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♦ SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2005
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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
Everyone Seems To Be Happy
Houston County commissioners held a public hearing
on the budget for the next fiscal year, and nobody
showed up to talk about it.
Obviously, just about everyone is happy with the way
the commissioners are conducting their business.
There is a slight possibility of a miniscule tax
increase to cover the budget, but it probably will apply
only to residents of unincorporated areas, to pay for
fire protection.
An interesting element of the budgets the commis
sioners have adopted in recent years is that they are
coming in under the tax cap that was imposed on them
decades ago.
Critics, who speak without coming forward to identi
fy themselves, find fault with the fact the commission
ers ask for a special purpose local option sales tax to
pay for some capital improvements, especially roads,
which are now and have been for several years a top
priority in an effort to try to keep up with the number
of vehicles now in the county.
Actually, it is impossible to build roads as fast as they
are needed. Always it is a matter of playing catch up.
Commissioners must depend on taxpayers to approve
a SPLOST and then the money must come in before
they can spend it.
In our opinion, they have been doing a pretty good
job under difficult conditions.
Apparently most people who are willing to identify
themselves believe this to be true, also, or they would
have shown up at the hearing on the new budget.
Lets Keep Patriot Act
Should the Patriot Act be voted into law again by
Congress or should it be weakened substantially?
Critics say that the Patriot Act, in its present form, is
dangerous and can deprive us of many of our civil
rights.
Maybe.
However, is this a time of war or not?
In times of war the important thing is protection of
the country and the people of this country.
If government investigating agencies are given a little
leeway in doing their job and seeking out people who
would do damage it seems reasonable to give it to them.
If there is abuse of the power given to them, Congress
can pass a new law changing the Patriot Act or wiping
it off the books.
For the present, we are in favor of giving investigat
ing agencies and the courts the tools they need to root
out and arrest enemies of this country.
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America becoming
one giant Wal-Mart
Editor:
The HHJ’s guest colum
nist, Austin Bay, writing on
military affairs, sounds like
a Rupert Murdoch isolation
ist. Because the leaders of
France and Germany were
against going to war with
Iraq, he gloats over the
recent “no” votes in France
and Holland on the EU con
stitution. Mr. Bay ignores
our huge trade deficits and
budget deficits to belittle the
financial woes of our
European allies. He brags
about NAFTA, which has
shifted millions of our jobs
to Mexico and Asia. Our
long term unemployed will
never get decent paying jobs
with pensions and health
care.
No mention of our mil
lions of undocumented
aliens. Or the fact that our
military recruiters cannot
fill their quotas despite 40
million eligibles! Our crum
bling infrastructure of over
crowded schools, highways
and empty manufacturing
sites. America is becoming
one giant Wal-Mart of low
paying jobs, minimal bene
fits and healthcare. With 46
million of us without health
insurance and forced to use
emergency rooms for med
ical and dental care. At least
in Europe the indicators of a
high quality of living are all
higher than ours. An unpop
ular war here coupled with
growing, and mediocre
employment levels, makes
me question the arrogance
of Mr. Bay concerning
France and Germany.
Having visited every coun
try in Europe during a 23-
year residence in the UK, I
got to smell the roses all
over the place. And to appre
ciate other cultures. I like
the French and Germans
who also love America. At
least most of them try to
learn and speak English!
Is the right thing being done?
It shouldn’t bother me,
but it does. I heard it with
my own ears. Former
President Jimmy Carter
joined the group of America
haters by calling for the
closing of the prison at
Guantanamo because he
sees it as a place where
human rights are violated.
Really?
From what I have been
able to learn, prisoners at
the base, where terrorists
are in custody, get pretty
good treatment. They get to
read their Korans. They get
to worship as they please.
Much more is spent on food
that goes with their religion
than is spent feeding the sol
diers who are guarding
them.
Attempts have been made
to kill guards. Bleeding
hearts overlook this.
There have been a few
instances where guards
apparently mistreated a few
prisoners, but not very
badly. Nothing to compare
with the way they treat
Americans.
This is inhumane and vio
lates their civil rights,
according to our past presi
dent, who seems to be iden
tifying himself with groups
The desecration of Ground Zero
Most Americans have not
been paying attention to the
bureaucratic wrangling and
political jockeying that has
plagued the construction of
the World Trade Center
Memorial at Ground Zero in
lower Manhattan. But it’s
not just New Yorkers and
developers and 9/11 families
who should care.
A good portion of the proj
ect is federally subsidized.
All of us have not only a
financial stake, but also a
moral stake, in protecting
the honor of the victims -
and the dignity of our coun
try.
A Blame America
Monument is not what we
need or deserve. But it looks
like one is already in the
works.
In a startling op-ed print
ed in the Wall Street Journal
on Tuesday, Debra
Burlingame exposed the
“Great Ground Zero Heist.”
Burlingame is on the board
of directors of the World
Trade Center Memorial
Foundation and the sister of
Charles F. “Chic”
Burlingame 111, pilot of
American Airlines flight 77,
which terrorists crashed
into the Pentagon on 9/11.
She reports that the World
Trade Center memorial will
encompass a “cultural com
plex” whose primary tenant
will be something called the
“International Freedom
Center.”
According to an IFC fact
sheet, the project “will be an
integral part of humanity’s
response to September 11.”
An educational and cultural
center will host exhibits, lec-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Are we really so better off
than the Europeans? At
least they all have the right
to see a doctor!
Frank W. Gadbois
Warner Robins
Can't we stop for
the grieving?
Editor:
My best childhood friend
passed away on Friday. I
watched her father, who was
mourning the loss of his
only daughter, taken way
too soon from this world. A
father should never have to
bury his child. But, I
watched this father, with
such strength and grace,
become a rock for her son
who was left behind. This
son will struggle every day
without a mother to help
him become a man. I
watched this father, whom I
have known all of my life,
stand tall at a time when he
and individuals who find lit-
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Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
tie to like about our military
or our country.
It is his right to feel that
way, though it is hard to
agree with him. I do wish
that he would consider the
fallout from what he is say
ing because it could give
encouragement to the
enemy and cost lives of our
military personnel in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Rep. Rangell of New York
wants Guantanamo investi
gated to make sure that ter
rorist prisoners are “treated
the way I would expect them
to treat me if I was a prison-
* — l —— i
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
Creators Syndicate
tures, debates and films
“that will nurture a global
conversation on freedom in
our world today.” Tellingly
though, as Burlingame
notes, early plans for the
center that included a large
mural of an Iraqi voter were
scratched in favor of a pho
tograph of Martin Luther
King Jr. and Lyndon
Johnson when the designs
went public. So much for
nurturing that global con
versation.
The center’s “civic
engagement network” will
connect visitors to “service”
opportunities. Translation:
Left-wing activist recruit
ment center. As the fact
sheet notes, “leading NGOs
(non governmental organi
zations) will be offered out
posts at the Center to reach
out to its visitors.”
On its face, the project
may seem fairly unobjec
tionable enough (putting
aside how far afield it all
seems from the task of
remembering the victims
and heroes of 9/11) - until,
needed to grieve, and take
care of his grandson, the
only piece of his daughter he
has left in this world.
Hundreds of people came
to the funeral home. I was in
awe of the support the com
munity showed for this fam
ily. I was in attendance as
the people crowded in and
lined up to pay their
respects. I was so pleased. I
was so thankful that these
family members and friends
thought so highly of my
longtime companion. There
were so many flowers they
could not all fit into the
rooms. For this I felt so
blessed!
Today, all of her family
and friends were crowded
into the chapel for her
memorial service. This was
touching and emotional for
all in attendance. When the
funeral was over we left the
chapel and made our way
towards her eternal resting
place. The place her son will
visit numerous times. The
er.” Haven’t they already
shown how they treat
Americans who become
their prisoners? Don’t they
humiliate them and then cut
their heads off?
Critics of the Guantanamo
prison want the terrorists
there to have attorneys paid
for by American taxpayers,
among other things. They
want the prisoners to be
treated as prisoners of war,
though they wore no uni
forms. They are terrorists,
not soldiers.
When I hear claims that
we in the United States
should be ashamed of the
treatment of those prisoners
and accusations that their
civil rights are being violat
ed I wonder why these same
critics are silent each day as
American soldiers are being
killed by roadside bombings
and mortar rounds in Iraq.
Is it humane to kill our
soldiers? Are they enjoying
the benefits of a safe envi
ronment? Why, oh why, do so
many people in this country
castigate our brave men and
women while assuming the
role of protectors and
defenders of hoodlums who
would kill them if they had a
chance?
that is, you take a closer
look at the chief movers and
shakers behind the project.
Tom Bernstein, a deep
pocketed Hollywood finan
cier and real estate mogul, is
the primary driver behind
the IFC. Bernstein’s long
time friendship and busi
ness partnership with Yale
classmate George W. Bush
gives cover to his radical
activism as president of
Human Rights First. The
group opposed Bush
Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales over the adminis
tration’s preventive deten
tion policies and has joined
with the ACLU in mau-mau
ing the Pentagon over
alleged prisoner abuse.
Among the many suppos
edly respectable scholars
consulted on the project is
Eric Foner. He’s the
unhinged Columbia
University professor who
reacted to 9/11 by griping:
“I’m not sure which is more
frightening: the horror that
engulfed New York City or
the apocalyptic rhetoric
emanating daily from the
White House.” The IFC’s
list of scholars and advisers
also includes left-leaning
elites such as Henry Louis
Gates at Harvard
University; Stephen B.
Heintz, IFC secretary and
president of the Rockefeller
Bros. Fund; Walter
Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen
Institute; and Michael
Posner, executive director of
Human Rights First.
Burlingame also reports
that Anthony Romero,
ACLU executive director, “is
pushing IFC organizers for
place where he will repeat
edly question the accident
that took his mother at such
an early age. The place
where she will comfort him,
and hear his thoughts and
dreams. The place where he
will sit for hours and tell her
all he has done and plans to
do, the things that she will
be up in Heaven watching
and overseeing for him. I
was pondering this on the
way through our town to the
graveside services.
In any funeral procession
I have ever been involved in,
it is customary for the traffic
to yield the right of way to
the family and the proces
sion that is following. This
was not the case in Perry
this afternoon! I was morti
fied at the sheer lack of
respect the passersby had
for this family. I have
always, and will continue, to
pull off onto the side of the
road and pay respects to a
grieving family. My friend
deserved that today. As her
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
It is something I cannot
understand.
In my opinion, Americans
should rally around the flag.
They should support our
armed forces. Whether they
like the fact we are at war
with Iraq should not color
their view of right and
wrong.
Above all, they should not
go out of their way to create
the impression that our
brave men and women are
villains and the terrorists
they hold in prison are hon
orable citizens worthy of
every benefit of law abiding
citizens.
It is inconceivable.
If you read or listen to the
left-wing media you would
believe that the only noble
people are our enemies and
that our enemies are inno
cent victims of sadistic,
inhumane soldiers on a ram
page.
Deliver me from this kind
of talk or feeling.
Thank goodness most
Americans can see through
the left wing rhetoric and
criticism. Otherwise, our
country would be in bad
shape.
exhibits that showcase how
civil liberties in this country
have been curtailed since
September 11.” Then
there’s billionaire Bush
basher George Soros, who
Burlingame reports is an
early funder and supporter
of the IFC and whose spirit
infuses this grievance-mon
gering enterprise.
Do we really want Ground
Zero to be the playground of
anti-war financiers, moral
equivalence peddlers, and
Guantanamo Bay alarmists?
As Burlingame told me yes
terday, “Ground Zero
belongs to all the American
people. If Ground Zero is
lost, whether through negli
gence or malfeasance, it will
be a loss that is felt for gen
erations to come.”
Richard Tofel, IFC presi
dent, is minimizing dis
senters. In a statement, he
told me that “we under
stand that a few do not”
agree with the project’s stat
ed mission of promoting the
“cause of freedom.” The
question is not whether
most Americans support a
monument to freedom, but
whether they will stand by
while saboteurs convert it
into The Ultimate Guilt
Complex.
Voice your opinion here:
www.renewnyc.com/Memori
al/frm_memcomments.asp
Michelle Malkin is author
of “Invasion: How America
Still Welcomes Terrorists,
Criminals, and Other
Foreign Menaces to Our
Shores” (Regnery). Malkin’s
e-mail address is
malkin@comcast. net.
body made its last journey
through a town that she
grew up in, that she gradu
ated from, that she raised
her child in, and where she
worked every day of her life,
she should have been paid a
lot more respect than she
received today! I was
ashamed of the way times
have changed, and the dis
tance people have all grown
so accustomed to accepting.
The utter disregard for pain
other people are experienc
ing makes for poor human
beings. I hope that every
person that ignored that
procession today arrived
safely at the destination
they were seeking.
My friend didn’t on her
last ride, which is why she
rode in a hearse today.
In loving memory of
Stacey Lynn Lower
Your friend,
Stephannie Garbett
Stinson
Perry