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July 12, 2006
We are about one week away from the Georgia Primary Election on July 18th where the Democrats get to decide who they want to oppose Republican
Governor Sonny Perdue
on the ballot in November. Secretary of State Cathy Cox
and Lt. Governor Mark Taylor
have been flailing away at each other in a most disgraceful manner, trying to influence voters to swing their way. The Republicans are no slouches either when it comes to mudslinging. Candidates in the Lt. Governor race from the Republicans, State Senator
Casey Cagle
and lobbyist for hire Ralph Reed
are pitching brickbats at each other, too. Republican candidates for Secretary of State
Karen Handel
and Bill Stephens
are in the fray as well.
These candidates have spent an obscene amount of money to make their opponents look bad—members of their own political party, too-- and I’m disgusted with it! I’ve done my research on the candidates, as you know I always do, and I’ve decided whom I am going to support on voting day. I am worried about the folks that will just react to this cesspool information that is arriving in their mailboxes and on their voicemails without knowing the full facts of whatever matter is being slung against the barn wall to see if anything sticks.
Randall Balmer
, distinguished professor of American religious history at Barnard, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale University Divinity School, is author of “Thy Kingdom Come~An Evangelical’s Lament. How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America.” It’s an interesting book and I recommend it. Ralph Reed is mentioned by name in “the roll call of rogues associated with the Religious Right.” Dr. Balmer was the invited speaker at the Dean’s Forum at the Cathedral of St. Philip (Episcopal) in Atlanta on July 2, 2006. Balmer is himself an Evangelical and a Libertarian Democrat. Distinguished he certainly is, too; his curriculum vitae is 25 pages long and it doesn’t even include this, his latest book!
As a scholar, Dr. Balmer succinctly explains how the Religious Right has departed far from the Scriptures they claim to espouse in order to advance their own political and economic agendas. The subjects under discussion are abortion, education by voucher, intelligent design, the environment, among others. Balmer decodes the rhetoric of the Religious Right and I found that enormously helpful because I discovered I didn’t understand very much after all. I only understood what the
words meant; I did not understand what the Religious Right meant when
they used those words. I believe a good many of us are hoodwinked on a daily basis by these smug Bible-toting zealots. I saw a bumper sticker once that read, “The Religious Right is Neither!” After reading Dr. Balmer’s book, I conclude that is true. Let’s see how many Georgians Ralph Reed will hoodwink into voting for him, even now that the hoodwinked Indians are suing him. Check this link:
www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=81872
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According to their interviews which appeared in the
AJC a while back, neither new candidate for Commission District 4 had anything useful to say about Gwinnett Hospital System’s request for some more meaningful financial assistance from Gwinnett County to help shoulder the massive indigent care load that the hospital is bearing. I never thought I’d be saying these words, but in this matter and in this interview the incumbent Commissioner
Kevin Kenerly
had it all over his two challengers. Quality healthcare is of primary importance in this county and elsewhere, but there is no such thing as “free” healthcare—somebody has to pay for it. You’d have thought that candidates
Butch Poss
and Jodie Rosser
would have bothered to read up on the Community Healthcare Delivery Systems Study Group recommendations at the very least. I hope they will read that important report soon. Sometimes candidates appear to think that our county commissioners are one-act zoning ponies, when, in fact, the job encompasses far, far more in successfully delivering the daily services we require from our county government.
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I am still not finished with the Gwinnett County Library Board and the
Jo Ann Pinder
matter. As far as I am concerned, as a taxpayer in this county, this immediate dismissal action taken by the library board against its successful director of 15 years, Jo Ann
Pinder, has not been satisfactorily resolved. I would like to hear from our county commissioners about this, we have heard nothing thus far, and I would like to see Ms. Pinder’s benefits reinstated to her for the year out of office she will be receiving her salary. That outrageous board meeting where Ms. Pinder received her walking papers was entirely a kangaroo court. As one attorney in the room put it, “It was the perp walk without the trial!”
It all still appears entirely unfair to me in the manner in which this matter was accomplished, from the information I have seen and read so far. Ms. Pinder was two and a half years from retirement, for goodness sake! A reasonable person would think that the board might have counseled with Jo Ann Pinder if they found her personality too cold and given her a chance to perhaps do things a bit differently, if that was her choice. The library board may have considered Ms. Pinder not “warm and fuzzy enough,” but they sure cut her off in an incredibly brutal fashion. Talk about not being warm and fuzzy! I think Pinder’s benefits should be reinstated, even though library board member
Phyllis Oxendine
said no. It is the right thing to do.
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My elderly chocolate Labrador retriever is doing passably well, thank you for asking.
Clovie
is 13 years old now and having some trouble with her back end letting her down, literally! She depends upon us to help her up the stairs, but she can still go down the stairs by herself. So far, so good! We have a surprising number of friends with geriatric Labs and share tips and ideas with them for making our loyal companions’ last years more comfortable. Our veterinarian,
Dr. Karen Colson
, is wonderful with Clovie, too. If it weren’t for her, we would surely have lost our dog last year when she got really sick. I know of a Labby who is 16, so I am hoping Clovie can last as long as
Lucy
. Clovie stays as close to me as she possibly can, at all times. Even now, she is catnapping in her bed beside my office chair, chasing rabbits in her sleep. Clovie has several beds around our house where she likes to rest. This house is totally hers.
Hope all is well and thanks so much for reading!
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