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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MAY 4. 2017
Opinions
From the
publisher
mike@
mainstreet
news.com
Mike Buffington
100 days: Giving
Trump a grade
President Trump has just completed his first
100 days in office. While that's an arbitrary
time for a snapshot, it does give the American
people a little taste of how any new president
will operate during his tenure.
Let’s take a look at Tramp's first 100 days:
THE GOOD
Perhaps the president biggest accomplish
ment was the successful appointment of Neil
Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. While Gorsuch
hasn't been on the bench long enough to be
evaluated, he appears to be a moderate-con
servative justice who will keep the court tilted
center-right on most issues.
It was a reasonable choice and was the first
indication that Tramp was searching for a more
moderate tone than some of his far-right sup
porters had wanted.
Tramp has also seemingly backed away from
his bromance with Vladimer Putin. And while
it’s clear now that Russian officials used hack
ing and fake news feeds in an attempt to help
bolster Tramp during the election, Putin has
also cooled on Tramp. Tramp has made it clear
that he admires “strong leaders,” but Putin is
no friend of the U.S. or of democratic values.
That Tramp has cooled on Putin shows that he's
perhaps starting to understand “real politick.”
Russia under Putin is an enemy, not a friend.
Another Tramp win has been to slow the
rate of illegal immigration coming across the
Mexican border. While the president has often
painted a misleading picture about the impact
of immigration, his rhetoric has frightened
away many who might have otherwise sought
illegal entry.
While it may not happen, Tramp has pro
posed a major tax cut for businesses. No leg
islation has been drafted and tax reform may
hit a wall since any cut in taxation without a
cut in spending would continue to hammer the
nation’s growing debt. Still, any move toward
lowering taxes on productive businesses is a
good sign.
Perhaps the president’s biggest accomplish
ment, however, has been more subtle. Although
Tramp ran as a firebrand populist with promises
to “drain the swamp” of Washington insiders,
his actions have so far been more moderate than
his words. The alt-right nationalists of his inner
circle who fed Tramp much of his campaign
rhetoric appear to have been sidelined in favor
of more mainstream, moderate advisors.
Steve Bannon was edged to the side after a
fray with Tramp’s son-in-law over policy dis
putes. National security aide Sebastian Gorka is
said to be leaving the White House after coming
under fire for allegedly having ties to a far-right
Hungarian neo-Nazi group.
And earlier, Tramp fired hardline national
security advisor Michael Flynn after he lied
about contacts with Russian officials.
Trump isn’t draining the establishment
Washington swamp, but he does appear to be
— See “Buffington” 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
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
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011-097; ISSN 1074987X)
No reform for the old Washington rules of play
In my eyes, a leader is most
convincing when he or she shows
the willingness to do everything
asked of subordinates, no matter
the danger or risk to personal
welfare.
Theodore Roosevelt was a
complex figure. There’s a lot to
say about his politics. But the
man was truly unafraid of putting
his own life on the line, charging
into battle when he could have
stayed back. This was a mes
sage to those he commanded that
“were in this together.” And it’s
powerful.
If a leader shows this sort of
commitment to those under his
watch, then it can be a positive
contagion, a type of bravery of
heart that passes from one person
to another. But the opposite of
this is a contagion, too, isn’t it?
When we look back at WWII
and feel a sense of American
pride, I think this is what we’re
celebrating: the notion of so
many willing to give so much of
themselves to a greater good, the
idea that “we’re in this together.”
People felt that after 9/11 for
some time. We felt aggrieved
and like we truly were together
in pain.
But fractures don't take long to
resume. We go back to our plac
es in our trenches. And today's
political trench warfare seems as
bitter as ever
We each have ideas of a
“greater good,” but too frequent
ly such notions seem to revolve
tightly around our self interest.
The current American greater
good seems to be self fulfill
ment at others’ expense. I think
Republicans and Democrats can
pretty much agree on the fact that
there’s a pervasive selfishness, an
ugliness at work in this country.
We just disagree passionately
By Zach Mitcham
about who’s at fault and what
should be done.
Likewise, both red and blue
voice disdain for Washington and
the insane displays of self interest
that we’ve seen from both parties
over the years.
The dismal "get-mine" attitude
of today’s America starts at the
top. We are so used to stories of
corruption and the backscratch-
ing culture that we typically
yawn when more we hear more
of it. So politicians are crooked?
What’s new?
But this complacent attitude
toward such dirtiness can be our
demise. When a citizenry grows
too complacent about holding
leaders accountable, it gets hor
rible leaders.
And we see an increasing dis
connect and inequity between the
leaders and their supposed boss
es (the electorate). For instance.
Congress should never get spe
cial pass on anything. I don't care
if Republicans or Democrats are
in office. We’ve seen one set of
rules for Washington for years,
and another set for everyone else.
This is part of the rage against
“the swamp” that Tramp railed
against. I think that he present
ed himself as a breaker of old,
outdated rules. And with every
rule, every nicety that he rejects,
he endears himself to those who
are tired of the old rules of order,
which seem to benefit those in
power, not those in actual need.
On one level, he is so absolute
ly right. I think his recognition
of unfair rales is fundamental
to his power. And for all the lies
he tells, which are many, he told
one persistent real truth that so
many others failed to say: The
old rales of Washington need to
die. The pay-for-play aspect of
Washington corrupts everything.
How can any U.S. citizen watch
what happens and feel that their
interests are even a remote con
sideration by lawmakers? They
absolutely are not. We are for
gotten in Washington. And we
all see it. There is a game being
played and we aren’t privy to
the action. I feel like we're often
suckers who flock to teams with
red and blue jerseys, not real
izing that the actual game tran
scends this bickering. Because
we are part of a crony state, not
a democracy.
The phenomenon of Tramp
(and Bemie Sanders) is that they
both recognized the failure of old
orders. This resonated on left and
right. Now, Trump breaks old
rales of decorum and of pres
idential behavior and speech.
But he is absolutely not breaking
the old rules of Washington, the
actual thing that needs to get
fixed. He is not fighting the “get-
mine” attitude that pervades the
Capitol culture. In fact, he seems
to embody the “get-mine” atti
tude. And the notion of personal
sacrifice seems far less important
to him than his passionate belief
in his own personal grievance.
Every single issue is tainted with
his own feelings of having been
done wrong in some way or
another. I'm sick of that, not just
from Tramp but from our culture
in general. It’s not surprising that
we've elected the most aggrieved
president in history, who can’t
utter a sentence without call
ing out someone for hurting his
feelings, because our nation is
embattled in wars of grievances.
That said, some people truly are
hurting. And when we can’t look
out for them, and when we can’t
see beyond our own anger, then
we fall right in the same trap that
prevails in Washington — the
“get-mine” culture. Forget every
one else. I’m gonna' get mine. As
I said, this is a contagion, and it’s
a type of pandemic in America
right now.
That’s why I'm always so
encouraged when I see local
efforts that look beyond the “get
mine,” because there are a lot of
good folks doing good things
for others. I try and focus on this
rather than the worst in folks.
But we have not seen any shift
in the self-enriching attitude in
Washington whatsoever We are
only seeing it worsen.
We need leadership at every
level that recognizes that service
to the self is not public service.
It is absolutely its opposite. We
are parched and dying of thirst in
that regard. We need better. And
we have to demand better loudly
and persistently.
We need people who will take
the political hits and not waiver
If we are truly great, then this
will rise to the top, not from bil
lionaires, not from “elitists,” but
from our regular folks — a true
spirit of self sacrifice. Money is
a massive force in our politics
and our culture. But it is not the
only force. There is more to us
than that. At least, Lord, I hope
so. Do you?
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Honesty in office ought to be minimum expected
I never thought I would
feel the need to extol the
virtue of honesty in public
officials. I assumed that was a
given, that anyone would say
honesty is a baseline for any
candidate for public service.
Let me repeat that: a base
line, the most basic standard,
for any candidate for public
service.
But we have a president
who thinks nothing of saying
often contradictory things in
the same statement or who
takes one view today and
another tomorrow.
What is worse, from my
view, is that an awful lot of
folks don’t seem to mind.
That is the bewildering
aspect. How do so many peo
ple find it acceptable that a
person who holds a public
office, any public office, rou
tinely lies or adopts patently
false comments.
Anyone who would like to
My view
ron@
mainstreet
news.com
By Ron Bridgeman
explain it to me would be
welcome. My email is at the
bottom of this.
I have often told public offi
cials from mayors to U.S.
senators that they didn’t
answer the question or that
they can’t have it both ways
or that what they just said
makes no sense.
Nearly all of them have
the brains and personality
to shade what they said, to
change to “no comment,” or
to admit they have changed
their view on this or that
issue.
For decades, I have heard
this or that outrageous com
ment from Tramp, statements
that make no sense or are
blatantly false.
I ignored them. He was
seeking publicity, always has.
It is what he knows how to
do.
Now he’s dealing with
another maniacal personali
ty in the dictator of North
Korea. He hasn’t been able
to resist a couple of typi
cal boastful comments about
U.S. power versus North
Korea. Everything I see and
hear about North Korea says
no good option exist. It is the
kind of situation ready-made
for a Tramp creation of false
comments.
I knew a man who was a
political power in Knoxville,
Tenn., when I was a kid. He
had been on city council
for 30 years and was mayor
for a brief time before los
ing a recall election. He was
“famous” for his regional
group of cut-rate grocery
stores and his local commer
cials.
He spoke to a political sci
ence class of mine once. His
message was. and this is very
close to his words, “I don’t
care what you say about me,
as long as you spell my name
right.”
He was Donald Tramp on
a local level. He did much
less harm than Tramp has the
potential to do.
Another mayor, this one
in the small town of Lenoir
City. Tenn., was Charles
Eblen, a lawyer well-known
for his bombastic personality.
Charlie, as everyone knew
him, was arrested early in the
morning in Knoxville in a
dress. He had been a partici
pant in a drag show the night
— See “Bridgeman” on 5A
The governor tries another idea for improving schools
We have seen this all before,
many times.
Gov. Nathan Deal staged
an event at the capitol to
sign yet another bill that
will supposedly be the
magic solution to improving
the state’s low-rated public
schools.
“Georgia remains
committed to improving our
state’s education system by
increasing student access
to high-performing schools
and learning environments
conducive to today's
academic standards,” said
Deal, just before he put his
signature on HB 338. the
“school turnaround bill.”
This is a scene that has
played out often over the last
two decades as governors trot
out their latest proposals for
making schools better. They
The
Capitol
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net
By Tom Crawford
have yet to succeed.
Seventeen years ago.
Gov. Roy Barnes persuaded
the Legislature to pass an
education reform bill that,
among other things, would
have made it easier for local
school systems to get rid of
“bad teachers.”
Teachers didn't appreciate
being made the scapegoat
for the state’s educational ills
and in the 2002 election, they
played a major role in voting
Barnes out of office.
Gov. Sonny Perdue tossed
aside the Barnes plan before
it had a chance to really get
started. His bright idea was to
appoint a citizens commission
that would develop an
“Investing in Educational
Excellence” scheme.
Perdue vowed that his
new commission would
overhaul and modernize the
state’s funding formula for
local schools. Somehow,
the commission never got
around to doing that and
accomplished very little else.
Perdue also rolled out
a “65 percent plan” that
required schools to spend that
proportion of their money on
loosely defined classroom
activities. This proposal was
also abandoned.
Deal was next up. and
he appointed two different
commissions that were
charged with devising a
way to modernize the state's
funding formula for local
schools.
The first commission never
produced a new formula. The
second commission actually
did recommend some changes
in the formula, but Deal never
submitted it to the General
Assembly for action.
Deal’s next big idea was
to create an “Opportunity
School District” in which
the state would seize control
of the lowest-performing
schools and place them under
the control of a superintendent
appointed by the governor.
That proposal required
voter approval in a statewide
— See “Crawford” on 5A