OpiniOn Our missiOn: To make the Lexington County Chronicle & The Dispatch-News essential to our community. LEXINGTON COUNTY Our gOAl: To publish accurate and timely news and advertising. We are passionate about Lexington County. Chronicle ANd The Dispatch-News—SINCE 1870 A7 Lexington County Chronicle & The Dispatch-News Thursday, January 19, 2012 How to vote Saturday y ou might think that we’re going to tell you here in a few hundred words who to vote for and why. That would make it easy for voters too lazy to figure it out for themselves. On the other hand, our endorsement of one of the candidates in Saturday’s GOP presidential primary could be a curse. We’ve seen the campaigns of many candidates aspiring to public service (and maybe a cushy taxpayer-financed retirement one day) crash and burn because some darn fool newspaper editor sat down and wrote an endorsement for them. There is an encouraging trait among many voters to vote against anyone a newspaper editor would endorse. Newspaper endorsements tend to be left-handed compliments anyway. They tend to tell you why all the other candidates aren’t worth a bucket of spit and the endorsee is the only one left to whom to entrust the office. That’s enough to discourage any upright citizen seeking public office. If you need an example, witness the decision of former Utah governor and Barack Obama ambassador to China Jon Huntsman to withdraw from the GOP race less than 24 hours after Brand X threw him its endorsement in Sunday’s edition. Huntsman may not have seen that one coming but it certainly did nothing to make him change his mind. We decided years ago that it was our duty to avoid such disasters at the peril of having you make up your own mind. It’s unfortunate that too many of us who CLerK oF CoUrt grew up in the relative comfort and safety of this wonderful country take the importance of our vote for granted. Not so do exiles from totalitarian societies who prize the vote and their chance to exercise it once they become citizens. When you vote in Saturday’s primary we trust it will be to vote for a candidate who opposes the job-killing, anti-business, high debt, big government, tax and spend policies of the Obama administration. We need a candidate who has the wit to surround himself with capable advisors who can help us reverse the decline of our nation into a fifth rate power. That’s why we won’t tell you who to vote for because we respect your ability to decide that for yourself. [email protected] | Lexington yesterday jerry bellune [email protected] _ CLAUdETTE hOLLIdAY | [email protected] 359-7633 the editor taLKs with yoU | the monk’s wife _ Funny business Work and workers - particularly the lazy and stupid - are almost as popular as blonde and mother-in-law jokes. One of my favorites: “If you don’t think the dead can come back to life, stick around until quitting time.” A few others to inspire you to get up and go to work tomorrow: “I drink coffee at work because we don’t take sex breaks”. This is on the side of a cup at our office. It’s a mystery who brought it to the office but to them I am forever grateful. Edgar Bergen — for you younger folks a well-known ventriloquist who had a highly popular radio program back in the 1940s and 50s — once said, “Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? Murphy’s lAW stAtes thAt “if anything can go wrong, it will.” A realist later observed, “Murphy was an optimist.” Conway’s Law allows that in any organization there will always be one person who knows what is going on. This person must be fired. Cheops Law: No project was ever completed on time and within budget. Humorist Robert Orben said, “Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” The controversial lawyer Clarence Darrow claimed to be a friend of the working man because “I would rather be his friend than be one.” lAbor leADer lAne KirKlAnD quipped, “If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.” Archie Bunker — the fictional TV character portrayed by Carroll O’Connor — once said, “In fifty years, he never worked a day. To him, nine to five was odds on a horse.” Philosopher Bertrand Russell observed that one of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is important.” super MoDel nAoMi cAMpbell said, “I make a lot of money, but I don’t want to talk about that. I work very hard and I’m worth every cent.” Infamous Louisiana Gov. Huey Long said, “Hard work is damn near as overrated as monogamy.” Comic Joey Adams said, “People are willing to do an honest day’s work. The trouble is they want a week’s pay for it.” Auto maker Henry Ford said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it.” In a modest moment, heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali said: “It’s just a job. Grass grows. Birds fly. Waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” Have you got a funny quote about work or those who avoid it? Email it to me and I’ll share it with other Chronicle readers. read Jerry’s success strategies at www.jerrybellune.com Jerry bellune Editor Emeritus hilda crain vicki shealy bill West L ife would have been very different for Katharina von Bora if Martin Luther had not begun the Reformation revolution. Katharina was the daughter of a Saxon nobleman, Hans von Bora and wife Katharina Haubitz of Lippendorph, Germany. At the age of three after her mother’s death Katharina was sent to Nimbschen Cloister near Halle, where her aunt Magdalena von Bora lived. She received her education at the Benedictine cloister in Brehna. There she remained until Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis. Katharina soon became dissatisfied with her life at the convent and made her escape along with 11 other nuns at age eighteen. With the assistance of Martin Luther and a councilman of Torgau the nuns were secreted out of the convent in a fish wagon to Wittenberg. Luther attempted to return the nuns to their relatives, but many families refused. Within two years all found homes, marriages, or employment nearby. Katharina lived with the painter Lucas Cranach the elder and his wife Barbara. She was courted by several suitors, but married none. Katharina had her cap set for Martin and they married when she was 26 and Martin was 41. Katharina and Martin were given a home as a wedding gift by John Frederick, Elector of Saxony. The ‘Black Cloister’ was the former dormitory of Augustinian monks studying at Wittenberg University and perfect for the Luther’s active life at the university. Katie took over the management of the cloister. She ran the brewery, sold and bred cattle, boarded students (sometimes as many as 30), and operated a hospital at the cloister when necessary in times of widespread illness. Luther called her the morning star of Wittenberg because she arose so early every morning. The Luthers were very happy with their new life free from the confines of the Roman church. They raised four of their own children, four orphans, and Katie’s nephew Fabian. Luther died when their youngest child was twelve years old. War broke out and Katie then fled Wittenberg to Magdeburg and was unable to return until 1547. When she returned the cloister and its land had been left in ruins, but John Frederick came to her aid. In 1552 the Plague reached Wittenberg and Katie once again fled, this time to Torgau where she suffered fatal injuries in a cart accident. At age 53 Katharina Luther died on December 20, 1552, and was buried far from her beloved husband Martin. Faithful to the Savior to the end Katie’s dying words professed she stuck “to Christ as a burr to cloth”. | PoLitiCaL hUmor Macleod bellune Publisher, etc. Office Manager Metro Editor Senior Editor Portrait of Katharina von Bora by Lucas Cranach the elder Mark bellune Editor, etc. Annette briggs, carol Mccombs and elaine bennett Advertising Account Managers Josh thorp Assistant Managing Editor/Graphics Michael ball Managing Editor travis boland Sports/News Editor Kirsten eblin Office Assistant terry Ward Assistant Managing Editor/News settinG the recorD strAiGht by suzAnne D. Moore Lexington County Clerk of Court Candidate i would like to set the record straight regarding the recent statements in this paper about the work attendance of the current Clerk of Court, and the refusal of the Sheriff’s Department to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request which it is bound to do by law. Specifically, the information pertains to data captured from proximity cards for the Lexington Clerk of Court. The Sheriff’s Department claims that releasing these records, to which taxpayers and citizens are entitled access, is tantamount to a security issue. This is nonsense. The prox card records will merely show which days an employee “keyed” in to the courthouse, and not provide any information that would jeopardize personal security. I merely seek this information to verify attendance records that already exist, records initiated by the Deputy Clerk of Court Marsha Jones Moore. While serving at the Courthouse, it was my duty to keep employee time sheets. Deputy Clerk Marsha Moore asked me to do the same for the clerk. Ms. Moore felt the clerk was not aware of her absences and wanted to have a record to remind the clerk. Informally, I kept accurate records of the absences. Rarely does an elected official need to be monitored by a subordinate, but in this case I did what was requested of me and followed to the letter what the Deputy Clerk instructed me to do. Since the clerk drives to work, her entrance to the underground parking garage is accessible by swiping the card. These records, which are monitored and stored electronically, will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt when she entered the building or not. The system is not used as an attendance record, but as a garage door opener. In all fairness to the clerk, I sought this information from the Sheriff as proof of the validity of my own recordkeeping. Accountability is a measurement. It’s not exact, but it bears reporting, and it certainly needs to be brought to the attention of citizens whose trust is violated whenever elected officials abuse their offices by collecting paychecks for work they did not do. According to the attendance records I kept, the Clerk of Court missed 109 days in 2009 and 85 days in 2010, totaling 194 days missed from work, excluding holidays. She missed 10 months from work in a twenty-four month period. (If the clerk showed up for ten minutes, she was given full credit for the day. If she was on court business away from the courthouse, she was given credit. However, if she was on vacation in Mexico, the Caribbean or at her Folly Beach condo she was marked absent.) As her executive assistant, I was aware of her schedule. Deputy Clerk Marsha Moore would also alert me to the whereabouts of Ms. Carrigg for office business. I’m sure every tax-paying citizen would like to have paid absences from work which are as lengthy and frequent as Ms. Carrigg’s, but most people do not have the luxury of “checking out” and receiving paychecks on the taxpayer’s tab either. The Clerk of Court is an elected official, and elected officials are responsible to the taxpayer. The Clerk of Court’s presence and leadership should reflect a commitment to honoring the public trust. Her lengthy and frequent absences, and her attempts to dodge accountability to the citizens who elected her, reflect deficiencies in her character, and demonstrate clearly that she is unfit to serve in public office. Hopefully, the Sheriff will release the information that the taxpayers and citizens are entitled to receive under the Freedom of Information Act. I am sure that when these records are released, they will reflect the truthfulness and accuracy of the current clerk’s attendance, kept at the behest of Deputy Clerk Marsha Moore. Lexington County’s people deserve accountability and transparency from their elected officials, and showing up every day for work is the very first step to honoring the trust of the people. PO Box 9, Lexington, S.C. 29071-0009 Phone 803 359-7633 • Fax: 803 359-2936 A conservAtive choice, not A liberAl echo Member of the South Carolina Press Association and the National Newspaper Association Copyright 2012, Lexington Publishing Co. Inc. E-mail opinions to [email protected]