Supporting Gillespie over Kingston
Editor,
I’m supporting Bill Gillespie for the U.S. House of Representives’ 1st Congressional district because he is for “people first.” Bill will back a timed removal of our troops from Iraq, thus supporting the men and women who have put their lives on the line for a badly planned and ill advised war. The war is adding $177 million per day to the national debt, which is currently over $10 trillion.
The incumbent, Jack Kingston, has supported the war effort and George Bush’s policies through both terms. The cost in lives, our reputation in the world, and on our economy is tremendous. Even after the Bush administration admitted there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, Representative Kingston supported the war.
Bill Gillespie wants to expand the Creative Coast initiative throughout the 1st congressional district and use creative solutions to build a green economy, protect our environment, make healthcare affordable, improve education, and lower taxes for small businesses and families.
The non-partisan Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) gives Kingston a 19% rating on his voting record for the middle class, he voted for a moratorium on developing wind energy off the Georgia coast after 5 years of extensive research showing great wind resources 16 miles offshore, the Children’s Health Fund gave Kingston a Zero rating for 2007, and we have a 40 percent high school dropout rate.
Enough is enough, after 16 years, I want a change. I support Bill Gillespie who will represent all of the people of the 1st Congressional district.
Ellen O’Leary
Jack’s had long enough
Editor,
Democrat Bill Gillespie is running against Republican Jack Kingston for Representative. Gillespie is running as a progressive against Kingston who is well known to be staunchly conservative. Kingston has consistently supported the outgoing president’s agenda – over 90 percent of the time voting pro-Bush.
Amazingly, Kingston has won election after election, especially in view of his anti-middle/working class voting record. You can check out Kingston’s voting record on: www.themiddleclass.org. On a list some 60 votes, he has voted against the middle class over 80 percent of the time.
However, oddly enough, he keeps getting a clear majority of votes. Why, he has even exceeded the “term limit” he figured someone ought to serve.
He once stated that ten years should be the max. It must be that folks are won over by his friendly smile. “Smilin’ Jack” he’s sometimes called. It can’t be that most voters are really looking at his Congressional voting record, heavily slanted as it is toward the wealthy elite and corporations.
Bill Gillespie offers voters a chance to elect a candidate who supports progressive legislation. We have suffered enough through eight years of neo-con politics, the brand of conservatism that has wreaked havoc to our economy by running amuck in de-regulation of banks and militaristic/imperialistic madness.
Now we can elect a candidate who will vote for the majority’s best interests. By electing progressive candidates like Gillespie as well as other Democratic candidates like Jim Martin who’s running for against Saxby Chambliss for Senate, voters can help turn this country around.
Clearly, it is time to turn America around from the disaster neo-con Republicans along with Whimpocratic enablers have wrought over these past eight years creating an astronomical debt along with stripping away our Constitutional rights.
William H. Strong
Mudslinging like little children
Editor,
I must be losing my mind. It’s understandable with the length of this presidential election. As we near the two week countdown to the two year debacle that we call democracy I’ve resorted to plugging my ears and singing loudly when in the company of people who feel the need to share their personal politics with me.
Most people vote for who they feel will be the best leader, many people vote on a single issue, i.e. guns/abortion, and lots of voters vote for who will get them the most money back in April.
If you are extremely conservative and must see the reversal of Roe v. Wade, or a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, we will never see eye to eye. If you think the government under Obama is coming to take your guns away and to redistribute your wealth, we have nothing to talk about.
Most intelligent people vote for the candidate they believe will help the nation, its defenses, it’s economy and it’s foreign relations. We all want clean air to breathe, and good healthcare for when we’re undoubtedly in need of it, as well as an education so future generations will be productive and help to keep our position in the world.
If we disagree on economic policy, foreign policy, and even domestic policy and we can control our emotions, I’d be happy to debate the merits of your particular candidate. However I’ve noticed as we get closer and closer to election day we hear more and more ignorance and nonsense from not only the news media, the candidates, their campaigns, but mostly from the uneducated uninformed citizens who aren’t interested in debate and who are all too happy to mudsling like little children.
My candidate can beat up your candidate.
I just hope after it’s all said and done that we can come together to fix this mess we’re in with a unity and nationalism we haven’t seen since the days following 9/11.
That is what it will take to ensure that by the time my children are ready to pay their taxes and cast their ballots that the USA is still the leader of the free world.
Sean Farrell
Reporters ‘lies’ were sad mistake
Editor,
As president of Savannah Care Center’s Board of Directors, I feel sorry for Beth Goers’s decision (in her 10/14/08 article entitled ‘Pregnant? Worried?’) to lie intentionally in hopes of exposing “deception, intimidation and harassment” in three local crisis pregnancy centers (CPC’s).
None of Ms. Goers’s reported treatment could fairly be called deceptive, intimidating, or harassing, but she did have a lot of snide, condescending things to say about those who were willing to help her in all three CPC’s. She never revealed that she was lying in hopes of trapping them, and she never contacted any of them later (so far as I know) to ask follow up questions.
Savannah Morning News columnist Anne Hart visited Savannah Care Center for herself and wrote about it in the 9/23/07 edition (http://savannahnow.com/node/364170). Ms. Hart went out of her way to state that she was pro-choice, but her story was very positive. Her piece was headlined, ‘The light in a dark place.’
All we do is offer free, practical help — because it’s not a “choice” if everyone gives the woman only one alternative.
Ms. Goers also attempted to dismiss the phenomenon of “post-abortion stress syndrome” by citing “studies” (that were designed specifically for the purpose of attacking post-abortion stress syndrome). If anyone doubts post-abortion stress syndrome, just search for Forbidden Grief on Amazon.com — you’ll find Dr. Theresa Burke’s enormously documented book of the same title, including this from its description:
“Little has been done to address the emotional needs of those who struggle with the aftermath of an experience that is deeply traumatic and often coerced and unwanted. Instead, social taboos stifle discussion of abortion-related feelings. Women are left feeling isolated, and their recovery is inhibited.”
Some of the most vehement pro-choice activists (perhaps even Ms. Goers) are suffering from post-abortion stress syndrome. They fight viciously for abortion because that is their way of coping with the emotional burden of their abortion experience.
Others, like many of the counselors at Savannah Care Center, have come to grips with their grief, and they volunteer to help other women avoid a mistake that could haunt them for the rest of their lives. Visit us at www.savannahcarecenter.org.
Birney Bull
Deception or laziness?
Editor,
Hmm...I don’t believe Beth Goers did her research. Accidental oversight or intentional deceiving? Referring to her “Pregnant? Worried?” article, she implies that the assertation of pro-choice groups is correct; that indeed, CPC’s mislead pregnant women looking for abortions by deceiving them.
Because Beth mentions the Yellow Pages, I gather that is her angle: deceiving phone book ads. The specific CPC’s she profiled are the Coastal Pregnancy Center, the Pregnancy Center of Rincon, and the Savannah Care Center. Here’s the way MY Yellow Pages reads: ‘Abortion Alternatives: Organizations listed at this heading assert that they provide assistance, counseling, and/or information on abortion alternatives, and they DO NOT provide abortion services or counseling.’ (emphasis mine)
Of the three CPC’s Beth visited, how many were listed under this heading? ALL OF THEM. Nowhere do they state they provide abortions, and in fact, claim the opposite.
So I’m confused as to how she got it so wrong. My guess is someone who was really pregnant and really worried might take the time to really know the places they are visiting.
In this case, who’s doing the deceiving? Here’s a hint - not the Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
Kelli Mills
