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♦ FRIDAY, JULY 23, 2004
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
* Editor Emeritus
Moving Into The Future
Houston County’s long awaited - and antici
pated - 800-megahertz emergency communica
tions system is now online.
It brings a new level of communication to all
law enforcement and emergency agencies in the
county.
It eliminates “dead spots” in the county,
where law enforcement and emergency person
nel were out of contact with their agencies.
Sheriff Cullen Talton, who has been annoyed
with the failure of the old communications sys
tem to provide blanket coverage of the county,
says the new system “will solve all our prob
lems.”
While the old analog system would not cut it
in today’s demand for instant and complete
communication, the 800-MHz system is more
reliable, clearer and will bring together all pub
lic safety personnel for the first time. No longer
will the sheriff, police departments, fire depart
ments and other agencies have their own com
munication systems.
At the heart of the new operation is the 911
office which manages it.
More than 18 months of work, from planning
and design to implementation and training, has
gone into the project, which called for unprece
dented cooperation.
The 800-MHz system is so different that
training classes have been held for personnel
who will use it.
The new communications system is being paid
for with revenue generated by a SPLOST,
which was approved by county voters.
A plus with the new system is that coopera
tion of law enforcement agencies all over
Middle Georgia will become easier and more
effective.
All in all, it is something residents should be
proud of. It is a long time need that has been
fulfilled.
THE 9EPU3UCAN PLATFORM
NOW VT's...
COOQ4 CREATORS SYNDICATE. INC * feA
The dangerous game of catch-and-release
Let me state the obvious for
the 9,999 th time: America is
still not serious about enforc
ing its immigration laws. The
latest addition to my home
land insecurity files comes
from New Ipswich, N.H.
Last week, the local police
there stopped a speeding van.
The driver was on the road
with a suspended license.
Upon inspecting the vehicle,
the cops found 10 people
stuffed inside. They sheepish
ly presented authorities with
dubious identification cards.
The cops asked the passen
gers where they were from
and where they were headed.
“Massachusetts” and “New
Hampshire,” the answers
came back in perfect English.
One of the cops wasn’t
about to play games. “Are you
here illegally?” the officer
asked. (I can hear the
American Civil Liberties
Union members running to
file their lawsuits right now).
Upon being asked their immi
gration status, the passengers
suddenly lost their command
«T‘
HP#
wife *
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
Creators Syndicate
of the English language. “No
comprende,” they sputtered.
After a Spanish-speaking
translator was brought in
from a nearby town, the New
Ipswich cops learned that the
10 individuals in question had
paid a smuggler up to SIO,OOO
each to get into the United
States. They apparently origi
nated in Ecuador, traveled to
Mexico, crossed the border
into California with the high
priced help of coyotes, and
In what G.M.D. do you live?
Are you a member of any
paramilitary organization?
Perhaps you have seen this or
a similar question on some
type of a questionnaire. I
have. And, if you are like me,
I am sure that your answer to
the question - whether first
confronted with it in this col
umn or previously presented
with any opportunity for a
truthful response - was or is
“no.” Possibly, we gave an
inaccurate answer. Let me
explain.
My friend, Irene Harner,
recently e-mailed me in part
as follows:
“Myrel is curious if you can
shed some light on the
Georgia Militia. When we
moved out here, our polling
place was a tiny building, still
there, at the corner of Houston
Lake Road and Hunt Road. It
was behind the Corner Store,
and Myrel thinks the sign on
the building read “137th Ga.
Militia District.” He’s not
sure of the number. I think
you’d have a lot of interested
folks if you could do a column
about it. ”
Irene’s correspondence
greatly piqued my interest
(perhaps Irene, her husband,
John-John ticket doubles voters' fun
The Democrats have come
up with the John-John tick
et to contest the presidential
election in November.
Unfortunately, it is likely
the double-barreled moniker
will be used as a way to triv
ialize or disparage the
Democratic hopefuls.
Nothing is more certain.
Indeed, those right-wing
wags over at the Pittsburgh
Tribulation Review newspa
per used "The John-John
Ticket" as the headline on
their happily demented edi
torial earlier this month
announcing that John Kerry
had chosen John Edwards
as his running mate.
My friends at The Trib did
not mean this wording as a
cute compliment, because it
is against their house rules
to write anything remotely
flattering about Democrats,
by order of their publisher,
the immensely wealthy and
then trekked across the coun
try into New Hampshire with
out a hitch. The vigilant cops
of the New Ipswich Police
Department, who are con
stantly urged by the bureau
crats in Washington to be on
heightened alert, immediately
contacted federal immigra
tion authorities.
The response they received
from the U.S. Bureau of
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement was: So what?
According to New Ipswich
police chief Garrett
Chamberlain, the feds told his
department that they didn’t
have the resources to take the
admitted illegal aliens into
custody. Besides, since they
were “only” garden-variety
illegal aliens and not “previ
ously deported” aliens or vio
lent criminals, there was no
reason to hold them.
“You gotta be kidding me!”
Chamberlain told me in an
interview this week. “These
people admitted they paid
smugglers, admitted they
were here illegally, and
lip
Wm ' a
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgbc.com
Myrel, and I are the only
three people in Houston
County who care) and caused
me to do some research. In
part, and based on a 1956
Georgia Bar Journal article
and information from the
Secretary of State’s Office,
this is what I have learned.
Militia districts had their
origin in the Colonial Acts of
1755 and 1773. Apparently,
the purpose was to provide a
source of manpower which
could be made available in
emergency situations. Based
on my limited research of the
Georgia law, even today, every
rr"T W'M- , ' , C v'2,
- ?
Reg Henry
Columnist
Scripps Howard News Service
influential Mr. Scrooge
Scaife McDuck.
But I think the John-John
ticket has an appealing ring
to it. In fact, it may be the
best thing about the
Democratic ticket.
As regular readers know, I
am not a big fan of
• President Bush. My problem
with him is that he does not
flip, and this stubbornness
has made a flop of his
administration. As Ralph
Waldo Emerson reminded
us long ago, "A foolish con
sistency is the hobgoblin of
little minds ..."
If Mr. Bush would only be
more flexible and be big
minded enough to admit his
mistakes - in short, if he
would only flip a little - he
would be better off in terms
of credibility. It's a shame he
doesn't realize this. You
would think he has one hob
goblin too many already,
what with Dick Cheney.
But John Kerry - let's be
honest - does not set the
pulse a-racing. He is already
something of a flop in the
charisma department, but
perhaps he can flip his way
into some good positions by
nobody wants to take them
in?”
Chamberlain noted that the
10 individuals supplied false
birth date information (“one
guy said he was 31 and was
born in 1963”) and gave obvi
ously false names. “We called
immigration five times before
releasing, and they had no
interest in them whatsoever.”
As for the federal govern
ment’s priority of only enforc
ing the law against “previous
ly deported” aliens,
Chamberlain wonders - at a
time when millions of illegal
aliens are living, working,
studying, voting and lobbying
for their “rights” - how any
body ever gets deported any
more. Chamberlain is furious
and decided to go public with
the incident, despite a politi
cally correct code of silence
among police chiefs about
open-borders chaos.
“We’re asked by our govern
ment every day to increase
our awareness and try to
apprehend” law-breakers,
citizen of the State, between
the ages of 17 and 45, who is
not a member of the National
Guard or other organized mil
itary force, is a member of the
unorganized Georgia Militia
District in which he or she
resides. Actually, I am not cer
tain that women are mem
bers.
The whole state is laid out
in militia districts and under
the current system, each dis
trict has a number. At one
time, the districts were given
names that corresponded
with each election of a
Captain in the district so that
the same Militia District
could be known successively
as Evans District, Houser
District, Beckham District,
etc. Each time a district’s cap
tain died, resigned or was
removed, then the district
took on a new name.
Apparently, at one time, the
tax receivers in each county
took up and made tax returns
by and in the Militia Districts
and the territorial jurisdiction
of Justice of Peace Courts
(now Magistrate Courts) was
first made coterminous with
Militia Districts. Myrel, what
you saw written on the build-
virtue of a larger mind and
the promise of a hobgoblin
free administration. In any
event, as president, he
would be a boon to the
American paint-drying
industry.
The sunny Sen. Edwards
can do only so much to help,
but the felicitously named
John-John ticket may prove
the magic 10 percent in the
election contested between
the flop who won’t flip and
the flipper who threatens to
flop.
For despite what some
people may think,
Americans love double-bar
reled words. It is not a no-no
and certainly not something
to be pooh-poohed. In fact,
this is true all over the
world, from Walla Walla to
Wagga Wagga.
Why, I was just discussing
this the other day over
lunch with my friend Lulu. I
wanted to go to Chi-Chi's,
but she wanted to go some
where more frou-frou.
The restaurant we chose
was quite exotic, the sort of
place Zsa Zsa Gabor might
patronize. Our waitress
wore a muumuu and was
festooned with bling bling.
Music by Yo-Yo Ma was play
ing in the background.
Lulu ordered the mahi
mahi with the couscous and
pawpaw. I just had the pu pu
platter. As it turned out, the
food was only so-so. Sigh,
sigh.
"Chop, chop, Lulu," I said.
"We need to discuss the
political situation between
bites, at the risk of coming
down with beriberi. Don't
you think that John-John is
a cute name for a political
ticket?"
Chamberlain mused, “and
then they tell me to kick ‘em
loose? It’s frustrating.”
Chief Chamberlain is not
alone. As I’ve reported consis
tently since the Sept. 11
attacks, immigration enforce
ment remains a joke. “Catch
and-release” games are par
for the course:
In Wenatchee, Wash., last
month, a man now charged
with the murder of local
deputy Saul Gallegos in
Chelan was “voluntarily
removed” (allowed to leave
the country on his own
accord) three times in recent
years but he always came
back. In Del Rio, Texas, 17
illegal aliens from Brazil were
arrested by a local sheriff and
released by federal authori
ties. The sheriff s complaints
to Rep. Henry Bonilla result
ed in immigration enforce
ment interviews that would
otherwise not have happened.
Sheriff D’Wayne Jernigan
fumed to the local press:
“Are they criminals? Are
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
ing may have had something
to do with a Justice of the
Peace Court, or it could have
been at one time some kind of
an election district. What do
you think?
I have been doing title work
in this county for over 40
years, and I have read many
old deeds that contained
wordage somewhat as follows:
“20 acres, more or less, in the
northwest corner of Land Lot
78 of the 10th Land District,
and in G.M.D. 147.” Until
Irene sent her e-mail, I didn’t
know nearly as much about
Militia Districts or Georgia
Militia Districts as I do today.
Get an old Houston County
map and look at it closely. You
will see the Militia Districts
depicted on the map.
Well, there it is Irene. Hope
you and Myrel enjoyed it and
learned something. Now,
what will your answer be if
asked the question: “Do you
belong to any paramilitary
organization?” Be honest.
Tell them that you are in a
Georgia Militia District and
are possibly subject to call if
the age requirements are
raised ever so slightly.
"Unless completely gaga,
or else locked up in some sad
place like Sing Sing that
Koko the Clown couldn't
make more human, nobody
would think that John-John
is a boo-boo in terms of the
campaign," Lulu said.
"But," she said, "if the
Democrats want to avoid the
fate of the dodo bird, they
would be well advised to
project some toughness as
well as cuteness. When the
dum-dum bullets are flying
at Bora Bora, and the situa
tion is one of deep doo doo,
Americans want their lead
ers not to look like little
boys running an errand for
their pap pap."
"Hear, hear!" I said.
Lulu looked across the
crowded restaurant: "Hey,
isn't that Archbishop
Desmond Tutu over there?
My, my!" But that proved a
false alarm.
"I do believe," Lulu went
on, "that the John-John
ticket will appeal to rich
women who sit around in
the La-La Land suburbs and
eat bonbons all day while
thinking nostalgically of the
go-go days of their youth."
"Jeez, look at the time!"
Lulu said. "I have to go.
Don't worry - come
Christmas, more than Santa
will be going ho, ho. It'll be
all hip hip, rah rah for John-
John."
As she went out the door, I
heard her say, "Kiss, kiss.
Ta, ta."
"Bye-bye," I said, feeling
that my instincts had been
confirmed.
Enough? Enough.
Distributed by Scripps
Howard News Service,
http://www.shns.com.
they terrorists? We don’t
know who they are. ... The
agency officials at this level
here locally, I truly believe,
are just as much against these
releases as I am. They feel
betrayed. They’re thinking,
‘We work hard to apprehend
these people and then the
next day someone at the
Washington level orders their
release. Why are we appre
hending them in the first
place?’
“It’s ridiculous. A war on
terrorism? Homeland securi
ty? Hah!” Jernigan said.
Indeed. Perhaps it is time
for the U.S. Bureau of
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to simply drop
the word “Enforcement” from
its title. Spare us the charade.
Michelle Malkin is author
of “ Invasion: How America
Still Welcomes Terrorists,
Criminals, and Other Foreign
Menaces to Our Shores"
(Regnery). Michelle Malkin's
e-mail address is
malkin (gbcomcast.net.