Opinions

Dear editor,
To the good citizens of Dodge and surrounding counties, what is wrong in America when children cannot sell Kool-Aid at roadside stands to raise money for a just cause as well as our athletes not being able to sell t-shirts for a just cause? Why are one or two individual’s feelings more important than the majority? If you do not like something you do not have to participate, purchase or attend. That does not give you the right or privilege to deprive me or anyone else of the privilege to choose if we buy or participate.
It was stated in the news article, the sale of the t-shirts was a violation of separation of church and state. This is not true based on the fact that the state was neither promoting nor selling the t-shirts.
These shirts were being sold by choice to raise money to support the particular sport they are involved in. Were they forced to sell them? No, we encourage our children to work for what they want, but when they do, someone comes along and says, “I do not like that”. So, to protect your right, you are willing to violate mine?
Reference the first amendment to the constitution—Pride; one, a sense of one’s own proper dignity or value, self respect; two, pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, a possession, or an association; three, a cause or source of pleasure or satisfaction, the best of a group or class; four, the most successful or thriving condition.
These shirts represent pride in our flag, in our freedom of religion, guaranteed by the United States Constitution and in our local school.
A quote from the preamble to the constitution, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish a common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the constitution for the United States of America.”
The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution of only 27 amendments approved throughout our 250-year history. Congress shall make no law, respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceable assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees us freedom of religion not freedom from religion. Have a little bit of pride and support our children. Quit complaining about your feelings being hurt.
I am not sorry that these things offend you because they do not offend me. I am proud to be a U.S. citizen and the rights it affords me.
Ken Little
Veteran USAF

Dear editor,
This letter is not a complaint, but an accolade for the staff of Dodge County Hospital Emergency Room. Recently, I was admitted for treatment and I could not have asked for any better.
Dr. Parikh gave me the impression he was fully dedicated and attentive to my needs. When he spoke with me, he spoke in a way, which assured me I was in good hands.
Registered Nurse Amber seemed to be aware of everything going on in the ER. I believe she was classified rightly as charge nurse. As I was being wheeled in on a stretcher I shouted jokingly, “I want a nurse who is both pretty and sweet.” She was the one.
Licensed Practical Nurse Max stayed close to me almost all the time, about seven or eight hours. He had the duty of drawing my blood, giving me all kinds of medicine shots and acted as a gofer. I asked Max how long he had been doing this work. He took a deep breath and said, “Thirty-four years.” He took another deep breath and said, “They have let me stay this long not because of my brilliant knowledge. They have let me stay because of my good looks.” He has a great sense of humor.
X-Ray Technician Summer came to take pictures of my insides. I mention her due to a big wide smile, sweet words and overall beauty.
Manager Miranda gave me a clear understanding of how the staff can carry out their various jobs as they work together as a professional team.
Others are also necessary for such an operation. I wish there was time and space to give a deep and sincere thank you.
Joe Stevens

Dear editor,
Approximately six or seven years ago (I do not remember exactly), our county commissioners stepped up and began a recycling program wherein residents could recycle a number of items. This did not include everything recyclable, but it was a really good beginning. I, as well as many others, was very excited that we had, in this respect, joined those seeking to do something about the waste we create.
My first knowledge that we are no longer recycling was when I read Ms. Flannagan’s question to the county commissioners at their meeting reported in the Dodge County News the week of August 8, 2018. She asked when would we be able to begin recycling again.
That very same week I had taken two large bags of recyclables and the gentleman in charge of the station helped me put them in the recycle bin. I have since learned that anything in the recycle bin at that time was not recycled but sent with the other trash to a landfill. Needless to say, I was upset and concerned.
According to my county commissioner, we are now being charged to recycle and it costs less to just send everything to a landfill. It initially cost nothing but required us to take the recyclables to the recycling station. Then they began charging a fee and have since raised the fee. To me, this sounds like price gouging, simply because the options are limited. Regardless, it is a fact.
We are all stewards by appointment of God for all he has given us. The county commissioners are stewards of our monies. We all are stewards of God’s earth, but we treat it so casually. When we fail to obey God’s statutes and commands, we suffer consequences and this is what has happened.
We need to open our eyes and look at what we have failed to do. What we do identifies who we are and who we are determines what we do. So, we ask ourselves, “Who am I”?
Do we abide by our laws and regulations; do we throw trash out car windows onto the streets and roadsides; do we put items that should go elsewhere at the dumpsters; are we guilty of putting out animals—to live or die? Have we lost all compassion? If we have animals, they are our responsibility not someone else’s. It is for sure they cannot care for themselves.
Please let us care about our world, our country, out state and our county. Let’s treat our county with respect. It belongs to us and how it looks and functions is a reflection on what we do, and us—who we are. Our children and grandchildren deserve our being responsible and we should set the example in this as in all things.
This is not just the county commissioners’ problem; it is our problem. We created the problem and we are responsible for correcting it. The county should not have to put up fences and hire guards (with out tax money) just so we can have somewhere to take our household trash. As grown individuals we should be intelligent enough to know right is right and wrong is wrong and behave as such.
My county commissioner is an ethical, intelligent, caring person who sought election hoping to make a difference in our county. Our county commissioner cannot control the residents of the county, but they can control the decisions they make by prioritizing according to God’s standards. Nevertheless, it takes all of us to truly make a difference. Remember, every good and perfect gift is from God and we praise Him for those gifts by our actions.
Jackie Strickland

Dear editor,
In reference to the Dodge County newspaper, which was published on August 15, 2018 issue about a t-shirt controversy to be used as a fundraising activity were good, but not with the language used to raise funds.
We have a student handbook that informs our students and parents on what should happen if they break one of these policies or rules such as: praying in school, saying bless you Jesus, kneeling in the classroom to pray, no gold teeth, no t-shirts with vulgar or suggestive advertisements or any inflammatory, suggestive or racial inappropriate writing period.
No, we do not kneel at the cross in school. Do we know which school religion requires you to kneel at the cross? It is their right we cannot kneel at school to pray, we cannot repeat the Lord’s prayer in school and so Dodge County students at any school or school activity should not wear this t-shirt. We should be showing pride with love, without starting division among our students and our community.
Pride with love, not all about money. It is how we do things. We must think things through before we act. With all the negativism around our school we need to come together as God people and do what is right for our children. Pray for all of our children, leaders, schools, local government and ourselves as well.
Do we know what the rules in the student school handbook say? If we do not know maybe we have people working in the wrong place. If we are not going to enforce all the rules in the handbook why have a student handbook? It appears we want to pick and choose the rules we want to follow.
We as parents, grandparents, guardians and taxpayers expect the board of education to hold all employees of the Dodge County school system responsible to do the right thing for our children. If the board is hiring people who cannot do the job it is time we make changes best for our students. We know that time is changing, but it should be changing for the better.
We have read this issue over and over, but nowhere in this article does it say anything about educating our children and grandchildren in a safe environment. We should think about the future, safety and education of our children and not doing things to separate them.
We must have compassion for all students and staff. We as citizens must pray for our school system and be sincere and mean it from our heart, not just your lip service or for show.
John Battle Sr., Airborne
Retired Military

Dear editor,
I am seeking descendants of William F. Swearingen who was my grandfather James Council Swearingen’s (1861-1922) brother. He was buried at IV Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery. His wife was a Fields.
Jack Dorsey
P.O. box 701 Mt. Zion Court 30150
1-770-832-9340

Dear editor,
Against my better judgment, I am writing to address the Great Tee Shirt Debate going on in Dodge County. Like most people involved, I have an opinion about the shirt. However, I choose not to voice that opinion in your newspaper. Someone once said: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” Someone else said: “Opinions are like [insert body part of your choosing]; everyone has one.” These statements are both true. However, greater than opinions are the core beliefs that are deeply engrained in us. They may have been taught to us by our parents. They may have been imparted to us by the Spirit of the Living God coming to dwell within us. They may be a result of the unique human experiences that each of us had growing up, our race, our religion, our socioeconomic status. They may be the result of the selfish human nature with which we were all born. They may be the result of basic standards of human decency that most of us possess. These beliefs are part of what makes us all different from one another. You will not change my core beliefs. I will not change your core beliefs. Only God can do that for a person. And while some of these core beliefs are absolutes worth staking our lives on, others are mere personal preferences that matter not in the grand scheme of things.
As I see it, our country is divided like we have not witnessed since the Civil War. From Washington, D.C. to Atlanta to Dodge County. We focus so much on the things that divide us from one another. Those in government have an agenda, which is to defeat their opponent at any cost. The ends justify the means. Their supporters fall right in line behind them. Tune in to CNN or Fox News depending on which way you lean and see the other side trashed. Meanwhile the people suffer. Lincoln was correct when echoing the words of Christ Himself in the Gospels that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
And like everything else, it eventually trickles down to Dodge County. We have poverty. We have fatherless children and struggling single mothers. We have a drug epidemic. We have numerous murders over the last few years. Our jails are filling. Our churches are closing. We wonder when we hear about the next mass shooting if it could happen here. We finally have industries in town looking for skilled workers, and we have a shortage of those. There are so many problems that we should be focused on solving, and yet we are focused on a tee shirt. On the one side, you have those who want to talk about bending a knee at the Cross-when the fact is the majority have not told anyone about Jesus in years and may not even know Him. On the other side, you have those on a crusade against everything Godly paired up with those who are just looking to be offended by something.
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To Dodge County Law Enforcement Officers,
The Pine Barrens Volunteers Camp 2039, Sons of Confederate Veterans, express their gratitude and their support to our Law Enforcement teams. Thank you to Eastman Police Chief Becky Sheffield, Dodge County Sheriff Lynn Sheffield and all of the deputies who serve and protect. To show our appreciation, the Sons of Confederate Veterans has issued the following proclamation:
General Order 2018-01
Whereas, with the current vicious and despicable attacks being waged against the law enforcement officers around the country today, and
Whereas, law enforcement officers are the domestic protectors of our citizens, our society and our way of life, and
Whereas, responsible citizens have a moral duty to support the institutions and citizens who place their lives in peril every day so that our society can enjoy the rights, privileges and freedoms of citizens of a great republic which our forefathersand God provided us,
Now therefore, the following proclamation is hereby published to the Confederation:
Thursday, August the 16th of 2018 shall be proclaimed as National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Camps, Brigades and Divisions are hereby highly encouraged to show their support to their local law enforcement officials on this day by any and all means appropriate on this day. We offer our most sincere thanks and appreciation to those who place their lives in the All Mighty’s favor on a daily basis protecting and serving the public.
By order of the Commander - in - Chief,
Paul C. Gramling, Jr.
Kim M. Beck
Brigade Commander, GA Division
Corey Harrelson
Commander, Camp 2039
And members of Pine Barrens Volunteers Camp 2039

Dear editor,
Failure of this nation begin with the young generation. Their first school is no longer an institution of morality.
Americans have turn away from the words of our creator. A home with biological parents has become a thing of the past. Public schools have made a change from the belief of the founding fathers. America has turn in another direction from its beginning.
This nation is crying without tears. What the founding fathers believe has become obsolete. President George Washington stated two things that will make politic work are religion and morality. In main students was required to take a test twice a year on the constitution, declaration of independent, first prayer in congressand Washington Farwell Address.
Washington gave twelve warnings that America must do to keep America on track. All have been brought back accept the four religious warnings.
President Woodrow Wilson stated that any nation that doesn’t remember who she was yesterday will not know who she is today in what she is seeking to do. America has become so good in compromising that she is accepting wrong over right, punishing the richious.
Today’s politicians will say or do anything just to get into office. There was a time when one had to swear they believe in God before they could run for public office. God is not on the side of the republicans or democrats but the side of right. America must live through all the times; we are wrapped in a single garment of togetherness, we all can live as friends or die as fools through suicide.
In 1961, the supreme court rule that students could not pray in classroom unless they did it quietly without moving their lips. We pledge allegiance to the American flag while ignoring the pledge to the Christian flag and the Holy Bible.
America must realize that freedom is not free and is not worth having if we don’t have the freedom to make mistakes. Freedom is costly and the price can be found in the graves.
This nation seems to have forgotten that God’s justice will not sleep forever. Any nation that is not punished in this world will be punished in the next.
For sure there will come a day when night will never come again.
Johnny L. Black, MSG(R)

Dear editor,
The family of John Marshal Peacock would like to thank the following for help during our recent loss:
Hardy-Towns Funeral Home; Hospice Care Options; D & B Homecare; Farmers Furniture; DCHS &;Staff; HGA RESA; Jason Cobb, City of Eastman; Eastman Police Dept.; Dodge County Sheriff Dept.; Beth Law & Crew; Bruce & Lisa Hartley; Antioch Church; Gerald Conley & The River; all friends and family for food, drinks, supplies, and encouragement shown to those who loved him most.
Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of love, support, and comforting words. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown toward our family. We hope the love and compassion that he showed to others will be remembered, as he lived out his motto “ALL IT TAKES IS ALL WE GOT.”
Sue Peacock
Jennifer Peacock & family
Lori & Chuck Williams & family

Dear editor,
Well, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on with the alphabet soup media creating in my opinion a double standard of that treasonous buffoon former president Obama vs. our current president Donald Trump.
The political bias of the establishment media has never been more outrageous than what we see in the press’s double standards for covering President Donald Trump. For contrast that what I’ve witnessed.
Compare Trump’s treatment to the press’s idolatrous treatment of President Obama.
The media’s fan base club attitude toward Obama was unprecedented in modern era. Not even my favorite while in high-school at Dodge County H.S. the war hero Jack Kennedy got the kids-glove treatment that Obama got. That former occupier Obama of the White house as I defined it, in his frequent goofy statement and embarrassing gaffes were either overlooked entirely or treated as amusing sidebars.
Examples that come to my memory:
Obama claimed “that Americans liberated Auschwitz and Treblinka”. No, they did not.
Obama said “That the world came together to save Berlin during the airlift”. No, they didn’t; it was mostly an American and British effort, with Mexico, Italy and Egypt being conspicuously absent.
Obama claimed “That as a result of the Selma march, he was born”. Obama was born four years before the Selma march.
Such historical ignorance and efforts at asides were a regular feature of his speeches and interviews at home and abroad. And yet, the media did not tarnish his reputation while he was the occupier of the oval office.
Here are my favorites: Obama said that, “we’re the country that built the intercontinental railroad”. Hey guess what smartest man ever to be president. No it wasn’t! It was the Trans continental railroad, (and it did not) and still does not connect us to South America. And how about Obama mispronounced navy “Corpsman” as “Corps-Man”
My memory is working overtime of this pure idiot. Obama giving a speech on Memorial Day, when he said “Our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes, and I see them now in our audience here today” I guess a miraculous raising of the dead came about that day then.
Oh! How about when he said, “I been to all 57 states now, with one left to go” in his campaign speech. And you democrats still idolize this moron as the smartest man ever to hold office.
Now compare the worshipful treatment of Obama to what President Trump has experienced since winning the election almost two years ago.
Come on, really! Even this hay seed hick from Dodge County can do the simple math. It’s not even simple civics 101, it’s part of a political strategy to demonize and de-legitimize the entire Trump program.
The best part is, the American public is not as stupid as you think we are. Trump will be here for a full eight years and the Pence will step up and give the final blow to you Liberals.
TSGT. Joseph Bryan. U.S.A. F. Ret.