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Letters to the Editor

3 DAPC members also on bank board

The Direct PAC (political action committee) is the epitome of how our political system has taken a wrong turn.

What they are attempting to do it achieve their own personal prosperity on the backs of the average citizens through the use of misinformation and intimidation. They are grappling to regain the stranglehold that they once had on our city.

Direct PAC member John Dufresne wrote a letter to the editor saying the Tourism Association’s excellent accountability of funding, to the point that they actually paid for tourism-related expenses that the city normally had to incur in the past, is a bad thing.

He tried to intimidate by saying the state Ethics Commission expressed some concern (they might have had concern, seeing that the only version they received was from Dufresne).

The same John Dufresne, Rex Green, Rick Schlosser, Jim Stinson, Bob Lenox and the other 30 PAC members said that they were filing state ethics charges against me in January of 2005.

Threats, intimidation and bullying are their weapons of choice. They cannot win based on facts related to the issues so they try to beat you into submission.

Before recently threatening ethics charges, Lenox had me arrested a couple of years ago on charges that the judge said did not exist.

Even earlier, the city attorney under the Lenox administration sued me for publicly exposing suspect business relationships that the attorney had with certain developers in the area. The lawsuit was dropped the day before the city attorney was to give his deposition and he was also not reappointed to his position.

The pattern of intimidation is clear. If they could compete on the facts, such threatening tactics would be unnecessary. The former circle of power retained dominance by rewarding cowardice and crushing those with conviction.

Many people do not know that Rex Green is actually a paid employee of a developer, Group VI, who is suing the citizens of Peachtree City.

Former Development Authority Chairman Tate Godfrey was also an employee of Group VI when his employer was mysteriously listed as the only qualified bidder for the Tennis Center expansion project.

The other construction firms were disqualified by the authority’s consultant, Bill Foley, who neglected to disclose the fact that he had a significant working relationship with Group VI.

We have since found that Group VI undercut the Tennis Center project and did not build it according to plan specifications. The bottom floor of the new building is vacant because of flooding problems.

This is not the first time that Foley and Group VI have had problems with leaking government structures. However, both the city and our risk management agency are making claims against Group VI on the Tennis Center construction.

One of the claims Direct PAC has made is that Peachtree National Bank should be repaid for all of the unlawful loans ($1.5 million) that were funneled into the Development Authority without public notice and without a public vote.

In 2001, then-Mayor Lenox stated “that the Development Authority currently had a lot of debt that was financed on a short-term, high-interest basis” (city retreat, March 23, 2001).

Why would an authority that was annually hemorrhaging red ink and could not even pay on the principal of their current debts, with no relief in sight, borrow on a “short-term, high-interest basis”? Who benefits from short-term, high-interest loans? The bank, maybe?

The PAC avowed that the bank was unsuspecting and totally unaware of the mismanagement of the authority. In August, I was handed a copy of interrogatory statements submitted by Peachtree National Bank through their attorneys at the firm of Glover and Davis, P.A., at the city’s request.

It turns out that three of the seven Development Authority members were also on the board of directors of Peachtree National Bank (Robert Truitt, Tom Farr and Douglas Warner).

There was no disclosure given, no public notification of the loans and no public vote on the loans.

It was an inside deal and such arrangements are not allowed in government for good reasons.

Doug Warner was the authority’s attorney before he became an authority member. He knew better.

This marks the end of a scandalous chapter in our city’s history. If your support that type of dishonorable behavior, please do not vote for me in November. If you want to reward such appalling actions with our taxpayer dollars then I am not your best choice for mayor.

Direct PAC member Jim Stinson often makes fun of me for telling you that I love my citizens and my job as mayor. His comments do not bother me. It has been a joy working with my colleagues on reforming our local government so that everyone has a seat at the table and our citizens are assured of accountability.

If you will honor me with the opportunity to place a sign in your yard or if you want to help with the campaign, please let me know at mayorstevebrown@hotmail.com. Everyone deserves a government that looks out for the best interest of its citizens.

Steve Brown, mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.

Former PTC Mayor Lenox challenges Mayor Brown to answer queries

Last week Mayor Brown wrote two letters to the editor. He signed one with his name and had the other one submitted by his crony and neighbor, Rob Rothley. I will cheerfully respond to the one he wrote relative to the Development Authority, as promised, but I will ignore the other one as I do not feel obligated to respond to recycled Steve Brown screeds published over the names of his hand puppets.

In this latest Development Authority diatribe the mayor basically says virtually nothing of any substance. He once again uses innuendo, inference and the promise of “future revelations” to make us think the Development Authority did “bad things.”

As they are involved in a lawsuit, it is no surprise that the other parties have nothing to say. The mayor has received the same legal advice but ignores it. I also note that Mr. Brown no longer uses the words “illegal” and “criminal” after I challenged him to lead the prosecutorial charge if the words were accurate and truthful. Guess they weren’t.

I, and I suspect many of you, would much rather hear from Mr. Brown just what it is that he thinks he has accomplished that would make us want to keep him around for another four years. In an effort to foster some meaningful dialogue I will pose the following questions and maybe he will see fit to provide us with some answers in his next letter.

When you took office the TDK Boulevard Extension was basically engineered and ready to be constructed. Four years later we have no road. Why were you unable to make any progress whatsoever on this crucial project?

Why are my own 2005 Peachtree City property taxes 30 percent higher than my 2001 taxes, and some of our citizens are paying over 40 percent more?

Why has the Tennis Center lost one-third of its members, almost all of its teaching professionals, and most of its tournament activity?

How do you expect to work for the benefit of Peachtree City with other elected officials and state agencies and departments when you have a reputation with all of them of being confrontational, dictatorial and untrustworthy?

After years of season ticket sellouts, why does the amphitheater suddenly have hundreds of unsold seats?

Since the Rockaway Road intersection could be fixed for very little money, as road fixes go, and since we already have most of the necessary land, why haven’t you fixed it long ago?

I look forward to your answers.

Bob Lenox
Former 3-term mayor, 1992-2001
Peachtree City, Ga.

Rep. Lakly, curtail power of eminent domain laws

To state Rep. Dan Lakly (R-Peachtree City): I confess I am not fully informed of the details of the current eminent domain laws or of pending legislation.

I am aware that the media is exposing troubling actions in Stockbridge and other locations concerning the taking of private property.

While I understand the concept of government need and use, I cannot fathom the prospect of private property being confiscated for private development for any reason.

Private property rights are part of the foundation of our form of government and should be protected at all costs.

I implore you to use any and all of your power and influence to pass legislation to prevent private property from being confiscated for any form of private development, and to severely limit the ability of OUR government to do the same for public purposes. Championing this cause is the right thing to do.

Bill Valliant
Fayette Mower
Fayetteville, Ga.

Burglary story opened eyes

My husband and I have had many arguments about leaving the garage door up at night until we go to bed. He thinks I am being silly when I say it is not safe.

Since the article appeared in the newspaper, he is now closing the door while it is still light outside. Thank you very much.

Marjorie Cebula
Peachtree City, Ga.

PTC slides in stiff new cart rules

On Sept. 15, I attended the City Council meeting where I got to witness, firsthand, the freedom of choice being whisked away from our city (in reference to golf carts, anyway) before our good citizens even had the chance to know about it.

A few days prior to the meeting, The Citizen and the AJC printed small articles about amendments being made to the golf cart ordinances. The Citizen mentioned that the new ordinance concerned registration as well as new restrictions on types of golf carts allowed on the paths, whereas the AJC just mentioned the former.

During the meeting, when the modifications to the ordinance were being read, the city clerk sneakily slid these new restrictions in between comments about registration being required every five years.

The new amendment reads as follows: “It shall be unlawful to operate on the paths of Peachtree City any motorized cart or LSMV that has been altered from the manufacturer’s specifications for speed, height, width or noise emission.”

I take this to mean that any cart that falls into the following categories will no longer be allowed on the paths: those that have had lift kits installed, those with any type of motor modifications, special body kits, perhaps even older gas-powered carts that are loud.

I believe that the number of these carts must be in the thousands.

Some concerns brought up at the meeting by a couple of residents were:

How will this be implemented? To which the reply was a lackadaisical, “Well, if the police see a cart that is visibly different from a ‘regular’ cart [which is to be determined by the police officer him/herself] then he/she could write a ticket to the person driving the vehicle.”

I suppose their registration would then be revoked, if, after receiving a letter from the manufacturer, it is in accord with the cart not meeting factory specs.

What about the modified carts that were registered prior to the new ordinance? To my surprise, the answer was a smug, “They will not be able to re-register.” No grandfather clause, no compensation to these poor people who will not know that their carts are suddenly illegal.

Just a “Sorry, you can’t drive your cart anymore, it’s illegal now and you need to sell it, somewhere else, and buy a new cart if you wish to continue driving on the paths.” Sure.

The council informed me that restricting these modified carts is for my own safety, as well as the livelihood of the cart paths.

If lifted and/or wider carts are truly causing damage to the culverts (which was specifically brought up by the council), then why don’t we measure our tunnels to have specific specs to limit carts that are too tall and/or too wide to drive through them? Because if the cart is too tall or too wide, then obviously it cannot pass, which wouldn’t matter if it was altered after-market or not.

As far as safety goes, I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel threatened by the lifted golf carts, the ones that have specialized body kits on them that make them look like a Jeep or a Rolls Royce (which the response of the council was that if it “doesn’t look like a golf cart, it isn’t one”).

No, I look to these carts and express gratitude to the people who have taken the time to give their carts added flair. I doubt that these people who have taken so much care with their carts are going to be driving them in a dangerous manner, which would put themselves, their cart, and others at risk.

What I do feel threatened by are regular carts that are being driven much too fast around corners, carts that cut a little too close to me while I’m on the path. Generally speaking, those drivers who don’t show any respect to anyone else.

I am also threatened by the way this ordinance change has been handled, where the people of the city have been totally unaware of what is about to take place.

Stand Up, citizens, and e-mail your mayor (sbrown@peachtree-city.org); let him know that you don’t agree with the changes. Go to the next council meeting, Oct. 6, and demand to be heard. Or go to www.geocities.com/ptccartcrisis. Let them know that this is not going to make the paths safer.

Allisun Obershaw
nightsun (at) snail-mail.net

‘We traded 10 mpg for hybrid SUV’

You asked how certain people in the area might be dealing with the high gasoline prices. Our family has always driven the golf cart here in Peachtree City, whenever possible. Even three years ago, when gas was 99 cents a gallon, we still would never use the car if the golf cart was at all a possibility.

Prior to Katrina we knew a new family SUV was needed. We did much research and decided to purchase a hybrid vehicle.

After Katrina hit, we sped up the process considerably and bought the Toyota Highlander SUV seven-passenger hybrid.

We traded in a Land Rover Discovery seven-passenger that got us 10 to 12 miles to the gallon. Now we should be getting 29-33 mpg with the new SUV. We did this for many reasons. A few examples of the reasons are:

1. We were in need of a new vehicle.

2. We love that our new vehicle is much easier on our environment.

3. We are very pleased to be able to seat seven people and still get 29-33 mpg.

After having owned our hybrid for 10 days, we are always driving the golf cart whenever possible. It is so nice not to have to go to the gas station very often.

Julia and Greg Cleath
Peachtree City, Ga.

‘Rediscover fun of riding a bike’

I, like most Americans, am becoming more concerned each day about rising energy costs and the toll they are taking on the economy as a whole as well as my own wallet.

Your recent article on the subject offered several suggestions as to what people might do to lessen the effects of the rising gas prices. It was suggested that in Peachtree City citizens may take a golf cart or walk as a means of alternative transportation. I was saddened to see that riding a bicycle was not on the list.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that I am a manager at Bicycles Unlimited in Peachtree City. I will also say that, like many in the bicycle industry, I am in it because of a passion for the bicycle and not to die a millionaire.

The simple fact is that riding a bike makes sense. Cycling around town reduces gasoline usage. It reduces the emissions of fossil fuels which are currently eroding the environment. It saves wear and tear on current roads and slows the need to clear-cut green space to build new ones. All these benefits are clearly evident without even mentioning the health benefits.

The best reason to ride a bike may be because it just makes you smile. Even if a person has not been on a bike in years, just a few pedal strokes are enough to transport them straight back to the carefree days of childhood and bring a smile to their face.

I would be more than happy to spend some time with someone from your publication to answer any questions they might have and to elaborate further on how bicycle transportation can help make any community a better place to live.

Matt Kelso
Peachtree City, Ga.

‘Traffic lights don’t help conserve’

We are asked to conserve gas, yet the traffic lights are programmed to make sure when you leave one you catch the next on red, not only burning gas but polluting the air.

If you ever drive in the UK you will be amazed how smoothly the traffic flows. Instead of lights at every intersection they have roundabouts.

They have over 50 million people in a area not much larger than Georgia. Of course it doesn’t work at every intersection but I guarantee there are dozens of places in Fayette County where it would work.

Is it a way to collect revenue (there are always accidents at lights), or are the manufactures and installers real good friends with the powers that be?

Joe Spensley
spensleyj (at) bellsouth.net

‘Use bikes; give bikes to your kids’

The increase in gas prices has not changed my driving lifestyle much at all, for I drive very conservatively when I have to drive. I only drive when it is completely necessary and always consider either walking or riding a bike when I need to go somewhere. The bike has a carrier with a box that will carry a lot of stuff. I even do garage sales with the bike.

I am a member of the PTC running club and the Fayette Biking for Life. The running club has an incentive for running or walking by giving a jacket to anyone that does 1,000 miles in a year and the biking club has one for riding 3,000 miles/300 hours a year.

I feel very strongly about the use of bikes and have a program in which I give out bikes to needy kids in hopes of giving them a means of getting around. For more information, call me at 770-487-9956.

Dick Allis
Peachtree City, Ga.

Anti-war? Can’t have it both ways

I’m glad to see that Mr. Garlock is moving, however slightly, to the left with his public position about the war. Either he’s moving left, or back-peddling (“Anti-war protesters act like self-indulgent kids,” The Citizen, Sept. 14, 2005 and “Speaking the unspeakable about war,” The Citizen, Aug. 24, 2005).

He calls anti-war protesters “self-indulgent kids,” who are giving “aid and comfort to the enemy.” But he later says, “Personally, I was against this war from the start ...“ Well, which is it?

If he took his own advice he’d never have written either opinion piece. They’re supportive of the war, but by his own admission he’s anti-war. Sounds conflicted to me.

Are we as patriotic Americans bound to be silent while our government conducts what to many of us is an illegal and immoral war in our name, with our blood and our money? Are discreet, private letters our only recourse to influence the actions of our “government of the people, by the people and for the people”? Is that the choice we have?

Does “absolute power corrupt absolutely”? Does Mr. Garlock believe that we can trust any president, Democratic or Republican, not to abuse a system in which the citizens remain silent and supportive once the first rounds go down-range? Is that how we must “support the troops”? Is that democracy?

Writing to the president is a much better way to stop the war? Is he serious? Does he actually think that a letter-writing campaign, a very discreet one so the “enemy” wouldn’t know a vast number of Americans are against this war, would make President Bush change one thing about his policy? How does he know such a campaign hasn’t already happened?

Isn’t one of the “jobs” of the president and his administration to make sure their cause is just and their actions moral?

Isn’t one of the “jobs” of the “people” to object when they believe the cause is unjust and the actions immoral? Isn’t that democracy?

FDR managed to keep public dissent quiet during World War II, mostly by having a just and moral cause for war that the public believed.

Wouldn’t that keep the “self-indulgent kids” quiet? It would keep me quiet.

Thomas Finnegan
Fayetteville, Ga.

Left lost election; protest with votes

Grow up!

Mr. Finnegan insists that public protest against the war is required in order to force the President to change his war policy, despite any danger that poses to our troops in harm’s way.

How can you express your own views on what you believe is right or wrong in our national policy?

The primary means is the voting booth every four years. Last year’s election focused on the war in Iraq. The people decided to keep President Bush for another term.

The anti-war crowd lost the election, but insists on throwing public tantrums to force the president to change policy while at the same time encouraging the enemy that is killing America’s sons and daughters.

That’s what I mean by self-indulgent children.

Terry L. Garlock
tgarlock (at) mindspring.com

Bush-worshipping GOP and pandering

Mr. Jansen, the reformed Democrat, regurgitated many interesting and fascinating points. Some of them were even true, but those, alas, were disparate and non contextual.

He says he is a Democrat of “the old kind.” I was wondering if “the old kind” meant the kind that opposed anti-lynching laws, and filibustered the civil rights act. The kind that were opposed to all federal taxes, but couldn’t gobble enough federal spending for themselves. The kind that kind of remind me of present-day Bush-worshipping Republicans.

He endeavours to make the case that all Democrat presidents since JFK have been the source of military paralysis, and parlays various happenings under those presidents into a grand unspoken hypothesis.

Let me take just one of his examples: the Balkans, a subject near and dear to my heart. I got into an argument with Rep. Nancy Johnson of Connecticut at my father’s 75th birthday party over the subject of our intervention there and was dismayed to find her quite as ignorant as Mr. Jansen.

We did not “invade” Bosnia. We did fly much air cover for UN forces there and eventually augmented UN forces with our troops. (Much of that cover was for Mr. Arnold’s “cowardly” French troops. They seemed brave to me.)

We did not “invade” Kosovo or Serbia but did destroy the Serbian will to murder Kosovar Albanians. We did so to stop and prevent further slaughter, to separate the protagonists, and to stabilize the region.

You see the president Mr. Jansen lambasts was a great reader and a man with incredible intellectual curiosity. He understood that the Balkans have always been a sort of tectonic plate between West and East. He understood the propensity for conflict to spread rapidly in this region with its panoply of ethnicities: Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Muslim. Slovenian, Turk, Macedonian.

President Clinton understood and he acted. I was there, and I’ve spent a great deal of time since then finding out about that region. Clinton did the right thing.

Jansen doesn’t want us to get personal in our opposition to Bush’s war. Well, I take the unnecessary death of 1,800 Americans, the unnecessary wounding of 16,000 other Americans, the unnecessary expenditure of $400 billion, the unnecessary de-stabilization of the Middle East, personally.

Jansen talks about what was found as justification for this madness. We knew Hussein had gas weapons way back in the ‘80s. We knew and we applauded their use on the Iranians.

We knew he had attempted to build a breeder reactor which was subsequently bombed by Israel. He therefore had yellowcake uranium and semi-enriched uranium, neither of which is anywhere close to weapons quality.

Had the current president any of that intellectual curiosity possessed in such quantity by his predecessor, he would have known something of gas warfare: how the Germans fired 40,000 gas shells in the battle of the Lys alone, against British lines in April 1918 (yes, forty thousand). He would have known that artillery shells are not a threat to the United States.

He might have surmised that only stateless terrorists can attack the United States without certainty of their own destruction, and that harbouring or assisting those terrorists is an act of war.

Instead, he allowed his surrogates to tie Iraq to the attacks on the United States (I give you Dick Cheney) and continues to tie the war in Iraq to a war on terrorism. There exists no known connection.

Mr. Arnold accused me last week of seeking only to oppose “conservatives” in this paper. Personally I don’t believe “conservatives” start unnecessary wars, or spend the taxpayers’ money like drunken sailors, or run up huge national debts.

I oppose the putrid pandering which occurs weekly in this paper to a morally corrupt regime which has cynically used fear to advance its agenda.

I oppose the vacuous slanders against the people who bother to sign their names and point this out. I oppose the ignorance of the past, the misinterpretation of the present, and the blatant politicization of the future of our security.

Mr. Arnold believes he’s “setting the table.” Unfortunately his paper plates are empty, his plastic utensils frangible, his portable feast a chimera.

Arnold and Jansen sit at the same, misinformed, closed-minded, Bush-slobbering table. As Martin Luther said: “Here I stand. I can do no other.”

Timothy J. Parker
Peachtree City, Ga.

Parker needs better adversaries

Re: Parker always takes side opposing conservatives. I have read Mr. Arnold’s letters whenever I see them and I don’t agree with his letters either.

Arnold’s complaints about Mr. Parker’s vaunted vocabulary and vast verbiage could be solved if Mr. Arnold would complete a course in English 101 at a local college and invest in a thesaurus.

Mr. Arnold’s sarcastic remarks about the French were callous, childish and reflected an attitude of arrogance, typical of the Bush mentality.

I do not always agree with the ACLU, but I don’t condemn them either.

I don’t believe liberals have difficulty with original thoughts. The conservatives of today blindly follow the Bushies without even thinking. They still believe Iraq planned and carried out the attack on the world trade center and Pentagon.

Now that’s an original conservative thought.

Larry Robinson
Peachtree City, Ga.

Time to end Free Speech bitterness

It’s time to stop printing the Free Speech section of your otherwise fine paper.

After reading the Free Speech section from last Wednesday, Sept. 14, I was so disappointed that the remarks made about the looting in New Orleans and connecting it to the demographics of Tyrone were allowed to appear in your paper. There is already so much dissension in our city; why must we add more?

Also, not signing your name allows those who would hide behind those kind of divisive, racial comments to have their say. They are cowards. It’s time to stop the name-calling and bitterness. Let’s just have the news.

Please reconsider printing such negative comments or eliminating the Free Speech or I must ask you to stop delivering your paper to my house.

Lyda Miller
Peachtree City, Ga.

Fayette students, after indoctrination, remain historically ignorant

“What’s a ‘Goldwater Conservative?’” asked the attractive, Sandy Creek High Schooler whom I’ll call Jill.

“We Goldwater Conservatives are usually described as the Libertarian wing, or ‘conscience,’ of the Republican Party, but we describe ourselves as conservative first and Republicans second because there are some in the Republican Party who’re to the left of Senator Ted like Republican senators Jeffords, Specter and Chaffee and there are some Democrats to the right of Bush like Georgia Senator Sam Nunn,” I answered.

“So, you’re a Nazi,” said Jill sweetly and very smugly.

“Not again,” I say to myself. I calmly explain, “Libertarians’ beliefs are the antithesis, the opposite of the Nazis. So, why do you think Libertarians are Nazis?”

“Libertarians believe in private ownership of corporations, don’t they?” Jill asks sweetly.

I know where this is going.

“Yes, Libertarians firmly believe in private property rights as expressed by our founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution, Federalist Papers and Bill of Rights.”

“Then you’re a Nazi!” says a supremely confident Jill. Jill then leaves my presence to talk to some other attendees of an IHOP Saturday morning meeting of the Fayette County GOP.

Cute Commie-sounding Jill was at IHOP to get extra points for a high school class assignment and she was bravely visiting the minions of evil, known Republicans, without a bodyguard.

“Pathetic,” I say to myself, but Jill is really not to blame for this ignorant, twisted view of politics. After I graduated from (government) public high school in 1965, I had political views similar to Jill’s which had been pounded into me by my government public high school civics, economics and history teachers.

Jill was one of the more literate Fayette (government) public high school students I’ve talked with in the almost nine years I’ve been living in Fayette County.

Exaggeration?

About two years ago, a young man I’ll call “Bob” asked a PTC librarian, May Haas, for some help researching his McIntosh High School advanced placement (AP) class assignment. Bob mentioned that the “Red Hunter,” U.S Senator McCarthy, was insane.

I just had to butt in.

I quickly found the AP student to be intelligent, but, per usual, his view of politics and history was profoundly ignorant, biased and twisted.

I asked Bob, “Why do you say that Nazis are bad and Socialists are good?”

“During WWII, the Nazis murdered about 6 million Jews in concentration camps; that makes the Nazis bad. The Allies and the Soviet Socialists fought the Nazis and stopped the Holocaust; that makes the Socialists good.”

“Good answer, Bob, but you’re only partially correct. Hitler also had about 6 million non-Jews murdered in those same concentration camps. Have you heard of Stalin or his ‘Great Terror’?”

“Wasn’t Stalin a German (Nazi)?” says Bob.

“No.” Among other things Bob didn’t know: 1. Bob didn’t know that Nazi stood for National Socialism and that Hitler considered himself a Socialist. 2. Bob didn’t know that Stalin and Hitler were allies from 1938 to 1941. 3. Bob had never heard of Stalin’s “Great Terror” (1924-41) during which 40 million to 70 million men, women and children were killed in concentration camps, death zones, gulags, etc.

“Bob, McCarthy put his life on the line fighting mass-murdering Nazis (National Socialists) during World War II as a tail gunner in a bomber, and then, McCarthy spent the Cold War risking his political career to fight mass murdering Communists (collectivist socialists). Bob, how did you come to the conclusion that there was no “Red Menace” during the ‘40s and ‘50s, or that McCarthy was crazy?”

“My AP teacher told me and my class that McCarthy was insane.” And then Bob showed me the highly biased, left wing, Commie, AP Class Syllabus which outlined required reading assignments, like Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” that could lead most any young, intelligent but ignorant person to conclude that there never was a “Red Menace,” that McCarthy was nuts, that capitalism was evil, socialism was good, and blah, blah, blah.

“Bob, I’ve been an education reformer for many years. Could I please make a copy of your AP class syllabus here in the library?”

Bob got white with fear and refused, even though I assured Bob that I would not reveal him as the source until after he got into college.

Bob is now in college; but the Fayette County School System still has some very toxic, anti-freedom, anti-individualistic, anti-capitalist, Marxist Socialist Commie teachers brainwashing your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc. Like I was 40 years earlier.

People, over 100,000 Americans died fighting the “Red Menace” during the “Cold War” (1945-2005) in places like Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Laos, Greece, etc., and we, as taxpayers, are forced to pay government public school teachers here in Fayette County to [urinate] on their sacrifices.

Anybody concerned in rich, smug, complacent, RINO-controlled Fayette County?

Bill Bryan
Peachtree City, Ga.

Latest Coulter screed is leading to insanity

I am today, Friday, the 16th of September, 2005, declaring myself insane. I am doing so based on the definition provided to me by a member of my family as follows: ”Insanity is the act of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

Yes, this description fits me because, while I know Ann Coulter’s writings (and I use the term writings extremely loosely) are going to push my blood pressure well above the high normal limit, I continue to read her blather.

She fell to a new low today with her reference to the dead bodies of Hurricane Katrina being called “registered Democratic voters” by liberals.

I cannot imagine how it feels to someone whose mother or father was one of the victims of this tragedy to get slapped in the face with this as well. It goes beyond editorializing; it is disgusting.

Evidently Ms. Coulter has never lost a loved one, although I must wonder if she has any, because she continues to use those who have perished, and in many cases their survivors, as tools to rally against the left.

She went way too far this time and evidently she did not listen to any of the Republicans who had quite a bit to say about our administration and this horrendous event as well.

While Annie no doubt blames the liberals for defending freedom of speech, she certainly makes good use of it to deliver her diatribes. Get a life, lady.

Wendy Kovacs
mommag53 (at) bellsouth.net

Katrina relief: How can we still help?

I was so glad to see this article on your Web site. I am a Fayette County citizen and would still like very much to help but, honestly, I don’t know where to turn now.

I have called DFACS and a few other places and they all say there is nothing they need now. I would love for you guys to run an article on what is still needed, who is still collecting and where citizens like myself can make donations.

Is there a place just collecting toys, books and games? Is food still needed? What about water? Are kids set on school supplies? Are there places with families that have “wish lists”?

I responded immediately to my church but now they are no longer collecting items and I honestly don’t know where to go with my donations.

I hope you can be a great resource to all of us who want to continue to help.

Lara Long
lblong (at) bellsouth.net