& EDITORIALS
Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard,
publish, and conceal not, Jeremiah 50:2
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ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
In my 11 years here, this newspaper has
cal debates at almost every venue in Monroe Coun
Weve had them at Alderman Hall (the old fire station).
We've had them at the railroad depot. Weve had them at
the board of education auditorium. We've had them at St. James
Baptist Church on Railroad Avenue.
For county commission races, we've held them out of town
to get dover to the voters in each district. We've had a D' rict 2
debate at New Providence Baptist Church in Smarr. We've had
a District 3 debate at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Bolingbroke.
We've had at least two District 4 debates at the High Falls Fire
Station (where it's hot, and hard to hear!). We at the Reporter
considering holding debates to be a valuable public service, our
gift to the community, and if it generates some news as a result,
well, that's all the better.
I enjoy moderating debates. No one covers Monroe County
like we do. As the county's legal organ, we're really the only
media outlet in Forsyth. I think we know as much about the
issues facing Monroe County, and on the minds of our dtizens,
as anyone. We ask good, tough questions because it's in all of our
interests to demand more from our public officials. Better public
officials means a better community. Who's against that?
But, in 2008 some candidates complained that I asked ques-
tions that were too tough. We asked a former district attomey
why he seemed to have grand juries "no bill" an inordinate
number of cases every year, more than other judicial circuits. We
asked a former county commission chairman if it was fair that
he kept appealing his property tax values, which essentially put
him on both sides of his case. They Were tough questions. Some
were submitted by readers. Other questions we came up with
ourselves.
When I arrived in 2007, I was told nobody really hosted regu-
lar debates. So we started partnering with the chamber to host
them each election cycle. But after the 2008 debate, the then-
chamber president said she could no longer co-host debates
with us. We 4vere simply too tough on some candidates, she said.
Since the chamber at the time received funding from the county
and I agreed with her that we should not try to run a debate
together. We value our independence, and I've even had public
officials say that our commitment to holding public offidalsac-
countable has given Monroe County a better crop of them.
Which brings us to this year.
Our political debate in March before the May primary was un-
usually rancourous. One dtizen and a state house candidate got
into a shouting match over political signs. Only my blue cooler,
used to transport water bottles for the candidates, kept the two
from fistictfffs.
hen I asked the school board candidates if they would be
willing to say how they voted in
the 2016 presidential election. A
small contingent supportive of one
candidate erupted into shouts.
"This isn't a debate!" one BOE
re ee shouted at me.
' ctualt,that exactly what it is,"
I replied.
All that led to Monday's sheriff's
debate. A county commissioner
offered to let us use the commision
chambers for and I was grateful.
It has a good sound system, and
seats 130. We had never had 130
at a debate. But this was also our
first open sheriffs race, and some
worried the crowd would be too
large. The old BOE auditorium was
unavailable due to renovations. The Fine Arts Center was too big
for my taste. The county's Conference Center would've worked
welL But commission chairman Greg Tapley seemed to think
the debate is a big money-maker for us. He refused to waive the
fee. So we kept it at the annex.
Then Tapley called me with another beef. He said unnamed
"people" were concerned that my questions would be biased,
and that the debate would get out of hand. Of course I have
biases like everyone else, but I ask tough questions of all the
candidates and have an 11-year record. Candidates don't have to
come to our debate, and some don't I reminded Tapley that his
own neice is married to a candidate, so I don't know why he's so
concemed about MY bias.
Anywa if you were turned away from Monday's debate, I'm
sorry I would've liked a bigger fadlity is well But we're a small
town and do the best we can. I think the Reporters debates have
improved civic life and the quality of public offidais in Forsyth.
All the carping notwithstanding we're doing a service for the
community. And if our debates are so popular that people can't
get in and have to read about it in the paper, then I guess that's
OKbyus.
the M.onme County
www. MyMCR.net
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President Robert 191. Williams Jr Vice President
Cheryl S. WilliamS, Secretary-Treasurer
Will Davis ~:~ ] Trellis Grant
Publisher/Edit0r Business Manager
publisher@myrncr.net business@mymcr.net
Richard Dumas ~ ~ Diane Glidewell
News Editor Community Editor
forsyth@mymcr.net news@mymcr.net
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyle Wingfield
SALT LAKE CITY- Sometimes, for
perspective, it helps to back up a couple
of steps. Or a couple of thousand miles.
The closer one gets to Washington,
D.C. - and the goings-on therein -
the uglier the picture. Consider the
recent confinmtion hearings for new
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavana-
ugh. Regardless ofhow one felt about
Kavanaugh and the allegations against
him, Americans of all political persua-
sions were repulsed by the spectacle
that senatorial "advice and consent"
became.
More than once during and after that
process, I read or heard someone ask
whether our elected offidals could ever
again unite to accomplish anything
positive and consequential. Yet, the
response by both sides has been to turn
the heat up, not down.
Ifyou are waiting for a moderation of
temperatures in our politics, you may
seek the impossible - at least, ffwe insist
on the same appmack
As long as we elevate ever more mak-
ing oflaw and policy to the national
level, the fights will become more ex-
treme. This is not a matter of ideology
gone wild, money in politics, gerry-
mandering, media bias or other reasons
commonly offered to explain our bitter,
tribal partisanship.
The problem is the stakes are too
A nation of 325 million souls will not
agree, easily or perhaps at all, about the
best way to arrange for something as
personal and intimate as, sag the provi-
sion of health care. Such a large popu-
lace also will inevitably hold starl@,
irrecondlably different views about the
morality oftopics such as abortion.
We do not hold increasing amounts
of animus toward one another because
these differences exist; we hold them
because one side is in constant peril
of having these differences resolved
definitively, and against its wishes, in
law, when such a law is applied across
the entire nation.
There are problems that must be
addressed nationally:
defense, interstate com-
merce, immigration.
In general, these are
problems concerning our
national sovereignty.
Whether health insur-
ance must cover five
essential benefits or 10,
or how far the law should
intrude on one's personal
choices - these do not
concem national sover-
eign We have elevated
them as if they were. That
was a mis'take.
Which brings me
back to the question of
perspective, and the dateline for this
column.
I spent the past week in Uta capital,
at a meeting ofleaders from other
state-based think tanks. More than ever,
this experience reinforced for me the
thoughtfulness, capability and willing-
ness of people from all 50 states to solve
these problems in their state capitols,
not the U.S. Capitol.
The attendees were brought together
by our common belief in prindples
such as economic opportunity and
freedom, and limited government.
e e
Now, I am under no illusion these
prindples are the only ones espoused
in our many states. I met peers in states
that are unfailingly blue, states that are
resolutely red, and states (like Georgia)
now trying to make up their minds.
I am, however, convinced each of the
states is better positioned than the fed-
eral government to settle such questions
as how to regulate health insurance,
how to provide public
education, and how to
invest in infrastructure.
If nothing else, the
stakes are necessarily
lower in any one state
than in all the states at
once.
Our nation is not go
ing to shrink Nor is it
at all likely to develop a
sudden, broad consensus
about these matters. That
such a consensus existed
for much of the 20th cen-
tury is the aberration; the
lack of one now is more
akin to the first century
and a half of the American experiment,
and apt to continue for decades to
come.
We can agree to push more very
important questions to the lower state
level. Or we can continue to raise the
stakes until the rancor of the Kavana-
ugh hearings, and the political currents
that swirled about and created it, seems
like the good old days.
The CEO of the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation, Kyle Wingfiekfs column
runs in newspapers around the state.
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
l eVana "AGA- I ast week,Justice shouted out of restaurants, screamed at
was sworn in in airports, and forced to cancel events
an associate justice on due to threats ofphysical violence. The
Supreme Court. Now, leftist cabal is completely unhinged and
the country can get backto normal, cor- promises to continue in "cwility for the
rect?NO.Theleftistcabalhaspromised foreseeable future.
to continue their "resistance" campaign
against anyone they THESE ARE not idle
oppose. And since they rants by deranged liberals.
oppose Justice Kava- These rants have become
naugh, the resistance mainstream Democrat
will continue. AS I said ideology and methodol-
last week, we should The calls to resist come
be very concerned from the highest levels
about the left's hateful " of the Democrat Part .
resistance. It's border- To prove that the "r ist
line anarchy. The Dems mentality" has gone main-
have promised, should stream, ask yourself- How
they win in November, many dected Democrats
to keep investigat- have condemned any of
ing Kavanaugh for the hateful protests or
the sole purpose of condemned any ofthe
impeaching him. Libs intolerance such as Kathy
and Dems have gone Griffin holding a severed
"all in" as they contin- Trump head or death
ue their attempts to destroy Brett Kava- threats against Justice Kavanaugh?
naugh life, even threatening to killhim. Answer- None. Democrat politicians
Some examples: As Justice Kavanaugh actively encourage the protestors to be-
was being confirmed; an enraged mob come more confrontational and more
oflunatics descended on the Supreme uncivil AS a result, the leftist cabal's rage
Court and angrily pounded on the is only increasing. It's like they're froth-
doors while screamin& '`shut it down. ing at the mouth.
Shut it down? A teacher in Minnesota
said, "So whd'S gonna take one for the EVERY CONSERVATIVE knows
team and kill Kavanaugh?" A Google exactly what I'm talking about with the
Executive slammed the GOP in a vit- increasing liberal insanity However, the
riolic rant, "E YOU ALL TO HF2.J ' average liberal and Dem doesn't know
and continued, "I hope the last images how etwaged they've become. That's be-
burned into yourevil, treasonous cause liberal media outlets do not report
retinas are millions ofwomen laughing on the increasing craziness on the left.
and dapping and celebrating as your CNN, MSNBG, etc. completely ignore
souls descend into the flames? Also, it. With a straight face, and completely
Sarah Silverman, an X-rated comedian, believing what theysa); liberals insist
hoped that President Tromp would be that conservatives who are intolerant.
a victim of sexual assault, ']add down When someone only watches CNN
and violated against your wil ' Eric and MSNBC, they're dudess about the
Holder, the former Attorney General, left's insanity and intolerance. Several
said, '"When they go low, We kick 'em? CNN anchors actually endorsed the
And Hillary promised that Democrat mobs chasing Senator Cruz out of a res-
incivility will continue until Democrats taumnt or the mob confronting Kirstjen
return to power. Nielsen. The liberal news anchors call
these mob tactics- "1st Amendment
ALL OF ofthese rants come after the rights." according to the "tolerant"
past 20 months of anti-Trump insanity leftists, they have a right to intimidate,
- Kathy Griffin holding a severed and scream at, and chase down conserva-
bloody Trump head; a New York City fives because conservatives deserve it.
theater performance in which President
Trump is assassinated; and Maxine SANE PEOPLE have asked why
Waters (D-CA) calling for Dems and liberal women went "all in" with believ-
liberals to confront and in "tlmidate ing Chris e Ford in her accusations
conservatives and Republicans - in against Justice Kavanaugh. It's very
restaurants, in department stores, or at a simple- this was payback Throughout
gas station to ' et in their face and create histor); there have been millions of
a crowd and tell them they're not wel- women assaulted, raped, and murdered
come thereY Conservatives have been by men. And for most of history, men
have gotten away with it. Fommate,at
least in the United States, about 50 years
ago, that began to change. Women have
become increasingly empowered and
many assault/rape cases that, previously,
never would have been brought for-
ward, are being provecuted. Still, there
are many instances where assaults occur
and it's a "She said, he said" situation
which is very difficult to prove. Thus,
they go unprosecuted.
THEN, ALONG comes Dr. Ford
who makes an accusation against a
prominent, white man and millions of
women see themselves in her position.
The problem is that every single case
must be judged independently Just
because a woman was assaulted and the
guy was never prosecuted, doesfft mean
that every man accused becomes guil
When a "she said, he said" situation,
you've got to look at the totality of facts
and evidence. And emotions are not
fact they're not evidence. Ford made
accusations against Justice Kavanaugh,
and the onus was on her to prove those
a ons. When Ford's memory
didn't stack up against the facts, and
when her witnesses said they were
never at such a party and don't even
know Brett Kavanaugh, the logical
condusion is that he's telling more of the
truth than is she.
NOW THAT Justice Kavanaugh
has been confirmed, the leftist cabal
will quickly discard his accuser. They
don't care two cents for Dr. Ford and
don't care about the injustice they
inflicted on her. The left doesn't even
care about sexual assault, Iftheydid,
Bill Clinton, Keith Ellison, etc. would
be excommunicated from the part .
The charge of "sexual assault" is another
tool the left uses in their '"oy any means
necessary" campaign of resistance. The
Left thought the sexual assault charges
would cause Kavanaugh to withdraw
his name. The sick mentality of the
leftist cabal can be summarized by Ariel
Dumas' comment (see Weekly Quote
below). The left is so unethical that
they will happily destroy a mars life to
achieve their goals.
WEEKLY QUOTE: "No matter what
happens, I'm just glad we mined Brett
KavanaugKs life? Ariel Dumas, writer
for CBS's Colbert Late Show.
Sloan Oliver is a retired Army
He lives in Bolingbroke with his wife
Sandra. Ernail him at sloanolivet@
earthlinkna.
