Opinions
THE PORK SEASON GOES INTO FULL SWING
Unidentifed local resident (R) accepts check from unidentified elected
official for van* repair
This time of year, we are reminded of the "Peanuts" Halloween scenario involving Linus and the Great Pumpkin. You remember the story line. Despite all the skepticism of his playmates, Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch on Halloween, convinced that the Great Pumpkin will come and shower all the "good" little boys and girls with gifts.
But the Great Pumpkin never comes.
In the real world of Georgia politics, however, that is not true. The Great Pumpkin comes……in the form of many little pumpkin candidates who have been "good" in the eyes of the Great Pumpkin. They are sent all over the state by the Great one in Atlanta to disburse gifts to all the "good" little elected Democrats who "behave."
And they know to behave. Especially during the election season. You will see the little pumpkin signs on their pickup bumpers, in their yards, in the words they speak. They KNOW to behave, or there will be no more visits from the pumpkin. There will be no "emergencies" for which to draw "emergency" funds.
It’s the way the game is played, and they know it.
Are they "bad" people? In most cases, no. They will tell you that they have the best interests of the people who elected them at heart. And they do. .
Sadly, they are correct in their assessment. It is a self-perpetuating system. Go along to get along. Go along or do without.
Make no mistake. This is not a Democrat/Republican issue. There is no virtue in names or labels. It is a one-party government issue. Absolute power. One hundred and thirty years of absolute power. And until it changes, the Great Pumpkin will not only grow, but grow fatter.
The question is: Will we ever have the courage and the will to change it? Or will we continue to go along to get along?
Ó2002 Dave Nelson
*This Van can be yours, if the price is right. See the auto classifieds.
DO GEORGIANS REALIZE WHAT A "GREAT"
GOVERNOR THEY HAVE?
In a recent "Christian Science Monitor" article, Godfrey Sperling
wrote the following:
"There’s a successful governor in Georgia who just might be the
best candidate the Democrats could run for president in ’04. He is
Roy Barnes, of whom Jimmy Carter’s brilliant campaign strategist, Hamilton
Jordan, said to me the other day: ‘I’d put Barnes up against any
governor in the country.’ Mr. Jordan added, ‘Jimmy Carter gives
Barnes high marks for governorship.’"
That’s a far cry from what a lot of people are saying locally about
Barnes, especially Republicans. But you would expect that of Republicans.
A contrast to the "Monitor" piece was an Associated Press story
by Dick Pettys in "The Anderson-Independent", elaborating on Georgia
Republicans’ wailing about Barnes’ "spoils system."
They claim that the Governor’s 2002 grants from his "emergency"
fund to Democrats who are in trouble over the "flag" vote is indicative
of just how corrupt he has been.
The article cites the example of Senator Nathan Dean of Rockmart, who is
in a tight battle with a Republican. In the past fifteen months, Dean has
received $234,500 from the governor’s "emergency" fund, compared
to $89,672 the previous twelve months.
This from a governor who has bellowed for belt-tightening in the state budget
this year due to revenue shortfalls. Just whose belt is getting tightened?
Included in Dean’s "emergency" grants this year was $13,500
for band equipment and $20,000 for uniforms for Cedartown High School. Bobby
Kahn, the governor’s campaign manager responded to the suspicious "emergency"
grants, saying, "Is he helping in their campaigns. Yes. In terms of
the emergency fund, the two have nothing to do with each other."
That’s what I like about politicians. They can lie with such a straight
face.
So who should we believe? Hamilton Jordan and Jimmy Carter, or the Georgia
Republicans? If it’s the matter of the presidency, I think Roy Barnes
would make a great president, in the tradition of Jimmy Carter and Bill
Clinton.
As for Governor of Georgia, I hope Barnes suffers the same fate that probably
would have befallen Carter had he been eligible to run again in Georgia.
There are many around who doubt that he could have made it. Maybe we are
smarter than the nation as a whole.
Let’s hope so.
Ó2002 Dave Nelson
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