4 I JANUARY 3,2018
BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE
Opinion
Letter to the Editor
Christmas
came early for
one in
Aulander...
To the Editor:
To the sitting council members of Aul
ander, I applaud the newly elected to rep
resent the voice of all those who reside in
Aulander. With that privilege comes the
awesome task of maintaining ethical viabil
ity. On the very night of the swearing in of
the newly elected commissioners, without
hesitation, a gift was presented to one per
son. The motion was made to re-instate a
former employee. This initial elective ac
tion has caused me to wonder if Aulander
has reverted to a state of cronyism and fa
voritism.
The ends do justify the means. To be
endorsed by the same person whom you
seek to re-employ reeks of cronyism. Were
you aware that this person utilized an in
dividual with known illegal associations to
assist in his efforts towards your winning
elections.
Yes, it was legal for these persons to par
ticipate as they did, yet what will the cost
be to Aulander? Does one now owe the oth
er? Because of this past elections results,
there is now an air of impropriety and fa
voritism that looms over a governmental
body that is supposed to be unbiased and
fair.
Pertaining to your decision to rehire
this individual who assisted in your win
ning... were there deliberations on the
reasons why that individual was no longer
employed by the town. Did you interview
that person’s supervisor to gain further
understanding and information for full dis
closure? I dare say no! Based on a limited
amount of information gained from per
sonal knowledge, you are friends with this
pending re-hire, you are rehiring him based
on the outer appearance of him being a
good person and the fact that he had been
employed as a police officer of Aulander
and its police chief at one time. Sometimes
good people do some not so good things
that don’t show up on the radar of person
al friendship. I guess you folks do adhere
to the idea of cronyism. Governing bodies
must be able to make difficult decisions
based on merit and not recklessly empow
er the select from yesteryear because they
are “nice.”
After having sat on the town council for
the past five years, 1 imagine that Aulander
had been governed to his likes because 1
don’t remember seeing his small throng
of supporters at any of the town monthly
meetings for any other concerns. Sadly, a
friend of yours was no longer employed by
the town and that enraged you enough to
seek public office and then hire him back.
Well done and shame on you! You used
your rights as an American citizen, but
you used them for the wrong reasoning.
However, you have not done the citizens of
Aulander justice by having reverted to the
“Good Old Boy” system of governing.
It’s been said that power can corrupt, and
absolute power can corrupt absolutely!
With due respect to your elected posi
tions,
Philip L. Thomas
Aulander
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The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
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rifles. Smaller deduction for home on Baltic. Bi^er
Breaks for nt^ Trump Hotds: mx Boardwalk and Park Pla^^. ”
Grateful for good Samaritans...
We all tend to take certain things
for granted. That is, until we don’t
have them, or have to do without
them for a while.
Last week 1 was
reminded why
we should never
take anything for
granted, and how
we should always
thank those who
offer their time or
assistance whether
it’s solicited or not.
On Christmas
night, 1 was return
ing home from
Smithfield after spending the day
with my brother, Scott, and his
13-year-old daughter, Sarah.
Somewhere around Tarboro,
my tire pressure light came on.
The last time this happened,
I was on my way to work, and I
stopped into a local car dealership
to have the problem looked at. It
turned out to be, as the light sug
gested, low tire pressure - mainly
caused by the cold weather.
So when the same light came on
during my trip last week, 1 figured
Jim
Green
Around
Here
1 could make it home (19 miles),
get up the next day and take it to
be fixed.
There was one big problem
with that idea - it turned out 1 had
driven so many miles on that low-
pressure tire that it caused a flat.
1 made it three blocks out of my
driveway before 1 had to stop.
Being that it was the day after a
holiday, some businesses weren’t
open.
And while this may sound
humorous to some, 1 had not
changed a flat tire in more than
35 years. I learned how to do so
when 1 first started driving, but
until last week, I hadn’t needed to
change one again.
1 mean, it’s not like 1 sit around
and practice changing tires in
my spare time. And my vehicle, a
newer model, didn’t come with a
spare tire anyway.
1 was able to contact my car
insurance company, and they ar
ranged for a tow to a local tire
dealer.
While 1 waited for the tow truck
to arrive, several people stopped
and asked if 1 was all right. One
man helped fill the affected tire
with air so I could get it on the
tow truck.
It turned out that the tire was
too damaged to be repaired, so 1
had to purchase a new one.
Not exactly how 1 wanted to
spend my Christmas money, but
entirely necessary.
1 didn’t get everyone’s name
that stopped to try and help me,
but 1 hope they read this and un
derstand how grateful 1 am for
their generosity and kindness.
These Good Samaritans remind
me of the saying, “Always be kind,
for you do not know the journey
this person is.on.”
1 wholeheartedly and most hum
bly thank everyone who helped
me the day after Christmas. You
have np idea how much your
kindness means to this stranger.
It truly has been a season of giv
ing.
Jim Green appreciates Good Sa
maritans and is the Sports Editor
for the Bertie Ledger-Advance and
the Martin County Enterprise &
Weekly Herald. He can be reached
at jgreen@ncweeklies.com.
The year of the dog
■ ■
Bob
Franken
The Bob Franken
Column
'2018 is the Year of the Dog.
That is, if you’re Asian and fol-
lowthe Chinese zodiac. It rotates
between the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rab
bit, Dragon, Snake,
Horse, Goat, Mon
key, Rooster, Dog
and Pig. And as I
mentioned, 2018 is
a Dog year.
That’s a good
thing, particularly
when us Western
ers remember Har
ry Truman’s bro
mide: “If you want
a friend in Washing-
ton, get a dog.”
But 1 was sur
prised to find out Donald Trump’s
birthdate also had the Dog as its
sign, considering my affection for
puppies. Obviously, he was so
mistreated that he turned danger
ously ferocious. His Christmas
Day astrology fortune, by the way,
was, “The Year of the Earth Dog
2018 is a good time for lifestyle
. changes (time to quit smoking
or change residence) and for the
start of new business ventures.”
He doesn’t smoke, but while the
Chinese are probably happy with
his ineptitude in the face of their
intimidation, millions of Ameri
cans might embrace the “change
residence.”
For those who haven’t given up
on impeachment, perhaps they’ll
be fascinated to know that Rob
ert Mueller’s Asian birth sign is
the Monkey. His 2017 Christmas
Day horoscope is: “Stay on track
today. Refuse to quit or be dis
tracted. You know what’s impor
tant ho matter what others think
or say. It’s important to not let
the words or actions of negative
people discourage you.”
That will be music to the ears
of Trump’s enemies, although it’s
probably advice that’s wasted on
Mueller, who is already known to
be methodically relentless in ev
ery pursuit he’s undertaken. His
latest pursuit, of course, is that of
Donald Trump, or certainly those
around the president.
He’s not only investigating the
possibility of campaign collusion
with Vladimir Putin’s Russian
government chicanery in con
tributing to Trump’s victory, but
any crime that arises as he’s fact
finding.
Already he’s drawn enough
blood that Republicans are try
ing to discredit him. They’re us
ing every trick they can muster
to leave an impression that Muel
ler’s people are too politically bi
ased to be fair.
What Bob Mueller has demon
strated is a persistent prosecu
tor’s bias, which is to say that ev
eryone is suspect until they show
otherwise.
But Trump’s supporters are
really trying to manufacture a
public case against him. It’s ob
viously an attempt to clear the
way for him to fire Mueller if the
flames get too close to Trump or
family members. The president
says repeatedly that he has no
such plans, but Donald Trump is
not known for being a man of his
word.
The whole firing scenario is so
transparent to many of POTUS’
adversaries that they’ve awoken
from their stupor. They are ad
vance-planning street protests.
Actually, 2018 is not just the
Dog, but it’s the year that every
governing process will be dogged
by the elections. It’s the midterm
that will preoccupy Washington,
D.C., with tentacles stretching to
many states and also every con
gressional district in the land.
Thousands of politicians will
be forever calculating all things
Trump. Like it or not, he’s the big
dog in this year’s campaign.
(c) 2017 Bob Franken
Distributed by King Features Syn
dicate, Inc.
Bertie
Ledger-Advance
The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
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