To the Editor:

Saturday night, August 15 the Glenn Beck Show: something eerie, sad and very troublesome transpired. Beck leaned into the camera for punctuation and said in a very calm, soothing and deliberate way, “America, there is so much hatred in this country right now, and it is important that we have and honest conversation here. And understand clearly what is being said on this program...”

He then lurched into a bizarre delusional world of magical thinking where he scrambled historical facts and told us that Nazis wanted to euthanize undesirable people because it cost too much to keep them in institutions. He shows the viewers an alleged Nazi poster that supposedly says that more houses can be built for the people if money isn’t wasted on providing for the mentally ill and physically handicapped.

Beck tells us this mirrors “Obama’s plan” which will cut costs by killing off those who are a drag on the bottom line.  Hitler = Obama.  Any high school History teacher however can tell you that the eradication of undesirables in Hitler’s Germany had everything to do with racial purity and Aryan traits. It had nothing to do with money.
When it comes to eugenics, NSP fascists were concerned with a pure race, Glenn Beck fascists are concerned with economics and transfer that focus to the Democratic health care plan.

So, after bemoaning the fact that there is hatred and anger in the country he stokes the fires of that hate by deliberately identifying the Democratic health plan with Nazi eugenics.

What Beck and his ilk never talk about is how American’s are not FREE. John’s wife hates her job and has a chance to get another one, but she can’t because she would loose the health care her family needs. In the rest of the industrialized world she could go any where she wanted.

To the Editor:

How far does the lunatic fringe of the conservative movement in their fear mongering is going to go? And what makes them so oblivious to their own stupidity? They obviously haven’t done their homework. America was founded on bravery, not cowardliness. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. These people on the other hand are just cowards and crybabies. They have been throwing one un-ending temper tantrum since November 5. They have fallen victim to their own fears and lies and have violated the first rule bull…ology, which is don’t believe your own hype and don’t get caught up in your own games.

What I’m wondering is why anyone would believe anything coming from people who’ve been lying like Blagojevich for the last eight years. Does having a black president suddenly make everything they say true? Let me put it in a way Jeff Foxworthy would put it. If you’re always making mountains out of mole hills and exaggerating things and making things up and you won’t shut up about it you just might be a liar! Now, there are only three reasons someone would embrace lies even when the truth is slapping them in the face. 1. They’re desperate; 2. They’re stupid; or 3, they’re desperately stupid.

To the Editor:

The article in last week’s newspaper regarding the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for education, ELOST IV, should generate a debate about the return we are receiving for the dollars we spend. The citizens of this county are not stingy when it comes to spending on the school system: by my calculation the school system spent something close to 29 million dollars for 2008-2009. (The Board of Education does not post a summary of its annual budget on its Web site. I calculated this number from data in a June 11 newspaper article.) We ended the school year with 3,259 students. That is a spending rate of about $8,900 per student. That’s not chump change.

For this money we have received recognition (our high school principal was national principal of the year), and we have acquired new buildings (a new gym, a part interest in an aquatics center). What we don’t have is a list of educational accomplishments worth $29 million per year. Our SAT scores are stagnant, the high school failed to meet adequate yearly progress under the NCLB Act, and the End of Course Test results for this spring are dismal. (See the story on Page 7A of the August 13 issue of the paper.) Out of eight tests, we are below state average on seven. Worse, for five of the eight tests, the percentage of students who passed the test this spring is lower than the percentage that passed last spring. One subject where we have improved compared with last year is economics, where 23 percent of our students passed this year, versus 14 percent last year. The statewide average is 60 percent.

We are in our third ELOST now, and things aren’t getting better. That is reason enough to vote against ELOST IV. Throwing money at a problem is not the same as solving a problem. And spending more money on the same old thing just guarantees that we get more of the same old thing.

To the Editor:

The Morgan County Board of Elections and Registration estimates that they could manage a Special Purpose Local Option Educational Sales Tax (ELOST) election for the Morgan County Board of Education for approximately $14,500. I noted the board was set up under Georgia House Bill 1494. That bill states that the Board will comprise of five members, two each appointed from those parties that gained the first and second place in the county for the election for Governor in the general election  preceding the appointment, and one member appointed by the Board of Commissioners. However, if you were one of the 223 voters for the candidate for Governor that finished third, then you have no party representation on the BER.
The current Board consists of two Democrats, two Republicans and an individual selected by the Board of Commissioners. An appointed Board of Elections strikes me as being deeply ironic. Why not have the board elected by the voters of Morgan County, rather than appointed by political parties and the BOC? Why is a board that runs elections not elected? I would like to see all citizens that voted for a candidate for Governor have representation, rather than rely on appointees. This brings me to another point. How truly democratic are the two political parties on the board? Does each party elect its officers, with each party member voting for each position, or are they appointed? Do party officers have term limits, or can they stay in their positions indefinitely if they wish? Is an appointee to the BER directly elected by registered party members? If not, why not? Under HB 1494, an appointee is able to serve indefinitely, but yet the Governor of Georgia has a two-term limit! An appointee, having a longer length of service than an elected official is a perfect example of ignoring the will of the people.

To the Editor:

It is unfortunate that the debate over healthcare seems to have been hijacked by those who don’t want there to be any debate. Instead, we have angry crowds who aren’t willing to allow an exchange of ideas which is the very foundation of our democracy.  Perhaps only in “Letters to Editors” will there be a chance to discuss various solutions.
Two weeks ago, I argued in this paper for a Single Payer System of Healthcare. I also sent my thoughts to Senators Chambliss and Isakson. Senator Isakson wrote back his position opposing a government-run “Public Option” plan (which, by the way, is not even a “Single Payer” plan). I find his reasoning (and that of all the other conservatives in Congress) pretty mind-boggling.
Senator Isakson wrote:  “It (a government-run 'public option' plan) also will place the federal government in unfair competition with private health insurers and managed care providers, as it will be impossible for private entities to compete fairly with the government that regulates them, taxes them, and is exempt from having to pay taxes itself.”

To the Editor:

As the Morgan County Representative for the Georgia Wildlife Federation, I invite to you join and become involved in an extremely rewarding volunteer effort. I am also a member of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and enthusiastically invite you to join both organizations.
These organizations work together in order to promote the preservation of vast areas of our natural habit throughout the world.
As a member of NWF you also have the opportunity to have your property certified as a Wildlife Backyard Wildlife Habit and assist in supporting and maintaining our wildlife and also many of our potentially endangered species.
Only four items are required: your property must provide food, water, sufficient cover and nesting opportunities.
To learn more and become a member of the GWF
please go to: www.gwf.org/
members/options.html
To become a member of the NWF please go to: https://online.nwf.org.
 
Charlie Christian
Madison
Via e-mail