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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. APRIL 9. 2009
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Southern principles
should be celebrated
April is Southern History and Heritage month. But
you would never know it if it were left up to the major
media. Every other group that declares a month for
their recognition gets news coverage, often extensive
coverage. But not the great American South. Dixie is
a unique part of this nation, with a unique history and
culture. It has made major contributions to the nation
and the world. Yet it is totally ignored by the media,
and actually attacked by those who would destroy all
evidence of its existence.
Southern History and Heritage needs a month to
set the record straight. We need an opportunity to
correct the massive distortions of history and the
key elements of our culture that those in power try
to mask. You see, Dixie is the one part of America
that still supports the American Revolution. Most of
the rest of the nation has abandoned our founding
principles.
So, what are those founding principles? What kind
of nation did our founders create? And, how did we
lose them?
A key principle of this nation was that our rights
were granted by our creator, not government. That
is plainly stated in the Declaration of Independence.
The only power the government has is what we
choose to give them. That is the way it is supposed
to be. But now, government assumes that it has all
power and the only rights we have is whatever gov
ernment says we have.
This nation was founded on the principle of per
sonal responsibility. Americans were expected to
be responsible for their own needs and the needs of
their family. Government's only role was to prevent
anyone else from interfering with our ability to take
care of ourselves. But today government assumes
the responsibility to provide for our every need, and
insist that we turn over our personal responsibility
and control to the massive government bureaucracy.
Our founders gave us the right to worship God as
we see fit. It specifically said that the federal govern
ment is prohibited from interfering with that right.
But today, if we as a community choose to have
God as a part of our schools, the federal government
denies us that right.
And speaking of schools, a part of our personal
responsibility is to provide for the education of our
children. But today, government dictates every com
ponent of our children's education, even to what will
be taught in the history classes.
You see, the conflict from the beginning was over
where the responsibility for our lives lies. Are we to
be allowed to mn our own lives as we see fit, or does
government have the right to take that responsibility
away and dictate to us how we should live?
Today the all powerful government people have
the upper hand. And they are determined to impose
government control over everyone, especially those
of us who still insist on personal freedom and per
sonal responsibility.
The majority of the holdouts who still insist on
personal freedom and responsibility are right here in
Dixie. And if we are to preserve any degree of that
personal freedom, it will be Southerners who lead
the resistance.
So remember that April is Southern History and
Heritage month. And if you still believe in the prin
ciples on which this nation was founded, join us here
in Dixie in the effort to take our nation back!
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County
Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@
msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://
frankgillispie. tripod, com
Letter to the Editor
Searching for former
Airborne members
Dear Editor:
The 82 nd Airborne Division Association
is searching for former members who are
not aware of our organization. Combat is
not a requirement, only the wings earned.
Meetings and many special events are held.
For more information, contact Airborne Days,
5459 Northcutt PL, Dayton, OH 45414; email
srgabn@aol.com or phone, 937-898-5977.
Sincerely,
Shirley R. Gossett
Fayetteville, NC
What holds those old voices
There’s a Depression-era radio
that sits on top of our bookcase.
It’s about two feet tall and has an
east-west, north-south dial, but you
can’t pick up any station. The loose
battery wires hold no charge.
Sometimes I imagine being able
to shake that thing awake, resusci
tate the Rip Van Winkle of a radio
through the wall socket. I picture
the other end of the radio wave,
the announcer of yesteryear breath
ing into a large microphone and
holding a yellowed newspaper. He
reads the names of the long gone
to the radio listeners. I picture the
house as it was when the radio talk
ed and imagine a bucket and hands
busy shelling peas on the porch as
the old news turns to gospel.
Nowadays, we watch the Antiques
Roadshow on PBS. I even flip to
this without my wife in the room,
which my younger self would see
as a sad sight if he could get a
glimpse. But it’s interesting to look
at old items and hear how some
one’s big elm-wood bowl used as
a childhood snow sled is actually
a Native American relic and worth
quite a bit of money.
Of course, we rely on the dol
lar figure to confirm worth. Some
folks spend Saturdays searching
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
for the steal, hoping some poor fool
doesn’t realize the treasure he’s
giving up.
Who doesn’t dream of the easy
buck?
For a time, I was a card hunter.
I had a complete 1983 Fleer set of
baseball cards tucked away, believ
ing the cardboard box was like a
bar of gold. Who wouldn’t pay a
good dollar for the set that includes
Wade Boggs’ rookie card? Later, I
bought a Barry Bonds rookie card,
sure that I would be able to cash
it in one day for a tidy profit. Of
course, like the housing market.
Bonds went from “prime” to “sub
prime.”
But my card-collecting days are
long gone. The fact is. I’m not a
savvy collector of anything, not
someone who could turn a good
profit at the flea market, not a
salesman or a keen-eyed antique
consumer.
No, I’m more interested in
the sentimental value of things.
Everyone has his own personal
treasures that aren’t worth much to
anyone else. I have mine, too.
Before long, my daughter will let
go of her “Dow,” a soft pink thing
she sleeps with. Of course, my wife
and I won’t ever let go of it. We
can’t hold on to her childhood, but
we will hold that dog-eared relic.
And that softness in the hands is a
powerful thing to me, even now.
I think of this past Father’s Day,
when my mom gave me a framed
copy of a poem my father had writ
ten to his father on Father’s Day
1972, the year I was bom. My mom
was pregnant with me when she
neatly stenciled the words for my
dad. He was clearly thinking about
becoming a father, while wanting
to let his dad know what he thought
of him.
My father is an accomplished
writer. And he seems embarrassed
to let anyone read anything that
hasn’t cleared his rigorous self
editing process. He throws away
much more than he keeps. We
never see the stuff that doesn’t cut
it. I think of how the flood of 1994
wiped out my childhood home,
including the basement, where my
father and I tossed out stacks of his
early writing, which had marinated
in the flood’s sewage soup. He
seemed unfazed as we dropped
all that writing in trash bags. That
early work was part of a process,
“just practice.” His success came
off his later writing.
But I’m really thankful to have the
old, “flawed” poem that remains in
the frame, a tribute to my dad’s dad
who died 20 years ago this week.
The poem closes with this:
“For silent years
the trust of children
in the passing by
A faith of understanding
takes us
down the line
which does not turn,
To ask for ourselves
only the wisdom
of our father.”
That old radio has sat silent for
many years, but I look at it and
think of how certain things in our
lives are full of old voices. These
things are not always easy to look
at, but their value is not a question.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Do you blog? Or maybe you
twitter? (And as someone said the
other day, does that make one a
twit?)
I don’t do either, for me it’s hard
enough to write this occasional
column, but evidently I'm in the
minority.
Blogging is a relatively new
phenomenon, according to most.
Everybody has an opinion and they
are not afraid to share it, especially
if they can remain anonymous.
As for twitter - to be truthful
I’m really not sure what that is.
I just heard about it a few weeks
ago and now it seems as if that’s
all everybody's talking about.
Newscasters are “twittering” with
viewers; there’s supposedly even
a mounting problem with jurors
“twittering” with outsiders during
court cases, causing some cases to
be thrown out.
And people are evidently blog
ging and twittering about their
every move - what they had for
breakfast, what their day was like,
what they wore, etc.
Excuse me, but I just don’t think
anyone wants to hear (or read)
about what I had for breakfast or
wore to work, etc. and I don’t feel
the need to tell anyone about it.
Who has time (or feels the need) to
read or write about all that stuff?
Are you a twit?
Close
to
i\ i
Home
L
By Margie Richards
I grew up on the “party line”
which I guess in itself could be
a form of twittering or blogging,
since if you weren't careful what
you said, it could be broadcast
faster than the speed of the internet
all over the community. (Those
of you who remember party lines
know exactly what I mean.)
As far as the written word. I've
always thought that it held little
value unless it had your name
applied to it. For example, if you
write an editorial for this news
paper, you must provide your
name, address and phone number
for verification purposes. But you
can comment all the livelong day
on websites (including ours) as
“anonymous.”
But two commentators on CBS’s
Sunday Morning this week had a
different point of view. These two
fellows. Josh Landis and Mitch
Butler, are of the opinion that
today’s news business is starting to
look surprisingly like the old days.
As an example, they pointed to
America's first multi-page news
paper, “Publick Occurrences, Both
Forreign and Domestick,” which
was published in Boston in 1690.
It had three typed pages, with the
fourth and last page left blank.
According to them, this was done
on purpose so readers could add
their own comments about the sto
ries or their own news items and
pass their copy along to their neigh
bors and friends.
The paper was supposed to be
published monthly or “if any glut
of occurrences happen, oftener.”
But, unfortunately, that first issue
was the only “glut of occurrences”
allowed to be printed. The govern
ment shut it down because it con
tained “reflections of a very high
nature,” whatever that means, and
because the publisher had failed to
obtain a license. In other words, the
powers that be didn't like it.
It was 14 years before the next
newspaper was printed and after
the Revolution the advent of the
primitive printing press allowed the
newspaper industiy to grow, with
advertisers on board to foot the
bill.
And their views do have some
merit. For example, old issues of
The Danielsville Monitor contain
world and national news, and some
times the latest scandal. News was
often written in a manner we would
consider litigious today, with details
that definitely fall into the category
of unverified, at best. The bulk
of the paper contained numerous
advertisements, along with a slew
of community doings (and some
gossip) from every comer of the
county, usually without mention of
who the author was.
So here we are over 300 years
later and newspapers as we know
them are becoming a product of
the past.
But, I guess there’s also the idea
that everything old is new again.
As Landis and Butler pointed out,
“first there were many voices, then
there were a few, now there are
many again” all telling their opin
ions and stories, just in a new
format. Only time will tell what
this new age of blogging, twittering
and “facebooking” and the like will
bring, and whether we’ll be the bet
ter, or worse, for it.
Margie Richards is a reporter and
office manager for The Madison
County Journal,
Is the drought giant really dead?
Can we really declare the worst
drought in at least 50 years to be
over?
Despite some news stories to
the contrary, I think it is prema
ture to be having drought obitu
aries printed. I do believe that
the drought has definitely been
knocked out. It may not rear its
ugly head again. But dead? Not
so fast, my friend.
Let’s look at the facts. For the
years 2006-08, we were below
average on rain an astonishing
44.72”. This is only 71 percent of
the average for those three years.
For the three years 1999-2001,
we missed another 37.45” of rain.
During the respite of 2002-05,
we had a small surplus of about
11 inches.
Weather
wise
By Mark Jenkins
Since the real long-term
drought began in 1998 we have
racked up a total deficit in rain
of, are you ready for this, over
71 inches. This mind-numbing
figure is the true picture of where
we stand in terms of rainfall
numbers. Now to be fair and bal
anced, we started this drought in
the summer of 1998 with very
wet conditions after one of the
strongest El Nino episodes in
modem history. But the empiri
cal evidence seen as recently as
last summer of dry creeks, and
record low lake and river levels
was an overwhelming witness of
the ferocity of this drought.
On the bright side, we had
a fantastic March for moisture.
It was our fourth wettest since
1982, and the rain was wide
spread over a large part of the
southeastern states. Most of
Georgia had five to 10 inches
for the month, with more heavy
rains the first two days of April.
The ground is as wet as I have
seen it in maybe four years,
lakes are coming up and rivers
are high.
We really may have turned a big
corner. But this wet trend needs
to continue as a regular feature
for at least four or five more
months before we can check the
pulse of the giant drought and
call for the undertaker. Drought
dented? Yes. Drought dead? Not
yet.
Weather averages for March,
2009: Avg. low: 42. Avg. high: 62.
Lowest: 17.Highest: 81. Mean:
52.1 (-1.1). Total precipitation:
7.79” (+2.74”). Total Snow: 8.1”
(new all-time record). 2009 total
to March 31: 14.83” (+0.20”).
Mark Jenkins is the cooperative
weather obser\>er for Madison
County. He provides a monthly
weather column to The Madison
County Journal.
The Madison
County Journal
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Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $4450/year
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Letter to the Editor
Thankful for support from the community
Dear Editor:
Our family would like to thank
our community. Moon’s Grove
Baptist Church, Mr. and Mrs.
Gene Seagraves, Mrs. Montie
Burroughs, Mr. and Mrs. Keith
McElroy, Ms. Anne Sisk and Mrs.
Griffith and many more for the
outpouring of love and sympathy
shown to us in our time of bereave
ment in the passing of Jeannine S.
Hall. Mr. Lanier and Jeannine Hall
lived on Moon’s Grove Church
Road at the Old Rice Family Farm
for many years and loved their
neighbors, church community and
friends. Mr. Hall is now resid
ing in Tennille and will dearly
miss his wife. She was a won
derful, caring mother, sister, aunt
and grandmother (Nanny) to her
grandchildren. We have some of
the best cooks in Madison County,
we had family from Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania staying with us and
they just couldn’t believe how our
community came to us at this time.
They said in their town people
were different. I’m very proud of
our community and ever so glad to
be living among the finest people
you could ever meet.
Thank you from the bottom of
our hearts.
Sincerely,
Ruff and Pam Smith, Apryl
Jeannine Smith and Jordan
Marable, Whit and Julianne
Smith and Bob, Susan and Justin
Aspenleiter