, soccer and golf at the convenience of the kitchen table. What’s even better is that you can order a game themed around your favorite team. My 6-year-old nephew, Jake, and I tried Zelosport’s Georgia Bulldog football game recently and we love it. It’s a familiar game that most everyone has played before. The football is a folded sheet of paper in the shape of a triangle. The field is a tabletop. And the goal is to score a touchdown by flicking the football across the table until part of it hangs over the edge. You’ll experience the challenges and big plays of the real game. You can play with family and friends in the comfort of your home. Every game is packaged in a clear tube and includes a 2’x4’ vinyl playing surface, parts bag and rulebook. The game is simply rolled out onto a table when you’re ready to play and can be placed back into the tube for safe storage when you’re done. Starting this fall of 2008, Finger Football national tournaments will be held across the south. The com pany will provide a structured league format so that anyone wanting to compete on a national level will have that opportunity. In Georgia, tournaments are planned in Columbus (Aug. 30) and Macon (Sept. 13). The winner of each local tournament will be invited to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 in the inau gural Finger Football National Championship. What I love about the product is that it brings families back together again in the kitchens and liv ing rooms playing wholesome games and building lasting memories. All of Zelosport’s games provide a level playing field. Regardless of size, shape, ath letic skills or ability, everyone has the same chance at winning. The company was founded in 2004 and has license deals with the NFF and the PGA and has inked an endorsement deal with Brett Favre. Recently, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service ordered 10,000 games to send overseas to the troops. In 2007, their finger baseball game won toy of the year from Family Fun Magazine. For more information on Zelosport visit www. zelosport.com. angela gary Angela Gary is associate editor of The Jackson Herald and editor of The Banks County News. E-mail comments about this column to AngieEditor@aol.com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher 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 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by Main Street 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. 30547 Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, PO. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547 Member: Georgia Press Association Georgia Sports Writers Association National Newspaper Association "Rubber band .solutions may save some fuel, but I still think off-shore drilling makes more sense!" The political machine of Karen Handel T he most overlooked Georgia political development since the 2006 election may well be the increasing level of partisanship in our secretary of state’s office. Most Georgians don’t think about their sec retary of state very often. If they do, they interact with the office in one of its more mundane functions, which include issuing licenses for trades like cosmetol ogy and serving as the filing agency for corporate records. Those responsibilities, however, are not what give the position its real power. That comes from the secretary of state’s regulation and administration of our elections. When one controls the pro cess of choosing all of our other elected leaders, one has the ability to funda mentally influence the direction of our government. Before Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel was elected in 2006, the office was a largely apolitical bureau cracy staffed by career employees. Like most government agencies, those bureaucrats were varied in their abil ity and commitment to their jobs, but they were not widely regarded as car rying out the political bidding of the Democratic Party, of which all secretar ies of state before Handel were mem bers. In fact, the elected secretaries of state were surprisingly nonpartisan, often pursuing election reforms that ran counter to the political interests of Democrats. For example, Cathy Cox, the Democrat who preceded Handel, successfully pursued an early voting ini tiative that made casting a ballot more convenient. She did so even though all evidence from other states (and now Georgia) indicates that it results in a large net gain in votes for Republican candidates, particularly in growing exurban areas. In addition, Cox, while working as assistant secretary of state under her predecessor, Lewis Massey, helped enact Georgia’s first law requir ing voters to show identification to cast a ballot. The Massey/Cox law was less restric tive than the recent Republican initiative requir ing voters to have photo identifica tion which has raised Democratic hackles. The Massey/Cox law, however, also met with resistance from Democrats concerned that their voters were more likely to be disenfranchised by it. Now that Handel has taken control of the office, nonpartisan tradition is gone with the wind. She’s been com pared to former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who was made famous during the 2000 vote recount of the state’s vote for president between George W. Bush and A1 Gore. That comparison is not particularly apt, because Harris was an accidental pawn in a game far larger than she, and her office was essentially commandeered during the recount drama by national Republican operatives. In contrast, Handel is part of a long-range plan by Republicans to use the secretary of state’s office to solidify and expand their hold on Georgia politics. Handel’s recent conduct has provided plenty of examples of the GOP plan in action. Perhaps her most egregious act was her recent attempt to disqualify Jim Powell, a Democrat running for the Public Service Commission. Powell, a candidate widely regarded as an appeal ing prospect for the PSC, was forced to go to court to block Handel’s attempt to remove him from the ballot the day before this summer’s primary. Handel tried to boot Powell at the last minute, despite the fact that an administrative law judge, to whom Handel had referred a question regarding Powell’s residency in his PSC district, reviewed the evi dence and ruled that Powell was eligible to run for the office. Other recent examples of partisan she nanigans have occurred as well. In June, when state Sen. Joe Carter (R-Tifton) withdrew as a candidate for re-election to run for a judgeship, his Senate seat was left without a candidate. (Carter was running unopposed.) State law requires that Handel reopen qualifying for the seat, but she brazenly did so only for Republicans, ensuring that the party would not have an open Senate seat to defend. State Democrats considered challenging her decision in court but demurred when their state party could not produce a candidate. Handel also has been fighting tooth and nail to allow state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) to run unopposed. Jacobs made an odd decision to switch from Democrat to Republican in an intown. Democrat-trending seat, during what may be the worst Republican year since Watergate. Handel kicked his Democratic oppo nent off the ballot, and is doing every thing in her power to keep Michelle Conlon, an independent candidate, out of the race as well. Conlon is now suing Handel for throwing out a multitude of seemingly valid petition signatures collected by Conlon to qualify as an independent. What we are witnessing is the skillful and shameless exploitation of power to ensure its perpetuation. As Handel and her partisan minders march on, each small decision makes a Democratic comeback in Georgia less and less likely — a plotline that should be left for the voters to decide, not some state bureau crat. You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail: shippl@bellsouth.net, or Web address: billshipponline.com. bill Agrees with Bridges about third party ballot access Dear Editor: Amen to Chris Bridges’ column urging changes in laws that keep third parties from getting on the ballot! I knew that Georgia’s law regard ing ballot access was among the most restrictive in the nation, but hadn’t realized until I read Chris’s column that third party candidates must col lect almost 43,000 signatures to be included on the ballot. I enjoy Chris’ columns, though I don’t always agree with him. However, he writes well and raises interesting questions. I also enjoyed Bill Shipp’s columns and very much regret that you’ve dis continued them. He’s the most knowl edgeable commentator on Georgia politics, past and present, that I’ve ever read. Over the years he has criti cized both liberals and conservatives. Sincerely, Emily B. Calhoun Cornelia EDITOR’S NOTE: We did not dis continue Bill Shipp’s columns. Mr. Shipp took a break from writ-ing his column following the death of his wife. He has now resumed his column. 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 concerning the City of Maysville should go to staff report er Justin Poole at 706-367-2348. 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 throughout the week and may be accessed on the Internet at www.banksnewsTODAY.com. Voters rightfully send fanatical Schaefer packing N ancy Schaefer, who has repre sented the 50th District in the State Senate for the past three and a half years, was turned away for a bid for a third term by voters. The election was decided by those who cast Republican ballots as Schaefer lost the runoff to Jim Butterworth, chairman of the Habersham County Board of Commissioners. While the people of 50th District, which includes Banks County, will have to grin and bear it concern ing Schaefer for the remainder of the year, relief is on the way. Butterworth will take office in January. Schaefer has always repre sented the extreme right-wing of the Republican party. Like Cynthia McKinney is to the left, Schaefer is to the right. While extremists make for enjoyable viewing at times, they really aren’t effective at what they are doing. That’s why it was past time for Schaefer to go. It should have happened two years ago. In 2006, a clearly more qualified candidate in Carol Jackson challenged Schaefer. I thought the race was a no- brainer for voters. However, Schaefer won although I have still yet to figure out why. The only reason I can offer is because Schaefer had an “R” by her name while Jackson had a “D” by hers. Of course, this is not ample reason to vote for any candidate. To simply sup port a candidate solely because of his or her party is lazy voting. It’s what gives us elected officials such as Schaefer and McKinney. This summer, two Republicans lined up to challenge Schaefer and both were clearly better options than the incum bent. I felt good about the chances for a new state senator. Both Butterworth and fellow challenger Terry Rogers were conservative, make no doubt about. However, they had plans if elected to the state senate. They simply did not mouth extremist right-wing propaganda which really had nothing to do with the office they were seeking. Yet, Schaefer continued to show strong vote gathering power and did well in the primary. Rogers was elimi nated from the battle leaving a primary runoff between the incumbent and Butterworth. My confidence from just a few weeks earlier was now begin ning to fade. Perhaps the voters in the 50th District were in fact going to send Schaefer back for a third term. Part of me couldn’t imagine it happening, but she was showing signs of doing it. All she needed to do now was win the run off. There was no Democratic challenger waiting in the wings and even if there were it wouldn’t have mattered. Schaefer, however, must have felt threatened because she went negative in the final days of the runoff campaign and I believe that really worked again her. She went as far as trying to criticize Butterworth for having a full-time job. When it was all over, Butterworth coasted to victory and a much better voice has now been elected. The citizens deserve credit for finally seeing through the Schaefer mystique and elected some one who will represent them well in Atlanta. Butterworth is now preparing for his first term as a state senator. Schaefer meanwhile is finishing out the final weeks of her term in office and blasting an area newspaper for what she calls “erroneous journalism.” In a ridiculous attack on The Northeast Georgian based in Cornelia, Schaefer shows just how far off the deep end she has now gone. Look for much better representation for the citizens of the 50th District dur ing the next two years. However, don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard the last of Nancy Schaefer. It’s hard for extrem ists to go away quietly or even go away at all. A h 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.