WHOSE INTERESTS?

The recent wildfires in California proved to be one of the worst natural disasters in the state's history, and the Bush administration has used this opportunity to push through the Senate a bill that provides no real protection for residents of fire-prone Western states. Most of the major metropolitan areas in drought-ridden Southern California are not covered by the Bush plan to reduce hazardous fuel in National Forests.

The administration blames environmentalists and citizen groups for slowing down initiatives to reduce hazardous fuel in the forests. But according to a 2003 report by the General Accounting Office, 95 percent of proposed fuel reduction efforts are implemented within the standard 90-day review period.

It appears that the administration is using the fires in California to push through a bill resembling its "Healthy Forests Initiative" which will reduce citizen input and Forest Service accountability, and will preserve land for the timber industry.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the National Forest Service is overseen by Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, Mark Rey, whose resume includes two decades of work for the American Paper Institute, the National Forest Products Association and the American Forest and Paper Association: an industry lobbyist. So, the real question is, whose interests are we protecting?

Luke Johnston

Athens

WRONG REASONS

I'm a native Athenian and enjoy reading every edition of Flagpole on-line.

I was recently dismayed however to read Pete McCommons' "Dark Horse" editorial in the 11/5 issue of Flagpole which basically agreed with Zell Miller's assumption that the Democratic Party, most especially in the good ol' South, "needs to concentrate on the middle and avoid the extreme left."

First of all, as a son of the South I have never even seen or heard of an "extreme left" politician around there. Second, you seem to forget that most polls in Georgia had Democrat Roy Barnes leading Republican Sonny Perdue right up until Diebold Incorporated announced a surprisingly different verdict. Third, you seem to totally dismiss those voters who voted Green or Libertarian in 2000. Finally, studies (and real world results) have shown that when citizens are offered a choice between Republican or Republican-lite, then allot of folks will either choose Republican (see Schwarzenegger/ Davis) or simply not vote at all.

I believe that the Democratic Party is doing a grave disservice to their party faithful and to our great nation by adopting the Republican-lite platform. Democrats keep leaning to the middle and keep losing to Republicans, most recently in Kentucky and Mississippi. Democrats certainly haven't swung to the left, much less the "extreme left" and I have written to the folks at www.democrats.org and chastised them for it. But of course they don't listen because they're too busy trying to imitate the winning Republican strategy, albeit minus insider friends at Diebold and other electronic voting machine conglomerates.

If you really want Democrats to win next year, then try editorializing and agitating for a voter paper trail at the polls. Continue marshaling the widespread public anger and outrage at George Bush and his disastrous policies, both foreign and domestic. Then we stand a chance.

Otherwise, your man Thurmond's only chance of winning will be either to declare himself a Republican (as you said, he already has the credentials) or else change the color of his skin. Sad to say, but your "dark horse" is simply too dark to get elected to the U.S. Senate in the state of Georgia on a Democratic ticket in the current political climate. But if he will run on a platform to give us a voter paper trail and swear off his Republican-lite credentials, then I will put my money where your mouthpiece is.

Joe Smith

Duesseldorf, Germany

ECONOMICS FOR DUMMIES

While I can appreciate the heart behind your politics, I really implore the staff of the Flagpole to open a basic economics book. I find it highly amusing that directly after an article riddled with economic ignorance, you presume to disregard the advice of Milton Friedman, "the founding father of the supply-side economic theory espoused by Reagan and both Bushes." ("Fait Accomplis" 11/12) Milton Friedman is a Nobel Prize winning economist with more credentials to his name than the number of Flagpole staffers who vote Green. Friedman's "starve-the-government philosophy" was built upon years and years of dedicated research. Of course, Ted Rall's suggestion to "run up the deficit like there's no tomorrow" sounds so sublimely intelligent, it must have been based on an equal amount of economic study, right?

Audrey Goodson

Athens

LEAVE NONE BEHIND

This fall, the state Department of Community Health's board recommended to the governor's office, in an effort to reduce the state budget, drastically reducing state Peachcare and Medicaid programs. These cuts would end Peachcare and Medicaid psychological services, both assessments and therapy, for children and teens of the working poor. Dental and visual programs for adults and children would also be terminated.

These cuts to Peachcare and Medicaid would be disastrous to the welfare of children and teens most in need of effective diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. Those most able to provide necessary services, namely private-practice psychologists, would economically no longer be available to intervene with this child-adolescent population. The practices of many, including myself, would be significantly impacted.

What would be left to serve children would be large quasi-public agencies, known for limited individual psychotherapy hours and frequent therapist turnover. Families would no longer have a right to choose psychological services. Lack of choice undercuts the search for effective therapy, which involves a private and trust-based connection between therapist and client.

My small role in this large picture has been to provide psychological services for low-income individuals and families aimed at enhancing their quality of life. Traumas such as sexual abuse, murder, runaway behaviors, violent crime, school violence, and stressors surrounding issues such as September 11, are frequently addressed by the private practitioner. Surely we need the best trained and most experienced professionals to intervene with the painful and devastating effects of such life traumas.

I urge you, the reader, to voice your opinion by writing and/or emailing Gov. Sonny Perdue and your state representatives. Otherwise we WILL leave our children behind.

(The Honorable Sonny Perdue, Governor of the State of Georgia, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia, 30334, 404-656-1776, fax 404-657-7332, www.gov.state.ga.us/document.asp?doc=contacts)

Michael Bach

Athens

NUTS IN MINORITY

Is right wing politics the only thing alive in the South any more? They would like for you to believe that. I believe the common sense, fiscal conservative, caring principles are alive and in the majority. The extremists say that if you don't accept their whole package, you aren't a loyal American. If you criticize anything they do, you are a traitor. These are the tactics Hitler used. I'm sure you remember him.

I say these nuts are the minority because the majority of sane people do not share all their extreme ideas, and it's time for the normal people to take back this country.

The key issues - education, health care, economics, environment - are shared by both Republicans and Democrats, and it is essential to both sides that these things get fixed. There is time to do this. It requires getting people involved, registering voters, and getting them to the polls on election day. I know there are more normal people than nuts in this country, so let's get to work.

Terry Gilbreath

Suwanee

THANKS FOR HELP

Last Wednesday night, my dog and I were walking home following a routine jog when another dog, running loose in the neighborhood, charged us and jumped on top of my dog, viciously attacking her. I was unable to remove this dog, and being terrified, I screamed for help. Several neighbors ran in our defense, forcibly removed this dog, and waited with me until the police came. I wish to thank the kind people of my neighborhood for going out of their way to help a complete stranger. I credit them with saving my dog's life, and I will be forever grateful. Thank you.

Elizabeth Outlaw

Athens

THAT ATHENS STYLE

On a recent trip to Costa Rica with Mom in tow, we were passing through a region near Lake Arenal, one of the most picturesque regions of this incredible country. "Stop" Mom said, "turn around." Not being able to find an immediate place to turn in the middle of the dirt road that we were on, I went down the road to a driveway. As I turned into the driveway, I saw a small shack with a beat-up red Naugahyde couch on the front porch. Jokingly, I remarked, "That house with the couch on the front porch reminds me of Athens." I then proceeded to turn around so that Mom could then see some of the intricate carved wooden front doors on some of the houses of the area we were passing through.

Later in the evening, while reading our books and recounting what we had seen during the day, Aaron Brown came on CNN International, which we happened to have on. There is a segment in the CNN broadcast schedule where the commentator, Mr. Brown, picks up various newspapers throughout the United States and makes a comment on interesting stories that are supposedly fit to print. Imagine our surprise when he said "And here we have the Athens Banner-Herald from Athens, Georgia... and the big story is that it seems that there is a problem with couches on the front porches of some of the residences... !" Eerie doesn't begin to describe the sensation that we felt; we looked at each other in amazement and then started laughing uncontrollably!

Needless to say, it's certain that the wisdom of our locally elected officials is now known worldwide. Indeed, I was ready to return home, knowing that my quality of life would be markedly improved with this incredible new development. Well, maybe that's stretching it a little, but it certainly made for some hilarious entertainment!

Bobby Wikle

Athens