Especially great newspaper last week
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In My Humble Opinion
Jodi McDade
Did any of you notice anything new and exciting about last week’s edition of “The Coosa County News?” I actually didn’t notice it, but had it pointed out to me.
I’m going to refer to three different columns from last week, but they are NOT the new and special, so think about it and look back at last week’s paper to see what you think it is! (I’ll end this column with the answer – STOP! DON’T GO THERE YET!)
The three columns I am going to refer to are the ones by Probate Judge Richard Dean, Paul DeMarco and Rodger Williamson.
All of them spoke to the basic things we need to be thinking about as we consider who to cast our votes for on May 24. We need to be spending a great deal of time examining our VALUES. We need to be trying to determine where our VALUES place us on the political spectrum. And we need to be researching candidates who share our VALUES.
As Judge Dean points out, our individual values are based on the belief systems we are raised with that guide us in the decisions and choices we make in our lives. We get these from the examples of our parents, grandparents, teachers – both in church and school, the religious education (or lack thereof) we receive, and how we see the world around us. Go back and read his column from last week for more information on this.
At some point in time, our peers can also open other values and beliefs in our lives that may be entirely different, and that causes us to question ourselves. But, as my mom always told me “most people come back to their raising” as they age. Our value system can actually change if we really examine it every few years.
Mr. Williamson points out that our beliefs are not necessarily left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican (or Independent), or good vs. bad. His idea of authority vs. liberty spoke to me, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
After my foray into a somewhat left-leaning period of time and then into just not paying attention at all as I went through my 20s, 30s and 40s, I woke up (yes I used that word!) and realized I am a Constitutional Christian Conservative with some Libertarian thrown in.
I believe the United States of America was founded on Judea-Christian beliefs and values and that our Constitution was written with those same beliefs and values. I believe in the Bill of Rights and that the power lies with the people or the individual states – NOT with the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. And, I think these rights have been totally overtaken in the last 50 years.
The federal government has no business in our schools, churches, healthcare, media/journalism, businesses, or our personal lives.
And this brings me now to the column by Mr. DeMarco, a former state representative. I was very disappointed when he said these last four years of the Alabama Legislature were the most liberal group in recent state history. I got involved with politics in 2011 after voting for Barack Obama and then taking an economics class at Troy University Montgomery after going to work for the Alabama Department of Revenue.
The 2010 election saw the Republican Party become the majority party for the first time in 136 years of Democratic control, and I realized why we were facing the problems we were. This is when I met K. Carl Smith with the Frederick Douglass Republicans, and I understood for the first time I didn’t have liberal or conservative values, but that I had Frederick Douglass values.
He explained all the things I had based my beliefs and values on were incorrect and/or distorted, and I was floored!
So, with this change in my thinking, I also thought that the change in leadership in the Alabama Legislature meant a move to more conservative thinking. But I was wrong then, and it took me several years to realize it – the majority thinking was moderate at the best. And it has remained that way ever since. And, AGAIN, it comes back to the voters understanding their own values and researching the candidates who they align with.
Just because a candidate runs as a Republican does not mean he/she is a conservative. And, it doesn’t mean that a candidate running as a Democrat is necessarily a liberal.
But, we are at the point in time when we need to look at the ISSUES and determine our true values and beliefs. Do you believe in sexual education starting in kindergarten? Do you believe in boys in the girls bathrooms or vice versa? Do you believe in the indoctrination of our children in political theories? Do you approve of unelected officials making decisions and mandates for our individual health decisions? Do you believe in law and order or allowing convicted felons to run the streets? Do you want strong law enforcement and first responders? Do you want the courts to issue decisions based on the laws or on the judges’ personal opinions?
These are only a few of the things we have less than a month to think about. Elections have consequences – either good or bad. What do you want for you and your family? The decisions you make now will affect generations to come.
And now, for the new and exciting thing about last week’s paper! IT WAS 12 PAGES LONG! Generally it is 8 pages and sometimes 10 – but I don’t ever remember seeing a “Coosa County News” with 12 pages!
It looks like advertising is up and that more news is being submitted, and I think it is GREAT!! Thanks to Christa Jennings and Lydia Waters for doing such a good job!