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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 9, 2009
I
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
‘Sarah’s Revenge’ aimed
at radical leftists
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Alaska Governor
Sarah Palin has done the unexpected again. She
has not only decided not to seek re-election to the
office of Governor, she will not even complete
her current term.
The pundits and blogosphere are in an uproar.
Some say she has made a bold move. Others say
she has destroyed any chance of ever becoming
president. Those who subjected her to vicious
attacks in an effort to drive her out of office are
now condemning her for “abandoning Alaska.” I
have been listening to all the comments from all
sides of the political aisle and I am convinced that
none of them have a clue as to her plans.
Now let me be clear. I do not have any inside
information. I know just as little as any of the
others. But I think I may have an idea of what
she is thinking.
Sarah Palin has been seriously hurt by the
vicious attacks on herself and especially her fam
ily. I think she wants to take the political assas
sins on and inflict as much pain on them as they
have on her. And the best way to do that is to take
away their most prized victories.
The radical left has finally managed to seize
control of the U.S. Federal government. And they
are working hard and fast to use their power to
force their socialist agenda on the nation. They
know that the majority of Americans do not
approve of their plans. They know that their pro
gram can only weaken this nation by inflicting
heavy damage to our cultural, political and eco
nomic resources. By doing so, it will give them
a chance to lock in their insidious plans making
it more and more difficult for we the people to
reverse their actions.
“Sarah’s Revenge” can be best accomplished
by helping to defeat congressional left-wing
radicals and replace them with people who will
defend the American tradition of limited govern
ment, state sovereignty, respect for the constitu
tion, low taxes, and individual responsibility. She
has the tools to do this. She is very appealing and
always draws a large crowd. She is a powerful
fund-raiser, and whether or not it is a good thing,
money is a key to political victories. She is good
at building organizations to solve specific prob
lems. She has already accomplished the majority
of her agenda for Alaska with over a year left to
go in her term.
If it is Sarah Plain’s plan to drive the radicals
out of Congress, and I believe that is what she
intends to do, then she has all the tools to lead
that effort. And she does not need to be an office
holder in order to accomplish that task. Just the
opposite is true. With no prescribed responsibili
ties, she will be free to concentrate all her time
and energy to achieving her goal. Nor will she
need to be active in any political party. She only
needs to represent the ideas and goals of her
mission. The less encumbered she is, the more
successful her efforts will be.
I think we will be seeing a lot of Sarah Palin
between now and November 2010. And the
result may well be the reinstatement of our great
American revolution.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is frank-
gillispie671@msn.com. His website can be
accessed at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
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A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Jackson’s relation with fame was dysfunctional, but so is ours
Michael Jackson’s death was
big news, but somewhere along
the way, the nation’s reaction
turned “off the wall.”
The 24/7 media coverage is
interpreted by many as a true
reflection of Jackson’s impor
tance. But I take the cynical
view, believing that the over-
the-top coverage is yet another
example of profit-driven “info
tainment” overshadowing civic-
minded journalism. Remember
how Anna Nicole Smith’s death
was a bigger deal than the surge
in Iraq? At least it appeared that
way if you watched TV, didn’t
it?
No national news outlet wants
to give up a vast gossip-driven
audience to another organization.
So they’ll ride celebrity news
beyond its appropriate lifespan,
choking it until there’s nothing
left to squeeze, repeating them
selves until enough people are
finally too bored or nauseated
to tune in — or until another
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
spectacle bumps it aside.
Jackson surely deserved a
level of fame. He was the sharp
est dancer many of us have ever
seen. His songs were catchy. He
could really sing.
Of course, Jackson seemed to
take on a more ghoulish look
the older he got, as if he aimed
to get back to his Thriller video
as an extra. The bizarre outward
appearance seemed to reflect a
twisted inner self, one that both
sought spectacle and hid from it.
He was a strange character that
few people, if anyone, really
knew. He invited boys to sleep
in his bed. And I don’t care how
you spin it, that’s weird and very
troubling, the first thing that
comes to my mind now when I
hear his name.
But when I look at the hype
surrounding his death, I don’t
think people are mourning
Jackson as much as they are
celebrating fame itself. Jackson
held a dysfunctional relation
ship with fame. And I think this
country does too.
Much of the nation glorifies
fame more than anything else,
seeing the attention of a big
audience as the ultimate affir
mation in life, whether the fame
is well-earned or not.
People will gladly humiliate
themselves just to get in the
spotlight. If someone from TV
comes our way, they hold a
certain aura. They may not be a
decent person at all. They may
be quite terrible. But if they are
touched with stardom, they hold
something we don’t have. And
we have a basic envy of them.
The fame is the first thing we
see. And I believe for many,
it’s the only thing they see. Any
flaw in that star’s persona is
overshadowed by the aura of
fame. If we can get in on that
glow, we don’t care if it gets
us dirty. Just get in on it. Wow,
fame! I touched it.
We might not have really
known what Michael Jackson
was, but we knew one thing for
sure: he was famous, probably
more famous than anyone on
the planet in my lifetime, save
maybe Elvis.
What does that fame mean?
Not much to some.
Everything to others.
We live in a world that elevates
stars to a point of perversion,
while often ignoring and taking
for granted those around us who
shine out of the spotlight.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
From drought to dry
Wouldn’t you know it. The
ink had barely dried from last
month’s article declaring the
end of the long, hard drought
and the weather pattern returns
to a hot, mostly dry pattern.
Oh well, leave it to the weath
er forecasters to know how
to eat their own words bet
ter than anyone else! While it
may appear that the drought
has returned (or never left), let
me hastily say that we are still
above average (if only barely)
in rainfall for the year at the
end of June. This by itself is
a victory, even if the last two
weeks of June were hot and
mostly dry.
The first half of June brought
only two days of 90 or above,
with rainfall a little below nor
mal. Lawns, gardens and pas
tures were looking good. After
strong to severe storms moved
Weather
wise
By Mark Jenkins
through in the early morning
of the 18th bringing heavy rain
to most sections, a large, hot,
high pressure area settled over
the Mississippi region. This
put us in the dreaded west or
northwest flow in the summer,
which signals drier and hotter
than average weather.
This huge high has been the
dominant weather feature over
most of the nation from Arizona
to Nebraska to Georgia ever
since. Starting on June 18, we
baked with 14 straight days of
90+ degree highs until July 2
with a high of 89. Meanwhile,
around the high, persistent
low pressure kept the folks in
the northeast states cool and
soggy. While our gardens that
looked so beautiful a month
ago are shriveling, the resi
dents of the northeast are hav
ing disease problems from too
much rain and not enough sun.
Most sections of the south
from Texas to Georgia had a
hot and dry June. By contrast
places like Asheville, Charlotte
and Nashville were all above
average in rainfall, while
Chattanooga had its third driest
June on record!
Even though we are in a long
dry spell, it does not mean the
drought is back, at least not yet.
A few days ago, some of the
long range models were pre
dicting the demise of the high
pressure area and a decided
increase in moisture for our
area. That has since changed
and now the latest forecasts for
two weeks out indicate a return
to hot and dry weather for most
of the deep South. Let’s hope
for at least more rain in July.
The heat? Well, this is Georgia,
you know. Would you expect
mild and sunny in Michigan in
January?
Weather averages for June
2009: Avg. low: 67. Avg. high:
89. Lowest: 59. Highest: 94
(3 days). Mean: 77.9 (+1.8).
Total rainfall: 2.60” (-1.82”).
2009 total to June 30: 25.73”
(+0.08”)
Mark Jenkins is the coop
erative weather observer for
Madison County. He provides
a monthly weather column to
The Madison County Journal.
Charter schools are not the magic formula
Everybody loves charter
schools. Republicans and
Democrats alike say that char
ter schools are a great idea
that can solve all the prob
lems of our public education
system.
“We’re looking for innova
tion, we’re looking for cre
ativity,” said Republican Gov.
Sonny Perdue as he signed a
bill that lets school systems
apply for charter status. “This
legislation will allow innova
tive local systems to apply the
same techniques that charter
schools have used to generate
academic success.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Casey
Cagle supports charter schools
so strongly that he pushed for
adoption of the legislation that
allows local school boards to
operate as charter systems.
“I believe in charter schools,”
then-governor Roy Barnes said
in a2002 speech. “Traditionally,
they use innovative means to
meet high goals. They encour
age children to learn and par
ents to be involved.”
Another Democrat, President
Barack Obama, said during his
campaign last year, “we should
be experimenting with charter
schools . . . I’ve consistently
said, we need to support char
ter schools.”
Charter schools are public
schools that are typically orga
nized by parents and commu
nity leaders. The schools are
freed from some of the rules
and regulations that apply to
public schools in exchange for
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
an agreement to produce speci
fied results from their students.
There are now more than 100
charter schools in Georgia.
Charter schools are seen
by many as the formula for
success in education. But are
they? Independent studies of
charter schools show that they
may not be quite the silver bul
let people think they are.
A report just released by
the Center for Research on
Education Outcomes (CREDO)
at Stanford University ana
lyzed data from more than
2,400 charter schools in 16
states, including Georgia. The
CREDO report found that stu
dents in charter schools, as a
whole, are “not faring as well
as students in traditional public
schools.”
Only one in six charter
schools - 17 percent - had
academic gains that were sig
nificantly better than tradi
tional public schools, while
37 percent of charter schools
showed gains that were worse
than their public school coun
terparts. Nearly half of the
charter schools - 46 percent
- showed no significant differ
ence between the performance
of their students and public
school students.
“The problem of quality is
the most pressing issue that
charter schools and their sup
porters face,” the study said.
Georgia was among the
states where the performance
gains made by charter school
students were “no different
than the gains for traditional
school peers,” according to the
report.
Other studies have shown
similar results for charter
school performance.
An analysis of test data by
the U.S. Education Department
during the administration of
George W. Bush showed that
charter school students gener
ally did not perform as well as
those in regular public schools.
The federal study said charter
students scored significant
ly lower than regular public
school students in math, while
in reading there was no statisti
cally significant difference.
“It must be acknowledged
that charter schools have a
very mixed record,” said Tim
Callahan of the Professional
Association of Georgia
Educators, one of the state’s
largest education groups.
“Some do better than pub
lic schools, some do worse.
Most do about the same. This
is hardly a transformational
change.”
In recent years, Georgia has
been diverting a large share
of the taxpayers’ money away
from traditional public schools
towards the funding of charter
schools. The state Department
of Education - under the lead
ership of Supt. Kathy Cox -
doesn’t seem to have done a
very good job of monitoring
how these schools are using
the money.
An audit released earlier
this year by the state audi
tor’s office said the department
does not adequately monitor
charter schools to make sure
they comply with the terms of
their charter. Auditors said the
department’s charter school
division has yet to comply
with a 1998 state law requir
ing an independent review of
whether charter schools are
meeting required standards.
“You have to be very care
ful about the accountability of
charter schools — once they
get all this freedom, once
they get all this flexibility,
you have to be sure there are
accountability standards,”
said Jeff Hubbard, president
of the Georgia Association of
Educators.
“If it’s done well,” Hubbard
added, “charter schools can be
fantastic. But accountability is
the missing piece of the puzzle
here in Georgia.”
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news ser
vice at www. gareport. com that
covers government and politics
in Georgia. He can be reached
at tcrawford@ capitolimpact.
net.