The Lone Libertarian

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield decided to inject a little levity into the Georgia land grab, and send a truckload of water with a guy wearing a coonskin hat. He made the official proclamation that today, Wednesday, February 28th 2008 shall be known as “Give Our Georgia Friends A Drink Day.” The proclamation reads as follows.

–PROCLAMATION–

WHEREAS, it has come to pass that the heavens are shut up and a drought of Biblical proportions has been visited upon the Southern United States, and

WHEREAS, the parched and dry conditions have weighed heavily upon the State of Georgia and sorely afflicted those who inhabit the Great City of Atlanta, and

WHEREAS, the leaders of Georgia have assembled like the Children of Israel in the desert, grumbled among themselves and have begun to cast longing eyes toward the north, coveting their neighbor’s assets, and

WHEREAS, the lack of water has led some misguided souls to seek more potent refreshment or for other reasons has resulted in irrational and outrageous actions seeking to move a long established and peaceful boundary, and

WHEREAS, it is deemed better to light a candle than curse the darkness, and better to offer a cool, wet kiss of friendship rather than face a hot and angry legislator gone mad from thirst, and

Whereas, it is feared that if today they come for our river, tomorrow they might come for our Jack Daniels or George Dickel,

NOW THEREFORE, In the interest of brotherly love, peace, friendship, mutual prosperity, citywide self promotion, political grandstanding and all that

I Ron Littlefield, Mayor of the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee,

Do hereby Proclaim that Wednesday, February 27, 2008 shall be known as

“Give Our Georgia Friends a Drink Day”

Somehow I don’t think the Georgians will be amused. Let’s see if the guy in the coonskin hat makes it back across the border this afternoon.

Georgia lawmakers are trying to make a huge land grab (approx 50 square miles) in Tennessee to obtain access to the Tennessee River’s water. Georgia state senator David Shafer is behind the action that would move the Georgia state border 1.1 miles north into Tennessee. I know the northern part of the state is experiencing drought conditions, but attempting to redraw the state’s border seems desperate and naive.

This action comes in light of the original survey of the border. Tennessee’s southern border was to be drawn along the 35th parallel. Using the technology of the time in 1818, the border was drawn 1.1 miles off (not too shabby). Thus, the Tennessee River and parts of Chattanooga that would be technically in Georgia, reside in Tennessee.

Now some would argue that if it’s in the law books that Tennessee’s border is supposed to coincide with the 35th parallel, that Georgia should by default have recourse and should be able to obtain the land (as well as Mississippi taking parts of Shelby County and Memphis, the largest city in Tennessee). However, there is a common law concept called adverse possession.

Adverse possession, in layman’s terms, more or less entitles a “squatter” to land rights after a specified period of time has passed and the original titleholder does not contest the possession.

Georgia has had a brush with adverse possession in the past with South Carolina. South Carolina dredged an island in the Savannah River to it’s bank, even though all islands in the river were considered Georgian property, as defined in The Treaty of Beaufort (1787) . Georgia did nothing about this action, and then when they finally got around to challenging South Carolina, the US Supreme Court granted the land to South Carolina in a decision in 1990.

Georgia HR 1206 / SR 228 will probably go down in history as the biggest waste of taxpayer money and resources for solving their drought problems. Maybe they should try trade next time, instead of posturing.

I’ve been silent over the past few weeks due to life issues and vacation. I’m back now, and hopefully will begin writing regularly.

I was in New Orleans during “Super Tuesday” (Why Tuesday?), and I must say that I was so insulted by the coverage that the national networks and cable networks were providing; I virtually stopped paying attention to the majority parties’ primaries.

Last week I started listening to coverage from talk radio, and I have never been so disgusted in my life. Several of these “conservatives” (some self-professed Republicans) were propping Hillary/Obama, due to the fact that they consider John McCain an unfit candidate for the Republican nomination, in the hopes that the Republican Party will fall, thus a new truly-conservative party will rise from its’ ashes.

Then there are other “conservative” talk show hosts that had been spouting pure vitriol John McCain’s way during the whole campaign who are now talking about him like they were high school buddies. Hearing them lobby for him as the best candidate makes me very ill.

How dare anyone pedal this nonsense to save the reputation of a flailing political party? Anyone that would put a political party before this nation is, in my opinion, a traitor. I would hope that Americans would vote their conscience. As the saying goes, the lesser of two evils is still evil. If you do not vote based on your convictions, you are a coward.

The primary process has become nothing but sports coverage. From the flashy graphics to the special segment music to the fast talking play-by-play. This is nothing but a football game. Pick a side and buy merchandise to show your allegiance. The only problem is, there are more than two teams on the field, but the media doesn’t want you to know that.

What do I expect to see out of this whole election season? I think you are going to see state parties (primarily Republican) lobby to close primaries, such that Democrats and independents wont play as much of a factor in their nominating process. Mark my words, they will try.

It still stands to question, out of a population of over 300 million, this is the best they have to offer?