Thank you Bobby Cox (and thank you, Dad)

Over the past couple of weeks, I've used this column to lament about the seemingly crooked career politician who looks poised to defeat a seemingly honest career politician (both of whom started their political lives as Democrats) to become the next governor of our state. As much as I try to focus on the candidates and not the party affiliations, any connection to the Elephant brand looks like gold in the Peach State this year. So this week, I'm not going to dwell on Nathan Deal or Roy Barnes. I'm writing about a welcome distraction from the serious issues at hand.

I have my father to thank. Dad's a Republican. I'm an independent. But we didn't talk politics Sunday or Monday when the two of us joined my liberal-leaning brother at Turner Field to witness the final two games of the Bobby Cox era.

The three of us were there from the start of Cox's incredible run. Dad treated us to Braves games at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and later, Turner Field, from the time my brother Blake and I were old enough to play tee-ball at Fayette's Kiwanis Fields.

During the early years of our ballpark experiences, the Braves stunk. But Blake and I didn't mind -- neither did Dad. We relished every trip to the stadium. We boys had Dale Murphy to idolize, plus, last place teams tend to feature rare promos like "Meet the Players Day," which helped our parents fill childhood picture albums with photos of two young brothers wearing royal blue Braves caps posing with "The Murph", a 21-year-old John Smoltz and Lonnie Smith.

Before the 1991 season, my dad purchased family tickets to about a dozen home games. One of the dates he selected was the second to last game of the season -- the night the Braves improbably won the pennant with Smoltz catching a jubilant Greg Olsen in his arms after completing a masterful performance on the hill. We stayed in our seats post-game and well past my bed-time, watching the Dodgers lose on the jumbotron, which clinched the Braves' first postseason appearance since the year before I was born.

Back then, Dad didn't have the money to buy playoff tickets, but as a family we watched every League Championship and World Series game on our living room t.v.

In 1992, my father's brother died tragically young, just as the Braves held a three games to one lead in the National League Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves lost games five and six of that series, as members of my family struggled to deal with the terrible, heartbreaking loss. Then Francisco Cabrera singled, Sid Bream beat the tag and the Braves gave a couple of kids from Fayetteville a reason to dry their tears, at least for a moment.

Dad continued to take us to games. A couple of years later, my dad planned a family vacation around the Braves' road schedule, loading up the minivan to watch our team play on the road in St. Louis. Because of earlier rains, our two contests at Busch Stadium turned into back to back double-headers -- an absolute treasure for Dad, Blake and me (and torture for my mom and baby sister).

By the time Dad could reasonably afford playoff tickets, the 1995 World Series title had come and gone, but as a teenager, I experienced the thrill of the postseason when my father took Blake and I to see the Braves beat the Cardinals in a pair of home games during the 1996 National League Championship Series.

I remained a loyal Braves fan after high school and watched as many games as I could while attending college in Maryland and serving in the Navy. Every time Cox's team took the field on my t.v., I felt a connection to home.

Since moving back to Fayette a few years ago, Dad, Blake and I have visited Turner Field a number of times -- bringing my grandfather along, too. Our family's baseball tradition began years ago. My great-grandfather spent nearly his entire life in Georgia, but rooted for the Yankees because Atlanta didn't have a pro team during many of his years. My grandfather took his dad to the 1960 World Series in New York and we have the family snapshots to prove it.

When Dad sprung for playoff tickets this year, Blake and I were thrilled.

On Sunday and Monday, Dad and I rode up from Fayetteville. Blake, who lives in Atlanta, met us at the stadium. We went home disappointed with the scores, but the three of us relished being there. Bobby Cox's injury-riddled Braves gave us one more improbable run, for old times' sake.

We should have won both games and the series, but standing and Tomahawk-chopping in the upper deck was pleasure enough for the three of us. Thanks Dad. I look forward to the day when my wife Brittnay and I have a little one of our own and you can join us for an evening at Turner Field. Hopefully, Cox's successor and protege Freddi Gonzalez will give us many more reasons to cheer.

Bobby Cox gave us a great run, but my dad is the one who deserves all of the credit in my book. Dad didn't do anything to make the Braves win, but he did make Blake and me fans and gave us the chance to enjoy it all.

Every day brings a new Deal scandal

I can't get over the governor's race. A few weeks ago, I used this space to lament over our choices as Georgia voters. For the next leader of our state, we're stuck with either a former governor who we previously tossed out of office, a fringe third party candidate or a career politician with so much ethical baggage that his campaign has been hemorrhaging scandals for weeks. It seems like every day, a new embarrassing detail spills from Nathan Deal's camp.

First, there was Deal's Auto Salvage business scandal, which notoriously landed him on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's list of the "15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" alongside folks like Charlie Rangel and Jessie Jackson, Jr. According to the CREW report, which heavily relied on investigative journalism by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters, Deal and a member of his staff intervened in the state budgeting process to preserve a lucrative, $300,000 per year no-bid state contract for the salvage business Deal co-owned in Gainesville. Deal's intervention was successful and it came after the state department of revenue commissioner sought to save taxpayers' money by reforming the state's vehicle inspection program and opening up the competitive bidding process.

The CREW report stated, "By using his position as a member of Congress to interfere in a matter of Georgia policy to protect his personal financial interests -- against the interest of the state of Georgia as expressed by the state’s Commissioner of the Department of Revenue -- and by attempting to conceal those efforts, Rep. Deal undisputably has acted in a manner that brings discredit to the
House."

Deal's explanation (from the AJC): he claims to have been acting on behalf of his constituents: his business partner and the “fellows who work in [his salvage business] office.” The Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the House Ethics Committee investigate Deal's actions, but the Congressman resigned before an investigation could take place, to "focus on the gubernatorial race."

Despite the scandal, Deal managed to win the Republican nomination for governor, thanks in large part to the support he received from a large portion of the state Republican power structure, including our Congressman Lynn Westmorland and a significant number of the members of his party currently serving in the General Assembly, including Ronnie Chance (but not Matt Ramsey).

Since Deal beat Karen Handel in the August runoff (by just 2,500 votes), things have gotten considerably worse. First, his opponent Roy Barnes ran a series of television ads asking "Why isn't Nathan Deal releasing his tax records?" Earlier this month, we found out why.

On Sep. 15, Alan Judd at the AJC reported that Deal faces such dire financial troubles that he must sell his home to avert foreclosure or bankruptcy.

"Even if Deal liquidates all his assets, however, he still might be unable to repay a nearly $2.3 million business loan... [which] comes due in full Feb. 1 — less than one month after Deal hopes to take office," Judd reported. The source of the bad debt: Deal poured the money into the failed high-end sporting goods store his daughter and son-in-law started in Habersham County. Deal's name was left off of his son-in-law's 2009 bankruptcy filing, although experts say Deal should have been listed as a creditor. A few days later, it was revealed that Deal's son in law previously declared bankruptcy in 2001.

Almost immediately after Deal's personal financial distress hit the front pages, the Associated Press reported that Deal and a business partner are on the hook for another $2.85 million in loans for his auto salvage business. Deal failed to report that loan on the required state financial disclosure form.

Deal refiled his financial disclosures several times this month, with each new disclosure opening up new questions.

There's the off-the-books land purchase agreement with Deal's former Chief of Staff. Next came the airplane scandal, which the AJC broke over the weekend. Deal has spent over $130,000 for aviation services during the course of the campaign by contracting through a company partially owned by himself, a business partner and his campaign manager. State ethics laws bar candidates from using campaign money for personal benefit. His opponent, Barnes, has spent less than $20,000 on aviation.

Deal's troubles with ethics, money and honesty make him completely unfit to run this state. Unlike Barnes, he has balked at pledging to keep his assets in a blind trust while serving as governor. Yet, Deal still has a very good shot at being elected. Even though (like Barnes) he started his career as a moderate Democrat, Deal is currently a Republican. He has been since he switched during his second congressional term back in 1995. And unfortunately for us, being a Republican might be all Deal needs to win the most important job in the state. What a shame.

It's already time to vote again

Early voting for the general election begins Monday.

I know, it feels like we just finished taking down the campaign signs from this summer's primary, but starting Monday, Fayette's registered voters can walk up the stairs to Suite 208 of the Stonewall Complex in Fayetteville and cast their ballots for the next governor of Georgia, a U.S. Senate seat, the Georgia District 3 post in the U.S. House of Representatives and a host of important state offices.

Thanks to legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly, we can now vote up to 45 days ahead of the actual election day. Sure, school is in session and football season has started, but the real sign that summer is over comes Monday, when we realize that the first Tuesday in November is only 45 days away.

I'm not ready to vote. I know a little bit about the major candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Lt. Governor and the Fayette County School Board, but there are about a dozen down ballot races featuring candidates about whom I know nearly nothing. According to Fayette County Elections Supervisor Tom Sawyer, I'm not the only one in this predicament.

"Since we went to a 45 day early voting format in 2009, turnout has been very slow during the first few weeks," Sawyer said Tuesday. "We'll have the polls open at the elections office, but we're going to go with a limited staff until we see the numbers rise."

I'm not one of those people who vote based on the 'R' or 'D' in parentheses next to a candidate's name. I try to learn as much as I can about every candidate in each race. I then do my best to dig beneath the party rhetoric to find the best person for each job on the ballot.

Sometimes that is not such an easy task.

A case in point is the big ticket race atop this cycle's ballot. For the next governor of Georgia, we get to choose between a 62-year old career politician and lawyer and a 68-year old career politician and lawyer. Both started their political careers as Democrats. Both are white males. Both have consistently changed their stances on issues to please their constituents back home.

Both started off as moderates. The one who lives in increasingly Republican-leaning Hall County switched parties and became a Republican in the mid-90's. The one who lives in increasingly Democrat-leaning South Cobb stayed true to the Democratic party. With the economy in the tank and the Democrats in Congress staring down dismal approval ratings, both governor candidates have now painted themselves as the "pro-jobs conservative" on the ballot. Both have tried to leap onto the anti-incumbent bandwagon.

One candidate became ridiculously wealthy as a private attorney after his first term as governor concluded. The other candidate padded his bank account with a no-bid state contract for his auto salvage business while he was serving in Congress. He then resigned from Congress before the Office of Congressional Ethics fully pursued charges that he improperly used his office staff to pressure Georgia officials to continue the no-bid contract, which generated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his family’s auto salvage business. Because of a separate failed business venture with his daughter, the latter of the two candidates now faces financial insolvency, at least according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

That is the top of the ticket. Nathan Deal or Roy Barnes.

We the voters are to blame for this "lesser of two" conundrum. We had six other candidates running within each party during the primary, but Deal and Barnes are who we chose. There's always John Monds, the Libertarian candidate, but his chances for November victory are slim to say the least.

I will pay attention to the upcoming governor's debates, but if I were to vote Monday when the early polls open, I would probably just skip past the governor's slot on the ballot.

That being said, we do have a few decent candidates on the ballot this year. I will have no qualms about voting for Sam Olens (a Republican running for State Attorney General) and Carol Porter (a Democrat running for Lt. Governor), but I have a lot to learn before I visit Mr. Sawyer at the Elections Office. I have a feeling I'll be waiting until Nov. 2.

The Battle of Niihau

As we close in on the anniversary of the 9/11 attack, I find myself thinking about the only event in our history that compares to the tragedy of nine years ago. It occurred on Dec., 7, 1941 on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. Like the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a defining moment -- a terrible tragedy that killed thousands of Americans and forever altered the course of world events.

The effects of the Pearl Harbor attack still resonate, especially at the site. Resting several hundred yards across the idyllic turquoise waters from where the Navy’s active fleet moors today, the U.S.S. Arizona remains visible just below the surface. It is the final resting place of the 1,177 crew members who perished in the attack.

Ford Island, which rises in the middle of the harbor, is home to Naval support facilities and base housing. Its warehouses and towers are still pockmarked by the Japanese bullets fired 69 years ago. It remains impossible to ignore the history of the place.

And as with 9/11, the complete history of the Pearl Harbor attack will never be written. Too many lives were affected to construct a definitive story. Many of the individual struggles survive only in memories, or in stories passed down over kitchen tables.

I recently discovered a “forgotten” history of the Pearl Harbor attack in the form of Caroline Paul’s excellent 2006 historical novel, East Wind, Rain. Her fascinating book tells the story of the “Battle of Niihau.” Paul said she set out to write a non-fiction account, but found archival material both elusive and contradictory.

“This story seems to be a lost episode in history,” she explained. “That said, I stayed as close to the documented chain of events as I could. In many ways, you’re reading a true story.”

Niihau is the smallest and oldest of the major Hawaiian Islands. It is privately owned by the Robinson Family and has been since the mid-19th century. Since then, the population has fluctuated from 150 to 200 residents, most of whom are native Hawaiian. The Robinson family has kept the island isolated, prohibiting visitors and strictly controlling residents’ access to the modern world. To this day, the island has no cars, telephones or radios.

Niihauns today speak Hawaiian and work as ranchers, subsistence farmers and fishermen, just as they did seven decades ago.

On Dec., 7, 1941, a Japanese Zero crash-landed on Niihau after attacking Pearl Harbor. The pilot survived the wreck and was taken into custody, but only because visitors were strictly forbidden by the Robinsons, who lived on the neighboring island of Kauai.

Niihau had no contact with the outside world, other than through the Robinson family, but three residents in 1941 were of Japanese descent. The pilot told the Japanese Niihauns that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and more troops were coming. He promised Niihau would soon be overrun.

Terrified, the Japanese American family declined to translate this news to their neighbors. Instead, they decided to help the pilot destroy his plane and recapture his documents, which a town leader had taken from him. The pilot assured them that their cooperation would spare the entire island from the wrath of the Japanese Imperial Navy.

Because of the Pearl Harbor attack, Robinson’s representative did not come to Niihau for his scheduled visit.

For four days, the pilot plotted with the Japanese family, who were his de-facto guards. On the fifth day, the pilot and his Japanese American host took a shotgun from the empty Robinson house -- the only firearm on the island -- and set out to find the papers and destroy the plane.

The pilot burned homes when he could not find his papers. The Niihauns fled their village and several elders crossed the 18-mile Kaulakahi Channel in a rowboat, seeking help from Kauai.

By the time the elders returned with a Japanese-American Naval commander in tow, the Niihauns had overpowered the pilot, killing him with wreckage from his own plane. His Japanese descended helper had committed suicide and the other two Japanese Niihauns were soon arrested.

That one incident, the Battle of Niihau, is barely a footnote in history, but the events there greatly influenced President Roosevelt, who signed Executive Order 9066 in Feb. of 1942, sending 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps.

I’m glad I picked up Paul’s book. The “forgotten” stories like the one she weaves put names and faces on the tragic attack. We need to remember both Pearl Harbor and 9/11 as more than defining moments in history. They were terrible man-made tragedies that killed thousands and affected thousands more in ways we will never know.