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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31. 2009
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
History may be
about to repeat itself
Michael Barone, writing in Tire Washington
Examiner, pointed out that this is not tire first time
a political party forced an unpopular bill through
Congress by a narrow margin. While he was at it,
he described the consequences of the battle.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was pushed
through Congress by the Democratic Party with
out a single vote from tire opposition Whig party.
Stephen A. Douglas, of the Lincoln — Douglass
Debates, in his eighth year as senator from Illinois,
led the battle. The Democratic Party had control of
Congress and the presidency. They won tire previ
ous presidential election by 254 electoral votes for
Franklin Pierce to only 42 for Winfield Scott.
The Kansas-Nebraska act overturned the
Missouri Compromise that had limited the exten
sion of slavery in the northwest territory leaving
the newly created states to decide for themselves if
they would accept the "peculiar institution.’’
Opponents of the action responded by killing
off tire Whig party and launching a totally new
“Republican’’ party. A bloody political campaign
between the supporters and opponents of slavery
in the Kansas territory resulting in tire slogan of
“Bleeding Kansas.” Eventually, this power play
by tire Democrats led to the election of Abraham
Lincoln as president by tire new party, which was
the final straw forcing the Southern states to feel
they had no choice but to secede from the union,
which in turn lead to the outbreak of the War for
Southern Independence.
Now I do not think the action by the Democrats
to ranr an unwanted health bill down the throats of
Americans will lead to a civil war. But it stands a
chance of causing a major political upheaval that
once again may lead to a new political party and
likely damage the Democratic Party so severely
that they are at risk of being in the minority for
years to come.
A recent poll listed a large number of people who
wish George Bush were still president. A generic
poll showed tire Republicans with an eight-point
lead over the Democrats. The Tea Party movement
is making noises about organizing a new party and
the idea polls well among tire voters.
President Obama’s approval ratings are the low
est of any recent president after one year in office.
The voters are restless and very unhappy about tire
way the country is going under his leadership.
History may be about to repeat itself again. The
national Democratic Party is forcing an unwanted
bill through Congress on a totally partisan basis,
and the majority of Americans do not like it. Many
of them are "mad as hell and are not going to take
it anymore."
It is normal for tire party in power to lose seats
in Congress during the mid term elections. But tire
Democrats are at risk of losing much more than
that. They might lose control of both houses of
the legislature, and I do not think that President
Obama has the political skills to deal with an
opposition congress.
2010 will be a very interesting year, and 2012
may well bring tire upheaval that the physics are
predicting.
Put on your helmets and strap up your seatbelts.
I think we are in for a very bumpy ride.
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.coni/giUispieonline.
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.
‘Don’t count my scars like the tree rings’
The only word the late Athens
musician Vic Chestnutt ever uttered
to me was a giggly shout into the
microphone: “Busted!”
A friend and I tried to sneak out
of his show through the stage side
door at the old Atomic Music Hall
in Athens. It was locked. We had to
walk back by in front of Chestnutt.
He was amused and called us out.
I started paying attention to
Chestnutt in the early 90s, about the
time I got really serious about song
writing. Chestnutt was someone the
general public never really caught
on to. But if you wrote songs, and
you tried to be serious about it, and
you lived in Athens, then you knew
who he was.
Of course, going to see him
live was a hit or miss proposition.
There were the shows when he
seemed pretty lit, where he couldn't
remember the words to his own
songs. He’d sit up on stage in that
wheelchair, flubbing it all, and I
remember feeling angry at him a
time or two. You mean I paid for
you to act this way? Music may
have been a great love in his life,
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
but he mistreated it sometimes.
And that was hard to watch.
But I loved songwriting. And I
recognized Chestnutt as a real lyri
cist, someone to mimic. I played
in bands, played some shows and
recorded some stuff, but I was pre
dominantly a bedroom musician for
about 15 years, meaning I would
spend hour upon hour sitting on my
bed alone with my guitar. What if I
start the verse as the first bar ends,
instead of at the beginning? What
if I tune both the E and A strings
down to a D and a G? What phrase
does this Phillip Levine book of
poetry have in it that I can rip off
in a song?
I listened to Chestnutt’s music
and could tell that he had spent
countless hours in his bedroom,
doing the same things, just much
better. I liked how he would stick
too many syllables in a fine and still
make it work.
Chestnutt had driven chunk and
wrecked his car at the age of 18,
losing the use of his legs. But he
kept putting his fingers on the gui
tar and singing.
“I’m barely alive, ever since my
daddy died. And I've been search
ing for my own little babies to mis
behave and betray me.” — from the
song “Stupid Preoccupations.”
That song is from the album
“West of Rome.” And while I like a
good bit of Chestnutt’s writing, it’s
that album that really hooked me.
I appreciate the songwriter who
values imagery over declarations of
love. And that album is full of vivid
pictures. For instance, most every
adult feels nostalgia for youth, for
the childlike feelings they can no
longer experience. And I like how
he painted such a picture in the first
verse of “Panic Pure”: “My earliest
memory is of holding up a sparkler,
high into the darkest sky, some
Fourth of July Spectacular. And I
shook it with an urgency I'll never
be able to repeat.”
Chestnutt always sounded like a
sad fellow. And when he took pills
last week and died on Christmas
Day, it was not particularly surpris
ing. We focus a lot on how people
leave this world. And his was no
glorious departure. It was a sad
thing, not to be admired or copied
by anyone.
But I hold on to his lyrics and the
sound of his odd, Southern squir-
relly voice that offered some real
poetry.
"And to all you observers, in your
scrutiny, don't count my scars like
the tree rings.”
If there’s one tribute I could offer
to him, it's this: Whenever I lis
tened to his good stuff, it sure made
me want to close the door to my
bedroom, pick up my guitar and
write my own songs.
I just hate that he left the show
early.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Collectors will love ‘Antiques Roadshow’
“Antiques Roadshow” is a fas
cinating television program for all
collectors. It's so interesting to see
people’s reaction when they find
out their treasured item is worth
much more or much less than they
had thought.
This is one show that my parents
look forward to watching. They
have always collected “stuff” and
like to see if anything they have
shows up on the show. I collect a
lot of stuff myself, so I also enjoy
checking out what is featured on
the show.
The new season will kick off on
PBS on Jan. 4 and will feature an
appraisal of four Chinese carved
jade objects estimated to be worth
as much as $1.07 million, the
highest value appraisal ever fea
tured in the 14 years of the series.
The collection was discovered at a
show in Raleigh, North Carolina,
in June.
Antiques Roadshow will air 20
new episodes in January, includ
ing the following:
•Jan. 4, 11 and 18, Raleigh,
N.C.
•Jan. 25, Feb. 1 and Feb. 8,
Atlantic City, N.J.
•Feb. 15, Feb. 22 and March 1,
Madison, Wis.
•March 29, April 5 and April 12,
Denver, Colo.
•April 19, April 26 and May 3,
Phoenix, Ariz.
•May 10, May 17 and May 24,
San Jose, Calif.
•Fall 2010, special edition,
“Simply the Best.”
•Winter 2010, special edition,
“Naughty and Nice.”
BOOK AVAILABLE
“Roadshow” has a new book
available. “Antiques Roadshow
Behind the Scenes” is full of per
sonal anecdotes, interviews with
cast members and guests and pho
tos.
The book is written by the
series executive producer, Marsha
Bemko. She answers some of the
most common questions about the
show, including how to get on the
show and what happens to the
antiques after they are appraised.
The book also includes the history
of how the show was created, what
the day is like during a taping and
how the decision is made as to
which antiques to feature on the
show. It’s a great look into what
goes on behind the scenes in this
popular series.
Readers interested in purchasing
and selling antiques will also get
lots of information, including how
to protect antiques, how to chose a
dealer or auction house and how to
become an appraiser.
The book is is $ 16.99 and is avail
able from Touchstone/Stonesong
Press. For more information, go to
www.simonandschuster.com.
Angela Gary is an editor with
MainStreet Newspapers. She can
be reached at AngieEditor@aol.
com.
Georgia politics: a year of quitters
You could call 2009 “the year
of the quitter” in Georgia poli
tics.
It was a 12-month period
marked not by the accomplish
ments of politicians serving in
elected office, but dominated
instead by the news of people
who decided to leave office or
drop out of an upcoming elec
tion campaign.
One of the first to give it up
was Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who
was assumed by most politi
cal observers to be the favorite
in the 2010 governor’s race to
replace a term-limited Sonny
Perdue.
On a sunny day in April, Cagle
summoned reporters to a press
conference outside his suite of
offices on the capitol's second
floor and announced that medical
problems with his back and neck
had compelled him to abandon
his campaign for governor.
There was some truth to
Cagle’s litany of medical prob
lems - he later underwent back
surgery - but his statement that
he would run again for lieutenant
governor, which requires a cam
paign of similar statewide scope
as governor, left many people
shaking their heads and asking
questions that still haven't been
satisfactorily answered.
Another powerful politician
who at one time was considered
a top contender for governor in
2010 or some future election
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
cycle was House Speaker Glenn
Richardson - but Richardson
called it quits as well.
He first tried to kill him
self with an overdose of drugs
in early November, a suicide
attempt he blamed on depression
stemming from a divorce from
his wife and other family issues.
After Susan Richardson went on
TV and said that Richardson's
problems also involved a roman
tic affair with a female lobbyist,
Richardson was forced to resign
both as speaker and as a member
of the Legislature.
Speaker Pro Tern Mark
Burkhalter, who was in line
to replace Richardson in the
House's top job, decided he
didn't want to be speaker after
all and indicated that he too may
resign from the Georgia House
soon.
The pressures of the upcoming
race for governor forced other
elected officials to quit before
serving out the full terms of
office they had promised voters
they would serve.
Eric Johnson, an influen
tial state senator for nearly 20
years, resigned from the Senate
in late summer because he said
he wanted to devote his full
attention to running for the
Republican nomination.
Because of the way Georgia’s
election laws are written,
Johnson was able to leave office
while insuring that the people
in his Savannah-area district
would still have someone repre
senting them. A special election
was held a few weeks after the
resignation and Earl "Buddy”
Carter was elected in plenty of
time to replace Johnson in the
Senate for the 2010 General
Assembly session.
There was no such luck for
those Georgians who voted in
2006 for Karen Handel as secre
tary of state under the erroneous
assumption that she would serve
the full four years of her term.
Just three days before
Christmas, Handel abruptly
announced she was quitting at
the end of the year so that she
could show she was “all in” for
the primary election campaign
to decide the Republican nomi
nee for governor.
Handel's move was understand
able. Disclosure reports indicate
that she has not been as effec
tive in raising campaign money
as her opponents: Johnson,
Insurance Commissioner John
Oxendine, and Congressman
Nathan Deal. If she remained in
office as secretary of state, she
would be prohibited from rais
ing campaign funds during the
three months or more that the
General Assembly would be in
session, starting on Jan. 11.
Handel is now free to keep
soliciting contributions during
the months of January, February,
and March, but she has also
given some of her opponents
ammunition they can use in
the primary campaign. It is not
hard to imagine a debate involv
ing the Republican candidates
where Oxendine or Deal turns
to Handel and asks: “If you're
elected governor, do you intend
to serve the entire four years of
your term?”
No matter how Handel
responds to that question, her
opponent will be able to say
that she has already proved she
will not honor the most basic
commitment a politician makes
when running for office.
There's an old saying that
quitters never win and winners
never quit. We'll find out in the
2010 election year if that’s really
true.
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news sendee
at www.gareport.com that cov
ers government and politics in
Georgia. He can be reached at
tcrawford@capitolimpact. net.
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