Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2005 | ||
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Bad Links? | What our Readers Are SayingLetters to the Editor BoE, Panther Trail crossing dangerousDear Ms. Berry-Dreisbach, a child riding a bike was hit today while crossing Panther Trail on his way to Rising Starr Middle School. Many parents have expressed concern over the lack of safe crosswalks with little response from the Fayette County Board of Education. The school boards official response so far has been to discourage people from walking, riding bikes or driving golf carts to the South Complex. The traffic situation around the South Complex is bad and getting worse. The schools are an island surrounded by heavily trafficked roads that are nearly impossible to cross safely. Instead of encouraging alternative means of transportation by providing safe crossings, the school board has instead been forcing parents to decide between automobiles or busses for their children. With gas prices rising and traffic becoming more congested, one would think that the FCBOE and the county government would put a priority on providing safe access to all schools for people that want to use alternative transportation. Please have someone look into this situation. I look forward to your response. Matt Freeman
Children guided by parents behaviorHow can ANY parent claim to be not responsible for the actions of their children? Specifically, regarding Carla Harveys claim that she does not feel responsible for the actions of her daughter, Holly, who murdered Carl and Sarah Collier last year. Should she be held solely responsible for her daughters actions? No. Should she feel responsible? As a parent, I say absolutely, yes! Does she feel she is not responsible because she was incarcerated for drug charges at the time of the murder? Does not that fact alone, that she was in jail for the same catalyst that spurred this crime (drugs), make her responsible to some degree? Agreed, being a parent is one of the hardest jobs any person can do, and doing so as a single parent is doubly as difficult. Agreed, we try to raise our children the best we can and we can only hope they will follow the direction in which we try to lead them. Therefore, what direction was Carla Harvey leading her daughter with her own drug use? Harvey said, You raise your children up, but they get to a point where they make their own decisions. By what tools did Holly use to make the decision to murder her grandparents? There is no class or lesson plan that teaches our children how to make a decision. Children learn decision-making processes from the examples set before them, usually by the parent. I have long contended that our children learn from our example, in addition to the counsel, direction and lessons we give. If a child sees a parent vegetating in front of a TV, they will learn to lead a passive existence without exertion of body or mind. A child that sees a parent reading will flourish and learn to expand their mind beyond what is placed in front of them by the media or society. If a child sees a parent make use of tirades and obscene gestures in traffic or with others, they will learn intense ill will and vindictiveness that threaten to kindle hostility. If a child that sees a parent partake in dubious behavior, be it illegally or immorally, the child will learn deception, subterfuge and abhorrence to morality or virtue. A child that sees a parent do what is right (because it the right thing to do) will learn generosity, forgiveness and sacrifice of oneself or interest for others or ideal greater than themselves. What example did Ms. Harvey give to her own child? And what about Holly? Has she truly accepted responsibility for her actions or has she, as her mother has, shirked responsibility and cast blame elsewhere? Apparently she learned her lesson from her mothers example, as she heaved responsibility for wrongdoing onto her accomplice as she stood in front of Judge Pascal English. So much of society teaches children to cast or divert blame rather than accept responsibility. In my opinion, it is the same as teaching a child to be a coward. It is easy to cast blame. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and character to accept responsibility for wrongs or failures. To say that a child from a home with parents who are responsible citizens will not commit a crime is idealistic and indiscriminate. Nonetheless, that said, a child has more of a chance to become a responsible productive citizen of this community than a child who was born in a home of drugs and crime. A parent who can claim not to feel responsible for actions of their children is a parent who never took the task of parenthood seriously. We as parents ARE responsible for the care and upbringing of our children. Not the schools, not the teachers, but the PARENTS teach this to the children. The instrument to teach these things is by example. So, what example are YOU setting for your children? Dixi A. Fortiori
Federal cuts will hurt local GED studentsIt seems that Congress is about to pass a whopping 66 percent cut in the federal adult education budget. Adult education includes general educational development (GED) classes, English as a second language (ESL) classes, as well as family literacy and classes in prisons. Just in Fayette County last fiscal year we had over 250 GED students. Thats saying something since we have only a 2 percent dropout rate. Without the GED high school equivalency program what percentage of these people would need various forms of welfare? I have eight part-time teachers working from six to 18 hours a week. These teachers are in the classrooms two evenings a week, making very little money. These are Americans in GED classes, and foreigners in ESL classes, all working a variety of jobs in our community just to make ends meet. These students have a desire to improve their socioeconomic level. Are we going to deprive them of that opportunity and deprive us of the benefits they bring to our communities? Without basic skills both groups will end up being subsidized by the government in one form or another. This reminds me of the old advertisement, You can pay me now or you can (really) pay me later. When I first became aware of this cutback I sat back expecting a national outcry. Many famous people (Bill Cosby, Kweisi Mfumi, Mary Lou Retton, Dave Thomas, an astronaut, and a host of governors and senators) have gotten their GED through adult education and gone on to do great things. Virtually nothing about this devastating issue has come out in any media. The state of Georgia has been nationally recognized for its insistence on including GED graduates in the lottery funded Hope Scholarship. In order to be eligible for the scholarship students must first pass the GED. How many students will buy a very intimidating 2-inch thick GED book and be able to pass the test without any help? Without publicly funded classes most of these people will be a drain on welfare and charities for the rest of their lives. It is in our best interest to do what we can to assist them in breaking their cycle of poverty. It is so much cheaper in the long run. The foreign born and undereducated Americans are easy targets. I dont picture them organizing a national protest. Spending dimes now to save millions in welfare dollars later: isnt this an issue we can all agree on? Peter R. Volin
Dixon will help greatlyI was delighted to read of the addition of Al Dixon as chief assistant in our District Attorneys office. This is another example of the highly professional character that has been infused into the county law enforcement community in recent years. While Al will not say much about his many, many accomplishments, I can verify that for many years he was the strong right arm of the Fulton County District Attorneys office. During those years, Al was the go to guy in Fulton County when various municipal investigators needed immediate advice or guidance in many of the high profile cases that were creating a media storm. Speaking as a retired law enforcement official, I can think of no higher praise than when a police investigator is working a complicated case, defense attorneys are already circling, the public is screaming for prosecution: time to call Al Dixon. The citizens of Fayette County are being well-served as Al joins the team with Sheriff Johnson, Chief Roberts, Lt. Col. Jordan and all the rest of our guardians. Walter T. Sheets
Walgreens rezoning of church property would ignore moral obligationsThe opposition to the rezoning request of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church by both the Peachtree City Planning Commission and the city planner is refreshing. It upholds the long-established and nationally-publicized conception that PTC is the ultimate in planned communities. It was the reason many thousands of people bought into this plan and located here. The church will not accept this total rejection and is proceeding to the next level. It is hiding behind the cloak of Christianity while ignoring the wishes of the vast majority of PTC residents and a good many of its own members. The church leadership shows no guilt or shame. Their position is to get the zoning changed so a 24-hour drugstore can replace a magnificent church building. Forget all our past good works and let the drug store be the Lutheran Church monument to PTC. Just give us the money. Now the City Council must decide. They will get a presentation worth thousands of dollars given by representatives of the church, Walgreens and the developer. Unfortunately the people against the rezoning dont have the time or money to present a comparable rebuttal. All we have is the fact that the majority of the people in our city dont want a 24-hour drugstore at the heart of it. We dont need another intersection like Ga. highways 54-74. The safety of our city doesnt need to be compromised. The Highlands subdivision doesnt want their view to be a 10-foot berm hiding a 24-hour drugstore. If the City Council rezones this site, a precedent will be set. Any developer with enough money could buy other property along Hwy. 54 or Peachtree Parkway and build what they please. Outside interests and money will be guiding the shape of our city. The Lutheran Church accepted the restrictive covenants on the land, and LEGALLY they ran out. The church is now ignoring the MORAL covenant. The MORAL covenant on the citys side should not be ignored at the expense of long-established neighborhoods and precedents. By setting a new precedent Peachtree City will not be the special place it is now. The City Council vote on the church property rezoning is scheduled for May 5 at 7 p.m. City residents who share these concerns for our citys future should come and voice your opinions at this very important meeting. Tom Spath
Get personalities out of the way: EMS debate demands factual answersSeveral months ago, Peachtree City raised the issue of the special EMS tax district with the Fayette County Commission. This set of a round of oddly personal exchanges between various political and civic leaders in the county, almost none of which had anything to do with illuminating us taxpayers with the merits of the issue. We received, courtesy of letters by public officials to The Citizen, anecdotal stories pertaining to qualifications of various fire officials; conjecture as to what happens if a Peachtree City resident requires emergency medical services at the Publix on Ga. Highway 54; finger-pointing as to who is to blame for Rockaway Road/TDK road extension/MacDuff parkway extension; the general indictment of the Peachtree City Council for being the spineless lackies of an incompetent mayor, and counter-accusations galore concerning the perceived integrity of various past and present public officials countywide. By design or default, the issue of EMS taxes disappeared from public view. It now appears that the issue is again being raised. I would like to make an effort to add some clarity into the discussion by offering some relevant questions concerning EMS taxes and facts that need to be put into the public domain. Hopefully, The Citizen and other local media outlets can parse out some of the relevant answers before the discussion digresses back along the lines of which elected official has more award certificates on their respective office walls, and what that may or may not mean to SPLOST, district voting and the Peachtree City Tennis Center. 1. Mayor Brown has indicated that Peachtree City residents pay an estimated $256,000 per year for EMS service that they do not use. Commission Chairman Dunn has indicated that that figure is high, but is unable to provide an alternate cost figure. My rough math reflects that [figure] as approximately $8.25 per person in Peachtree City, or in my case (family of five) $41.30 per year in taxes for county EMS service. Given that I transit the county via Ga. Highway 74 daily going to and from work, this may well be a fair investment of my tax money. Still, before the merits can be discussed, the county owes us their estimate of what Peachtree City residents are paying annually. Surely the county budget department should be able to come up with some viable dollar figure. 2. Commissioner Dunn has suggested that if Peachtree City taxpayers receive a break from paying into the county EMS system, other cities and the rest of the county will have to pay more to receive the same quality of service. Further, he noted that if the residents of Peachtree City are interested in saving tax dollars, they should instead give up city EMS service and rely on the county EMS service. It was also stated that the county service is superior, and that it may cost an additional $750,000 to upgrade the city EMS vehicle fleet to the same standards as the county fleet. These statements raise an apparent conflict that needs to be addressed. First, if county EMS service cannot sustain the same level of services to the remainder of the county without Peachtree City tax dollars, how are they going to expand services to cover the 31,000 residents of Peachtree City using the same resource base? Assuming the city donates their equipment to the county for such purposes, there will still be the issue of personnel and training, not to mention equipment upgrade. How will Peachtree City residents end up paying less, and how will county residents escape not paying more to expand coverage beyond where it is at present? 3. Will there be a difference in response times as a result of the increased coverage? As I live on the far west side of Peachtree City, I am about as far geographically from the current county services as one can get, not to mention the traffic snarl of the Hwy. 54 construction. Are there any county projections, and what assumptions (such as co-locating at existing PTC fire stations) are inherent in these projections? 4. Why are we all still guessing as to the contents of this consultants report pertaining to Peachtree City Fire and Emergency services? As the information contained should neither be proprietary or privileged in nature, it should be publicly disclosed. If there is a valid public interest reason why this report should not be released, what is that reason? I would think that The Citizen should have been leading the charge at Peachtree City Hall on this issue. Finally, to the Fayette County Commission, and Mr. Dunn in particular, informing the residents of Peachtree City that they can take us to court is an unsatisfactory answer to a valid question on tax issues. Particularly when the commission is otherwise unable to answer the question as to how much we really are paying. As a relatively new resident of Fayette County and Peachtree City, I moved here because I am willing to pay for what I consider to be the best services and public education available in the state. I am also well aware of the general perception that Peachtree City residents pay more into the county coffers than they receive back. As I previously noted, I am not generally opposed to paying as such in order to ensure the entire county can enjoy superior public services. I use and enjoy those same services too. At the same time, if the County Commission has to raise the specter of a lawsuit every time the question of taxes and services comes up, it makes me wonder just how fair the current situation is to the residents of Peachtree City. For the record, I am not looking to unnecessarily throw stones, but I am looking for factual data so as taxpayers, we can really understand what the cost versus benefit issues are for everyone. If we can do this civilly and correctly with respect to EMS taxes, we stand a shot at being able to intelligently explore the issue of county recreation fund allocations without having to witness another barrage of personal attacks or irrelevant political musings. Both Fayette County and Peachtree City are great places to live. It should, in part, be because of our elected officials, not in spite of them. Richard Butler
District vote push purely politicalA few years ago, on the tenth year, a census was taken. After this is when the various elective districts are typically redrawn. Districts are supposed to be redrawn to account for increases, declines and shifts in population numbers. Those districts included federal congressional districts, state legislative Senate and House districts. They also included local districts for County Commission, school board and municipal council districts where districts have been established by those entities. In Georgia, the state legislature and the governor redrew our federal congressional districts and our state legislative districts. Did you ever see a map of these? They were the most ungainly and ungovernable districts that you could imagine. They were not drawn to link areas of common interest. They were drawn this way for one reason: Partisan political advantage. The fact that it did not work, and that the Democrats who drew the maps lost control of the legislature, illustrates just how desperate they were. And, they demonstrated that they did not care about the citizens who lived in those districts and had to try to function within them. Fayette County was part of one district that had four representatives and stretched all the way from Fayette to Atlanta. Another district had two members and went from Fayette to Spalding to Henry to I dont know where. A court declared these state legislative districts unconstitutional. Theyve been redrawn and in our last election, the new ones were the ones used. The congressional districts used to be a mess but they have been redrawn as well. Why do I mention these now? Because there was a real problem for both citizens and elected officials to determine who was represented by whom. My point is that we have some legislators who say they want to change the way Fayette votes, and will bring it back again next year. But when we had real problems with districts, and when these districts were the direct responsibility of the legislature, they did nothing and said nothing. There was neither talk of unfairness nor threats of disruptions then. Many of the other reasons Ive heard to change our voting are politicians reasons. In the Nov. 17 [2004] Citizen, there was an article quoting the former Fayette County Democratic Party chair, Judy Chidester. She said that the number one priority was to change how we elect our County Commission so they could elect more Democrats. Are these facts evidence of partisan politics? You decide. Fayette is not having problems that are caused by our county-wide voting. The only real problems I heard at the meetings about district voting concerned communication problems. If a citizen does not know who to call about a problem or an issue, that wont be solved if they have one representative or a dozen. They still wont know whom to call. We do have a very good Web site. All of our telephone numbers are listed in the phone book. If a citizen contacts any county office they should be informed quickly where the best place to address their concern is. This is something Ive been told, unsolicited, by people who have dealt with employees in other counties and employees in our county. The Fayette County employees are truly helpful to our citizens, which is the way it should be. These issues do need to be addressed with better public relations [and] communications between government and citizens so that they know whom to call. Changing how we vote does not address this. As a citizen, taxpayer and an elected official, I am interested in good government. I remain willing to listen to a discussion of the issue. If I were ever to support such a change, first I would have to be convinced that the change would make government and administration better in Fayette County. So far, none of the arguments have come close to proving that to me. Peter Pfeifer
Use editors scissors on Ann CoulterThe deeper you get, the less sense Ann (Coulter) makes. These were the words of Jonah Goldberg, editor of National Review Online (NRO), explaining to his readers why NRO stopped running Ann Coulters column in late 2001. Bob Unger, executive editor of The Centre Daily Times, was more blunt: Youre mean vicious, really we do not believe that you in any way serve the public good ... Hate is easy; love is hard. And perhaps the most succinct and compelling explanation of how Ann Coulter actually detracts from all political debate came from Daniel Borchers, executive director of Citizens for Principled Conservatism (CPC), when he offered, Coulters offense is rather that she portrays herself as a Christian conservative, a representative of the views and principles of the Religious Right, and then uses that adopted identity to spread hate and fear, thus stigmatizing all those who embrace Christian conservatism. What would cause these as well as many other conservative organizations and publications to censor Ann Coulter? The answer is responsible editing. Unlike unjust censorship which seeks to stifle opinions one disagrees with, responsible censorship (a.k.a. editing) restricts that which serves no useful purpose in a public forum. At The Citizen censorship is used in both Free Speech and Letters to the Editor with respect to personal attacks on private persons and libelous material. My fellow readers may not be aware that you have, on more than one occasion, edited profanity and vulgarity out of Anns syndicated columns (such as last weeks Its only funny until someone loses a pie). I cannot believe more fervently that the citizens of Coweta, Fayette, and South Fulton who read The Citizen will benefit if Ann Coulter is completely edited from its pages. Simply fact checking Anns tirades reveals surprising errors with her points of fact, but her failing to draw a clear line between satirical exaggeration and historical analysis in the words of USA Today, is equally troubling. In her column, The Purpose Driven Left Ms. Right managed to take Ashley Smiths bravery in overcoming Brian Nichols with the book The Purpose Driven Life (a book we own), and somehow twist it into a political debate. Ann said it had been a tough year for the secularist crowd and used Ashley as an example, but I have yet to hear a secularist expressing despair over Ms. Smiths brave actions. Coulter went further to say, Todays college coeds would be dead: They know nothing about Jesus Christ and cant cook a good meal. Spoken like a true youth minister! I have a hunch that members of Campus Crusade for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Navigators might have more accurate insight here. In her March 10 op-ed Come back, liberals, Coulter asserted that Now liberal journalists are pretending to support the troops. Tell that to the families of Daniel Pearl, David Bloom, and the dozen other journalists who have given their lives covering Afghanistan and Iraq! None of these rants sparked my ire like Freeze! I just had my nails done! True to her anything-to-sell-a-column style, Ann Coulter had the audacity to blame the entire Brian Nichols spree on the countrys humoring feminists and hiring female law enforcement officers. Never mind the implications of a policy that had suspects uncuffed for trial. And disregard the men that Brian Nichols went through, and the men that criminals before him have gone through. Ann says female law enforcement officers vastly are more likely to shoot civilians than their male counterparts. (Especially when perps wont reveal where they bought a particularly darling pair of shoes.) Does this sound like Christian or political conservatism, or slander of Deputy Cynthia Hall? And how does this pro-military Coulter feel about our legions of brave females in the armed services? Are they more likely to shoot their fellow Marine, soldier, or civilians? Many will say, If you dont like her column dont read it. Do these same people defend Howard Stern with this argument of turn the channel, or will we realize that we are irreversibly damaging the state of political debate and rational discussion when we introduce and print those that accord shock higher value than persuasion? Democrats are pretending to believe in God; you know, as they understand her. Judge not, Ann Coulter, lest ye be judged! Can I get a little editing over here, Cal? Pleeeaaassseee? Kevin King
Tour de Ga. a stupendous eventHave you seen more bicyclists since the Dodge Tour de Georgia came through Fayetteville April 20, 2005? It was very pleasing to see so many supporters who turned out to witness the race. This stupendous occasion coming through Fayetteville, Ga., was a positive impact on our community. My vow, while lying in the hospital after being struck by a hit and run driver as I rode my bicycle on May 23, 1998, was to work toward improving bicycling conditions in the Fayette County area. This event was a great start to increasing motorist awareness, which will help improve riding conditions in the Fayette area. An event of this magnitude was part of my vision when helping to start Fayette Biking For Life, Inc., (www.bikingforlife.org) [in] 1998. Another part of my vision was that the more riders are seen on the roads, the more motorists are aware we are there. It did not surprise me to hear negative comments as recently as April 19, 2005, from motorists who are not educated to the Georgia Motor Vehicle Driving Laws described in the Drivers Manual, which can be viewed in its entirety at www.dmvs.ga.gov/forms/dlmanual.asp Included in the above-mentioned manual and with other requirements of bicycle riders are these statements: Bicycles are considered vehicles in Georgia as in every other state. Since bicycles are vehicles, bicyclists must obey the same traffic laws as other drivers. From another paragraph, Bicycles are legally entitled to use every road in Georgia except the interstate highways. The Fayette County Chamber of Commerce is the distributor in the Fayette County area for the booklet published by the Georgia Department of Transportation titled Georgia Bike Sense: A guide for cyclists and motorists. There is no charge for it. In the publication you will find the following: Georgia Department of Transportation has a Web site dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian issues: www.dot.state.ga.us. Click on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. It includes bicycle route maps, links to statewide cycling organizations, and news and updates on recent meetings and events. For more information, e-mail the State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator at bikeped@dot.state.ga.us. Thank you, Lance Armstrong, Dodge Tour de Georgia and Brian Cardoza, Fayette Development Authority. Carleton L. Williams
Power absolutely corrupting GOPNot only are the Republicans prepared to spend like drunken sailors, they have gotten themselves so used to the wine of power that they stagger drunkenly from abuse to abuse confident no one notices. And to a degree, they have much of this Fox News-watching nation stumbling along with them. You could say this started with their tidy little unnecessary war with Iraq. Calling it part of their war on terror, they invaded a country that had nothing to do with the kind of terror we were fighting, but hey, a kills a kill. Figuring theyd hoodwinked the voting public pretty well, they have pressed on with massive tax cuts for the wealthiest among us while spending like theres no tomorrow. And the beauty is, they havent even included the cost of the war in their massive deficit numbers. Its war for free, folks! The downside is, we arent buying our deficit. It is being purchased by the Asians, mostly the Chinese and as Newt Gingrich could tell our Bacchus-in-chief, that gives them a great deal of power over us. As we ship our wealth to China, we ought to consider where its going, and what that will mean for the future. It is unpalatable at best. Anyway, smelling an opportunity to energize their base, the power junkies abandoned all pretense at limited federal government, and inserted the U.S. Congress smack in the middle of a state court decision concerning a most personal, private matter. And the Fox-watchers went crazy, assuming a familiarity with the facts and persons involved that the judge who adjudicated the thing for years might not even possess. And of course, when the state and federal courts were not coerced into seeing it his way, the power-imbibing, bug-killing, wife-paying, vote-changing, lobbyist-trip-taking, change-the-rules-and-makeup-of-the-ethics-committee, arm-twisting, slimy Tom Delay makes the public pronouncement that these judges will have to answer for their decisions someday. The normally erudite Senator Cornyn of Texas (well, they have good barbecue anyway) tells us that maybe all this violence against judges is due to the political nature of their decisions. Of course sober men might be hesitant to stir the next Timothy McVeigh, but not these guys. Let the party roll, baby, yee hah! The power drunkard in chief figured hed collect a few more chits from his financial backers by making it harder to declare personal bankruptcy. Of course in this brave new Republican world, more people will find bankruptcy necessary as their job moves to China. Fortunately the President has this covered as well since he wants to let illegal aliens become kind of legal aliens, the next wave of which would definitely put more pressure on American wages in general. Notice there has been no reform of the business bankruptcy laws. The shrub that roared wants to save Social Security by taking money out of the system. Yes, hell let people take part of their Social Security payment and invest it themselves. This will of course, start a tidal wave of democratization in the Middle East sweeping from sea to ... Sorry: wrong hair-brained idea. This will accelerate the time at which the current system starts to run a deficit, and the time when the system will have to pay substantially less to recipients. Allegedly it will start us on an ownership society for those too stupid to have already opened a tax-free IRA. Unfortunately it wont do much good for people that stupid. It will be a nice boon for the brokers, though. With the odor of power dripping from his pores, Bush nominates bully de jour and pre-eminent U.N. hater John Bolton to be the U.S. representative to the institution he reviles. Unfortunately, some of Boltons bullying past has surfaced, including his denigration and attempt to fire a career naval intelligence officer with whom he disagreed. It seems Mr. Bolton intended to tell the world that Cuba has a biological weapons program when the intelligence community has no proof to that effect. This officer apparently vehemently disagreed and stood his ground. Its just too bad more men like him failed to stand their ground when the shrub and his neo-cons decided to invade Iraq. Power and politics, politics and power. Now it seems that the extraordinarily smart Bill Frist has taken a toke or two on the power bong. He is threatening to end the filibuster, at least as regards judicial nominations. Such a move is openly backed by Dick Cheney who, with every heartbeat, is feeling a little pressed for time to get more business-friendly, anti-ecology judges on the federal benches. This will have the immediate effect of giving the Republicans everything they want. Sen. Frist realizes that Republicans started this filibustering of judicial appointments with Abe Fortas way back before we realized that Nixon was in fact a crook. He also realizes that Republicans will not hold power forever, but the immediate delicious aroma of power is a pheromone that seems to drive even the best of these men into a frenzy. Like a stallion sniffing a mare in heat, Frist has his nose to the conservative Christian wind. Damn the torpedoes, man, full speed ahead! I read a book many years ago by a wonderful author named Barbara Tuchman. The book was titled The March of Folly and while many specifics evade me, I remember well what she was trying to say. The unchecked or half-checked possession of power drives men and governments to positions exactly in contravention to those acts most in their favor. She posited this as a seemingly inevitable historical happenstance, and one that seems to be playing out today. Its inevitability seems even more assured as the Republicans attempt to stifle dissent within their own ranks, while they completely disregard the ideas across the aisle. As an amateur historian, Im mildly amused. As an American, Im thoroughly repulsed. Eventually, even some consumers of that great American, Rupert Murdochs Republican propaganda machine will start to smell the Republican rat festering on the governmental payroll. Modern extremist Republicanism will self-destruct. The question is: Will the damage it causes be repairable in this lifetime? Timothy J. Parker |
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