Hometown News Fruforal

Picking on the home town will always perk the ears. Some in the Atlanta community are taking exception with a recent Moultrie Observer article on 8th Congressional District Republican candidate Rick Goddard. Flackattack as usual pulls no punches.

I don't expect some of the smaller newspapers in our state to be the most sophisticated newspapers. I do expect them to hold the line on a couple of pretty basic concepts in journalism, like balance and fact-checking. If you are not going to include an opposing viewpoint, the latter concept becomes even more important to protect the truth.

I could write something here like I expect big time blogs to look at the whole of a paper's work instead of cherry picking one article to blast the rubes down south for their "aw shuckin'" ways but would that really be necessary?

Having said that, Tondee's Tavern has a point. The article is a string of Goddard quotes with little journalistic context flesh out the piece. As I have said before, reporter Lori Glenn is usually very good and this particular article is a little surprising in its structure. Lazy reporting? Editorial butchery? An honest effort that just wasn't a home run? At this point, we do not really know but I have contacted another Moultrie boy, Observer editor Dwain Walden, for clarification.

Heck, maybe what this situation needs is an country boy stuck in the city to mediate before we have another horrible bush war between the "two Georgias".

Home

First round is on me.

Scenes From The Road: Hartwell Dam

Crossing back into Georgia at the Hartwell Dam.

Scenes From The Road: Lost

I missed a turn in Salisbury, NC and ended up headed towards Asheville. Since I knew that would be way out of the way, I gambled and turned south on a random road. It turned into this two lane country road through unknown parts of western Carolina. No signs. Barely any signs of life. Fortunately, 20 minutes later I found US 321 south and headed for Gastonia.

Scenes From The Road: Claremont, NC

Mewitt's Store, Claremont, NC

Departure, Clemmons, NC!

I'm going home. Back to the ATL. I've decided to take Lawrenceville Hwy...from about 300 miles out. Yes, I'm insane.

Speaker Glenn Richardson Interview

Erick at Peach Pundit has a fascinating interview with Speaker Glenn Richardson regarding his tax reform proposal. Listen here.

It's pretty interesting stuff and I give credit where credit is due. I do not like this proposal but we do need radical reformation of the tax code. So, Speaker Glenn gets a nod from me for getting the conversation started.

But, he just can't resist taking a swipe at the elder statesman of Georgia journalists Bill Shipp. God, Speaker. Can you make it through a single interview without sounding like the meanest man in Georgia?

Welcome to Clemmons, NC!

That's about 10 miles west of Winston-Salem, NC. My first choice of hotels was full. My hotel karma has not been so special on this trip. But then again, the second choice has several restaurants nearby whereas the first one seemed to only have an IHOP. So maybe things are more balanced than I thought.

Time for exploring. Back in a while.

Scenes From The Road: Chatham, Va

I'm not sure why I snapped this one but probably because this railroad trestle is so emblematic of the many small towns I pass through. It's those spots which are the reason for my eschewing the interstates for the backroads.

Scenes From The Road: Manassas

The Stone House at the junction of Lee Highway and Sudley Rd. It was used as a hospital during both battles. Just passed through this battlefield as I visited it several years ago.

Scenes From The Road: Leaving Alexandria

Leaving Alexandria. Headed down Duke St.

Departure Alexandria, Va

Destination, Winston Salem, NC. Another trip back through Virginia. Its tempting to strike out for Atlanta today but I know I would be ruined when I arrived. So a brief stop in North Carolina. See you tonight.

Scenes From Antietam: Burnside Bridge

The Burnside Bridge

The position of Toomb's Georgians looking down on Antietam Creek. The foliage was much less on the day of the battle and the sharpshooters had a clear view up and down the creek.

The Burnside Bridge. This would have been the view of Union soldiers as they attempted to cross the creek. You can see the imposing heights just beyond.

As the battle passed south through the afternoon, General Ambrose Burnside was ordered to take a bridge over the creek. He delayed however due to his observation that the opposite bank rose in a steep rise bristling with Confederates. Eventually after much prodding by his superior General George McClellan, Burnside moved his troops forward. They immediately came under a hail of fire from the heights including a brigade of Georgians under the command of Georgia's General Robert Toombs. Repulsed several times with staggering losses, the Union forces eventually gained the far bank and reinforcements began to push towards the town. At this critical moment, the division of A.P. Hill after a 17 mile forced march arrived from Harpers Ferry and pushed the Union forces back across the creek.

As dusk fell the battle staggered to an end with both forces back in nearly the same position as dawn that morning. No tactical gain had been achieved, but the following evening Lee retreated into Virginia and with the failure of the southern forces to penetrate northern soil, the respite gave President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to present the Emancipation Proclamation.

Scenes From Antietam: Bloody Lane

In The Bloody Lane. The view of Confederates as Union Soldiers charged the position.

The Bloody Lane towards the left end of the Confederate Line

The Bloody Lane towards the right end of the Confederate line

Fighting in the cornfield led General Robert E. Lee to strip his southern lines to re-inforce Jackson. This adjustment left his center woefully undermanned. Circumstance and the fog of war led the division of Union General French squarely into the line of Confederate General D.H. Hill. Hill's men were entrenched on a sunken farm road which forever after would be known as "Bloody Lane".

After several bloody repulses, partially delivered by the 6th Alabama led by future Georgia Governor John B. Gordon, the Union soldiers eventually took the position. However, General Hill rallied his troops on a ridge at the outskirts of town, delivered a counter attack which gave the Union commanders pause and the battle passed further south.

Scenes From Antietam: Dunker Church, West Woods, Cornfield

The Dunker Church. The West Woods is behind the building.

The Miller Cornfield as seen from near the Dunker Church

A fawn (lower right corner) nibbles some corn on the edge of the corn field.

From dawn until mid-morning, General Stonewall Jackson's corps fought three separate Union corps. The solidiers attacked and counter-attacked repeatedly in the area of the Dunker Church, the West Woods and the Miller Cornfield. The rain of bullets was so heavy some soldiers described the view of the cornfield as if a giant scythe had cut the stalks. At the end of the day both sides remained essentially where they began, only less the thousands of dead and wounded who now lay among the rows and around the church.

Scenes From The Road: Antietam National Battlefield

On September 17th, 1862, for the first time the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac clashed north of the the Potomac River. Near the small town of Sharpsburg, Md. the warriors of both causes struggled for hours over the rolling hills and farmland of Maryland. As dusk fell, over 23,000 men were dead, wounded or missing. To this day, the largest single day casualty count in U.S. history.

The following are a few pictures I took as I toured the battlefield. If you ever visit, even though relative to a site like Gettysburg, Antietam is small, take at least half a day. Even if the history doesn't grab your heart, the beauty of the park will. It is simply one of the prettiest national parks I've visited.

Scenes From The Road: Southern Pennsylvania

First time I hit rain the entire trip.

Welcome to Alexandria, Va!

Just a quick pop in to a friends house for sleep and then off again in the morning.

Today was a good drive despite the weather. For the first time I encountered rain. I stuck mostly to the interstates through Pennsylvania. In Maryland I took some time to visit Antietam Battlefield National Park.

It was a nice bookend for the Gettysburg visit on the way up. It's a great park. Even though due to time constraints I only had a couple of hours, I liked it better than Gettysburg. It's not nearly as crowded and it is beautiful. Rollings hills and fields with the creek meandering down the middle. If you ever visit, make sure you leave enough time to walk around the Burnside Bridge area. Putting aside the history for a moment, it is one of the prettiest spots I have seen in any park anywhere.

Pictures are coming but not until the morning. I left the camera in the car and I ain't going back out in the rain.

Departure Montville, NJ!

Headed to Alexandria, Va. today. It was a full weekend. More on that later. I'm not sure what my route will be today but I should be back on at about 8:00 this evening.

Georgia Blog Carnival

Make sure you stop by the Georgia Blog Carnival and check out some of the finest from around the state.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some time do a quick wrap up of my impressions of Gettysburg. Suffice it to say it was a moving experience and next time I plan to make sure I have a full day to take it all in.