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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. DECEMBER 10. 2009
Opinions
Frankly
r
Speaking
&
frankgillispie671@msn.com
l J
By Frank Gillispie
War against
Christmas is arrogant,
disrespectful
What kind of things offend you? As some of
you know, it is very hard to offend a redneck.
We rednecks have a level of self confidence
that shields us from most insults. But there are
a couple of things that really get our dander
up. One of them is people who go around
looking for things to be offended about. I am
almost equally offended by those who bow
down to the blackmailers who threaten to call
people bad names if they dare disagree with
them.
Take the example of so-called atheists. They
mn around threatening to file lawsuits against
any public or private business or office that
dares to display Christmas decorations because
the handful of non believers in America might
be offended. And far too many government
offices, schools and even private companies
cave in to their demands and remove anything
suggestive of Christmas from their displays.
Christmas frees have to become “holiday
frees.” Singing of Christmas carols are forbid
den. Some of them even refuse to allow Santa
Claus or candy canes.
The question is, who is offended most, those
who oppose Christmas, or those who support
the holiday? I talk to a lot of people. I can tell
you that far more people are offended when
Christmas is taken down, than those who are
offended when it is put up.
Why do you suppose all these complainers
are offended by Christmas? I mean the real
reason. I think it is a power play. They know
that their anti-religious stance will always
be a minority position. The vast majority of
Americans reject their non-belief. That leaves
them with a justifiable feeling of inadequacy.
They just cannot convince many people to
adopt their position. So, rather than fry to
win points through discussion and debate,
they decide to force the issue. They have no
respect for the opinions of the majority. In
their arrogant minds, they have the right, or
even the responsibility to force their opinions
on the nation by whatever tactic they can
come up with.
They don't care about the Constitution.
They twist and distort it as a way of forcing
their opinion. They do not care about the
opinion of the majority. Since they are so
superior to the rest of us, anyone who agrees
with the majority is weak and deserves to be
punished.
Now back to my original question. Who
would you rather offend, the arrogant elitist
minority, or the massive majority of believers
who want to celebrate the birth of Christ? For
clearly, you have to offend one or the other.
You choose.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is
frank@frankginispie.com. His website can
be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/
gillispie onlin
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
Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year
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.
Leaders need to address court backlog
We talk about maintaining law and
order. And the first thought is usually
the officer’s flashing lights and gun
at his hip.
It's not the gavel.
But the court system is where we
expect lawbreakers to answer for
what they've done. It is as much a
part of law and order as the patrol car
and handcuffs.
Law officers most everywhere
talk about the increased burden on
their staffs as the economy has gone
downhill and calls have increased.
When times get bad economically,
more people are going to cheat and
steal. More people will get angry and
hit their loved ones. More people get
sad and frustrated and try to escape
reality through drag use.
So, more people get arrested. And
the cases pile up in court. As of
Friday, there were 803 pending cases
in Madison County Superior Court,
according to District Attorney Bob
Lavender, who serves as the lead
prosecutor in Madison, Oglethorpe,
Elbert, Hart and Franklin counties,
which comprise the Northern Judicial
Circuit. Lavender has an assistant DA
to help in each of the five counties.
If all 803 cases went to trial, the
county court system would come to
a standstill. Seating a jury is a time-
consuming process, not to mention
the actual trial itself.
"If we are lucky, we can get
three cases tried in a week,” said
Lavender.
If the county could try three people
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach
a week for 52 weeks a year starting
in January, then it could get through
the current caseload in 2015. But the
three Superior Court judges have to
cover five counties. And they also
hear civil cases, not just criminal
matters. In the first six months of
2010, the three judges will hold a
total of three trial weeks in Madison
County between them. They must
bounce among counties handling
civil motions, child support hearings,
etc. So you’re looking at about six
trial weeks a year, with perhaps three
trials a week. That would be about 18
trials a year. Eight hundred and three
divided by 18 is just over 44. By that
rough calculation, if every case went
to trial, then you’d get done with the
current caseload in 2054.
Naturally, we are truly irritated to
see people get probation when we
feel they deserve jail. But jail time is
not accepted without a fight.
So justice often comes down to
a leverage match between pros
ecution and defense. What are both
sides willing to gamble in time and
expense? Is the defendant ready to
risk harsher punishment by forcing a
trial, or will he settle for lesser pun
ishment through a plea? How much
punishment is a prosecutor willing
to forgo in order to keep the matter
out of court?
A prosecution team with a small
caseload has a structural advantage
over most defendants. They can
spend considerable time preparing
for each case. They can refuse many
more plea agreements. Lavender said
national prosecutorial experts say a
single prosecutor shouldn’t handle
any more than 150-200 cases.
But prosecutors with too great a
caseload face an upstream battle.
Madison County’s 803 pending cases
are certainly a structural disadvantage
for prosecutors. The huge caseload
puts prosecutors, public defenders
and judges into a constant game
of catch-up. The overall health of
the system suffers under the weight.
Defendants have to wait too long for
their day in court. Prosecutors have to
plea down cases when they might not
have otherwise if they had more time
and resources.
There has been some talk of setting
up a state court in Madison County,
like in some surrounding counties,
to help deal with some less serious
offenses. That would require approv
al by the state legislature. Lavender
said he’d be in favor of such a court
to help draw down the backlog.
Of course, more court resources
means more money. And establish
ing a new court with a new judge
and staff probably isn’t feasible
during the current financial crunch.
Meanwhile, funds for courts aren’t
exactly flowing from the state either.
Public defenders’ offices statewide
have faced dramatic decreases.
And prosecutors feel the pinch, too.
Lavender said his staff will face one
furlough day a month in 2010.
So what would it take to mn a state
court?
Well, according to the Jackson
County finance office, the state court
budget in Jackson County for 2009 is
$221,405. Madison County doesn’t
have that kind of money to spend
next year.
However, BOC chairman Anthony
Dove said that early in 2010 he may
propose having a retired judge come
in periodically to hold special court
sessions in hopes of clearing some of
the old cases off the books. That’s not
an end-all measure. It won't resolve
the problem entirely, but it would be
a good mitigating measure.
Ultimately, the county should look
at establishing a state court down
the road. People aren’t going to quit
doing their dirty deeds. So, the casel
oad will always grow. And the invest
ment in a state court would be a good
long-term measure to improve this
county’s court structure.
Law and order isn’t maintained
without the right resources — both
on the streets and in the courts.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
n
Mitcham
The battle for House speaker is not over
The Republican leadership in
the Georgia House worked out
an arrangement among themselves
last week for the scandal-plagued
Glenn Richardson to step down as
House speaker and be replaced by
Mark Burkhalter in the powerful
legislative position.
The high-ranking Republicans
hoped to put their problems
behind them with the removal of
Richardson, but they still have
some long-simmering issues to
resolve. The decision from on high
to change speakers is not sitting
well with some of the rank-and-file
House Republicans, especially the
younger ones who’ve only served
in the legislature for a few terms.
They want the House leaders to
schedule an early caucus meeting
- before the General Assembly
convenes on Jan. 11 - and allow
all of the GOP lawmakers to have
a vote in electing the next speaker.
Pressure is being applied to the
leadership from several direc
tions to call that early vote and
the most public indication of it
is an email sent by Rep. Michael
Harden (R-Toccoa) to his GOP
colleagues.
“We cannot truly move on and
begin a fresh start until a new
Speaker is fully and fairly elect
ed by the entire House,” Harden
wrote. “We must have an elec
tion to truly close this chapter
and move forward as a legislative
body, and that election should hap-
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
pen before the General Assembly
Session begins.”
Richardson was forced out of the
speaker’s job alter his former wife,
Susan, disclosed in a TV inter
view that Richardson had an affair
with an AGL Resources lobbyist
in 2006. That was the same period
when the speaker was pushing for
passage of a bill that would have
resulted in major financial benefits
for AGL (the bill passed the House
but stalled in the Senate).
Allegations of that relationship
were mentioned in an ethics com
plaint filed against Richardson by
Democratic Party official Bobby
Kahn in January 2007. A legisla
tive review panel quickly threw
out the complaint without holding
a hearing or an investigation, a
decision that caused much embar
rassment when Susan Richardson
confirmed that her former husband
was indeed involved in that affair.
The media coverage of the
Richardson scandal, coupled with
concerns that other exposes could
be lurking in the near future, has
some Republican lawmakers con
cerned that their majority control
of the House of Representatives
could be threatened.
It is not enough to replace
Richardson as speaker, they con
tend. Instead, it is time to consider
a clean sweep of the entire leader
ship team.
“We need a fresh face,” said one
legislator. “If we don’t clean things
up, somebody’s going to clean
things up for us.”
Several names are being float
ed as possible candidates for the
speakership and other leadership
positions.
They include Rep. David
Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), who ran
for speaker against Richardson
last year and lost; Rep. Jim Cole
(R-Forsyth), the House floor lead
er for Gov. Sonny Perdue; Rep.
Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), a
thoughtful attorney well-versed in
public policy matters; Rep. Larry
O’Neal (R-Bonaire), the current
chairman of the Ways & Means
Committee; and Rep. Barry
Loudermilk (R-Cassville), a third-
term House member from North
Georgia.
Rep. Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns
Creek), who moves from speak
er pro tem to speaker when
Richardson’s resignation becomes
effective Jan. 1, would still be
considered the favorite to retain
the speaker's post at this point in
time.
Under the current House rules,
Burkhalter is only required to call
a vote within 120 days of becom
ing speaker. He could theoreti
cally delay that vote until after
the 2010 legislative session has
adjourned.
Burkhalter has a much calmer
personality than the hot-headed
Richardson and for that reason can
put a friendlier public face on the
Republican majority. He is also
promising to clean up the party’s
image at the capitol.
Whether that will be enough
to placate the anxious legislators
calling for an early vote, of course,
remains to be seen.
Prior to Richardson's resigna
tion, Burkhalter was angling
for the highly paid position of
executive director of the Georgia
World Congress Center. He has
since indicated that he wants to be
speaker for the long term, but there
are still rumors floating about that
the World Congress Center job
will be kept open for him - just
in case.
It would probably be a good
idea for every legislator, not just
Burkhalter, to keep his or her
options open.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
Capitol Impact's Georgia Report,
an Internet news sendee at www.
gareport.com that covers govern
ment and politics in Georgia. He
can be reached at tcrawford@
capitolimpact.net.
‘Come go with us’
Whether we like it or not,
everything changes.
Even our language changes,
evolving with new phrases and
words. The old tried and true
of the past may now evoke a
“hunh?” and a puzzled look
from a youngster who likely will
respond with the newfangled that
leaves you speechless.
(“Pardon me?”)
Old phrases and words.
Old faces and worlds.
“Come go with us.”
“Better stay on here.”
That was the routine exchange
between my father and my grand
father when we would “make
ready” to leave for home after our
regular Sunday afternoon visit.
There are so many memories
and, now, reflective meanings,
those phrases bring to mind —
My View
By Jana Mitcham
those afternoons that stretched
into evening, and our prolonged
leave-taking that took us off the
back porch, up the dirt path that
narrowly figured between house
and fig bush to the yard and to
our car.
I recently said something to
my husband about someone not
being “to home.”
“To home?” he asked.
“What’s that?”
“Well, he wasn't to home,” I
replied. “Haven’t you ever heard
that?”
Another that sticks in my mind
from my grandmother on the
other side of the family is “Fat as
mud.” I don’t really know what
that means, exactly. She was usu
ally referring to a baby.
Go figure.
Not so long ago, someone
passed along a list of “How
many do you remember?” phras
es. Here are a few I like and do
remember.
“A lick and a promise” - doing
a job quickly, knowing you'll
come back to it for a more thor
ough workup later.
“Hold your horses” - be
patient.
“Catawampus” — crooked. (I
think of it as pronounced catty-
wampus.)
“Bee in your bonnet” — to
have an idea you can't shake.
(Do you know what a bonnet
is?)
“Kit and caboodle” - the whole
thing.
“Skedaddle” — get out of here
quickly.
“Piddling” or “gallivanting” -
not doing anything useful.
My daughter really likes for
me to use the word “lollygag-
ger,” which is basically the same,
someone who is piddling and
gallivanting about.
“Persnickety” — overly par
ticular.
“Pert near” — pretty near.
— See ‘J. Mitcham” on 5A