21 NOV 08: RIVALRY WEEK
Before we begin - a warm welcome to all new readers. Wednesday was our busiest day for visitors since we started keeping records. I never realized an arrest for shoplifting could draw such a big crowd of people....
Are you ready for the biggest showdown in our area? It officially begins today, should bring out thousands of people, and.... what?! You're saying the college football games aren't until NEXT weekend? That's not the showdown I'm talking about. It's the Columbus Classic - Army soldiers vs. Christian soldiers.
The annual SOA Watch weekend begins today at the Columbus Trade Center. In the middle of the weekend, God Bless Fort Benning will be held downtown on Broadway. Someone ought to put up signs between Ninth and 11th Streets, labeling it the Demilitarized Zone.
Some of the SOA Watch protesters come to Columbus several days early to prepare. One of the TV newscasts showed a group of "puppetistas" a few days ago -- which sounds like something former CNN anchor Bobbie Battista could take with her in a road show.
SOA Watch is bringing its usual familiar message - that Fort Benning's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation should close. Ironically, the big crowds coming to Columbus this year actually might help some motels stay open....
But the SOA Watch schedule has this eye-opening item near the top: "Write down your feelings about if SOAW should move its 2010 vigil to Washington, DC." Have the protesters finally realized many people in Columbus don't like them? Is the protest growing too big for Columbus to handle? Or are we finally getting the Georgia-Auburn game again?
The schedule at the SOA Watch web site has all sorts of meetings and seminars - and some of them seem to have nothing to do with WHINSEC. Consider these titles....
+ "Respect Democracy: How Your Tax Dollars buy Latin Am Elections." This sounds like a session even a fiscally conservative Republican could like.
+ "Ballot Initiatives on Homosexual Marriage and Parental Notification Before Abortion." If WHINSEC graduates are promoting the wrong one of these two, that's certainly grounds for a protest.
+ "Women's Ordination Matters: Gender, The Gospel, and Global Justice." C'mon now - when did Latin American military commanders start selecting church pastors?
That last item on the schedule probably is there for another reason. Thursday was the deadline for SOA Watch founder Roy Bourgeois to decide if he'll renounce his opinion on ordaining female priests, to remain in the Roman Catholic Church. Give Bourgeois credit for one thing - he resists Vatican authorities every bit as much as the Columbus ones.
Roy Bourgeois says he'll appeal to the Vatican, in hopes of avoiding excommunication. He told the evening news God calls priests, and women can be called every bit as much as men can. So Bourgeois's next job could be on the ministerial staff of Bishop Ann Hardman.
But Roy Bourgeois probably wants the focus on the SOA Watch protest. The group has staged several other protests this fall, at locations from Miami to Arizona. So organizers have taken this act on tour - and they're smart enough to stay in the Sunbelt.
If any celebrities are coming to Columbus for SOA Watch weekend, they have not been announced. In a way, I wish they would - because extra money from being a tabloid photographer would come in handy right now....
The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation plans to hold an open house for visitors Saturday. Leaders even will take questions from the audience. But after this wild election year, a few protesters are going to insist on having their puppets ask questions.
WHINSEC promises the Saturday open house is even open to people who have been arrested in the past for trespassing at Fort Benning. Yeah, right - so why are two gates being closed for the weekend? The PX can't be marking down prices THAT much....
As for that other big event, God Bless Fort Benning plans to pack all of its activities into one day. That old stereotype is reinforced once again -- that conservatives are more efficient than liberals.
God Bless Fort Benning will begin shortly after sunrise Saturday, as soldiers are served pancakes for breakfast. As we all know, an Army celebration runs on its stomach....
Then comes a 5,000 and 10,000 meter run on both sides of the river downtown, called a "Freedom Run." Now hold on here - if the run really is about freedom, why do the runners have to follow the marked streets on the course?
God Bless Fort Benning will include comments by former Mayor Bob Poydasheff and current Mayor Jim Wetherington. This could provide a moment of great drama - if the former mayor finally comes out and says he voted for the one-percent sales tax last summer.
(Bob Poydasheff said during a Thursday newscast it's important to have "God" in the name of Saturday's event. That's to distinguish the event from a few years ago - when the Base Realignment commission REALLY blessed Fort Benning.)
A lot of local performers are scheduled to perform on Broadway during God Bless Fort Benning. Miss Georgia will sing. The Columbus Ballet will dance. But having a band called "Whiskey Bent" perform - well, do we really want to put ideas like that in the heads of soldiers?
But there's something puzzling about the God Bless Fort Benning schedule. Last year Dr. Laura Schlessinger came to Columbus as a special guest. This year fellow WDAK radio star Glenn Beck will be here on God Bless Fort Benning Day - but he's only making a one-hour stop at Barnes and Noble to sign his book. No wonder Beck is leaving the "Heroes" of CNN for Fox News Channel....
If SOA Watch moves its November vigil away from Columbus, would God Bless Fort Benning Day stop? I seriously doubt it. In fact, it probably would receive an upgrade - and be moved to mid-October, when the weather's nicer.
But then I think about the Tidwell family which created God Bless Fort Benning -- and I wonder if they might follow SOA Watch, and move part of the celebration to Washington in 2010. It certainly would save on air fare for Rep. Sanford Bishop....
BLOG UPDATE: We hit the proverbial wall Thursday, in terms of the ethics complaint filed against former Rigdon Road School principal Phyllis Jones. A Muscogee County School spokesperson said the district cannot comment on personnel matters. So we invite the mysterious person who filed the complaint to contact us. You can even wear a pro wrestling mask, if you wish.
But WXTX "News at Ten" reviewed Phyllis Jones's personnel record Thursday, and found a two-week suspension for violations with a year of probation. Trouble is, that happened back in 1993. Some of these rumormongers simply refuse to let things go....
WXTX reported it found nothing in Phyllis Jones's personnel record to indicate Muscogee County Schools want to have her teaching certificate revoked. So perhaps the person who filed the ethics complaint demanded it -- and perhaps that explains what Jones is doing these days. You know the phrase: those who can't teach, consult.
-> How did our poker night go Thursday? If you simply MUST know (sigh), check our other blog -- "On the Flop!" <--
E-MAIL UPDATE: Sunday's story on our sandwich shop with a one-dollar special apparently made one reader hungry for more....
Oh and I agree Jimmy Johns will never make it if that is what they are going to serve as a sandwich. I got the same thing, the roast beef. It made me thing of the Wendy's commercial from when I was a kid. WHERE IS THE BEEF. Granted what was there was good, and the bread was good. I fell like i got about a dollars worth.
Never make it? Jimmy John's has been around for 25 years since its premiere in Charleston, Illinois. But I admit I never heard of this chain until the grand opening in Columbus. It's not even located along interstate highways I've driven in southern Illinois. Maybe if Jimmy John's sold corn dogs....
The Jimmy John's menu shows you can have an "extra load of meat" on a sandwich. It costs you $1.50 -- but look on the bright side. Two scoops of tuna salad probably cost less than one scoop of big-name ice cream.
The conquest of Alabama's big-name basketball teams brought this reminder Thursday:
Mercer Bears host Georgia Tech 11/22/08 in Macon.
Uh-oh -- could Mercer make it a stunning trifecta this weekend? Or will the Bears be overconfident, because they're finally playing at home?
Georgia Tech's football team was impressive Thursday night, mauling Miami 41-23. The lesson of this season should now be clear: "whiteouts" work, "blackouts" don't.
We still have to make calls on a couple of other e-mails. So thanks for your patience with those -- and now it's on to other headlines from Smoke-out Thursday:
+ A demolition crew began tearing down the Riverview Apartments in Phenix City. Someone actually brought me two souvenir bricks from the complex a couple of years ago. So should I have them autographed by the current mayor, or the former one?
+ The first finalist for Muscogee County School Superintendent met Columbus residents. Felicia Mitchell of DeKalb County, Georgia asked what other community would bring in Superintendent candidates to meet the public, and answer their questions. Uhhhh - I think the answer is Russell County. Twice in two years.
+ Ground was broken at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park for a Lonnie Jackson memorial. The family is talking like Jackson will receive a grander tribute than some former Columbus mayors. I mean, the city seems to have stopped at a Bob Poydasheff Court....
+ The late-night news followed Columbus garbage trucks, and found prison laborers rolling their own cigarettes while on duty. Supervisors say that's permitted - and besides, it puts old newspapers to a creative second use.
+ A team from the Air Force won an all-military rugby tournament at Fort Benning. This makes no sense at all to me -- since I thought rugby rules only allowed you to move the ball forward on the ground.
+ Carver High School confirmed star linebacker Jarvis Jones will miss the remainder of the playoffs, due to a broken thumb. Is that really enough to keep someone from playing linebacker? Jones seems able to knock down players, simply with a three-step running start.
SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND: A way to save money on groceries which may be new to you....
The number of visitors to our blog is up 31 percent from last year. To advertise to them, offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.
BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 942 (- 1, 0.1%)
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.
© 2003-08 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.