Thursday, October 28, 2010Opinion

The Brownsville States-Graphic

page A4

PeeplesBy 28th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Clayburn Peeples

2nd Tuesday of every month - 7pm The Brownsville States-Graphic(USPS ISSN 08909938) is published weekly by Haywood County Newspapers

L.L.C., 42 South Washington, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville TN 38012.

Periodicals postage paid at Brownsville, TN.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

The Brownsville States-Graphic, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville, TN 38012

“A publication of American Hometown Publishing”DEADLINES:

News, Monday at Noon • Advertising, Monday at NoonClassifi ed Advertising, Monday at Noon

Society news, Monday at Noon Legals, Monday at Noon

SUBSCRIPTIONS (PER YEAR):Haywood County $35; In-state $42; Out-of-state $49

Communications with the newspaper

must include the author’s signature,

address and telephone number. All letters to the editor refl ect the opinions of the

writer and are not necessarily those of the newspaper. The newspaper is

not responsible for unsolicited material. We reserve the right to reject or shorten letter to the editor.

731-772-1172

BrownsvilleSTATES-GRAPHICSTATES-GRAPHIC

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Calvin Carter,Rebecca GrayStaff Writer

Sara Clark,Josh AndersonGraphic Design

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Leticia OrozcoReceptionist

Vicky Fawcett,Office Manager

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Vicky Fawcett,Offi ce Manager

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Ceree Peace PostonReceptionist

Calvin Carter,Staff Writer

Julie Pickard,Staff Writer

Matt GarrettGraphic Designer

The Brownsville States-Graphic(USPS ISSN 08909938) is published weekly by Haywood County Newspapers

L.L.C., 42 South Washington, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville TN 38012.

Periodicals postage paid at Brownsville, TN.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

The Brownsville States-Graphic, P.O. Box 59, Brownsville, TN 38012

“A publication of American Hometown Publishing”DEADLINES:

News, Monday at Noon • Advertising, Monday at NoonClassifi ed Advertising, Monday at Noon

Society news, Monday at Noon Legals, Monday at Noon

SUBSCRIPTIONS (PER YEAR):Haywood County $35; In-state $42; Out-of-state $49

Communications with the newspaper

must include the author’s signature,

address and telephone number. All letters to the editor refl ect the opinions of the

writer and are not necessarily those of the newspaper. The newspaper is

not responsible for unsolicited material. We reserve the right to reject or shorten letter to the editor.

731-772-1172

BrownsvilleSTATES-GRAPHICSTATES-GRAPHIC

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Calvin Carter,Rebecca GrayStaff Writer

Sara Clark,Josh AndersonGraphic Design

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Leticia OrozcoReceptionist

Vicky Fawcett,Office Manager

Scott Whaley,Editor & Publisher

Vicky Fawcett,Offi ce Manager

Terry ThompsonSales Manager

Ceree Peace PostonReceptionist

Calvin Carter,Staff Writer

Julie Pickard,Staff Writer

Matt GarrettGraphic Designer

Jeff PerrySports Writer

“If everybody hates the democrats and the republicans so much,” I heard a woman ask during a conversational free-for-all on the subject of the upcoming elections, “then why doesn’t somebody come up with a serious third party?”

Actually, they have, plenty of them. Generally, third party members are a lot more serious about politics than your typical democrats or republicans. The problem they have is getting others to take them seriously. There have been dozens of “third” parties that have paraded across the nation, and Tennessee’s, political landscape, but with the exception of the republican party, which emerged in the 1850’s as a third party, none of them have had much success at all.

Why? If the major parties are held in such scorn, as they appear to be today, why do third parties have such difficulty gaining political traction?

Many reasons, but the primary one usually given is that here in America we use, almost everywhere, what is known as a “first-past-the-post” voting system. What that means is that the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he, or she, doesn’t actually get a majority of votes cast. Unlike “proportional representation” systems, runners-up do not get any representation at all. In other words, in American politics, with few exceptions, only the first place winners stay at the table.

So because there is only going to be one winner, and everyone else is going to lose, prospective voters have a powerful incentive to vote for one of the two candidates who seem to have a chance to get the greatest number of votes, and thus, win. They, the voters, may prefer some other candidate, but if they think their preferred

candidate cannot win, then they support one of the two top candidates, or parties.

That’s one reason why, historically, third parties, with the exception of the republican party, have not had long term success. Usually they come about either as a result of a specific issue, or to support a specific candidate. The election of 1912, in which the Bull Moose Party ran Theodore Roosevelt for president, is an example of the latter situation, as was the Reform Party that nominated Ross Perot in 1996. Four years earlier, when he garnered nearly 19 percent of the vote, he was actually an independent.

In the past, as I said, third party candidates have almost never won, especially in national races. When they do win, their victories tend to be short lived; their good ideas get stolen by one, or both, of the major parties, and when they lose their “unique” issues, they usually fade away.

But that doesn’t mean they are not important. They have played an immensely significant role as catalysts of political and social progress. Third parties were far ahead of the “establishment” parties, for example, in the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement and a host of other “mainstream” ideas that once were considered radical.

And sometimes their candidates act as spoilers, causing one or the other of the two major parties to lose an election it otherwise would have won. Think Ralph Nader in 2000 and H. Ross Perot in 1992. President Bush would probably have beaten Governor Clinton if Perot hadn’t been in the race. (Perot got 18.9 percent of the vote.) And Vice-president Gore would definitely have won Florida, and thus the presidency, if Ralph Nader, the Reform Party

candidate who got 40,000 votes, hadn’t been on the ballot, also.

It’ll be interesting to see what the future brings to Tennessee ballots by way of third parties. We have a rich history of colorful political contests in the state, with many different “third” parties figuring into some of them. One Tennessee politician in the middle of the 19th century, Horace Maynard, was a candidate for public office of one sort or another in seven different political parties. A lawyer and college professor, he ran for the office of presidential elector for the Whig party in Tennessee, and ran for congress as a Whig, also. He lost, but four years later he ran again, this time as a member of the American Party, and he won. Two years later he ran for reelection, but as a candidate for the Opposition Party and was victorious. The following term he was the Unionist Party candidate. He won again.

A loyalist, he was appointed attorney general of Tennessee by Military Governor Andrew Johnson during the Civil War, but in 1866 he was back in elective politics, serving as a delegate to the Southern Loyalist Party Convention in Philadelphia, and later that year he ran for congress again, this time as a member of the Unconditional Unionist Party. He won yet again, and then he became a republican for four terms. He ran for governor as a republican also, but lost that election.

Don’t feel sorry for him though. After losing the governor’s race he had two additional careers, including one as Postmaster General of the United States.

So yes, there is life after elective politics, and quite often it is vastly superior to life on the hustings.

Something a lot of candidates are going to need to remember in a couple of weeks.

Life of the Party?

The low sales of calorie inducing candy.

The sudden abundance in makeshift costume stores in once abandoned department store buildings.

And the constant showings and reruns of “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.”

This my dear friends could mean only one thing.

Halloween is coming up.

As a child it use be one of my favorite holidays for a few reasons.

For one, Halloween provided an opportunity to play pretend and dress and not be viewed as the town loon for doing so.

Free candy was of course another key reason, and just seemed to act as special reward for wearing a silly costume.

Really, I’m getting paid in candy to dress like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?

Sign me up.As I got older,

Halloween still cemented itself as one of my top three holidays to celebrate, although the reasons changed.

Halloween kind of served as prelude to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, I do realize that the consequences should tear down any pedestal I happen to place this holiday on.

It’s true that Halloween, along with Thanksgiving and Christmas really are just bait for consumers to nibble on and feed more dollars to materialism machine.

The extra calories from say that candy isn’t going to help. And really, me trying to go trick or treating as an adult makes it look more likw I’m a crazy individual than some innocuous man-child.

Good thing I think more like a 12-year-old than stuffy Dr. Killjoy.

And then there were the creepy stories slung around to cause a fright; they were the macabre tales of murder, weirdness, and other grisly images.

Nowadays however, I read about stories like those on news sites.

In fact, here is one that has caught my eye recently.

But first let me begin by asking one simple question.

Can hiccups lead to killing?

We all know that constant hiccups can drive one mad with annoyance? But can they

drive one to murder?That’s one question

that’s going to be explored for 19-year-old Florida resident Jennifer Mee, who is being charged with first-degree murder.

America may remember Mee from her 2007 appearance on NBC’s Today Show detailing her life with chronic hiccups.

It was said that Mee hiccupped 50 times a minute. Eventually Mee was cured of her hiccups although, the exact reason as to why they ceased remains unknown.

How did Mee go from interesting news feature to Lifetime Channel movie material?

Mee chatted online with a 22-year-old Shannon Griffin, who was described by family as a lonely introvert. Agreeing to meet in person, Mee lured Griffin to a house where he was robbed and fatally shot three times by a Lamont Newton and Laron Raiford.

Many are predicting that Mee’s defense will explore if the national exposure gained from her hiccups led her to meet unsavory characters like her assailants and be placed in a horrible predicament such as Griffin’s murder. I’m sure her defense is hoping that the theory could mitigate the sentencing.

To me, this is honestly

one of the weirdest stories to occur this year, and I make it a habit to look for weird tales.

Reality is after all stranger than fiction.

So could Mee’s hiccups be the cause of her arrest?

In a small way, maybe. I could see a naïve Mee’s having her notoriety causing her to meet with people that would eventually take advantage of her in some way or form.

Yet make no mistake that Mee is just as responsible for the murder of Griffin as the men who pulled the trigger.

I’m saying this on the assumption that she really did lure Griffin. Although to me, it looks as if they were only planning a robbery and things got out of hand.

It’ll be interesting to see how this case goes. What will be even more interesting is to see how years of myth and legend will contort and transform this story into something even more twisted.

Anyway, allow me to end this week’s column by saying, be careful Haywood County, as you enjoy Halloween this weekend.

Remember that reality isn’t just stranger than fiction, but sometimes, it’s also a heck more dangerous.

Be safe.

Real world Goosebumps