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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 12, 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
A little rebellion
can be a good thing
In a letter to James Madison written from Paris,
on January 30th, 1787, Thomas Jefferson had this
to say:
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a
good thing, and as necessary in the political world
as stoims in the physical... It is a medicine neces
sary for the sound health of government.”
This statement is just as applicable today as it
was in the aftermath of Shay’s Rebellion, which
Jefferson was addressing. A rebellion by the voters
is what we need today and a rebellion by the voters
is well underway.
The rebellion has been underway for some time
now with brief periods of conflict that were most
often put down by the power of the federal govern
ment. But a year ago, it broke out with strength.
Voters were tired of their voices being ignored. On
the right, they were angry about candidates who
campaign as conservatives, then govern from the
center-left. When John McCain was nominated,
they saw him as being at best a moderate, and
expressed their displeasure by staying home in
2008. On the left, voters were tiled of leaders
who campaigned as liberals then govern from the
center-right. Obama campaigned center-left, but
the radicals were convinced that his rhetoric was a
political necessity and once in office he would push
the nation to the far left. They were partly right.
A number of Republican legislators ran into
the same problem. The result was a Democratic
sweep. And a government that, while not pushing
as hard as the radical left wishes, is still hying to
change our nation into a socialist Mecca.
The conservative gamble may be paying off.
Obama’s rush to the left is leaving a large majority
of voters out in the cold. They are turning to the
more conservative voices for guidance. They are
launching street demonstrations featuring thou
sands of people who were never before active in
political matters. And in Virginia and New Jersey,
they threw out the ruling Democrats for conserva
tive republicans. This was a great surprise in heav
ily democratic New Jersey.
In upstate New York, a liberal Republican was
pressured so strongly by a third party conservative,
that she withdrew and threw her suppoit to the
liberal Democrat. This move managed to hold the
seat for the left, but just barely.
This whole experience has left voters in all
states and at all levels in an angry mood. They
are not overly interested in supporting candidates,
as they are kicking out the current offices hold
ers for new blood. That happened a year ago in
Madison County when the two key elected offi
cials, Chairman of the Board, and Sheriff, were
replaced by new faces. Then just this month, voters
removed two of our county’s mayors by two to
one votes.
As Jefferson said, a little rebellion can be a good
thing. In the current political climate it is essential if
we are to preserve our individual liberty.
For those of you who would like to see the
Jefferson quote in context. I am posting the com
plete letter on my web page at http://ffankgillispie.
com.
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.frankgillispie.coni/gillispieonlme.
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
rates
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
The power of tears
I'm going to talk about crying.
Forgive me, but I've heard a lot of
it lately.
Of course, tears are our language
before language. The wailing of a
baby is the siren that forces you
off the road of sleep. There is the
hunger, the pain, the whatever that
causes it. And you must respond.
I think of my friend’s mom, who
just retired after having her own
day care practice for close to three
decades. She cared for multiple kids
each day, alone, with only two hands
and one set of nerves. As a teen, I'd
see her with those kids and shrug
my shoulders. No big deal. Now,
I'm amazed at her Cal Ripken-esque
feat of child care endurance.
People like her are of a tougher
mettle than me. I hear crying and it
sets me on edge. I know it is just a
fact of life, but I can’t help but feel
a desperation at times when our
children are wailing. When there
is a screaming child in the house,
it definitely raises the tension level.
It consumes our thoughts. I have
paced the house a lot recently with
11 lbs. in my arms, bobbing up and
down with shushing noises. Our
little boy is already showing a sweet
nature. He smiles a lot, particularly
at his mother. It’s fun to watch his
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach
reaction when she comes in the
room. He offers his own language
to her. He turns his head to watch
where she moves. But our child is
like many others. His stomach is
not mature. He has pains. I would
not classify it as colic, because it’s
inconsistent. Some days are much
better than others. But on those bad
days, man, it can get rough.
Meanwhile, his 4-year-old sister is
so excited over the smallest things,
like a trip to KFC or a new tooth
brush. It is really fun. But the flip
side is the easy tears. The disap
pointment in a sweet snack denied
can set off a temporary crying tan
trum. And we have to stop what
we’re doing and do our best to set
her straight. That usually involves a
“timeout” in a room by herself. It’s
hard to keep her from crying, but
we can control where she does it.
You get the two children going at
once and it makes for a really hectic
household.
Anyway, I know the days of con
stant childhood tears will go away. I
will surely miss these days despite
the tears. I think of how we cry
less and less as we get older, but
the occasions for tears mean much
more. There are those sad things
none of us escape. I try not to spend
my life in dread of that, but it's
there. There are also the tears that
come with powerful joy. I think of
my father and my father-in-law and
how their eyes looked a couple of
months ago as they stood bedside
with their grandson. That's some
thing I’ll always hold.
We often hear people say some
thing brought them to tears. But
I don't always believe they mean
actual tears. I think there are vary
ing degrees of crying. There is the
full on thing. But there is also that
first surge of emotion, the choke in
the throat. There are the things that
don’t even cause that, but that make
you think of tears.
It can be little things. I remem
ber standing in an antique store
in the town of Madison, thumbing
through old black and white photos
of strangers. The old shots were
for sale for several cents each, per
haps just discards from old family
albums. I recall one picture of two
couples in lengthy bathing suits.
They reclined in the sand before an
old timey car. It could have been
Daytona. That’s where we always
went, because that's where my
father’s father always took them. I
stared at that shot for a long time,
and the way one woman laughed
shuck me. She was from a time long
gone, but the humor was real, not
posed, and what set her off is like
something lost in the ocean. I pur
chased the shadow of her moment
for a few coins. Old photos can
seem poignant, even if it's folks you
don’t know. We recognize some
thing familiar in their faces.
Nowadays, we work pretty hard
to soothe young tears. It can be a
constant plugging of a pacifier in the
night, a small, heated pad strapped
around a stomach. But what works
once isn’t guaranteed the next time.
Sometimes I get lucky though. “You
see the light, the light?” And we’ll
stand by the lamp in his room with
him staring and staring for as long as
I can bear to hold him.
It’s nice when it’s that simple.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Mitcham
Why is it that sometimes we travel
all around the world, figuratively or
literally, to see beauty when beauty
is right in front of our faces?
That’s what I feel like I’ve done
this past week.
A few days ago, I took a long over
due road trip with my pals Virginia
and Shirley. We headed in our usual
direction - north to the mountains.
While we had a good time (we
always have fun when we’re togeth
er), the drive through the mountains
was anything but relaxing. Traffic
was backed up all along the way
- crossing the highway on foot to
visit some shops was, let’s say, an
exhilarating experience. We made
our usual stop at a vegetable stand in
Dillard, standing in line for a while
to buy cabbages and other mountain
produce.
But the trees were beginning to
turn, and that, as always, was a beau
tiful sight.
The real relaxing part of the day
was a stop for lunch at Isabel’s in
Tallulah Falls - a beautiful old ante-
Backyard beauty
Close
to
Home
By Margie Richards
bellum home that serves good food
and has great views. Another friend
treated me to lunch there back in the
summer and I’ve been wanting to
go back ever since. It was sad to see
that the house is for sale - seems you
can’t escape signs of the rough time
we’re in anywhere you go.
On my way back in that evening,
after dropping off the girls, I noticed
that the trees here, to a lesser degree,
were also beginning to turn - with
the maples catching fire in the late
evening sun.
Then, with a couple of days off
this past week, Charles and I decided
to take a short ride north ourselves.
The day’s weather forecast promised
clouds, but no rain, not until at least
after midnight.
As it has been more often than not
lately, that forecast turned out to be
dead wrong. The further north we
drove, the darker the clouds got. By
the time we reached Helen, a steady
rain had set in. We stopped for lunch
at West Family Restaurant between
Helen and Cleveland, (another good
place to eat) and decided to ride
further north.
We turned on to Hwy. 197 - my
favorite mountain road - and took
the twists and turns through valleys
rimmed with color, the leaves fall
ing across the road in golden bursts.
It was beautiful. We rode by Lake
Burton, watching the rain and the fall
ing leaves dot the water. Eventually,
we turned toward Clayton, where we
saw the mountains dappled in color,
despite the rain, which had slowed
to a slight drizzle. If the sun had
been out, I know the predominately
yellow leaves would have glittered
like spun gold. We rode with the
windows partially down for a while,
savoring the clean air laced with
whiffs of delicious wood smoke.
After we turned south on Hwy.
441, the rain set in so steady that
there was little to see, except to keep
our eyes on the road.
Then this afternoon, Sunday, with
the rain finally gone for a spell, I
sat out on the back deck and looked
around me - there were the reds and
the golds of autumn - the late after
noon sunlight making them glisten.
I could smell wood smoke, partly
from our own firepit, and partly from
a neighbor’s chimney. And I mar
veled at the peacefulness, found here
in my own backyard.
It just goes to show that sometimes
what you’re looking for is just out
side your own windows, requiring
nothing but a moment of awareness.
Margie Richards is a reporter and
office manager for The Madison
County Journal.
The healthcare debate will not end soon
If you’re sick and tired of
all the shouting and bickering
about healthcare reform, I’ve
got some bad news for you.
The issue will continue dom
inating the news for the next
several weeks as Congress tries
to decide which version of a
healthcare reform bill it will
finally adopt.
Even if something does pass
and is signed by President
Barack Obama before the end
of the year, rest assured that
healthcare reform will be men
tioned quite often in Georgia’s
election campaigns next year.
There was a major develop
ment in the issue last Saturday
with the narrow passage of
a healthcare bill by the U.S.
House. All seven of Georgia’s
Republican House members
voted against it and it’s safe to
say that each GOP lawmaker
absolutely hates this bill.
The House member who hates
the measure the most could
well be Rep. Nathan Deal of
Gainesville. For Deal, that could
a good thing. Healthcare reform
gives him a red-meat issue he
can throw out to the Republican
base in next year’s primary elec
tion for governor.
Deal is campaigning hard
for the GOP nomination but
he still lags behind Insurance
Commissioner John Oxendine
in the early polls.
Oxendine has maintained that
polling lead largely because of
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
his success in appealing to the
party’s Christian conservative
voters. These are Republicans
who oppose abortion, don’t like
the trend of immigrants mov
ing into Georgia, don’t believe
Barack Obama is a native-born
U.S. citizen, and support the
idea that states can ignore feder
al legislation if they so choose.
Healthcare reform gives Deal
a platform to make the case
that he’s just as conservative as
Oxendine on nearly all of those
issues.
During the House debate
over the healthcare bill. Deal
appealed directly to voters who
think "state sovereignty" trumps
the authority of the federal gov
ernment.
"What authority in the United
States Constitution gives this
Congress the right to mandate
that every citizen must purchase
a health insurance policy, and
upon failing to do so shall be
fined and possibly imprisoned?"
Deal asked. "I think the answer
to that question is — there is no
such constitutional authority."
Deal also raised the specter of
undocumented immigrants get
ting healthcare benefits under
the Democrats’ proposed plan.
"Make no mistake about it
— illegal aliens will receive
government-funded healthcare
under this bill because all they
are required to show is a Social
Security number and a name,"
Deal said. "If you think identity
theft is a problem now, just wait
until this bill passes!"
Deal doesn't need the health
care issue to make his pitch
to the "birthers" who believe
Obama was really born in
Kenya. He disclosed last week
that he and several other House
members will send a letter to the
president asking him to release
his birth certificate.
It’s difficult to say how much
ground Deal can make up in the
governor’s race by hammering
the healthcare refoim issue, but
you can bet he’s going to fry.
Healthcare reform will also be
front and center in the reelection
campaigns of two Democratic
congressmen, Rep. John Barrow
of Savannah and Rep. Jim
Marshall of Macon.
Banow and Marshall were
among the 39 Democrats who
voted against the healthcare
bill in the House. They obvi
ously think the vote will keep
them in good standing among
the conservative voters in their
districts.
Their votes against the health
care bill could also cause major
headaches for Barrow and
Marshall, however. Even in
their conservative-leaning dis
tricts, there are thousands of
Democratic voters who think
healthcare refoim is a good
idea.
The more the two congressmen
argue against healthcare reform,
the more likely it is that a large
portion of their Democratic sup
porters will become angry and
discouraged. Discouraged vot
ers tend to stay home on elec
tion day - which can be big
trouble for an incumbent who
needs his partisan base to get
out and vote.
If Republican challengers
want to have a shot at oust
ing either Barrow or Marshall,
they should bring up health
care reform at every opportu
nity and force the Democrats
to denounce it. I have a feeling
they will do just that.
Even if something passes
and becomes law this year, you
haven’t heard the last on the
healthcare reform issue. Get
ready to hear a lot more about
it as the 2010 campaigns crank
up.
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact's Georgia
Report, an Internet news service
at www.gareport.com that cov
ers government and politics in
Georgia. He can be reached at
tcrawford@capitolimpact.net.