A year ago, we were all being told H1N1 was going to wipe out large segments of the population. Now the ties between the World Health Organization and international pharmaceutical Industry have come to public light.

Global warming was going to wipe us out in the matter of a hundred years or less, if we did not reduce carbon emissions by law, such as Cap & Trade. Now the data and formulas appear doubtful.

 The American health care system was reported to be broken and had to be fixed, by a bill which needed to be signed immediately, which was just short of 2,000 pages long, but we did not need to read it, because we would find out what was in it after it was law. We were told it would be less than a trillion dollars.

 Now that it is law, the price has been shown to jumped over $115 billion more than advertised and is still climbing. The bill was not all-encompassing and needs a doctor fix (another bill). Many of the items which protesters had feared were in the bill are being shown to be true.

In more recent times, we heard that peace protesters were attacked by Israel. However the video footage shows these peace protesters with clubs, knives, guns and flash bangs. I have known a few true pacifists in my time and the actions of those terrorists were nowhere near the actions of a true pacifist.

At the beginning of the catastrophe in the Gulf, we were told only a small amount of oil was leaking. As time rolled on, the volume estimates raised continually.

Currently, there are still experts out there telling us the economy is in a recovery. These are the same experts who said in 2008 and before that no crash was possible.

All these events have one thing in common, the truth. In all these events, the truth was not sought so good decisions could be made. The truth was purposely pushed to the side for political reasons.

Georgia has a short time before its primary elections. It is important for us voters to define what our values are as individuals, seek candidates who we believe will adhere to those values, and when they are put into office, hold them to those values.

 Just one example of this, where both parties are guilty and should be held accountable, has been the current administration trying to manipulate elections by bribing candidates. Any time elected officials are found or admit to breaking the law, they should be held accountable, period. If we do not insist on this at all levels of government, then We The People are the problem.

If you have not done so already, spend some  time thinking of what values are important to you. Then think about a few issues, which you believe strongly in, develop some questions around these issues for every level of government and ask them to the candidates that are running for office.

You will rarely find a candidate who you agree with 100 percent of the time, but if they show the values you are concerned about and hold to strong beliefs on those issues, which are critical to you, then maybe they will earn your vote.

Remember, too, whether you voted for an official or not, they are in a position to represent you and your neighbors, so it’s up to us to hold them accountable for their actions.



Jeff Korson

Alapaha