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Thursday, October 30, 2008
Gitmo; Fulton sheriff; MARTA’s bailout request
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thinking Right’s weekend free-for-all. Pick a topic:
Fresh outlook” is said to trump “experience” when two education workplace unions endorse Democrats for the Board of Education. When Teamsters endorse CEOs who hire Teamsters, it’s not so much a matter of qualifications to run the company. The same can be said when the Gwinnett Association of Educators, a union, and the United School Employees Union, offer endorsements in school board races. Don’t know the incumbents, Louise Radloff, Carole Boyce and Mary Kay Murphy, but if the unions don’t like them, they must be looking out for taxpayers.
One at a time the bad guys are offered alternatives that avoid the long stays at Gitmo. Latest to be offered the Gitmo alternative was Abu Ghadiya, one of al-Qaida’s most prominent smugglers from Syria into Iraq. He’s now among the departed, thanks to U.S. Special Forces troops who reached out to him inside Syria.
The Georgia School Boards Association has wimped out on Amendment No. 2, taking no position. As long as it’s up to local boards to decide whether to give future education tax dollars to developers, “we’re fine with it,” said a spokesman. If they wimp out from the start, there’s no reason to think local boards can stand up to the pressure later. Don’t try to build them backbones. Make the decision yourself. Vote No on Amendment No. 2.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees that it’s OK for Cobb County to open commission meetings with a prayer. So where is the check from the American Civil Liberties Union compensating the taxpayers of Cobb for the money we spent fighting a frivolous suit? Pay up. And throw in a few dollars, maybe lots of dollars, for pain and suffering. And then some punitive damages to keep them from doing it again.
How stupid can you be, returning inmate Willie Tiller unprotected to Fulton County jail just after he testified against Brian Nichols? Five other inmates, including some charged with murder, beat him upon his return. In my book, he’s entitled to financial compensation from the taxpayers who hired the sheriff.
Fulton badly needs a new sheriff, which it’ll get since incumbent Myron Freeman was defeated in the primary. The choice candidate to replace him is Republican Mike Rary, the county’s former chief marshal and an experienced administrator with innovative ideas for fixing the jail. He’s taken some trash-talk containing untruths, but such is the currency of today’s campaigns. Check him out.
MARTA, in begging to be included in any federal bailout, demonstrates just how rotten the nation’s financial system had become — with Congress at the core of the problem. MARTA “sold” track and equipment built and purchased with public tax dollars to private companies and investors to use as a tax dodge. Then it leased the track and equipment back, paying rental for 20-25 years. The IRS finally clamped down. But now MARTA may be on the hook for $400 million because of the troubles of the insurance giant AIG. It’s asking the feds to ride to the rescue. Congress is the root cause of everything bad that’s happened in the financial world — and not because of too little regulation, but because of too much mutual back-scratching, as occurred with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Boy, I do hope the United States and Iraq are able to negotiate questions such as whether the United States is to be prohibited from launching attacks on other countries from its territory and on how and when Iraqi courts could try U.S. contractors and soldiers accused of committing major crimes off duty and off base. These are not questions I want left to Angry Left if, by chance, it comes to power here.
A news story informs us that golfer John Daly has been found drunk outside Hooters. Isn’t that the news equivalent of reporting that Sonny Perdue and Joe Frank Harris had been found sober outside Sunday School?
If government is the solution to your prosperity, you’ll know how to vote Tuesday. If it isn’t, you will, too.
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