I understand that some of the county commissioners don't like how we’re running the Miller County Liberal.

That is your First Amendment right, and ours, for the moment.

When I got to First Friday Chamber meeting last week, it was almost over, but I had two taking photos and notes for me, so other than me missing a "good" program and breakfast, we had it covered.

When the program finished, I took a few more photos and was speaking to some of our out-oftown guests.

One of the guests asked, "Who is that over there?"

I responded, "That is one of the county commissioners."

Our guest asked, "What has he got against you and your newspaper? He really doesn't like something you put in there."

I answered, "Now I worry when the woman I'm sleeping with doesn't agree with me on something in the Liberal, but one of our local politicians disagreeing with me won't cost me any sleep at all."

I'm not sure what this particular commissioner said, since I wasn't there, but my note-takers said it was that we put an outright lie in the "As You See It" column.

I totally agree with the commissioner. “As You See It,” is an opinion column, and there have been some differences of opinions about me in that column, but what was said was one of my readers’ opinion of me and of the commissioners.

That commissioner has one vote on the board of commissioners. He has no votes on what will or will not go into the Miller County Liberal, so he and any other elected official have the same choices. They can take the opinions of the citizens in the Miller County Liberal, or they can get grut and gripe. After 112 years, the Liberal will not bend to politicians on my watch.

Since we’re in the opinion mode, the local boards have far too many "Special,, "Called" and "Closed" meetings. The special and called meetings are done so that the general public will not know they are having it. If some find out, they go into a closed meeting, so those there do not know what is going on.

When I was chairman of the county commissioners for eight years, we never had a closed meeting. The seven commissioners on those boards thought the public had a right to know what they/we were doing with the taxpayers’ monies and county business.

It's been quite a few years, but right doesn't change to wrong, and wrong doesn't change to right.

Since we are on opinions, it is my opinion and in my talking to others, the vast majority of the citizens of this county's opinion is that all public offices should be voted on county wide. Let me tell you why.

If the members of the board of commissioners or board of education vote to raise your taxes, you only get to vote for or against one commissioner or board member. Eight others could care less what the rest of the county thinks about their leadership.

It's fine for them to come from a district, but let us all vote on how they are doing their job since they all get to vote for my taxes and yours.

No one pleases everyone, and Lord knows a politician or an editor will be at the bottom of the list.

For the past couple of weeks, there have been just two of us, Wanda and “ye scribe”, getting the news, the ads, building them, typing the copy, putting the newspaper together, getting it to press, to the public and on our web site. My first wife, my mother-in-law and my daughter, Tammy and her daughter, Joanna, help us when they can. We are looking for help.

We are trying our best to get our readers a good, newspaper each week that is respected for being one of the best in the state, and we have some great newspapers in Georgia

We still attempt to go by grandma's slogan, "Pull for Colquitt or Pull Out." There is another slogan by The Blackshear Times, Liked by Many, Cussed by Some, Read by Them All.

As we have said, "We try not to make the news, we just report it."

God is good, all the time.