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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 29. 2009
4 Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Children will be
children — even
in government
Have you ever watched a group of children
playing? You will see all kinds of conduct on the
playground. Some kids believe they have a right
to rule over the others. Some are so spoiled that
they min the games for the rest. Some of them
are bullies and some are even thieves.
For example, say there are children playing in
a room. They cannot agree on which game to
play, so one group storms out of the room. But
on the way out they lock the doors to prevent the
other group from playing there as well. It is the
old “If I can't have my way, I will take my ball
and leave” trick.
On another play area, one group demands that
the game of their choice be played, and when
the others object, they start insulting them and
calling them childish names. Some take this
to an extreme, obtaining great pleasure out of
making the other kids cry.
Then there are the bullies. These kids try to
use force and intimidation to gain control of the
play area and impose their games on the others.
And, of course, there are the extreme bullies
who make great efforts to steal the other kids'
lunch money.
Now, those of you who watch real news rather
than the slanted propaganda so common on TV
today have already figured out who I am talk
ing about. And I suspect that you are the only
ones who read my column. I write for people
who think for themselves, not those who devote
themselves to parroting the party line of then-
leaders.
So, what do we need to do? First, we need to
find all the children in our government, espe
cially the ones who occupy grownup bodies,
and sent them back out to the sand boxes where
they can play their silly games without doing
any real harm. Then we need to establish a set of
political time limits so that when we mistakenly
send a child to do an adult job, we can correct
the problem within a reasonable time.
We need to break up the two big gangs that
these childlike adults use to boost their power
so that mature people have a chance to take
responsibility for our actual children and then-
future. Then we need to make sure everyone has
a strong zipper in their pockets so that the bul
lies can no longer steal the money we are saving
for our children’s future.
I often hear statements about educating our
young people so that they can take control of
the nation when their time comes. But worrying
about their future is pointless if we continue on
the path of destruction that will assure they have
no future to control.
Only when the childlike antics in Washington
are ended and we are allowed to be responsible
for ourselves and our families, will our children
have a chance to build a future of their own.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@
frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed
at http://www.frankgiUispie.com/gillispieonline.
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
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $44.50/year
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Senior rate $2 off all above rates
College student discount rate $2 off all above
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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.
Deek, grab your mask and head to Jacksonville
When it was fourth and short,
I turned to see the face of the
neighboring Georgia fan sud
denly swallowed in a leathery
pouch of middle-aged fan fury.
The ghoulish mask was intend
ed to support the team, but at a
first glance, it looked like the
guy had suffered a severe burn.
He shouted his muffled support
through the two-tone head orna
ment. If this fellow was a moti
vator for the guys on the field,
it was the kind of jolt “Jason”
— of the horror flick — might
give you, that extra jump in the
tailback’s step coming with the
fear of fan freakdom from sec
tion 210.
The fellow took the mask off
and passed it to his kid. “You
watch this,” the guy said, elbow
ing my friend. “Deek’s going to
fire 'em up. Get ‘em Deek!”
I’ve enjoyed going to games
with my dad in years past. But
I don’t want to share that mask-
exchange kind of closeness with
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach
him. I thought of my father
passing his CPAP mask for sleep
apnea to me. I believe I’ll skip
that kind of fellowship.
Of course, the kids will wear
their own masks Saturday for
Halloween. And so will some of
the adults down in Jacksonville.
If you think about it, football
Saturdays in the South are kind
of a Halloween for grown men.
People adorn their body, their
homes, their vehicles with their
colors. It’s like a tame version
of gang life. You got your col
ors. I got mine. But the fights
usually aren't on the streets. No,
the violence is generally of the
cyber variety, the blog smack
talking. It's the “you're-mama's-
so-ugly” mentality transferred to
collegiate allegiance.
Georgia’s fan base is as rabid
as any. Some jump in for the
hate talk. Some know all the
answers. Some are blindly loyal
to coaches, while some are never
happy with coaches despite a
team's success. Then there are
some who are just glad to be
in the middle of it all, along
for the ride. Perhaps the most
famous of those fans is from
Madison County. Mike “Big
Dawg” Woods carries on a fam
ily tradition of painting his bald
head like a Bulldog. Actually
his wife does the artwork. And
I’d say the top of Woods’ head
is second in line to Uga as far
as familiar Bulldog mugs. Just
as CBS will surely show Uga
chilling out on some ice on the
sideline, I'll guarantee the net
work will cut to Woods pointing
to his own painted head early in
the game Saturday. That man is
everywhere.
Still, it's going to take a lot
more than red and black body
paint to cover up the orange
and blue Saturday. The annual
trip to Jacksonville has become
an end-of-October hex on the
Georgia program. There may not
be such a thing as the boogey-
man. However, if he exists, he
has an annual reservation in the
Georgia locker room down in
Florida.
But this team is haunted by
other phantoms this season,
from a phantom defense to a
phantom celebration penalty on
what should have been a game
winning touchdown.
So here’s hoping the other
guys get spooked for a change
this Halloween.
Deek, where are you? Grab
your mask.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Mitcham
Does anybody care about congressional races?
You would think people would
be fired up about the congres
sional races on tap for next year,
considering that Republicans will
be trying to reverse their election
losses of 2006 and 2008 while
Democrats will be trying to pro
tect their majority status.
Looking around the political
landscape, however, it seems most
Georgia voters will be more than
happy to sleep through the 2010
round of congressional elections.
Every incumbent who runs for
another term next year will prob
ably be reelected - which was
also the case in 2008.
The one exception is the 9th
Congressional District in the
northeast, where veteran Rep.
Nathan Deal is stepping down to
ran for governor.
The race in this heavily
Republican district has attracted
at least nine candidates who say
they’ll ran for Deal’s seat. The
latest campaign disclosure reports
for the quarter ending Sept. 30
show that three people are pulling
away from the rest of the field, as
far as the money is concerned.
The early frontrunners in fund
raising are state Sen. Lee Hawkins
(R-Gainesville), former legislator
Mike Evans of Cumming and state
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger).
Hawkins has raised $301,000,
a total that includes $145,300
that he loaned to his campaign.
Graves raised $279,600, none of
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
it his own money, while Evans
pulled in contributions totaling
$202,500.
For first-time candidates in a
congressional race where the pri
mary election is still nine months
away, those are fairly impressive
totals.
Graves and Evans are both
burning through their campaign
cash a little faster than Hawkins.
Graves has spent $85,600 and still
had nearly $194,000 in the bank.
Evans has spent $79,000 and had
$123,000 left in his campaign
account. Hawkins spent the more
modest amount of $20,000 and
had the most available cash of the
three candidates with $280,000.
Former state senator Bill
Stephens of Cherokee County is
still an announced candidate in
the race, but his fundraising has
been slow. He raised a little over
$20,000 during the third quar
ter for a total this year of only
$61,000. If he's serious about
running, he will have to pump up
those fund-raising efforts.
When you venture outside the
9th District, the other members of
Georgia’s House delegation seem
to be in good shape. The voters
are either happy with their perfor
mance or just don’t care.
Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey
and Tom Price, who have no sig
nificant opposition on the hori
zon, are sitting on the largest piles
of cash of any congressmen.
Gingrey reported raising
$609,000 last quarter and had the
amazing total of $1.12 million
in his campaign account. Price
raised $817,000 and had more
then $689,000 still available to
spend.
With that kind of money in the
bank and more on the way from
healthcare interests. Price and
Gingrey don’t have to worry.
In Southwest Georgia's 2nd
Congressional District, state Rep.
Mike Keown (R-Coolidge) is
mounting a challenge to longtime
Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop
of Albany.
Keown has raised $105,000,
which is not bad for a first-time
challenger. Bishop, who has won
reelection decisively over under
financed candidates in recent
campaign cycles, had nearly three
times as much cash available for
the race: $289,994. That's a big
margin to make up.
Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, a
Blue Dog Democrat who’s been
a favorite target of Republican
operatives in past elections, has
$425,000 in the bank right now.
Neither of the Republicans who
have said they will ran in the
GOP primary in this district have
even filed a contribution report.
Rep. John Barrow of Savannah
is another Blue Dog Democrat in
a strong financial position, with a
campaign war chest of $529,000.
Thunderbolt fire chief Carl Smith,
an announced GOP candidate,
only raised $2,135 last quarter
and another potential GOP candi
date, Jeanne Seaver, has not filed
a disclosure report.
Republican Rep. Paul Broun of
Athens has also been an energetic
fund-raiser, with almost $852,000
in contributions and no major
opposition to worry about, at least
at this point in time. Broun is still
saddled with massive debts from
his 2007 and 2008 races in the
10th District. Although he has
paid down some of the debt, he
still owes more than $272,000.
When you consider all those
dollar amounts, it looks like 2010
will be a safe year for congres
sional incumbents - and a boring
year for most voters.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
Capitol Impact's Georgia Report,
an Internet news sen’ice at www.
gareport.com that covers govern
ment and politics in Georgia. He
can be reached at tcrawford@
capitolimpact.net.
Letters to the Editor
Justice is not always found in the courts
Dear Editor:
In response to the Oct. 22 edi
tion, I had to respond to “Victim's
family expresses disappoint
ment in ‘not guilty' verdict.” It
is indeed a sad day when a guilty
person walks free. I wish that I
could tell you that it would have
been a different verdict if it had
been a judge who decided, but
I can’t.
Having recently helped some
one whom for her safety was
forced to file a temporary pro
tection order, only to find that,
unless there is proven physical
violence or death, the person who
the TPO is against can violate it
over and over in numerous ways.
And you can get to court only
to find a quick decision is made
with no regard for the fact that
you have evidence backed by law
enforcement and others that will
not even get listened to.
Apparently money is short
all over Madison County. The
jail stays full and the Madison
County Sheriff's Office does
their best to get the criminals in
there. But, many are given a slap
on the hand, warning and/or fine
when they get to court over and
over again. So having repeated
alcohol and drug offenders on
our streets doesn't surprise me.
It only sickens me. The system
is overloaded and broken in my
opinion and I don't know when
or if it will change.
To the family of Summer Faith
Shenk, you have my deepest sym
pathy. And I know you will suffer
for years knowing this man is on
the street and may do this again.
Sincerely,
Janie Massey
Danielsville
Thanks to Lions Club members and
volunteers for a special fair week
Dear Editor:
I read the editorial from Teresa Dove in
last week's Madison County Journal where
she was expressing appreciation to everyone
who attended and participated in this year’s
fair.
That was very kind but allow me to express
my opinion as to who should be thanking
who. It is everyone who had the opportunity
to experience an event that has become a
tradition in Madison County who should
thank you, Lions Club members and vol
unteers, who work so hard to give us this
special week.
We all should be aware that the fair
does not just happen; it takes an enormous
amount of time and energy by a count
less number of our fellow citizens working
mostly behind the scenes to give this to the
community and, I for one, want to take the
opportunity to express publicly my family’s
appreciation for your hard work.
Sincerely,
Steve Sorrells
Comer
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Or you can mail a letter to us at P.O. Box
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office across from the county government
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