Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 14. 2016
Guest
column
mark@
mainstreet
news.com
Mark Beardsley
The fantasy
of political change
For all of the money, air time and rhetoric the
2016 presidential election run-up has already pro
duced, one thing is abundantly clear: Not many
Americans will not get what they want out of the
2016 elections.
The millions who voted for Donald Trump and
Bemie Sanders will not get fundamental change in
government they’re purported to crave, because of
two factors — the Citizens United Supreme Court
Decision that lets people and groups spend unlimit
ed amounts of money on elections; and (partly due
to that decision) the fact that the 2016 election will
have a negligible effect on Congress.
The millions who voted for Hillary Clinton,
at best, will get a non-Trump who nonetheless
will face the same Republican obstructionism that
Barack Obama experienced for eight years.
And I will get none of the things I'd like to see out
of the federal government, regardless of who wins
the presidency. Those include:
•a president and a Congress who can see the most
vulnerable people in their constituencies, who will
have compassion for them, and who will be willing
to take action to improve their lives and their pros
pects for the future.
•elected officials who represent the people who
voted for them instead of their party hierarchy and
the political action committees and other special
interest groups who finance their election cam
paigns.
•politicians who actually want to solve problems
and who will work with like-minded people toward
that end regardless of party affiliation, gender, sex
ual orientation, social standing or race.
•public officials who respect the institutions they
serve and who conduct themselves in a manner
appropriate to the office with which they’ve been
entrusted — with grace, respect for others and
humility.
•a revised political process in which candidates
seek office by extolling new ideas, their ability
to work with others and who demonstrate expe
rience in solving problems instead of gaining
office through the character assassination of their
opponents.
•a rejection by members of both political parties
of hateful and belligerent rhetoric and commentary
on social media.
•reform of the reapportionment process to take it
out of the hands of the political parties, for whom
reapportionment is a monumental conflict of inter
est and which makes it almost impossible for a
challenger to defeat an incumbent.
•elected officials committed to addressing long
standing problems like the high cost of college edu
cation, crumbling infrastructure, the effects of cli
mate change and the epidemic of shooting deaths.
Truth be told, all of these faults could be erased if
the voters would take some responsibility, such as:
•All those “evangelicals" would read the New
Testament, particularly the words of Jesus, and
consider how His views on immigration, race and
treatment of the poor and marginalized compare
with their politics and with the attitudes and state
ments of the politicians they support.
•being less hateful, judgmental, rude, mean-spir
ited and short-tempered — antisocial — on social
media. Just because you have the right to express
— See “Beardsley” on 5A
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: 800-795-2581
E-mail: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
DALLAS BORDON, Sports reporter
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
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:
$25/year
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, Ga. 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc.
- The Official Legal Organ of Madison County, Georgia
- Periodicals postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 (USPS
011-097; ISSN 1074987X)
Which tribe are you in — life or death?
It seems like the country is in a
type of tailspin, like there’s a fire
and too many people throwing
gasoline instead of water on the
blaze.
It also seems like expression
of outrage or sorrow over certain
deaths is tantamount to putting
a team jersey on and declar
ing yourself part of one tribe
or another. But I wish for us to
be better than that. All death is
sad — at least for someone. And
all violent death is rooted in real
tragedy.
Violence often comes from the
negation of an individual’s value.
And this tends to happen because
a person isn’t seen as just himself
or herself, but is part of a bigger
group that carries a lot of negative
weight in the aggressor’s mind.
In identity politics, the individ
ual’s persona is consumed by the
group. And what person enjoys
being nullified as an individu
al? Who doesn’t feel rage when
they’re reduced to nothing but
one derisive term? What black
person isn’t hurt by that old, nasty
“n?” What police officer isn’t
angered by “you’re all pigs?’’
What white Southerner isn’t
annoyed when he’s classified
as ignorant and racist by people
who’ve never met him?
As creatures, we make deci
sions based on generalizations.
It’s natural to assess who’s most
like you and who’s not. This is
a self-survival tactic as old as
humans. We find comfort among
like-minded people, others in the
same line of work, others with
the same last name, the same
hometown, the same hobbies,
the same tastes, the same way
of talking — and on and on.
By Zach Mitcham
And yes, skin color — that’s an
ancient and crude way of draw
ing lines, too.
But with generalizations comes
another responsibility, which is
so often overlooked, the obvi
ous need to challenge internal
assumptions. Because general
izations are, at the core, the act of
nullifying an individual. And if
you become overly comfortable
with this — whoever you are,
white, black, whatever — then
you are on a bad track. Because
however right you might be
anecdotally in one way, you
will be wrong in other situations
and you will act with blindness
toward individuals. Once you
accept your own generalizations
as unchallenged truth, then you
open the door to all kinds of mis
guided actions.
For sure, humans are complex.
We link together in a variety of
ways, good and bad. Once those
bonds are formed, it’s natural to
see those outside of that group
as lesser in some way. Oh they
don’t understand our music.
They don’t see what we see.
They don’t have the same sense
of right and wrong. They are
different. They don’t get it.
This easily turns into: they
don’t deserve my sympathy, my
care, my effort.
This easily turns into: I want to
hurt them. I want them to suffer.
I want them to feel all the pain I
feel and then some.
This can turn into: I got my gun
loaded. I’m gonna’ do it. I don’t
care if they’re innocent or not.
They’re not innocent to me. They
are symbols of evil, not people.
The society is sick like this
right now. We are so divided. For
sure, there are many things to say
about today’s environment, but
what strikes me most is how trib
al it’s getting. For instance, I am
constantly startled by the level
of vitriol expressed online these
days in comment sections. The
hatred people have for each other
is terribly intense. It’s upsetting.
And discussions seem pointless.
Our two-party system has disin
tegrated into nothing more than
a big poo fight. Online debate
is the wild hurling of excrement
at the mouth of the “enemy.”
And everyone gets filthy in the
process. No one wins. I watch
this and wonder where it will
go. How much $&@@ talk can
there be before violence? Our
countrymen hate each other.
And, no doubt, violence is
here. But at what scale? Is this
an escalation? Will this horror
show die down?
I tend to believe that man is
no better or worse than he has
always been, but there are more
people in the world than ever,
more weapons than ever and
more access to evidence of evil,
whether it’s video footage or
words spewed in online hate.
This rapid-fire information is
so intriguing and amazing in
many ways, but it’s also incendi
ary. It links rage with rage.
I wish people could pan out
and see the bigger picture. Yes,
there are two tribes in this world:
those embracing life versus
those embracing death. To act
out of rage and hate is to join the
death tribe. To act with love and
care is to join the life tribe. Skin
color, nationality, whatever. It’s
imperative to see that each of us
can be good or bad no matter our
group identity. We can all fall to
one side or the other. No group
provides you any protection
against that inner evil. So, are
you actively trying to be in the
good tribe or not? Are you work
ing to be better to those around
you, or are you more interested
in tearing down others?
I know I struggle with this
constantly. I feel plenty of rage
these days. I could join that bad
tribe if I don’t watch it. I am
often mad. Really mad. The
first attempt at this column was
an angry rant. But I deleted it.
What good does that do? What
am I helping? Instead I want
to pan out and rethink things
and consider the good and bad
that exists within me and within
everyone.
I desperately want to run
toward that fire we all see with
my own small bucket of water,
not gasoline. I hope you’ll think
about this too and consider what
you’re throwing on this growing
blaze, an accelerant or a cure?
When you get angry, turn that
question on yourself and consid
er your tribe affiliation. Is it of
life or of death?
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Burying one’s head in the sand won’t change the world
A week has passed since
three tragedies struck our
country, and I’m still not cer
tain the best way to discuss
it. But not addressing it seems
wrong, too.
We watched as Alton
Sterling, a black man, was held
down by police officers, then
shot and killed outside a con
venience store in Louisiana.
The next day, we watched
another black man, Philando
Castile, shot and killed by
police officers during a traffic
stop in Minnesota. His girl
friend, streaming the video,
said he was shot while reach
ing for his license and regis
tration.
And the next day, we learned
of a sniper that targeted police
By Alex Pace
officers in Dallas, five of whom
were killed. Those five - Brent
Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa,
Michael Krol, Lome Ahrens
and Michael Smith - had been
protecting a peaceful protest
following the two shootings
the days before.
It was a heartbreaking week
in the country, filled with pain
and confusion. Still now. I’m
unsure we know where to go
from here.
These tragedies will be used
for politics. Some will refer to
them in their campaigns and in
their speeches. They'll be used
to selfishly push agendas.
Some will use them to cre
ate more fear in the nation,
advising people to “prepare
themselves” and to protect
themselves from their neigh
bors. Some will use these trag
edies to create a larger divide
between races.
But they’ll also be used to
continue the discussion on
race and police relations in
our country. Hopefully, these
tragedies will help create actu
al change. Hopefully, they’ll
make us all say, “This is
enough. We cannot keep kill
ing each other."
Because this really is
enough, and we cannot keep
killing each other.
Black men and women
should feel they can safely
live their lives. Police officers
should feel they can safely live
their lives and do their jobs. No
one should be afraid because
of the color of their skin or the
color of their uniform.
During times like these, it’s
tempting to want to curl up in
a hole and shut out the world.
There's so much pain and con
fusion. It’s hard to watch the
— See “Pace” on 5A
Clarkston goes down a grassy slope
When Mayor Ted Terry talks
about the recent decision by him
and the Clarkston City Council
to dramatically reduce the pen
alty for the possession of less
than an ounce of marijuana, he
is careful to make one distinction
to his interviewer.
“It's not decriminalization,”
Terry insists.
No, but it’s close. In every
other jurisdiction in Georgia, a
person arrested on a charge of
simple possession of marijuana
would be subject to a fine of as
much as $1,000 and jail time up
to 12 months, as well as having
a criminal record.
But in Clarkston, a DeKalb
County municipality that strad
dles the railroad tracks east of
Atlanta, the crime of marijua
na possession amounts to little
more than a traffic ticket.
“What we're saying is, no jail,
no court costs, you pay the $75
fine,” Terry said. And that’s it.
Anyone who ever lived in
the “old" Clarkston would be
shocked to learn that their former
habitat has suddenly become
one of the most progressive cit
ies this side of San Francisco.
When I lived there during the
1960s, where I graduated from
Clarkston High School, it was a
conservative area that was nearly
all white and had only recently
made the transition from rural to
The
Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net
By Tom Crawford
suburban.
In those days, the most excit
ing event in town was the annu
al football game with archrival
Tucker High, which was usually
followed by a fight in the school
parking lot. “We may not have
won the game," students would
say, “but we won the fight.”
Over the years, however,
Clarkston has changed.
The city has become a favorite
landing spot for refugees who
find housing in the large num
ber of apartment complexes that
sprouted like mushrooms across
the city and make Clarkston
the most diverse municipality
in Georgia. At the elementary
school, I am told, you’ll hear
students speaking more than 80
different languages or dialects.
Clarkston made headlines last
year when Gov. Nathan Deal
tried to close off the city and in
turn the entire state to Syrian
refugees who he claimed would
bring in Muslim terrorists.
Terry was quite the opposite,
welcoming Syrians who reset
tled in the city and pointing out
that Clarkston's Muslim resi
dents had not been involved in
any terroristic incidents. He pre
vailed on this particular issue, as
Deal finally conceded he could
not legally stop Syrians from
coming to Georgia.
This year, other liberal issues
have come before a city council
that reflects Clarkston’s diversi
ty: it is majority black and two of
its members are originally from
Somalia and Eritrea.
In April, the city father s start
ed floating the idea of reduc
ing the penalties for marijuana
and finally voted to do so in
early July. Mayor Terry signed
the ordinance as soon as it was
adopted, so it took effect imme
diately.
One of the prime motivations
for introducing the new ordi
nance, Terry said, was the fact
that many of the city's reset
tled refugees work in low-pay
ing jobs. “The standard fine for
simple possession was $600 or
$700 dollars, and for minimum
wage workers that is close to a
month’s salary,” he said.
“On the advice of the city
attorney, we set it at $75,”
Terry said. “The $75 fine isn't
excessive, but it isn’t trivial. We
understand marijuana use is still
illegal under federal and state
law. I think it’s still a reasonable
enough punishment, but you
don’t want to bankrupt some
body.”
It may be reasonable to some,
but perhaps not to everyone.
When the news about
Clarkston's marijuana plans
first surfaced, Deal told a report
er: “We should not have any
municipality or jurisdiction of
state government saying that
they’re willing to flaunt the law
to downgrade or excuse what is
otherwise criminal conduct. I do
not approve of that and I do not
agree with the posture they are
apparently trying to take."
Deal is currently on a junket
to Germany, but I’m sure he will
try to do something about the
Clarkston ordinance when he
returns to Georgia. Legislators
and district attorneys may also
have something to say about it.
I don’t know how long the
marijuana ordinance will remain
in effect, but while it does,
Clarkston can certainly call
itself the most liberal city in
Georgia.
Tom Crawford is editor of
The Georgia Report, an internet
news ser\>ice at gareport.com
that reports on state government
and politics. He can be reached
at tcrawford@garepon.com.