Houston home journal. (Perry, Ga.) 1999-2006, July 07, 2006, Image 4

Houston home journal., July 07, 2006, Page 4A, Image 4

About Houston home journal. (Perry, Ga.) 1999-2006 | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2006)

Page of 12

Prev Issue

Text PDF JP2 (3.3 MB) Clip/Print Image

Page of 12

Prev Issue

Return to Top

Newspaper Page Text4A ♦ FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2006 t &St Houston Home if vEl ]t OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Don Moncrief Managing Editor Without Desert Strom Imagine there were no Desert Storm. Imagine coalition forces - most specifically those from the U.S. - did not rise up in defense of Kuwait. Where would we be as a nation right now? If we had not demonstrated our capabilities to the world back in 1991, would we today be seen as a pil lar of strength by the rest of the world? Yes, we’ve been attacked on our own soil. Yes, we continue to be threatened daily. No, it hasn’t kept every third-world crazy from wag ging their fingers in our direction. And no, it didn’t keep North Korea from test-firing at least six mis siles Wednesday, including a long-range Taepodong-2 capable of reaching U.S. soil (as it turned out, that one was barely capable of leaving North Korean soil), or Iran from continu ing to actively pursue their nuclear program. So, was it all for naught? No, we don’t believe that. No one in America should believe that. We can’t afford to believe that. If we do, those who have so bravely died in the freedom of Iraq and other countries around the world while spreading democracy will have done so in vain. And the truth is, it has had an impact - a major impact. And, despite all the jib ber-jabber ginned up by the press, to the average citizen in a far away land we are seen as “strong.” Sure, dictators can rise up. They can wag their fin gers and tongues in every which direction. They can vow this and vow that, but in the back of their minds, THEY KNOW. There is no way they cannot know. They have seen Desert Storm. They have seen us in action in other parts of the world, including Afghanistan. And even though the military oftentimes portrays the U.S. as a failure there because they can’t find Osama bin Laden, look who is the hunter and who is the hunted. Look who is out in the open and look who is hiding in fear of his life. Don’t get us wrong, we are not advocating war over peace. That’s not what this is about. It’s about something Ronald Reagan preached about/fought for when he was president - being a deterrent. If you look at world events today, as scary as they sometimes seem, just imagine (really: take the time to actually play them out in your mind in conjunc tion with current events) where we would be had not a crucial part of our history - in the form of Desert Storm - been written. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Are new housing starts really good news? I wonder if the 1,800 plus housing starts announced for Houston County recently is really good news? What about the average of three-four vehicles with each new home that totals out around 70,000 more cars and trucks on our already crowded roads? How many new parks and greenspaces have been announced? What about chidrens parks in our county? What about more sidewalks and some public transport? Quality of life is more than new strip malls and fast food joints. It’s more about attracting new high tech industries to our county. But our new spec building in Perry paid for by taxpayers cannot find a tenant after two years. Other than RAFB our only large private employer is Perdue chicken processing. Our recent graduates will have to leave our fair county to find decent jobs not on or connected to RAFB. Our public schools may be excellent but their graduates must wonder why our local job mar ket is so dim. Could we do some things better? Frank Gadbois, Warner Robins WORTH REPEATING “Desert Storm seemingly reversed one of the principal lessons of Vietnam-namely that excessive reliance on technology in war is a recipe for disaster.” Andrew J. Bacevich Director, Center for International Relations "A Less Than Splendid Little War," Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2001 Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus No, we don't believe that. No one in America should believe that. We can't afford to believe that. If we do, •those who have so bravely died in the freedom of Iraq and other countries around the world while spreading democ racy wM have done so in vain. And the truth is, it has had an impact - a major impact. National mood dangerous to republic “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Jesus’ words Holy Bible, King James Version, Revelations 3:16 “The vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” John “Cactus Jack” Nance Garner 32nd Vice President of the United States (1933 to 1941) “Larry, the prevailing mood of the voters in this state and in this country is that they no longer care and expect little or noth ing from government.” Bobby Rowan - Former State Senator, Former Public Service Commission Board Member, and the Sage of Enigma, Georgia Did you see where John McCain called President Bush a mental munchkin? No, you didn’t see it, because as far as I know, it didn’t or hasn’t happened. But what did happen was that Lincoln’s rivals called him a baboon and some of the things said of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson by their political adversaries would make Hugh Hefner blush. We had a non-civil, Civil War because of political dif ferences. The American Revolution. Federalists (strong central govern ment) vs. Anti-Federalist (local control). Slavery and Abolition. Women’s Rights. Civil Rights. The New Deal. Prohibition. The War on "No, I'm not closing my account. I’m just withdrawing enough gas money for my vacation!" Who put the media in charge of security? There are some days a lot, actually when I wonder who put the media in charge of my family’s security. I didn’t, and I doubt you did either. If we had, we would have already fired them for doing an absolutely lousy job and for being unpatriotic to boot. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post no sur prises there and the Wall Street Journal recently revealed the existence of a secret terrorist finance sur veillance program that began shortly after the 9/11 terror ist attacks. The U.S. govern ment had been tracking the money trail that leads back to where terrorist plots are hatched. Highjacking airplanes and crashing them into tall build ings and killing thousands of innocent Americans can be expensive. Now, our friends in the media have dried up that important source of information. Our protectors in the press have decided that it is more important for us to know about that program and embarrass the Bush admin istration, if at all possible than to stop the source of much of the financing for terrorist activities. Bill Keller, New York Times executive editor, said, “We believe The Times” (Aside: “The” Times is Keller’s way of saying there are no other “Times.” There is no Financial Times, no Seattle Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgb-law.com Poverty. Vietnam. Anti-War demonstrations. Deep-seated differences and strong feel ings among the people in this country. The point is this: until recently and throughout the history of the United States, citizens have had strong political feelings. These feel ings have spawned wars, uprisings, political turmoil, negative campaigning, push polls, political corruption, assassinations, and economic collapses. Some of this was unnecessary. Most of it was mean and hard. But what we have now, June, 2006, is even more contemptible. Call it disgust, mistrust, cynicism, or “just don’t care, any more,” but it is worse. More dangerous to the survival of the republic. I served in public office as a Democrat for 32 years. I extolled the virtues of the Democratic Party. But, in my heart, I always thought the Republicans had the high ground on Fiscal responsi bility and being “tough on crime”. With the federal budget deficit, the rising oil prices, and the immigra tion problems, I have had a Dick Yarbrough columnist yarb24oo@bellsouth.net Times, no Washington Times, no Gainesville Times, no Valdosta Daily Times. Just “The” Times. Now you see the problem.) “and others in the press have served the public interest by accurately reporting on these programs so that the public can have an informed view of them.” Oh, please. All that bunch of horse patoots has done is to drive terrorist financing further underground and make the “informed public” subject to more attacks. How that serves the public interest is beyond me, but then again, what do I know? I am just a modest and much-beloved columnist. This same crowd also decided it was in the pub lic interest that we and the terrorists know that the government had tapped the phones of the bad guys, so we could try to figure out who might be coming state side next to blow the hell out of something and kill more innocent people. That, too, didn’t suit the . Jm-'- ■ * ’ A change of heart. But, I do not tilt towards my old party which offers no alternatively better solutions. Instead, I tend towards confusion and bewilderment which is the first step towards indiffer ence and “not really caring anymore”. It used to be that most people thought the govern ment, especially the federal government, could solve or help solve the country’s prob lems and many of their indi vidual problems. Today, the general feeling seems- to be that government, especially the federal government, is impotent at best, and part of the problem and not the solu tion, at worst. And as Bobby Rowan says “they expect little” and are rewarded in their expectations. Voter participation num bers are abysmal and getting worse. So many of those that do vote go to the polls because “it is their civic duty” and not because they are “for” a particular candidate. Often, the voter is left with the feel ing that he or she has to choose between the “lesser of two evils”. Especially do vot ers feel this way in national \ " Jf media. They ratted out the surveillance program, and now the terrorists just have to figure out a new way to put us all in jeopardy. And they will. For their lack of con cern for our personal secu rity, “The” Times and the Washington Post were given Pulitzer Prizes in the “Give the Terrorist a Fighting Chance” category. Two U.S. soldiers were tortured and killed in Yousefiyah, part of the Triangle of Death, recently patrolled by Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. Have you seen much or any media indignation? I haven’t. Yet U.S. Marines are accused of torture in Haditha, and according to the Media Research Center (and my friend and fellow colum nist, Laura Armstrong), the media have devoted three and-a-half hours to the alle gations. The two incidents inspired Atlanta Journal- Constitution cartoonist Mike Luckovich to create a THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL elections. Witness the last presidential election and the choice between Bush and Kerry. Perhaps there is too much readily available informa tion. Maybe we get to see, too up close, all of the warts of our officials and the short comings of our governments. Could George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt have withstood the media glare that envelopes our modern day Presidents? Do we need a new third party? Could a different President and Congress do better? Where are our would-be wise and effective national leaders? Can anyone make a differ ence? Do we really care? President Lincoln said this: “The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, what ever they need to have done, but cannot do, or cannot so well do, for themselves - in their separate or indi vidual capacities”. Do we still believe Lincoln’s words, or do we think it’s not worth a bucket of warm spit and all of ‘em should be spewed out of our mouth? Or will my fellow Americans, when they’ve had enough (and I submit they are close to this point, now) find solutions - “kitchen table solutions” - to assure that the United States of America remains the greatest country in the history of the world. * This was my article in the May, 2006 edition of James Magazine. It is re-printed here with permission of the Managing Editor of James Magazine. cartoon featuring a hooded figure holding an American flag while reading a book on torture etiquette to an al-Qaeda member. Get the point? We Americans are no better than al-Qaeda. To show there is no limit to bad taste, the cartoon was placed over the pictures of the two Americans who had been killed. The reaction has been swift, negative and nation wide, although you would never know it to read the AJC. They printed a half dozen letters of protest on one day, and it has not been mentioned again. At the risk of biting the hand that feeds me, the media had better get its poo-poo together, and quick. I make a lot of speeches around the state more than all the members of the state’s media combined, I suspect. Every place I speak, there is a lot of resentment expressed about the media’s perceived lack of balance. The media doesn’t under stand that the public sees through them like a cheap bedsheet. I tell the audience mem bers not to fuss at me. I’m just a modest and much beloved columnist. Talk to BUI Keller, of “The” Times. He seems to be the one mak ing all the decisions. You can reach Dick Yarbrough at yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, PO. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.